Impact assessment of the fuel and energy complex on the ecological state of the Gulf of Ob waters

Abstract

Ensuring environmental safety in the Arctic, where most large hydrocarbon deposits are concentrated, is one of the main problems of the 21st century. At the same time, the Gulf of Ob is a strategically important area where grandiose energy resource and transport projects are being implemented. An important indicator of environmental safety is the research of atmospheric impurities on the surface of the large bay of the Kara Sea, which has not been sufficiently studied to date. The purpose of the research is to assess the impact of the activities of the fuel and energy complex on the ecological state of the waters of the Gulf of Ob for 2016-2020 using geographic information systems. The Earth program was used in the research; statistical processing of the results was carried out using IBM SPSS Statistics 21 software. It has been established that in the winter period of the year, in contrast to the summer, on the surface of the water area of the Gulf of Ob there is a significant increase in the concentration of gaseous impurities and a decrease in suspended particles, especially over the water area of the Gulf of Ob at the northern latitude of 68.80º an area of intensive gas production. Moreover, in the summer, the content of suspended particles (PM1, PM2.5, PM10), as well as the CO concentration at this latitude were higher compared to the more northern latitude. Thus, the intensive development of the fuel and energy complex in this region is associated with an environmental component (carbon footprint) on the surface of the Gulf of Ob, which requires a more in-depth research within the carbon polygon.