Lecture 11: Environmental Problems of Our Country

1. Ecological uniqueness of our country.

The territory of our country is 17.1 million km², which is about 3.3% of the total area of the globe, 12% of the land surface (excluding the Arctic), or 32% of Eurasia. It is usually divided into three regions: the European part (3.5 million km²), the Ural region (2 million km²), and Siberia and the Far East (11.6 million km²).

The population of Russia, the largest country in the world, is less than 143 million people, with a trend of continuous decline. The country has 13 cities with a population of over 1 million people.

Russia has an enormous fund of agricultural land: about 11 hectares per person, while the world average is 3 hectares.

The most important indicator of the preservation of natural territory is population density, which averages 55 people per 1 km² in the world, while in Russia it is only 8 people per 1 km² (close to the population density of the Earth in the early 20th century). However, the distribution of the population across the territory is uneven: the main population lives in the European part (density 27 people per 1 km²), in the Ural region — 11 people per 1 km², in Siberia and the Far East — 3 people, and in the North — less than one person per 1 km².

Russia itself has preserved huge territories of ecosystems undisturbed by economic activity: the East Siberian taiga (area of 6 million km²), the North (2.8 million km²). About 60% of the land is untouched by economic activity (such a high figure is found only in Canada), while worldwide the area of such lands is about 40%. In the European part up to 40% of resources are consumed, in the Ural region — 20%, in Siberia and the Far East — 10%.

Forests in Russia, which account for more than 26% of the world's forested areas, being more mature and productive than in many other temperate countries, absorb up to 600 million tons of carbon dioxide. It should be emphasized that up to 70% of the CO₂ absorbed by Russia's forests is of foreign origin.

Almost 77% of Russia's territory is covered by soil, which is the most important part of the country's ecological potential. Almost a third of the world's areas covered by permafrost are located in Russia. In total, permafrost soils cover up to 64% of its territory.

Russia is a major custodian of the world's genetic fund. Our country contains the largest populations of many animals (polar bear, red deer, wapiti), about 9% of all birds of the Northern Hemisphere live in Russia, and almost 50% of the migratory birds of the same hemisphere hatch their chicks here. Lake Baikal, with its flora and fauna, is unique. 210 plant species grow only within Russia's territory.

1. Man-made pollution of our country's territory.

1. Air pollution.

State reports on the state of the natural environment of the Russian Federation allow us to form an idea of the scale of emissions overall and by individual industries. In total, annual emissions from industrial enterprises amount to about 20 million tons, and emissions from transport — about 17 million tons.

Distribution of emissions into the atmosphere (%) by sector of the economy of the former USSR (Yakovlev S.V., Strelkov A.K., Mago A.A., 1998 .)

Air pollution has two aspects: its impact on the state of ecosystems and on human health. The first is determined by the release of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide and methane) resulting from the destruction of biota, as well as sulfur and nitrogen oxides that cause acid rain; the second — by the release of harmful substances and dust particles into the atmosphere. Due to the decline in production in Russia, a reduction in CO₂ emissions has been observed: Russia's contribution to global emissions is about 7%, after the USA (22%), China (12%), and Europe (24%).

It should be emphasized that the deposition of pollutants from other countries on Russian territory is significant. According to EMEP program data, over 7 years and up to 1999, the European part of Russia (ETR) received annual deposits of 2.1 to 2.8 million tons of sulfur and nitrogen oxides. At the same time, the share from Russian sources was less than 40%. Consequently, foreign sources, including Ukraine, Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and others, play the leading role in the acidification of our country's natural environment. The density of oxidized sulfur deposition is 1—3 t/km². In a number of major industrial regions, the acidity of atmospheric precipitation (pH) reached values of 3.1—3.2 (1995). Deposits of lead and cadmium from foreign sources make up about 30% of total pollution.

The problem of air pollution is especially acute in large cities and industrial centers. In more than 200 cities of Russia, home to 63 million people (42% of the country's population), average annual concentrations of pollutants exceed maximum permissible concentrations. In Omsk – formaldehyde and acetaldehyde.

According to M.Ch. Zalikhanov (2000), the share of air pollution's influence on overall morbidity in children is on average 17%, and in adults — 10%. Air pollution causes 41% of respiratory diseases, 16% — endocrine system diseases, 2.5% — cancer in persons aged 30—34, and 11% — in persons aged 55—59.

