Where in Belarus the environmental situation is better. Assessment of the general ecological situation in Belarus. Narovlya is an amazing example of the fight for the environment

13:23 / 04.04.2018

AIR

EARTH

WATER

what's happened microplastic?

Microplastics are often used in cosmetics and personal care products - these are small particles made from plastic. various kinds. Some of them are large enough - they can be seen, others are less than one micrometer in size. There are even smaller particles, the so-called nanoparticles.

Plastic particles are included in cosmetics for a variety of reasons. Some of them regulate the viscosity of the product, others help create the effect of “optical blurring” of wrinkles, others are used as scrubs and sun filters, create a gel- and film-forming effect of a cosmetic product.

It is not uncommon for microplastics to help prolong the shelf life of a product.

A regular exfoliating shower gel can contain as many microplastic particles as is used to manufacture the packaging of this shower gel.
In addition, microplastics are formed from the decay of plastic packaging when exposed to air.

Last fall, I participated in water sampling to detect microplastics. Water was taken from the Stracha River and Gubeza Lake. Unfortunately, the sample from the river could not be tested for the presence of microplastics due to the high content of organic matter in the water. And there was microplastic in the sample from the lake - and even if this is one of the best indicators for the reservoirs of Belarus, in which the volunteers took samples, but it is there.

This is what “harmless” garbage leads to along the banks of rivers and lakes ...

And this is the work of the people who live here, nearby.

FOOD

According to experts, sub-regional centers like Mozyr, Polotsk-Novopolotsk, Pinsk, Glubokoe may to some extent compete with regional centers in the future and become attractive for living.

According to the results of the rating of Belarusian cities, conducted by the Center for New Ideas, Minsk is ahead of other Belarusian cities in a number of indicators. Nevertheless, they are rapidly catching up, and in some places ahead of the Belarusian capital Brest and Grodno.

Economic indicators, except for Minsk, are highest in Novopolotsk, Soligorsk, Mozyr. The demographic and economic outsiders according to the rating included Orsha, Borisov and Bobruisk.

Brest and Grodno have potential

As the senior researcher of CASE Belarus Dmitry Babitsky noted at the Reshape-2018 conference, in last years Minsk is losing industry, which is being actively replaced by service.

“The “agglomeration ring” around Minsk is developing and growing. Basically, we have an increase in employment occurs within the boundaries of this ring. Therefore, such facilities as Zaslavl, Dzerzhinsk, Smolevichi are now the top places where new jobs are being opened,” he said.

The expert drew attention to the fact that in the Minsk region there are more employed people than residents, which in turn is also typical for Soligorsk.

“More than 100,000 people come to Minsk every day to work from other cities, that is, every tenth worker in Minsk does not live there,” he said.

Dmitry Babitsky also commented on the leading positions occupied by Grodno and Brest in the ranking of Belarusian cities. The expert cited Poland as an example, where cities such as Gdansk, Szczetin, Wroclaw are developing more dynamically than Warsaw.

“Although such a trend is not yet visible in Belarus, Brest, Grodno and a number of other cities have a very great potential,” Dmitry Babitsky believes.

“Why are Brest and Grodno leading in the rating? They have a big plus in that they are located on the border and therefore are strongly involved in cross-border communications, they have constant access to new knowledge, “tricks”, and there are teams there that are trying to implement all this. And most importantly, there is human potential. Someone opened a coffee shop, a start-up followed it, and behind this lies the future of cities,” said Ivan Shchedrenok, director of the Interaction Foundation, in turn.

Why Orsha has no chance?

At the same time, experts agree that with a strict vertical of power, which is typical for Belarus, it is difficult for the regions to develop.

“We have the chief fireman and the chief doctor only in the regional city. Financial flows, both formal and not, correspond to this, - Dmitry Babitsky explained. - All the “fat” is concentrated where the power is, that is, in regional cities or cities like Soligorsk, Novopolotsk, where there are huge enterprises. Therefore, Orsha and Borisov have nothing to hope for, especially given the lack of universities there "...

Unfortunately, Ivan Shchedrenok admits, the main goal of the head of the regional center is to give indicators.

