The WHO said that in many cities, particularly in the developing world, the level of small-particle pollution is three times the WHO-recommended level.
Small particles, caused mainly by burning fossil fuels, are too small to be filtered in the nose and throat and settle in the lungs, where they cause health problems.
(AFP, AP, dpa)
The Post-Soviet Environment
The skull of a male saiga antelope in Kalmykia. Saiga numbers have collapsed disastrously over the last decade. (shpilenok.com)
THE FRAGILE PLANET: Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, old environmental disasters have come to light and new ones have emerged. War, poverty, and weak central-government control have led to serious environmental problems from Eastern Europe to the Russian Far East. RFE/RL has provided extensive coverage of these important issues and of efforts to cope with them.
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