2. Pollution and depletion of water resources.

Russia is rich in water resources: it accounts for 20% of the world's fresh water reserves, including 9% of the Earth's river water. In terms of «water withdrawal per capita», Russia occupies an intermediate position among European countries; it amounts to 700 m³/year. The water supply per resident of the Russian Federation from river water is 29,200 m³ per year (80 m³ per day), while the world average figures are much lower — 8.2 and 22.5 respectively (Khublaryan M.G., 1999).

In terms of the degree of use of water resources, many European countries have exceeded the 50% threshold. The volume of wastewater in Russia is about 70 km³, but the volume of treated water is less than 3 km³, although the volume of polluted water is about 10 km³ (while in Europe, in many countries, 100% of water undergoes full treatment).

Russia's water resources are considered among the best preserved in Europe.

As a result of intensive water extraction, groundwater reserves are being depleted; there are more than 1,400 local foci of groundwater pollution. More than 80% of such foci are located in the European part of Russia (areas around the cities of Monchegorsk, Cherepovets, Balakovo, Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, Angarsk, and others). As already noted, the pollution includes highly dangerous chemical substances, in particular dioxins.

Due to the decline in industrial production, there has been some reduction in the discharge of the mass of the main pollutants and the volume of wastewater (1,252 thousand tons).

The largest amount of wastewater in Russia is discharged into the rivers of the Volga and Kama basin. This wastewater accounts for about 40% of the total volume in Russia. Existing treatment facilities provide effective treatment of only 8% of the volume of polluted water.

Due to the unstable operation of many enterprises and financial difficulties, water protection measures in the country are carried out in completely insufficient volumes. The waters of the main rivers — the Volga, the Don, the Kuban, the Pechora, the Ob, and the Yenisei — are rated as «polluted», while the waters of their large tributaries (the Kama, the Tom, the Irtysh, the Tobol, the Miass, the Iset, the Tura) and the Ural River are rated as «heavily polluted».

Overall, the ecological state of a significant number of water bodies, according to Roshydromet network data, corresponds to ecological regression, and only 11—13% of all water bodies are in a state of ecological well-being.

3. The waste problem.

This is one of the most acute and complex problems in Russia, since about 100 billion tons of solid waste have accumulated in dumps, storage facilities, and landfills, i.e. almost 700 tons per resident. Of this entire mass, only 5% goes for processing or to waste incineration plants, the rest is stockpiled or taken to dumps.

About 70% of the total volume of toxic industrial waste of the former USSR is located on Russian territory. Significant areas are occupied for their storage. Only the registered waste disposal (burial) sites occupy territories of more than 14 thousand hectares. Waste containing heavy metals (lead, mercury, etc.) is especially dangerous. The problem of destroying stockpiles of chemical weapons (about 40 thousand tons), stored in 7 arsenals of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, is also very acute.

The waste problem is especially acute in the Ural region: in Sverdlovsk Oblast alone, the amount of accumulated waste reaches 35 billion tons. About 160 million tons are generated here annually, including 11 million tons of toxic waste. Only one fifth is neutralized or utilized.

Currently, about 200 million fluorescent and arc-discharge lamps go to waste annually in the country, each of which contains from 80 to 120 mg of mercury. Mercury-containing electric batteries, in which the mercury content reaches 300 mg, pose a great danger.

Special attention should be paid to the problem of illegal transboundary movement of toxic waste.

Currently, solid and liquid waste with a high content of harmful pollutants accompanies various industrial production in the developed countries of North America (primarily the USA), Europe, and Asia ().

The public in these countries is extremely negative about processing such waste on their own territory, so many private firms and even governments seek opportunities to place these toxic wastes in other countries. An obstacle to such transboundary movement of hazardous waste is the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal (1989), which Russia soon joined. Under these conditions, some industrial companies look for ways to export this waste under the guise of low-energy-intensity heat carriers, thereby disguising the true content of highly toxic pollutants. Industrial waste «acquires» the status of low-energy-intensity heat carriers after partial processing and (or) briquetting on the territory of the producing countries. In this case, the waste no longer formally falls under the restrictions of the Basel Convention and can be imported into third countries for subsequent incineration in special furnaces. Many countries, including Russia, experiencing economic problems, accept this waste for processing, incineration, neutralization, or storage.

