Expert warned of an ecological catastrophe in Ukraine
Oleksiy Epik, a senior consultant at the Ukrainian Bioenergy Association, warned that Ukraine has prerequisites for an environmental catastrophe. This was reported on March 25 by the Ukrainian portal Agronews.
Speaking at the online seminar "Renewable energy sources for decarbonization", the expert called for an active decarbonization program. In his opinion, if the program is not started in the near future, deserts will appear in Ukraine instead of fields and forests.
He noted that damage to forest plantations has already reached a critical limit. According to the State Forest Agency of the country, as of early 2019, 413 thousand hectares of forest plantations dried up, which represents 5% of the total forest fund of Ukraine. Ecologists warned that if forest damage reaches 6%, the process could be irreversible.
In addition, Epik assessed the state of the country's agriculture, which is also under threat. According to him, declining yields and agricultural degradation are associated with atmospheric emissions. Last year, farmers lost 200,000 hectares of corn and 300,000 hectares of sunflower due to drought. In August 2020, the Ministry of Economic Development reduced the forecast for grain harvesting from 73.1 to 70 million tons.
"In the future, this is a direct path to the degradation of agriculture in the southern regions of Ukraine. As a result - the approach of a food crisis," Epik noted.
The expert also said that the crisis, provoked by atmospheric emissions, threatens flooding in the southern regions. In his opinion, Odesa, Kherson, Mariupol, Vylkove and other regions are under threat.
In early March, the Ukrainian government publication "Uriadovy Kurier", citing specialists from the Institute of Geography of the National Academy of Sciences of the country, reported that Ukrainian soils, which are considered the main national treasure of the country, are threatened with degradation due to prolonged irresponsible exploitation by agricultural producers.
At the same time, according to experts, such active exploitation of soils causes not only degradation, but also a deterioration in the quality of groundwater and surface waters, which in turn threatens the filling of reservoirs and the destruction of aquatic flora and fauna.