Most Polluted Cities in the World

"There's so much pollution in the air now that if it weren't for our lungs there'd be no place to put it." -Robert Orben

We are all living in an interdependent system of the environment and its people. And in a way that we live, we strain the environment and our planet with a lot of waste: sadly, a lot that is very toxic. Industry with its ugly face and ugly doings is bombarding the system, the planet's and our body's, with a tremendous amount of pollution, compelling attention toward the most polluted cities in the world. All this is, either in fast paces or in slow eventualities, taking a toll on the air that we breathe, the water that we drink, and the land that we totter on.

There is a huge impact on our health from toxic pollutants, heavy metals and radionuclides. The topmost toxic pollutants, worsening conditions of health of the human-population and of our ecosystem, in that respective order, are:

1. Lead
2. Mercury
3. Chromium
4. Arsenic
5. Pesticides
6. Radio-nucleotides

Here are some of the most polluted cities that have devastating effects on everyone who live in them and the natural beauty around them.

World's Most Polluted Cities

Linfen, China
Linfen in China, due to its legal and illegal coal mines are the causes of air pollution, making it the world's most polluted city. The pollution is so much that the amount of toxins in each breath of air is compared to that of smoking three packets of cigarettes a day. There is absolutely no use hanging out your laundry either. This hideous amount of smoke leads to major respiratory infections, chronic conditions, cancer and dysfunction of the lungs. The pollution in this leading city among the world's most polluted cities has a high rate of lung cancer, peripheral vascular disease, hypertension, arsenicosis, and premature death. This is one of the worst air polluted cities in the world.

Norlisk, Russia
The pristine Arctic sky has more behind it as it surrounds the smelting plants with clusters of chimneys in Norlisk. There is a mixture of various polutants, the prominent one being sulfur dioxide, resulting into acid rains. Norlisk, now one of the world's most polluted cities, was built alongside the metal-industry by prison-laborers in the time of Stalin. The plants were built in the late 1970s. The chief engineer, Igor Dmietriev, knew and said that "nine hundred thousand tons of suphur dioxide is emitted by this plant" and that too every year and this he further said is "the amount agreed with the government". The total amount of sulfur dioxide produced by all three plants is a horrendous almost 2 million tons a year. Now, there are very few children being born in Norlisk.

Chernobyl, Ukraine
In 1986, just after the nuclear explosion at Chernobyl, the radioactive pollution spread by the north-westerly wind, carried the radioactive cloud to Sweden, Holland, Belgium and the UK. The toxic heat and smoke emitted by the fires, didn't take long for scientists to notice that there was an abnormally large amount of radiation. The Soviet had it hushed up. But, since it was all out in the open now, the Soviet slowly started coming out and bringing out to light the catastrophe that had occurred, that would continue to afflict generations to follow with its bizarre ill-effects. The accident had contaminated 125,000 square miles of land in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine with radio-nucleotides, which can make anyone agog. The radioactive waste has led to grave consequences: a major one being gross genetic mutation. Even 20 years later, the sheep have to be checked for radiation before their meat is consumed as the radiation level was 400 times more than the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. People are still affected by down-syndrome, chromosomal aberrations and damages on the central nervous system.

Sumgayit, Azerbaijan
In the time of the Soviet days, in 1950, there was a mixture of toxic chemicals being produced toward the north of Baku. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, chemicals like lindane (up to 1981) and DDT has made the whole place roll into a grave-like appearance. Deaths due to cancer are 51% more than the national average. Most problems are due to the oil industry, especially concentrated in the city of Baku, which is in Sumgayit: one of the most polluted cities. There are about 2 meters of petroleum contamination is at the bottom of its harbor. They have a lot of smog in the air. The local factories using sodium hydroxide for petroleum production needs elemental mercury for its production. Mercury vapor coming being emanated is the cause of a lot of respiratory problems. The infant mortality rate is as low as 20.8 children per 1,000 live births in this world's most polluted city.

Kabwe, Zambia
The Zambian town of Kabwe is one of the world's most polluting cities, once boasting as one of the richest and largest mines in Africa since 1902, when they discovered lead deposits. But now since, the mines are disused and only a groaning, vicious shadow poses as toxic lead pollution to the earth and people there. Little children who play in the sands of Kabwe are the ones who bear its worst brunt. A chunk of about USD 15 million dollars has been set aside for the clean up. There are small steps being taken in order to curtail the amount of pollution and treat those affected by it. But certainly, a lot more is required in order to clear up the contamination that is still claiming lives of many innocents. The poisoning has results into anemia, vomiting, heavy kidney damage, retards mental growth, especially in children; and in severity can result into brain-damage and death.

The other major cities that come in the list are: Tianyingin China, La Oroya in Peru, Vapi in India, Sukinda in India, and Dzerzhinsk in Russia.

Seeing what is happening to the most polluted cities, we realize that we've now come to an age where there is only a fine line of what man knows as his need and his greed. The earth has enough to serve all our needs but not all our greeds. I do hope that blue skies don't become something that we read only about in woebegone books and poetry, clear waters only those that remain only a distant dream, and lush green pastures only peep forlornly out of old posters or images.

"Only after the last tree has been cut down, Only after the last river has been poisoned, Only after the last fish has been caught, Only then we will find money cannot be eaten."
- Cree Indian saying