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Environmental concerns[edit | edit source]

Natural hazards

NA

Environment - current issues

• Air Quality- Air quality in Belarus has been an issue for many years in the past. Although in recent years the quality of the air has been improving by almost 50% according to the Organization of Economic Co-Operation and Development. The increased use of natural gas and alternative energy to burning coal is the leading the fight against the pollution. Policies implemented in Belarus can also be seen as a leading cause of the quality of air going up and becoming better. Fines and Fees may be used to enforce rules and regulations and also to keep awareness of the issue known as well. The money brought in from the fees and fines are used by the Environmental Fund in Belarus.
• Soil pollution from pesticide use.
• South-Eastern part of the country contaminated with fallout from 1986 accident at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, Ukraine, receiving about 60% of total fallout. Vast amounts of territory in Homyel and Mahilyow voblasts rendered uninhabitable. Roughly 7,000 km² (2,700 sq mi) of soil were contaminated by caesium-137 to levels greater than 15 curies (550 gigabecquerels) per square kilometer, i.e., taken from human usage for indefinite time. In 1996 the areas contaminated with over 1 Ci/km² (37 GBq/km²) of caesium-137 constituted about 21% of the total territory (only 1% decrease compared to 1986), and in 2002 over 1.5 million people still lived in this area.

Environment - international agreements

• Party to treaties: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

Chernobyl Disaster[edit | edit source]

The most notorious legacy of pollution from the Soviet era is the Chernobyl Disaster of 1986. It has been estimated that 70% of the atmospheric radiation was blown into Belarus from Ukraine causing health issues for approximately 25% of its population; Homyel and Mahilyow are some of the most highly affected Providences. Two million people (including 600,000 children), whom lived in areas that were heavily affected by the radiation, claimed to have serious issues after the event. Swedish scientists pressured The Soviet government, who tried to cover up the accident, to explain why there were higher levels of radiation now in Sweden.

The Belarusian government's request to the Soviet government for a minimum of 17 billion roubles to deal with the consequences was answered with Moscow's offer of only 3 billion roubles. According to one official in 1993, the per capita expenditure on the accident was one kopeck in Russia, three kopecks in Ukraine, and one rouble (100 kopecks) in Belarus.

Despite the government's establishment of the State Committee for Chernobyl, the enactment of laws limiting who may stay in contaminated areas, and the institution of a national program for research on the effects, little progress was made in coping with the consequences of the disaster, owing to the lack of money and the government's sluggish attitude. In 1994, a resettlement program for 170,000 residents was woefully underbudgeted and far behind schedule. To assist victims of Chernobyl, a Western organization called the Know-How Fund provided many Belarusian doctors with training in the latest bone-marrow techniques of Europe and the United States.

The long-range effects of the disaster include an increasing incidence of various kinds of cancer and birth defects; congenital defects in newborns are reported to be 40% higher than before the accident. Tainted water, livestock, farm produce, and land are widespread, and the extensive wetlands retain high concentrations of radiation. Cleanup of the disaster accounted for 14% of the state budget in 1995. Other environmental problems include widespread chemical pollution of the soil, which shows excessive pesticide levels, and the industrial pollution present near most of the large cities.