Pollution of the Atmosphere and Its Consequences
Geoecological Condition and Requirements for Air Protection.
The atmosphere is one of the essential conditions for the emergence and existence of life on Earth.
The atmosphere - the air envelope of the Earth determines the overall thermal regime of its surface and protects against harmful cosmic rays. The air of the atmosphere is a mixture of gases in which liquid and solid particles are suspended.
For human life, air is the most important product of consumption. A person can survive without food for 5 weeks, without water for 8 days, and without air for 5 minutes. However, normal human activity requires not only the presence of air but also a certain level of its purity. Any deviation from the norm and, consequently, air pollution adversely affects human health.
Atmospheric air is classified as an inexhaustible resource.
Indeed, as a physical body, air is practically inexhaustible. However, changes in its composition in certain areas of the planet are so significant that qualitative depletion, as it were, "exhaustion" of this resource occurs. Therefore, in environmental protection practice, air is regarded as a resource that must be continuously cared for.
Air Pollution and Its Consequences.
Atmospheric pollution is understood as the presence in the air of gases, vapors, particles, solid and liquid substances, heat, and radiation that adversely affect humans, animals, plants, buildings, and structures. A pollutant can be any physical agent, chemical substance, or biological species (mainly microorganisms) that enters the environment or is formed in it in quantities exceeding natural levels.
By origin, pollutants are divided into natural, caused by natural, often abnormal processes in nature. This includes the influx of volcanic ash, cosmic dust, plant pollen, and sea salts. The most dangerous is anthropogenic pollution, as it occurs in the habitat of humans. Anthropogenic pollutants often do not have natural analogs.
Atmospheric pollutants are classified into mechanical, physical, and biological.
Mechanical pollutants include dust, phosphates, lead, mercury, and others. They are formed during the combustion of organic fuels and the production of building materials, which accounts for up to 90% of all pollutants.
Physical pollutants include thermal (the influx of heated gases into the atmosphere), light (deterioration of natural illumination of the area due to artificial light sources), and noise (as a result of anthropogenic noise). Noise is a combination of sounds of varying frequency and intensity. From a physiological point of view, noise is any unwanted sound that has a harmful effect on the human body.
Biological pollutants are mainly the result of the reproduction of microorganisms.
The problem of air pollution became prominent after the 20th century when humans significantly expanded the number of metals they used, began to produce synthetic fibers, plastics, and other substances that not only have properties unknown in nature but are also harmful to the organisms of the biosphere. These substances do not enter the natural cycle after their use. Moreover, waste from industrial activities increasingly pollutes the Earth's atmosphere.
One of the main sources of air pollution is industrial enterprises operating on solid and liquid fuels. Industry emits a large amount of solid unburned particles (soot, ash, dust) and harmful gases (carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides) and vapors into the atmosphere. Vapors and gases form mixtures with air, while solid and liquid particles create aerosol systems. Aerosols are defined as air or gas containing suspended solid or liquid particles. Aerosols are typically divided into dust, smoke, and fog.
According to experts, more than 60 tons of pollutants are emitted into the air of Bishkek daily. Harmful gases and dust accumulate over the city during winter, leading to the formation of smog. Smog (from the English smoke - smoke and fog - fog) disrupts the normal state of air in many cities and arises from the combination and reaction of dust-gas air pollution (carbon and nitrogen oxides) with adverse weather conditions - increased humidity (London-type smog) and severe frost (Alaskan-type smog). Severe smog causes suffocation, allergic reactions, and damage to vegetation, buildings, and structures. It is sad that the famous smog in London in 1952 caused over 4,000 people to become ill within just a few days.
Overall, the ecological condition of Bishkek requires special attention, as it ranks among the cities with the most unfavorable air pollution levels, particularly in terms of benz(a)pyrene content, being one of the five cities in the CIS with the highest pollution levels.
Monitoring the air quality in Bishkek is conducted based on nine components: dust, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide and dioxide, phenol, soluble sulfates, formaldehyde, and hydrogen cyanide.
Constant monitoring of air pollution in Bishkek is carried out by the Kyrgyz Republican Hydrometeorological Service. Systematic observations are conducted at stationary points located in different districts of the city along the busiest highways.
According to O. Ilminskaya (1997), the state of the air basin in Bishkek is deteriorating, despite the fact that most industrial enterprises are not operational. There is a direct correlation between atmospheric air pollution and human morbidity. Over the past 5-6 years, employees of the sanitary-epidemiological station have studied the structure of morbidity and mortality in various zones of Bishkek. Conventionally, the capital is divided into eastern (VPS) and western industrial zones (ZPS) and a clean residential area located south of Gorky Street, which includes several micro-districts. Over the last 5-6 years, the overall morbidity rate in the VPS has increased by 2.6 times, in the ZPS by 1.5 times. In the clean zone, this indicator has not changed, and the number of new formations has even slightly decreased.
In polluted areas, the dust content in the air has exceeded the maximum allowable concentration (MAC) by 10 times in certain months, carbon monoxide by up to 4 times, and nitrogen dioxide by 2.5 times. However, the pollution of air by benz(a)pyrene is particularly alarming. The central part of the capital is the most contaminated. Here, city highways are heavily congested with vehicles.
The highest concentration of mercury vapors in the air has been detected near the capital's chemical and pharmaceutical plant. It exceeded the MAC of this element, which is very dangerous for human health, by two times. According to selective gas-mercury surveys, increased mercury content in the air has also been found along streets with heavy vehicle traffic, such as L. Tolstoy, M. Gorky, Soviet, and Jibek-Jolu streets.