"His headache– how to increase milk yield and harvest more crops. And in order for the city to develop, you need to think about how to make it competitive,” the expert believes.

Ivan Shchedrenok admits that the local authorities have no time to deal with these issues, and they are not capable of doing this.

“The whole system works like this: there is a strict vertical line, and the decisions that are made are made by the center, as a result, not strategists, but performers sit on the ground. This, in my opinion, is the biggest snag in terms of city management,” the expert is sure.

How will agglomerations develop?

In the opinion of Ivan Shchedrenka, cities like Mozyr, Polotsk-Novopolotsk, Pinsk, Glubokoye are such sub-regional centers that can to some extent compete with regional cities and, to some extent, they also have the future. This means that they have every chance of becoming attractive for living.

“I am not a supporter of the collapse of the country into one city. If the reform of the administrative-territorial division takes place in Belarus, I am sure that the stake will be placed on the forming agglomerations. The main thing is that these agglomerations should become the centers of those sub-regions that are being formed in the country,” he concluded.

Moreover, it is by no means the janitors who are to blame for this, but the smoky pipes of industrial enterprises, thermal power plants and vehicles. They account for the majority of emissions. harmful substances in atmosphere. Ecologists note that in general the sky over the cities of Belarus is much cleaner than in the countries Western Europe. However, we also have our problem areas. Specialists of the National Monitoring System told TUT.BY about them environment The Republic of Belarus.

The most “dirty” Belarusian cities

The Belstat website annually publishes data on the amount of pollutant emissions from stationary sources such as industrial and energy facilities. Based on them, our portal has compiled a kind of top 10 most “smoking” Belarusian cities.

The number of emissions of pollutants into the air from stationary sources by years

(in thousand tons)

These ten cities account for about half of all emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere from enterprises. However, it should be noted that cars in Belarus “spoil” the air more intensively. So, in 2010 their total contribution to the total air pollution was estimated at 71%, while in Minsk this figure is 84%.

But the most "puffing" enterprises are still concentrated not in the capital, but in Novopolotsk. It is one of the cities with the highest emission density of harmful substances. Here is the largest oil refinery in Belarus "Naftan", one of the largest plants in the chemical industry "Polymir", a number of other enterprises that actively burn and process fuel. On average during 2006-2010. they emitted about 63.4 thousand tons of pollutants annually.

In second place is Minsk. There are more than 330 nature users in the capital, but they account for about 38.2 thousand tons of emissions annually. However, if we take into account motor transport, then Minsk will still come out on top in terms of general air pollution. For example, in 2010, stationary sources accounted for only 30.9 thousand tons of emissions, and taking into account mobile sources, their total volume amounted to 187.8 thousand tons.

The third place was awarded to Mozyr. For this city, Belstat shows not so frightening emissions figures: at the level of 0.5 - 2.5 thousand tons per year. However, its main “pollutant”, the Mozyr oil refinery, is formally located outside the city limits. Therefore, as explained by the head of the main information and analytical center (GIAC) of the National Environmental Monitoring System of the Republic of Belarus Savely Kuzmin when compiling various statistical collections, its indicators are sometimes summarized together with the citywide ones, and sometimes they are considered separately. Taking into account the oil refinery, Mozyr emits about 35 thousand tons of pollutants into the atmosphere annually, which is about 40% of all emissions recorded in the Gomel region.

The regional centers Gomel and Grodno share the fourth and fifth places in terms of air pollution with a slight margin from each other (about 13.9 and 13.2 thousand tons of emissions per year). The main sources of pollution for them are motor vehicles, the woodworking industry, the production of mineral fertilizers, and thermal power engineering. And for Gomel - also mechanical engineering, machine tool building, chemical and pulp and paper industries.

In addition to the cities listed above, Bobruisk, Mogilev, Soligorsk, Zhlobin and Vitebsk were also included in the top ten cities that showed the highest level of emissions.

Emissions of main pollutants from stationary sources in 2010

What affects air quality?

