Māris kļaviņŠ, azamat azizov, JĀnis zaļoksnis environment, pollution, development: the case of uzbekistan

Figure 9.1. 
Cotton field 
in Uzbekistan

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188 
ENVIRONMENT, POLLUTION, DEVELOPMENT:  THE CASE OF UZBEKISTAN
Waste dumping is a significant source of soil degradation, and it 
may cause soil contamination not only locally but also on a regional 
scale, and even in deep groundwater. Underground disposal of 
pollutants – for example, pumping them more than one kilometre 
deep into the ground – may delimit their immediate action; however, 
the consequences may come about in the more distant future.
After  the  nuclear  reactor  accident,  the  fallout  of  radioactive 
isotopes (as seen in the 
137
Cs example) occurred for the most part 
in  the  region  of  the  accident  site,  whereas  a  significant  part  of 
radioactive elements was carried away with air masses and reached 
even the Scandinavian countries. 
The soil contamination caused by human activity can be not only 
local; it may also affect vast territories – as it happened, for example, 
as  a  consequence  of  the  Chernobyl  nuclear  disaster  (Figure 9.2), 
and the radioactive contamination also gradually permeates the 
groundwaters. 
ESTONIA
LATVIA
LITHUANIA
POLAND
GERMANY
CZECH
REPUBLIC
RUSSIA
RUSSIA
BELARUS
UKRAINE
B
al
ti
c 
 S
ea
Baltā jūra
DENMARK
137
Cs concentration, kBq/m
2
1480  185 
40 
10 
2
Chernobyl NPP
NOR WAY
SWEDEN
FINLAND
Soil environ ment and the litho sphere can be contaminated by 
the substances which have gained access thereto directly as well as 
the substances arriving with atmo spheric precipitation or waters. 
Sulfur and nitrogen oxides, brought by precipitation into the soil 
are able to change its composition significantly and even to affect 
groundwater. 
A  significant  source  of  soil  and  litho sphere  pollution  is  the 
dumping of waste, which may lead to localized, but in the event 
of pollution dispersion, also regional soil or even quite deep 
groundwater pollution. Deposition of pollutants underground, such 
Virtually all groups of 
major pollutants – inclu‑
ding organic compounds 
(volatile organic and 
halogenated organic 
compounds, oil products, 
easily degradable 
organic substances) and 
inorganic compounds 
(radioactive elements, 
heavy metals, toxic trace 
elements) – cause the 
soil and lithosphere 
contamination.