Environmental problems in Arkhangelsk region

Environmental problems are of a great concern nowadays. More and more scientists warn about the threat of a global ecological catastrophe as a result of man's economic activity. Medics note with alarm the growing number of diseases caused by air and water pollution.

The ecological situation is particularly unfavorable in large cities. In London, for example, the dust concentration (daily average) in air exceeds the permissible level by 60 per cent, in Paris - 80 %. The situation in Moscow is even worse in some aspects. The carried out research showed that up to 12 million tons of harmful substances are discharged into air annually. Hundreds of industrial enterprises pollute atmosphere.

Ecological problems are also very acute in Arkhangelsk region and in our city. The ecological situation in the region is influenced by a powerful industrial military complex, which includes the defense enterprises in Severodvinsk, cosmodrome in Plesetsk, nuclear test site in Novaya Zemlya. Out of 20 cosmodromes in the world one of them is in Plesetsk.

City's population are also worried about the Northern Dvina. Sawmills and pulp and paper plants contaminate water. As a result the ecological balance in the river upsets.

Transport is a major source of environmental pollution. Every car exhausts tons of CO2 into the air.

Another source of public concern is disappearance of forests. Their disappearance upsets the oxygen balance. Among other acute ecological problems are: pollution of the world's ocean, radioactivity, noise and other types of pollution, destruction of ozon layer, deserts' advance, green-house effect, acid rains, etc. They are result of men's careless interaction with nature.