Despite the undoubted interest that data on the amount of harmful substances released into the atmosphere represent, they are still not enough to assess the environmental situation in our cities. Specialists of the National Environmental Monitoring System are confident that, in general, the condition of the air basin above them, even over the most industrialized ones, is assessed as good. “It all depends on the concentration of the harmful substance in the air and the length of time a person spends in this polluted air,” explains Bogdana Kozeruk, Head of the Information and Analytical Department (Atmospheric Air Monitoring) of the Republican Center for Radiation Control and Environmental Monitoring. - We cannot say that we live in dirty cities. But there are separate problem areas.”

In Minsk, for example, there are two such districts. One - on Timiryazev Street, the second - on Radialnaya. Over the course of several years, they regularly exceed the average daily maximum allowable concentrations (MPC) for solid particles of the PM-10 fraction - suspended particles hazardous to health with a diameter of 2.5-10 microns. Occasionally, excesses of MPC for formaldehyde are also recorded in the area of ​​st. M. Gorky in Vitebsk, st. September 17 - st. International in Brest, st. Zavalnaya in Pinsk and Station Square in Orsha. In 2011, the number of problem areas remained at the level of 2010. New ones were recorded only in the southeastern part of Mogilev (episodic problems with phenol and formaldehyde) and in Rechitsa near the street. Chkalov (episodic excesses of MPC for particulate matter).

The zone of increased air pollution in the southeastern part of Minsk is formed under the influence of the powerful industrial potential characteristic of this region. Air streams flow here from the tractor and automobile plants, CHPP-2 and CHPP-3. The general slope of the terrain towards the southeast leads to the runoff of pollutants from other areas. And the predominance of the winds of the western quarter (from northwest to southwest) over Minsk contributes to the transfer of pollutants from the entire city. By the way, the wind regime is one of the most important factors for the transfer of harmful substances, so the air from the windward side, that is, in the western part of the city, is the cleanest in the capital.

The seasonal factor also matters. For example, during April-August, the concentrations of formaldehyde in the air are the highest. This substance is formed as a result of photochemical reactions during the interaction of nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons and other substances in the atmosphere. And at high temperatures during a long period of lack of precipitation, the conditions for its formation are most favorable. And since the formation of formaldehyde directly depends on the temperature and humidity of the air, its highest concentrations are recorded during a dry spring or summer. The minimum is in winter.

“Compared to the countries of Western Europe, we have very clean air,” emphasizes the head of the SIAC of the National Environmental Monitoring System Savely Kuzmin. - There is no smog over our cities, there is no mining in the country on such a scale as, for example, in Siberia. In addition, a lot of forests have been preserved in Belarus. However, the percentage of landscaping in cities leaves much to be desired. This applies to both Minsk and all regional centers. According to our landscaping standards, everything is in order. But as soon as you go to Europe (for example, to the same Berlin or Paris) - you will immediately feel the difference. There are much more green spaces, various parks and squares. In Berlin, at 4-5 o'clock in the morning, the nightingales sing so that you get the feeling that you are somewhere in countryside!”

Where is the air taken under observation?

Today, observations of the state of the air basin are carried out in 18 industrial cities of the republic, including regional centers, as well as Polotsk, Novopolotsk, Orsha, Bobruisk, Mozyr, Rechitsa, Svetlogorsk, Pinsk, Novogrudok, Zhlobin, Lida and Soligorsk. According to the Ministry natural resources and environmental protection, they have installed and currently operate 63 stationary stations, of which 14 operate in automatic mode. There are 12 stations in Minsk, 6 in Mogilev, 5 each in Gomel and Vitebsk, 4 each in Brest and Grodno, and 1-3 stations operate in other industrial centers. Data collection from most of them is carried out manually. In areas with no or a limited number of stations, characterized by significant emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere from stationary sources, in years with stable snow cover, a regime snow survey is carried out (22 points).

14 automatic stations (of which 4 are located in Minsk) transmit information on the concentrations of pollutants in the air in real time, and with this data on the website public institution"Republican Center for Radiation Control and Environmental Monitoring" can be viewed by anyone at any time. It also publishes a weekly report on air quality in Minsk. In addition, the site has available the dynamics of changes in the concentrations of harmful substances during the day, relevant for four cities: Minsk, Brest, Gomel and Grodno. This dynamics is presented in the form of graphs. And quarterly it publishes a report on the state of atmospheric air in 18 cities. Annual reports are prepared by specialists of the SIAC of the National Environmental Monitoring System of the Republic of Belarus, which can be found in the relevant section of the website of the Information and Analytical Center.

