ANALYSIS OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL SITUATION IN THE URAL ECONOMIC REGION

摘要

The Urals economic region includes 5 Oblasts (Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk, Perm, Orenburg and Kurgan) and 2 Republics (Bashcortostan and Udmurtia). By the level of industrial output the Urals shared the second place among eleven economic regions of Russia with the traditional industrial specialization in the field of mining, metallurgy, heavy machinery, nuclear industry. The uncontrolled growth of vast industrial enterprises, most of which are outmoded, has led to the large number of pollution problems. Many articles in the popular press and scientific literature describe the pollution problems as close to a disaster. The objective of this study has been to estimate the extent of environmental impact and environmental quality problems in the region and rank Oblasts and Republics of the Urals according to the severity of environmental conditions. The following data have been analyzed: emission of air pollutants from stationary sources from an area point of view and air quality in the largest industrial cities, discharge of contaminated waters into the rivers, toxicity of discharges and surface water quality, accumulation and production of dangerous toxic wastes.