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The World's 10 Dirtiest Cities

Posted by samzenpus on from the none-more-dirty dept.

neever writes "You may already know about the pollution plight of Linfen, China. But how about the heavy metals Pittsburghers breathe in on a daily basis? Or the incomparable smog Milanesi put up with? PopSci has culled an eye-opening selection of some of the world's most problematic cities. From the painfully high cancer rates in Sumgayit, Azerbaijan to the acid rain destroying La Oroya, Peru, writer Jason Daley walks readers through the lowest of the low; and explains why, despite it all, there's still hope for these places."

13 of 286 comments (clear)

  1. Bad air... by BWJones · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I don't know which cities are listed as the Popsci servers seem to be down, but a couple of weeks ago flying out of Los Angeles, the pollution seemed pretty bad as can be seen in this picture of the afternoon sun over the San Gabriel Mountains.

    From some of my other travels throughout the world, I am guessing that L.A. is not even close to how dirty some cities can get particularly in Russia. If the air is worse than it is in L.A., then it should really, really make you worry.

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    1. Re:Bad air... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I have a friend from China that was excited to be able to find the sun. First spotting in 10 years. I realize there are a lot of high buildings in China, so you wouldn't necessarily notice it unless you were looking, but that still surprised me quite a bit.

      It's come a long way, but you can smell the air, sometimes quite strongly.

    2. Re:Bad air... by Bandman · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I was staying outside of LA in a high rise hotel a few years ago, and you could see the buildings of LA on the horizon, and they looked like they were covered by a slightly yellow dome of smog. It was very discernible, and seemed to have a solid line differentiating it from the clear air above.

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    3. Re:Bad air... by cayenne8 · · Score: 4, Interesting
      "I was staying outside of LA in a high rise hotel a few years ago, and you could see the buildings of LA on the horizon, and they looked like they were covered by a slightly yellow dome of smog. It was very discernible, and seemed to have a solid line differentiating it from the clear air above."

      Hmm....speaking of LA.

      :-)

      I gotta figure that New Orleans, LA is in that list...Lordy, people here have no idea what a trash can is, they just throw shit in the streets. I guess a lot of it comes from getting used to having street sweepers follow behind you like after Mardi Gras parades...or the way the Quarter gets 'magically ' cleaned up every day.

      And, as far as pollution goes...well, that little strip from NOLA westward isn't called 'cancer alley' for nothing. Part of the price I guess of supplying about 1/3 of the energy (oil and gas) needs of the rest of the nation. But, hell....we may not live long, but, we live it up while we're here.

      :-)

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    4. Re:Bad air... by ShannaraFan · · Score: 4, Interesting

      No offense, but New Orleans is disgusting. I was there 7 years ago, stayed at some fancy hotel in the French Quarter (don't remember the name, company paid for it). Everywhere you walk, your shoes make that sticky sound like velcro, every alley you walk past smells like piss. Honestly reminded me of some cheap bars from my college days. I don't want to know what was making the sidewalks sticky, I was just glad to leave there. Nasty, gross place.

    5. Re:Bad air... by cayenne8 · · Score: 3, Interesting
      "No offense, but New Orleans is disgusting. I was there 7 years ago, stayed at some fancy hotel in the French Quarter (don't remember the name, company paid for it). Everywhere you walk, your shoes make that sticky sound like velcro, every alley you walk past smells like piss. Honestly reminded me of some cheap bars from my college days. I don't want to know what was making the sidewalks sticky, I was just glad to leave there. Nasty, gross place."

      Yeah...I'll admit it used to get kinda bad. That has changed since the storm tho. They have hired a new company to manage garbage and cleaning the Quarter. They even have a special formula they spray on the streets and trash areas every morning....that is pretty nice smelling.

      I forget their name, but they really do do a good job now, and that smell of spilled drinks, puke, garbage is no longer there like it used to be at times in the past.

      Frankly I was amazed how nice it was down there last time I went down there.

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
  2. It doesn't have to be that way... by shanen · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Server is already /.ed?

    Anyway, I live in one of the minor million-plus cities of Japan near Tokyo, and I just want to note that you can have a high-tech, high-quality lifestyle without destroying your environment. Whenever I hear a story like this, I think about running into quail the morning, almost literally. They are sometimes foraging within a few feet of the gate, and they figure people are basically harmless to about 3 meters. There's a little river two stations up, and it's heavily populated with half-meter carp. I walked about half a kilometer along it the other day, and there were almost always fish visible, and sometimes scores of fish. It's a matter of priorities, I think--but I was annoyed a couple of years ago when they cut down a pretty large bamboo grove and built a bunch of houses there...

    Not sure of all of the reasons, but I feel like good mass transit is a big chunk of it. Heavy recycling probably helps, though they recently increased the garbage collection taxes quite a bit.

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  3. Sepultura FTW! by Siener · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Actually they only get second place on this list (Cubatao, Brazil).

    From the lyrics of their 1993 song Biotech is Godzilla:

    Like Cubatao
    "World's most polluted town"
    Air-melts your face
    Deformed children all around
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    siener's youtube channel
  4. Does anybody know more comprehensive list? by llirik · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It would be nice to find a list of all major cities ranked by their pollution level. I would be curious to see NYC vs London vs Paris vs Tokyo vs Beijing.

  5. In Beijing at the moment by sith · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The first time I visited Beijing, I was frankly shocked that life can exist in this environment. I'm in Beijing again right now, and have just gotten used to the idea that you need to budget some time each morning to hack up gunk from your lungs. I'm less than 1 kilometer from the forbidden city at the moment, but can't see it. I know it's there, because a rainstorm earlier this week cleared the air enough to see that far.

    Great city once you get past the air though...

  6. You think that's bad... by jaaron · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Check out Guangzhou, China. I've been there several times and never seen a clear day there. Though I hear Xian is worse.

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  7. China in general vs. California during fires by istartedi · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Recent fires in California have turned the Sun that subtle orange color, and left the air with a noticeable stench of smoke. On a local Bay Area network TV station, they interviewed a woman who had just flown back from China. She said that these conditions were ALMOST as bad. Almost??? That blew my mind. Imagine living with smoke worse than this ALL YEAR LONG.

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  8. Some additional info by Tweenk · · Score: 5, Interesting

    1. In Norilsk the soil around the city is so polluted that it's economically feasible to mine it for nickel.
    2. There is an alternative list with more information and better research from the Blacksmith Institute: The World's Worst Polluted Places. (However, it contains Europe's biggest de facto nature reserve as one of the most polluted places in the world (Chernobyl exclusion zone))

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