How harmful substances affect health?

The state of the air is one of critical factors quality of life. The less it contains any filth, the easier it is to breathe and the less the risk of diseases of the respiratory system and the cardiovascular system. Almost 20% of all respiratory diseases and 10% of diseases of the circulatory system are associated with atmospheric pollution.

inhaled into large quantities carbon monoxide (CO) reduces the flow of oxygen to the tissues, increases the amount of sugar in the blood, and reduces the supply of oxygen to the heart. In healthy people, this effect is manifested in a decrease in the ability to endure physical activity. In people with chronic heart disease, it can affect the vital functions of the whole organism.

Sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) already in small concentrations creates an unpleasant taste in the mouth, has an irritating effect on the mucous membranes of the upper respiratory tract and the mucous membrane of the eyes. At the cellular level, it affects the processes of carbohydrate and protein metabolism, reduces immunity.

Nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) plays the role of an oxidizing agent that can disrupt the integrity of cell membranes and proteins. Its elevated concentrations contribute to the development of inflammatory diseases of the respiratory tract - laryngitis, tracheitis, bronchitis, etc.

Formaldehyde (CH 2 O) is listed as a carcinogen. Possesses toxicity, adversely affects genetic material, reproductive organs, Airways, eyes and skin. Has a strong effect on the central nervous system.

The solid particles of the PM10 fraction in the air are a heterogeneous mixture of organic and inorganic substances and therefore it is difficult to assess their impact on health. It is firmly established that particles with a diameter of 10 µm or less are the main cause of coughs, asthma attacks and increase the number of deaths due to respiratory diseases.

In total, more than 70 types of harmful substances hover over the cities.

The main factors of environmental impact are related, firstly, to the functioning of the national economy and, mainly, the production complex, secondly, to the transboundary transfer of pollutants and, thirdly, to the presence of inherited unresolved problems. The first of these factors, as a rule, is the main one, the other two are usually less significant. At the same time, cases are not excluded when a decisive role in this regard is acquired by external sources. With regard to Belarus, a similar case took place in 1986, when an accident occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the neighboring republic - Ukraine. As a result, the bulk of the radioactive substances that got into the atmosphere fell out on the territory of Belarus, which was a priority factor in environmental pollution in the country. A big concern after Chernobyl - the resettlement of refugees, the restoration of agriculture, medical care for people in the infected areas - fell on the shoulders of now independent Belarus.

The territory of Belarus accounted for 70% of all radioactive contamination. In the affected area (23% of the territory) was 1/5 of the country's population - about 2 million people. In total, 54 districts (mainly Gomel and Mogilev regions) were contaminated in Belarus, on the territory of which there are 27 cities and 2697 settlements. About 20% of agricultural land and about 15% of forests were taken out of circulation. And despite the huge costs of reducing the radiation hazard, some areas of Belarus still have an increased radiation background, water and soil are polluted in them (Appendix 1).

The radiation situation in Belarus has a negative impact primarily on the health status of the population living in contaminated areas, where the growth rate of diseases of the endocrine system, the circulatory system and the appearance of neoplasms does not decrease. 530 thousand children and adolescents live in the territory contaminated with radionuclides. The incidence of thyroid cancer in the republic over the past five years has fluctuated between 2.1-3.2 people per 100,000 children, while in European countries this figure does not exceed 0.5 people. In the structure of childhood morbidity, the share of congenital and hereditary pathologies is growing, which are associated with the presence in the environment of additional mutagenic factors caused by the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster.

Other technogenic factors - industrial, military, transport, agricultural, etc. - also have a negative impact on the ecology of Belarus.

After the end of World War II, Belarus entered the industrial stage of development. The largest industrial enterprises were built on its territory not only in the USSR, but also in Europe. They have changed the face significantly. cultural landscape Republic, and also negatively affected the environment. First of all, we are talking about enterprises in the chemical industry, the largest of which are: Khimvolokno in Mogilev, Svetlogorsk, Grodno, Naftan and Polymer in Novopolotsk, Belaruskali in Soligorsk.

