Top 10 most environmentally polluted places on the planet
99% of scientists agree that the Earth's climate is changing with great speed, faster than they can perform. The remaining percentage of scientists oil and other industrial companies pay generous subsidies, to cover up the shameful consequences of its activities. Carbon dioxide is only one of many causes of global climate change. A much more serious problem is the methane is about 17 times more toxic than carbon dioxide.
As glaciers melt in the oceans, produces methane, which was hidden for millions of years in the form of frozen plants. If all the Greenland glaciers with a volume of 2.3 cubic kilometres of melt, the global sea level will rise by 7.2 meters, and the hundred most populous cities in the world will be completely under water. It is unknown how long the second largest ice sheet in the world can melt away, but worst of all, the biggest glacier in Antarctica — has already started to melt.
Over the last years huge amount of hazardous waste fell into the Earth's atmosphere. Industry and fuel companies are destroying natural resources, cut down forests and release deadly substances into the atmosphere. On Earth there are places which seem to have nothing will help, only time.
10. Agbogbloshie, Ghana — landfill e-waste.
A large part of the electronics that we throw away is likely to be in the huge, constantly burning dump in Ghana. Here the horrific content of mercury in 45 times more than allowed in the United States. More than 250 thousand citizens of Ghana live in dangerous for health and life conditions. This is especially true of those whose job is poking around in this dump in search of metals to be recycled.
9. Norilsk, Russia — the mines and metallurgy.
Once there were camps for enemies of the people, and now it is the second largest city in the Arctic circle. The first mines appeared here in the 1930's, when nobody thought about ecology. Here is the world's largest smelting complex for heavy metals, which allocates about two million tons of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere every year. The miners live in Norilsk is ten years less than the world average. This is one of the most polluted places in Russia: even the snow tastes of sulphur and black color. Sulphur dioxide emissions cause diseases such as lung cancer.
8. The Niger Delta, Nigeria — the oil spill.
Every day from this zone is pumped about two million barrels of oil. About 240 thousand barrels falls into the Niger Delta. From 1976 to 2001 is estimated at about seven thousand oil spills in the river, and a large portion of this oil was never collected. The spill heavily polluted air, which was such carcinogens as polycyclic hydrocarbons. According to estimates cited in the 2013 study, pollution caused by spills, has a huge impact on the crops of cereals, which led to a rise in digestive disorders in children by 24%. Among other consequences of an oil spill also referred to as cancer and infertility.
7. The Matanza-Riachuelo, Argentina — industrial pollution.
About 15 thousand companies dump toxic waste directly into the river the Matanza-Riachuelo, which flows through the capital of Argentina is Buenos Aires. The people who live there have almost no sources of clean drinking water. Here, the high level of diseases associated with diarrhea, Oncology and respiratory diseases, which reaches 60% among the 20 thousand people living on the banks of the river.
6. Hazaribagh, Bangladesh — leather production.
About 95% of the registered tanneries factories in Bangladesh are located in Hazaribagh district in the capital, Dhaka. Here are the use of obsolete and banned in other countries methods of leather tanning, not to mention the fact that all these industries emit about 22 thousand QUALITROL toxic chemicals in a major river. Hexavalent chromium, which is contained in waste, causing cancer. Residents have to put up with a high level of respiratory and skin diseases, as well as with acid burns, nausea, dizziness and itching.
5. River valley Citarum, Indonesia industrial and domestic pollution.
The level of mercury in the river more than a thousand times higher than the standards of the American Agency of environmental protection. Additional research has revealed shockingly high levels of toxic metals, including manganese, iron and aluminum. The capital of Indonesia, Jakarta is a city with a population of 10 million people. River valley Citarum covered a large variety of toxic waste — industrial and domestic, which is dumped directly into the river water. Fortunately, the authorities have taken the initiative to clean the river, which will be financed by a loan from the Asian development Bank on $ 500 million.
4. Dzerzhinsk, Russia — chemical production.
300 thousand tons of chemical waste dumped in and around the town from 1930 to 1998. In 2007 the Dzerzhinsk entered the Guinness Book of records as the most toxic town on the planet. In water samples detected levels of dioxins and phenol thousands of times greater than normal. These substances are directly related to cancer and diseases, leading to disability. In 2006, the average life expectancy of women here was 47 years and for men is 42 years old with a population of 245 thousand people.
3. Chernobyl, Ukraine — an accident at a nuclear power plant.
The accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant holds the title of worst nuclear disaster in history. The release of radiation in the accident was about one hundred times more than the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The surroundings of the city are empty for more than 20 years. It is believed that about 4 thousand cases of thyroid cancer, and mutations in newborns caused by the effects of the disaster.
2. "Fukushima Daichi" Japan — the accident at the nuclear power plant.
After the earthquake, 15 meter tsunami has covered the cooling blocks and the power of the three reactors "Fukushima" that has led to the nuclear accident of 11 March 2011. More than 280 thousand tons of chemical waste water retained on the plant now, and another 100 thousand tons of water, as believe, are in the basements of the four reactor and turbine shops. The emergency workers tried to send robots, but they melted when he got too close. People in the area at risk of Contracting a variety of cancers. According to the world health organization, is the most polluted place in the world. Here 70% higher risk of getting thyroid cancer among girls who were exposed in childhood, 7% higher risk of thyroid cancer among boys and 6% higher risk of breast cancer in women.
1. Lake Karachay, Russia.
It is believed that lake Karachay is the most dirty place on Earth. It is located close to the production Association "Mayak", which produces nuclear weapon components, isotopes, storage and regeneration of spent nuclear fuel. It is the largest and one of the least efficient such plants in Russia. It throws waste into the river, which flows into lake Karachai, from the 1950s years. The location was kept secret until the mid 1990-ies. Have been several nuclear accidents, and toxic wastes went into the lake. Before the authorities acknowledged these facts, the population of the Chelyabinsk region increased by 40% the number of cases of leukemia, 25% — birth defects — 20% of cancer. Enough exposure for one hour at the lake to die.