Aspects of Atmospheric Pollution in Siberia

This chapter considers specific atmospheric pollution problems in Siberia, the current state of studies and strategic activities, and peculiarities of Siberian environmental protection problems, risk assessment, and tendencies in atmospheric pollution in Siberia, including health-affecting pollutants, greenhouse gases, aerosols, etc. The chapter does not presume to cover all the aspects of atmospheric pollution in Siberia. Its main focus is a short general overview of the existing problems of airborne pollution in Siberia and methodological aspects of air pollution impact assessments followed by several examples of such studies for Siberia. In particular, the following issues are described: (1) sources and characteristics of air pollution in Siberia, (2) air quality and atmospheric composition characterization, (3) assessment of airborne pollution in Siberia from air and space, (4) methodology and models for air pollution assessment on different scales, and (5) case studies of long-range atmospheric transport of heavy metals from industries of the Ural and Norilsk regions.