Attempts are being made by a number of foreign firms to circumvent the Basel Convention in order to import similar waste into Russia. Thus, projects were considered for the construction of plants for incinerating imported (under the guise of low-energy-intensity carriers) hazardous waste on the territory of the Moscow and Novgorod regions, the Altai Territory, and others. According to some data, between 1967 and 1993, 95 firms (from Germany, the USA, Austria, Italy, Canada, and other countries) attempted to import more than 30 million tons of hazardous waste into Russia. In 1993, about 4,000 tons of waste, including radioactive, mercury, zinc, and other waste, were imported and placed on Russian territory. In 1997, about 230 thousand tons of registered waste alone were imported as secondary raw materials. Some foreign companies even offer to build hazardous waste processing plants for free, if a certain amount of foreign waste is subsequently processed there as well.

4. Radiation situation.

Emergencies related to nuclear- and radiation-hazardous facilities (including nuclear weapons), nuclear materials, radioactive substances and waste, and sources of ionizing radiation, due to their particular destructive power and long-term negative consequences, represent one of the most serious threats to the security and socio-economic development of the Russian Federation and the entire world community.

The radiation situation in the Russian Federation is determined by the following main factors: 1) the global radioactive background; 2) contamination of territories as a result of the accidents at the Chernobyl NPP (1986) and the «Mayak» Production Association (1957 and 1967); 3) the operation of enterprises with nuclear fuel, nuclear power plants on ships, and radioactive waste storage facilities.

The global radiation background is due to the nuclear tests conducted. According to UN data, from 1945 to 1991, 1,946 test nuclear explosions were carried out in the world, including 958 in the USA, 599 — in the Soviet Union, and more than 150 — in France. In the USSR, explosions were conducted as follows: 467 explosions at the Semipalatinsk test site (Kazakhstan), 132 explosions at the Novaya Zemlya test site. In addition, a significant number of nuclear explosions for peaceful purposes were carried out in Western Siberia, the Lower Volga region, Yakutia, Donbass, Krasnoyarsk Territory, and other places.

As a result of nuclear tests, 12.5 tons of nuclear fuel fission products were released into the biosphere. As a result of the explosions, the atmospheric content of the carbon-14 radionuclide increased by 2.6%, the radioactive isotope tritium increased 100-fold, and the background radioactive radiation on the Earth's surface increased by 2%.

One of the most dangerous types of waste is radioactive waste. Liquid waste, which is generated at fuel stations, radiochemical plants, and research centers, is the most common. Solid radioactive waste is also generated in NPP reactors.

Russia has 11 NPPs, which produce 16.7% of the country's electricity. The distance from NPPs to major cities (St. Petersburg, Voronezh, Kursk, Yekaterinburg, Smolensk, Rostov-on-Don, and others) is from 50 to 200 km. The sources of radiation hazard at nuclear power plants are the power unit reactors, spent nuclear fuel storage pools, and liquid and solid waste storage facilities.

According to Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations data (2005), Russia has 39 research reactors, 39 critical assemblies, and 15 subcritical assemblies. 24 research reactors, 29 critical assemblies, and 7 subcritical assemblies are currently in operation.

Currently, more than 4 million people live in potentially dangerous zones adjacent to operating NPPs.

In 1995, work was completed on systematizing data on the radioactive contamination of Russian territory as a result of the Chernobyl disaster (April 26, 1986), which affected significant territory of Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, and 20 other states. In Russia alone, almost 17 million people live in the contaminated territory.

The radiation situation in contaminated forests remains difficult. Ten years after the accident, the contamination of the forest fund changed insignificantly, since self-cleaning of forests occurs only through radioactive decay processes. A deepening of radionuclides to 15—20 cm is noted. The highest level of contamination was noted on peaty and strongly podzolic soils, the lowest — on loamy soils rich in exchangeable potassium and ammonium.

Accidents with the release of radioactive substances occurred in 1957 at the «Mayak» Production Association in the north of Chelyabinsk Oblast. As a result, 300 thousand people found themselves in the contamination zone in three regions (Chelyabinsk, Sverdlovsk, Tyumen). A «lens» of radioactive brines formed under Lake Karachay, which moves at a speed of 80 m per year. Once these salts enter water bodies, primarily rivers, a significant territory of Western Siberia and then the Arctic Ocean may be subject to contamination. A similar situation has developed in the Ob basin in Tomsk Oblast as a result of the activities of the Siberian Chemical Combine.

On Russian territory, the total activity of unburied radioactive waste, according to some estimates, exceeds 4 billion Ci. Russia has 15 disposal sites and waste utilization centers (Chelyabinsk-65, Krasnoyarsk-26). Nevertheless, questions of their environmental safety remain very acute.