The creation of such enterprises has led to a man-made overload of the natural environment and pollution of a significant part of the territory of the Republic of Belarus. The most environmentally hazardous in terms of air saturation with phenol, formaldehyde and other carcinogens are all Largest cities Belarus. Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides emitted into the atmosphere are the main culprits in the formation of acid precipitation, which kills the living world of surface water bodies, increases the acidity of already acidic soils, destroys forests and crops, increases the corrosion of metals, and destroys the lining of buildings and structures (Fig. 1).

Rice. 1.

Industrial enterprises pollute not only the air, but also the water basin of the Republic of Belarus. Most enterprises dump their waste into rivers and reservoirs, including those very dangerous for human life and health: chromium, zinc, nickel and other heavy metals. However, in recent years there has been a trend towards a reduction in Wastewater, respectively, and the flow of pollutants into water bodies decreased. The quality of surface waters has generally improved. There are differences in water quality between the basins of the main rivers. Based on these differences, the basins are distributed in the following sequence (in descending order of quality): Neman basin - Western Dvina - Pripyat - Western Bug - Dnieper.

In addition to enterprises, they significantly pollute the air vehicles. Harmful substances emitted into the atmosphere by cars adversely affect the nervous and mental activity person.

To all this, gas and oil pipelines pass through Belarus, where accidents are not uncommon. They lead to significant contamination of soil, water bodies and air with harmful substances hazardous to human health.

The state of the swamps is also an environmental problem. Extensive land reclamation work on the territory of Belarus did not bring a tangible contribution to the development of agriculture, as planned. Vice versa, a large number of land was taken out of use, as the upper fertile layer weathered and left the sand. Also, the drainage of swamps has led to the disappearance of entire plant and animal species and a decrease in the level of groundwater.

No less important environmental problem characteristic of our country is soil degradation and pollution. Soil degradation occurs as a result of their direct destruction, mainly during various construction works and mining, as well as due to the development of erosion processes mainly on arable land. For peat soils, in the case of their use for arable land, accelerated mineralization is characteristic. organic matter. Direct destruction soil cover in connection with the conduct of construction work and the extraction of minerals, as well as in previous years, does not differ in intensity. The area of ​​disturbed lands in the country continues to decrease. Eroded soils cover about a tenth of the arable land.

Along with the development of erosion processes in Belarus, there are also such negative changes in soils as a decrease in their fertility due to insufficient fertilization. Similar changes are observed in about half of the regions of the country.

Chemical contamination of soils takes place mainly in cities and their zones of influence, in roadside lanes of highways, in zones of influence of waste storage sites, in places of oil production and on agricultural lands.

The situation with waste was different, where, unlike in previous years, their amount is increasing. The decisive contribution to the formation of production waste continued to be made by one enterprise - RUE "Belaruskali", which accounted for about 3/4 of their total volume. Accordingly, the dynamics of waste generation in the country to a decisive extent depends on the functioning of this enterprise. The difference between the generation and use of waste remains high, which is the reason for a further increase in their accumulation at storage facilities and on the territory of organizations.

Large volumes of accumulated waste from RUE "Belaruskali" and the Gomel Chemical Plant serve as sources of salinization and pollution of groundwater in places where they are stored. Under the salt dumps and sludge storages of potash plants, aquifers are polluted mainly with potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium and chlorides. Under dumps of phosphogypsum - sulfates, phosphates and fluorine.

Along with production waste, the generation of municipal waste continues to increase (Fig. 2). The country has organized their centralized removal from urban and rural settlements with subsequent burial at municipal solid waste landfills and mini-landfills.

Rice. 2.

In general, the environmental situation in Belarus remains quite difficult, and environmental issues are being resolved too slowly and inefficiently. Up to 45 million tons of waste is accumulated in the Republic of Belarus every year, most of which cannot be recycled. About 3 million tons of harmful substances are emitted into the air, 10% of industrial and domestic waste is dumped into water bodies untreated. This leads to an increase in the number of diseases, as well as an increase in the death rate of the inhabitants of Belarus.

