Ecological load on the industrial area of Irkutsk region

Abstract

Unfavorable ecological situation has arisen in the Irkutsk region. The Irkutsk region ranks third into the amount of pollutants emitted into air from stationary and mobile sources in the Siberian Federal District in 2017. The enterprise activities results in the emission of harmful substances into atmosphere. High concentration of air pollutants is observed in large cities of the Irkutsk region. The work is aimed at the calculation of the ecological load on the main industrial cities of the Irkutsk region for the period from 2008 to 2017. The relevance of the research issue is determined by the increasing intensity of anthropogenic impact and pollution of the urban environment by emissions from motor vehicles and industrial enterprises. We used data on emissions into the air in cities of the Irkutsk region, presented in the State reports as a source of information. In eight industrial cities of the region, the level of air pollution is assessed as high and very high. The cities of Bratsk and Irkutsk have been included over the years in the Priority List of Russian Cities with the highest air pollution index. All of these industrial cities of region have been experiencing a high anthropogenic load, resulted in heavy air pollution.