Unfortunately, in 2001, despite public protests, the «deal of the century» was concluded, involving the import into Russian territory of spent nuclear fuel (about 20 thousand tons), unloaded from the reactors of foreign NPPs and intended for long-term storage and reprocessing.

As of 01.01.2002, 190 nuclear submarines (SSNs) have been decommissioned from the Russian Navy (Military Ecology, 2005). Today there is no doubt that the decommissioning of nuclear submarines is one of the largest problems of global scale, attracting the ever-growing attention of a number of foreign states and the international public.

Until 1995—1999, the industrial and naval enterprises involved in decommissioning nuclear submarines were, in terms of their production capabilities, able to dismantle no more than 5—6 submarines per year. At such rates of dismantling, it became inevitable that submarines decommissioned to date would remain afloat for 15—20 years awaiting their turn for decommissioning. Such submarines pose a serious potential nuclear, radiation, and environmental hazard, if only because they could become targets in the event of military conflicts or a terrorist attack.

1. Changes in the state of ecosystems and decline in biodiversity.

The land fund of our country, according to state land records, amounted to 170.98 million hectares in 1995—1996. The area of agricultural land is shrinking: over the last 5 years it has decreased by 27 million hectares. The area of arable land has decreased by 9.5 million hectares. The volume of land reclamation work has decreased by an order of magnitude.

More than 117 million hectares (63%) are subject to erosion hazard, and 51 million hectares (28%) have already been eroded. Grazing loads are exceeded, and measures for the care of forage lands are not observed.

In the regions of the Far North, the area of reindeer pastures is shrinking, the cause of which is man-made pressure. Over the last 30 years, the area has decreased by 18.6 million hectares.

Russia, as is known, is home to 3,448 thousand km² of the world's undeveloped forests. Their logging (2 million hectares per year) may lead to intensification of global warming processes and the disappearance of rare species due to loss of habitat. Risk factors for undeveloped forests also include mineral extraction and forest fires (sometimes burning up to 1 million hectares per year).

Along with logging, the landscape changes. In most cases, waterlogging of the terrain begins in their place. Since mainly pine and, partly, cedar — the most valuable forests — are cut down, a process of impoverishment of the forest cover is occurring everywhere. Among forests, deciduous trees occupy an ever-larger area.

Today the world is experiencing the most significant extinction of plant and animal species in the last 65 million years, at a rate five thousand times greater than the natural course of evolution on Earth (V.I. Korobkin, L.V. Peredelsky, 2000).

The same is happening in Russia; in particular, the numbers of certain animal species have sharply decreased: bison, river beavers, sable, desman, kulan, elk, wild boar, roe deer, brown bear, as well as many species of small mammals. One of the reasons is poaching: only the detected cases of illegal hunting exceed 50 thousand per year. The number of cases of illegal harvesting and trade in rare species of animals and plants has significantly increased in recent years.

About 90 species of mammals are under threat of extinction at the regional level and 39 — at the world level; approximately 9% of birds are listed in the Red Book of Russia; three species of fish — the Atlantic sturgeon, the Sakhalin sturgeon, and the Siberian whitefish — are listed in the International Red Book.

4. The state of the main hazards in our country's territory

According to the Report of the Ministry of Emergency Situations (2005), 1,134 emergency situations occurred on Russian territory in 2004, including local — 750, municipal — 292, territorial — 81, regional — 8, federal — 3. As a result of the emergencies, 2,459 people died and 23,182 people were affected.

The number of natural emergencies was 230, in which 27 people died and 16,475 people were affected. In total, 28 biological-social emergencies occurred in 2004, in which 6 people died and 2,331 people were affected. There were 863 technogenic emergencies, as a result of which 1,930 people died and 3,504 people were affected. Some summarized data are given below.

Natural hazards. Every year, 230—250 natural disasters and emergencies occur on Russian territory, of which 35% are floods, 19% — hurricanes, storms, gales, and tornadoes, 14% — heavy and especially prolonged rains, 8% — earthquakes, and 21% — landslides, rockfalls, mudflows, and heavy snowfalls. Over the last 15 years, 3.5 thousand people have died and more than 270 thousand have been affected by dangerous natural phenomena in Russia. Total damage amounted to 6—7% of gross domestic product. If one takes into account the victims of terrorist attacks, military conflicts, fires, and road accidents, Russia loses on average more than 50 thousand human lives annually, with more than 250 thousand people suffering injuries.

