Possibilities of Sustainable Development including Improvement in Air Quality for the City of Murmansk-Examples of Best Practice from Scandinavia

Miłosz Huber,Stanisław Chmiel,Olga Iakovleva,Galina Zhigunova,Marija Menshakova,Adrianna Rusek

doi:10.3390/cli10020015

Abstract

The Russian city of Murmansk has about 300,000 inhabitants and is located inside the Arctic Circle in NE Scandinavia (Russia). It has one of the largest such concentrations of people in the Arctic. The city is a scientific, industrial, cultural, and transportation centre (an ice-free port in the so-called Northern Sea Route, connecting Europe with Asia). Currently, air pollution in the city is associated with outdated city heating technology, coal dust from the port and vehicular traffic, and so-called “small emissions”. The authors propose practical solutions based on known examples of Scandinavian cities with similar climatic conditions such as: the modernisation of heat energy acquisition; diversification of energy acquisition including renewable sources; thermal insulation of buildings; arrangement of urban greenery with dust-catching plants, and proposals for changing the habits within the population by promoting the use of public transport.

Highlights

The city of Murmansk, located inside the Arctic Circle in NE Scandinavia, is a vibrant city
The field study was conducted in the summer of 2016 in the city centre area, where soil and render samples were collected for the study of environmental quality and cu3 mofu15
In 2016, dust samples were taken in the summer from plants of broad-leaved plantain (Plantago major L.) in the city centre and facade samples from houses located in Murmansk

Summary

Introduction

The city of Murmansk, located inside the Arctic Circle in NE Scandinavia, is a vibrant city. With a population of about 300,000 [1], it is one of the largest cities in the Arctic and claims to be the “Capital of the Arctic” [2,3,4,5,6]. The port is currently an important hub for the transfer of goods between Russia and Europe, and America and Asia [13]. For this purpose, icebreakers are stationed in the city, paving the way for ships across the Arctic Ocean. The diplomatic consulates of Scandinavian countries are located in this city It is a cultural and industrial centre of supra-regional importance. It was founded in 1916 after the completion of the railway line from St

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