An important study of the pervasive nature of biosphere disruption and environmental contaminants in the USSR. The extent to which the environmental problems are damaging the Soviet populace and the resource base is examined. Topics given specific attention include pollution, energy resources, toxic waste, biotic conservation and landscape preservation.
List of illustrations; List of tables; Foreword by Zeev Wolfson; Preface; 1. Introduction: the state of the Soviet environment in the 1990s; 2. Managing the Soviet atmosphere; 3. The Chernobyl legacy: whither nuclear energy?; 4. Renewable energy resources; 5. The quest for clean water; 6. Controlling toxic and urban wastes; 7. Managing Soviet forest resources; 8. Soviet nature reserves; 9. National parks: a new feature on the Soviet landscape; 10. Managing wildlife and endangered species; 11. Protecting the land; 12. The water crisis in Soviet Central Asia; 13. Assessing the environmental impacts of development; 14. Glasnost and public environmental activism; 15. International environmental cooperation; 16. The future environment of the Soviet Union; References; Index.