Air quality in Krasnodar

What is the air quality index of Krasnodar?

Krasnodar is the largest city and the administrative centre of Krasnodar Krai. It is located in southern Russia and stands on the Kuban River. In 2018, its estimated population was just under 1 million people.

In early 2021, Krasnodar was experiencing “Moderate” quality air with a US AQI figure of 53. This is according to recommended figures from the World Health Organisation (WHO). The recorded concentration of PM2.5 was 13 µg/m³. With levels such as these, the advice is to close doors and windows to prevent the ingress of dirty air and those of a sensitive disposition should avoid outdoor exercise until the air quality improves.

What is the main source of Krasnodar’s polluted air?

As in other major cities in Russia, the primary mode of transportation in Krasnodar is the automobile. In the Krasnodar Territory as of 1^st January 2019, the number of passenger cars amounted to more than 1.8 million units, which equates to 328 cars per thousand inhabitants. Only Moscow and the Moscow region has more cars per capita.

Although efforts are underway to increase the availability of alternative modes, such as the construction of light railways (projected), cycle paths, and wide pavements and footpaths. Public transportation within Krasnodar mainly consists of city buses, trolleybuses, trams, and marshrutkas (routed taxis). Trolleybuses and trams which are both powered by overhead electric wires are the main forms of public transportation in Krasnodar, which does not have a metro system. The trolleybuses and trams are very clean modes of transportation, thus lowering the levels of air pollution within the city.

Is air pollution in Krasnodar getting better or worse?

In 2020, emissions of harmful substances in the atmosphere decreased by 2.8 times over the year. This moved the region down in the rankings from 5^th to 10^th place.

Krasnodar and the surrounding area is one of the ten regions in Russia with the highest total annual emissions which were over 495 thousand tons in 2019. It also has the accolade of being in the top twenty regions with the highest total emissions per unit area.

Total emissions decreased almost 3 times from 1.3 million tonnes in 2018 to 495 thousand tons in 2019. The reduction is partly due to a change in the method for calculating the emission of harmful substances from vehicles. During the course of the year, the indicator in the region decreased nine fold. Emissions from vehicles were estimated at 567 thousand tons in 2018 and transport accounted for 40 per cent of atmospheric pollution, in 2019 the share decreased to 63.3 thousand tons indicating a 13 per cent reduction.

Krasnodar has a very high level of air pollution and it is increasing. Over the past five years, the amount of dust in the regional capital has increased by more than 50 per cent.

What can be done to improve the air quality in Krasnodar?

Russian enterprises and transport emitted 22.7 million tons of pollutants into the atmosphere in 2019. It was noted that out of 495,000 tons of pollution in the Krasnodar Territory, 432,000 tons was produced by industry and transport is responsible for the rest.

Payment for environmental pollution is a form of compensation for economic damage from emissions and discharges of pollutants into the natural environment. Paying for pollution does not exempt users of natural resources from taking measures to protect the natural environment, as well as from paying penalties for environmental violations and compensation for damage caused by environmental pollution to the national economy, health and property of citizens.

What are the effects of poor quality air on living conditions in Krasnodar?

The anthropogenic load on the environment leads to a deterioration in the living conditions of the urban population due to the disturbance of the ecological balance. Air pollution is one of the main environmental problems in cities. The purity of air is a factor that directly affects public health. The atmosphere has an enormous impact on the hydrosphere, soil, plants, buildings and other structures. According to a report, the level of pollution in 123 cities in Russia, where 52 per cent of the urban population live, is characterised as high and very high. In the Krasnodar Territory, the share of the population who experience high and very high levels of air pollution is 37 per cent. This primarily applies to the capital of the region.

Like other large cities, Krasnodar is experiencing a serious environmental burden from industrial enterprises, boiler houses and transportation. Air, water, soil and also foodstuffs contain harmful impurities such as oxides of carbon, nitrogen, sulphur, methane, heavy metals, pesticides and other toxic impurities that negatively affect human health. This influence is aggravated by bad habits such as smoking, drug use and alcohol abuse. Therefore, studies devoted to monitoring the environmental situation and its impact on human health are becoming more and more relevant.

Does agriculture contribute to poor air quality in and around Krasnodar?

Agriculture is not normally included in the “rating” of air pollutants. It is clear that there are not so many stationary sources of pollution in the same crop production which is the main branch of agriculture in the South of Russia, however, if the statistics took into account the volume of pollution to which the atmospheric air is exposed as a result of unauthorised burning of plant residue in the fields, then the picture would be completely different.

This year, the local authorities have carried out some very interesting calculations. The environmental department became interested in the practice of mass burning of rice straw and husk which is the residual from milling rice. Based on the harvest of 2013, which in that year amounted to 800,000 tons of grain. With such a yield, the same amount of rice straw was produced which was about 800,000 tons. Because the ratio of "grain-straw" for most grain crops is 1: 1, as well as 150,000 tons of husk.

The publication refers to calculations made by specialists. If we assume that up to 800,000 tons of rice straw are burned in the Kuban area during the season, then at least 16,000 tons of carbon dioxide are also emitted into the atmosphere at a time and this is not counting the emissions of soot or black carbon, which can be carried over great distances by atmospheric currents