The ecological situation in modern Belarus is generally assessed positively. However, there are a number of areas in which large industrial enterprises are located that pollute the air and soil. Until now, in some areas there is an increased radiation background, which makes them unsuitable for life, but there are no large settlements in them. The most common harmful substances in the air for Belarus are carbon monoxide, lead and various formaldehydes.

Agriculture destroying the fertile soil layer. The reasons for this are unsustainable practices that also affect the country's forests. Over the past two hundred years, the forest cover of Belarus has halved. All this has a significant impact on the inhabitants of the country, especially those who live in the most polluted cities of Belarus.

Top 5 dirtiest cities in Belarus

1. Novopolotsk
2. Mozyr
3. Minsk
4. Soligorsk
5. Gomel

Top 3 cleanest cities in Belarus

1. Khotimsk
2. Narovlya
3. Ostrovets

Novopolotsk - suffering ecology

Novopolotsk became a major industrial and scientific center of Belarus. It is here that most of the oil products in the country are produced. This fact could not but affect the ecological situation.

Due to the large amount of emissions into the atmosphere, the city became the owner of the title of the dirtiest locality Belarus. Now the number of harmful emissions exceeds 2 tons per capita. However, this figure began to decline due to the vigorous activity environmental organizations.

Mazyr is a very polluted city

In Mozyr, there are large enterprises associated with the following industrial sectors:

• chemical;
• petrochemical;
• woodworking;
• oil refining;
• food.

The oil refinery, which produces gasoline, bitumen, sulfur and sulfurous acids, poses a great danger to the environment. Moreover, harmful production of diesel fuel and fuel oil has been recorded. The woodworking union "Mozyrdrev" has constant violations in the field of felling and logging. A large proportion of pollution falls on the Mozyr CHPP.

Near Mozyr is the large Druzhba oil pipeline, which also poses a potential environmental threat due to irregular repairs, which leaves the possibility of a leak. As a result, just because of a few enterprises, the entire Mozyr region in Belarus is considered one of the most polluted in the country. The total number of harmful emissions in 2014 is approaching the mark of 40 thousand tons only from stationary sources.

Minsk - a difficult situation with the environment

There are many green areas in the capital of Belarus. But this does not help the city in due measure, there are many industrial organizations in it, there is a constant increase in traffic flow. Among the residents of Minsk, the fashion for buying cars has spread, with the onset of summer, the concentration of formaldehyde begins to increase. All this leads to serious air pollution with nitrogen dioxide.

Now Minsk is the main competitor to Mozyr and Novopolotsk in terms of air pollution. However, the trend is still positive: in a few years, the authorities have managed to reduce the number of harmful emissions by several thousand tons. Nevertheless, in the middle of the last decade, the growth of harmful emissions amounted to more than 60 thousand tons. The main reason for such a powerful emission was the transition from natural gas to fuel oil used in enterprises as fuel. Motor transport carries out emissions in the amount of more than 160 thousand tons per year.

The most dangerous enterprises for the ecology of Minsk were CHPP-3 and CHPP-4, as well as automobile and tractor plants. Ecologists of Minsk compiled a list of the most polluted streets of the city, among them were the following:

• Bogdanovich;
• Radial;
• Sudmalis;
• Bobruisk.

An unfavorable ecological situation was recorded in the vicinity of Freedom Square. Residents of Leninsky, Zavodskoy and Partizansky districts complain about the ecological situation. There is a dependence of the deterioration of the situation on weather conditions. To prevent a negative trend, pollution prevention methods are used. The RRCMC, which is responsible for monitoring the environment, sends warnings to industrial enterprises that are shifting production to a “greener mode”. With the help of the local traffic police, a program was initiated to comply with environmental standards for road transport.
Unfortunately, in practice the above measures are implemented poorly. There is no regular monitoring and compliance. The traffic police departments responsible for monitoring the environmental situation on the roads simply do not have a sufficient number of employees in the state.
Ecologists cite forecasts for the ecology of Minsk, which remain negative. This is due to dense housing, an increasing number of cars per capita, the development of communications, including roads, pipelines and trade facilities.