Based on long-term observations, experts note that the greatest danger in Russia comes from floods (746 cities affected), landslides and rockfalls (725), earthquakes (103), and tornadoes (500).

Technogenic emergencies. The systemic socio-economic crisis that erupted in Russia in the 1990s caused an increase in the number of emergencies, especially technogenic ones; among them, the following dominated in the last decade of the 20th century:

• transport accidents — 25—32%;

• fires and explosions of technological equipment — 8—39%;

• fires and collapses of residential and administrative buildings — 21—39%;

• accidents with the release of toxic substances — 8—12%;

• accidents in communal life-support systems — 7—15%;

• accidents on pipelines — 4—8% (V.V. Vladimirov et al., OBZhD, No. 2, 2001).

For the period up to 2010, the Ministry of Emergency Situations specialists classify Yakutia, Krasnoyarsk Territory, Irkutsk, Kamchatka, Kemerovo, Leningrad, Magadan, Moscow, Perm, Sverdlovsk, and Chita regions, and the city of Moscow as regions with the highest degree of technogenic hazard at hazardous production facilities.

Emergency situation in the demographic development of our country.

Over the last ten years, the following negative trends have manifested themselves and, moreover, intensified:

1. steady depopulation and progressive aging of the population;

2. low birth rate, which does not even ensure simple reproduction of the population;

3. excess mortality of the working-age population (especially men), high infant mortality, unfavorable dynamics of population health indicators and expected average life expectancy;

4. ) increasing complexity of the migration situation, caused by the presence of irrational flows of intra-Russian and interstate migration;

5. a significant increase in the proportion of persons above working age.

In the late 1980s, population growth began to fall rapidly; in 1992, growth turned into population decline, and it is precisely this year that corresponds to the largest population of Russia — 148,704 thousand people. Today, according to Goskomstat of the Russian Federation, the country's population is 142.8 million people; in 2004 it decreased by 680 thousand people.

The main reason for the decline in population growth is the general trend of falling birth rates, which manifested itself in Russia starting in 1950. This year marked the beginning of a continuous decline in the birth rate of both urban and rural population.

This phenomenon is caused by such processes as urbanization, rising education levels, changes in the position of women in society, the need to invest more effort and resources in raising children, and others. This general trend of declining birth rates in the late 1980s was compounded by a decline in the birth rate associated with the entry into reproductive age of representatives of generations from the previous birth-rate decline, and by the social stress of the perestroika period.

An important reason for the decline in population growth is also high mortality, especially infant mortality: while in 1970 in Russia it was 23 per 1,000 births, in Germany — 23.6, in Portugal — 55.5, by 1990 in Russia it had decreased only to 17.4, in Germany to 6.7, and in Portugal — to 10.9 (A. Vishnevsky, 1998).

In those same 1960s, a decline in the country's average life expectancy began: while in 1987 the average life expectancy of Russian men was 65 years, and of women — 74.6 years, today, according to Goskomstat of Russia (2002), the average life expectancy of men is only 58 years and 11 months, and of women — 72 years. These results look especially tragic against the background of data on male life expectancy in other countries: in Japan — 77 years, in the USA — 73 years, in Chile — 72.4, in Armenia — 70.5 years, in Iran — 68 years, in Egypt — 65 years. Russia is at the same level as Zimbabwe in this indicator.

According to the same source, the causes of death of Russians were: diseases of the circulatory system — 55.8%; cancer — 12.7%; other diseases (infectious, respiratory, digestive) — 9.1%; accidents, poisonings, injuries — 14%; road traffic accidents — 1.7%; alcohol poisoning — 1.7%; suicides — 2.5%; murders — 1.9%. Terrible statistics: in a single year Russia loses almost 40 thousand people on the roads, more than in all the military conflicts of the last 20 years.

Today, healthy life expectancy in developed countries for men ranges from 60 to 65 years with a life expectancy of 70—75 years, and for women — 63—68 years with a life expectancy approaching 80 years, which is significantly higher than in Russia. According to V.I. Danilov-Danilyan and K.S. Losev (2000), in essence, for many years there has been a squandering of the labor resource in Russia; Goskomstat of Russia calculated in 1997 four scenarios for the development of the demographic situation up to 2010. Under all scenarios, Russia's population will decrease: under the most optimal one by 3.5 million people, and under the most «rigid» one — by 12.5 million people. In the 2000 Address of the President of the Russian Federation, it was said with alarm that in 15 years there could be 22 million fewer Russians...