Anthropo-technogenic load on the environment of the Khopyor River Region

The primary sources of anthropogenic and technogenic impacts on the environment of urban and suburban areas of the Voronezh and Saratov Regions which are part of the Khopyor River Region have been identified. Among the combined urbanized and man-made sources it is necessary to distinguish the activity of pedestrians and road transport. These conditions characterize the local background of the total anthropo-technological load in relation to the settlements of the research area. Its main manifestations include soil compaction, density of the road and path network and clutter. Arithmetic mean values of degradation impacts were analyzed for settlements in the subregion under consideration. A scale of point-based environmental assessment of the state of the environment is developed for differentiated localities in the Khopyor River Region. High anthropogenic and technogenic load is found in Balashov, middle - in Borisoglebsk, Rtishchevo, low - in Povorino and Gribanovsky, an extremely low load - in Romanovka, Arkadak and Novokhopersk. The obtained and analyzed values of anthropogenic and technogenic loads on the environment demonstrate the features of its state and the direction of its degradation, the levels of environmental comfort of urbanized areas for the population. The system of environmental quality management, urban and suburban environmental management in the Khopyor River Region should be reoriented to an ecosystem basis using the environmental assessment criteria and the environmental monitoring results presented and analyzed in this paper.