I Sherbitskis’s scientific contributions

The analysis is made of natural and anthropogenic sources of methane emission into the atmosphere-one of the important greenhouse gases. New quantitative estimates of methane intake from wetland ecosystems, municipal solid waste landfills, agricultural production, and rapidly developing oil and gas industry are given. The dynamics of oil and gas industry development and possible losses of natural gas are analyzed in the chain: oil and gas exploration-production-transportation-underground storage. Quantitative estimates of methane losses in this chain indicate the leading role of oil and gas industry in the methane dynamics in the Earth's atmosphere over the last 50 years. The ways of reducing methane emission into the atmosphere are suggested.

The purpose of this study is to conduct environmental assessment with the help of different biological benchmarks on the territory of a town where there is no significant industry load. The aspects explored are the morphoses of tree vegetation, fluctuating asymmetry of leaves, changes in soil biological activity in an urban setting, and particular physical and chemical characteristics of the ecological situation: soil pollution with heavy metals, air pollution, geomagnetic field intensity. Simultaneously we analyzed the public health of the town according to the incidence of acute respiratory infection, pneumonia, angina, asthma, allergic rhinitis and atopic dermatitis. The zone of maximum ecological comfort in the town was marked on the border with the pioneer settlement sites of the Vyatichi tribe in the area (ancient settlements of Teshilov and Pushchino) and with the ancestor of the town – the village of Pushchino. Even though anthropogenic load of the town is not heavy, the interconnection between the integral estimate of ecological state and public health on the level of residential areas of the town proved to be significant (correlation coefficient is 0,65). Keywords: environmental quality, plant dichotomy, fluctuating asymmetry, soil biological activity, heavy metals, geomagnetic field, public health risk, population risk, health damage.

METHANE IN THE ATMOSPHERE: DYNAMICS AND SOURCES This article is dedicated to the problem of the atmospheric concentration increase of one of the most dangerous greenhouse gases-methane, the main component of natural gas. The main natural and anthropogenic sources of methane emission are described in the article. The dynamics of oil and gas industry development and possible losses of natural gas are analyzed by the authors in the chain: oil and gas exploration-production-transportation-underground storage. Quantitative estimates of methane losses in this chain indicate the leading role of oil and gas industry in the methane increasing dynamics in the Earth's atmosphere over the last 50 years. The ways of possible reduction of methane emission into the atmosphere are suggested in the final part of the article.