Soligorsk - the capital of the mining region

The sixties for Soligorsk became a breakthrough in the mining industry and fatal for the environment. The deposits created for the extraction of potash ore have become the cause of countless wastes. The technogenic factor still remains extremely dangerous for the ecological situation of the city. The entire Soligorsk mining region is exposed to hazardous wastes, including halite, clay-salt and other solid and liquid wastes. In addition, potash production has caused a change in the landscape structure. This negatively affects soil fertility, pollutes groundwater, air, inhibits vegetation and contributes to waterlogging, which, in turn, causes flooding of large areas.

So far, environmentalists assess the situation as moderate, but if the trend continues, it may become critical. Soligorsk and the entire region are in for a disaster due to changes in the ecosystem landscape of a number of rivers, including the Dnieper. The extraction and processing of potash salts does not lose pace, so the threat is more than real.

The air in Soligorsk is polluted with potash dust and hydrogen chloride. The implementation of air protection measures helps to reduce the number of emissions, which leads to keeping their volumes within the maximum allowable concentrations. The remoteness of production also contributes to improving the situation, but this does not apply to hydrogen chloride, which is present in a number of areas of Soligorsk in excess concentrations.

Gomel - negative ecological situation

There are a lot of environmental problems in Gomel. These include contamination with radionuclides, the spread chemical elements in soil and air. There are few green areas in Gomel, large industrial enterprises operate, therefore, in the air pollution index, Gomel is among the leaders in terms of the content of carbon monoxide, ammonia, phenol and other substances hazardous to human health in the air. So far, the authorities have managed to reduce the concentration of most harmful substances, with the exception of carbon monoxide, which is caused by the increase in the number of cars.

Suffer the most West Side city, located close to the Gomel chemical plant and CHP-2. The situation is much better in the Novobeletsky district. One of the acute environmental problems of Gomel is the spread of phosphogypsum, which is easily carried by air currents and pollutes groundwater. This destroys the root system of trees, destroying forests.

Water resources cities are also subject to the pernicious influence of industry. The authorities are trying to plant greenery, but the total amount of green areas does not exceed 20%.

Khotimsk is a small city with good ecology

Khotimsk is a small town with a population of about 7,000 people. The absence of large industrial enterprises and a large number of green spaces allow the city's ecology to remain high level. So far, there are no prerequisites for industrial development in Khotimsk. There is a flax mill at Khomost, there is a large enough car park for a small settlement. Thus, Khotimsk proves that with sufficient development for life, it is possible to maintain a decent environment.

Narovlya is an amazing example of the fight for the environment

Narovlya is located 80 km from the famous Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The number of air pollutants in the city is less than 4 thousand tons per year. It would seem that this is a significant plus, but the reason for this purity was Chernobyl disaster, which actually drove people out of the city. Now, many people are still afraid to come back here. The percentage of oncological diseases is quite high.

Ostrovets - eco-friendly town

Astravets is trying to maintain its image of an eco-friendly city, which is directly indicated by a large tree on the flag of the village. There are several protected areas in the city. natural areas, waste sorting is used, fire safety measures are regularly carried out. There are treatment facilities that use technologies for wastewater treatment.

Sediments are compacted and dehydrated on sludge sites, after which solid domestic waste is transported to landfills, reagents-solvents are used. This helps to improve the quality of sludge outlets and change the structure of the sludge, increase its water yield. There are well-established schemes for processing municipal waste, secondary material resources, including waste paper, polyethylene, used tires, used household appliances. Residents of the city are seriously concerned about the construction of a nuclear power plant, but so far there is no need to talk about a threat to the environment from its side.

The situation with the environment in Belarus is ambiguous. In 2018, the well-known financial magazine The Wall Street Journal (USA) classified the capital of the country as one of the cleanest in the world. This is due to the activities of the authorities, who are trying to make Minsk comfortable for tourists. Of course, it is the direction of tourism that allows you to take care of the environment in the first place. Air-polluting industries remain a big environmental problem, as does the lack of green spaces across the country. To this we can add functioning nuclear power plants, but the experience of past years allows us to take the necessary measures to protect against disasters and prevent man-made impact on the environment.