The NATO bombings of 1999 caused lasting damage to the environment of Serbia, with several thousand tons of toxic chemicals stored in targeted factories being released into the soil, atmosphere and water basins affecting humans and the local wildlife.[1]
In 2001, doctors at the Serb-run hospital in Kosovska Mitrovica say the number of patients suffering from malignant diseases has increased by 200% since 1998.[2] In the same year, the World Health Organization reported that data from Kosovo was inconclusive and called for further studies.[3]
A 2003 study by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Bosnia and Herzegovina stated that low levels of contaminate were found in drinking water and air particulate at DU penetrator impact points. The levels were stated as not a cause for alarm. Yet, Pekka Haavisto, chairman of the UNEP DU projects stated, "The findings of this study stress again the importance of appropriate clean-up and civil protection measures in a post-conflict situation."[4]
Pollution
Air pollution
According to a WHO report, Serbia has higher estimates of premature death due to air pollution than most countries in the European Union.[5] Assessments of air quality based on data from monitoring stations managed by national authorities indicate that the concentrations of air pollutants, especially particular matter, regularly exceed the levels that protect human health.[5] The report states that the main sources of outdoor air pollution in Serbia include the energy sector (thermal power plants, district heating plants and individual household heating), the transport sector, waste dump sites and industrial activities, such as the petrochemical industry complex in Pančevo and Novi Sad; cement factories in Popovac, Kosjerić and Beočin; chemical plants and metallurgical complexes in Smederevo, Sevojno and Bor; thermal power plants in Obrenovac, Lazarevac and Kostolac. Other documented sources of air pollution include fossil fuel-based individual household heating in periurban and rural towns and increasing road traffic, especially in large cities such as Belgrade, Novi Sad and Niš.
In January 2020, hundreds of people, some wearing surgical masks and respirators, attended a protest in Belgrade, demanding the government tackle severe air pollution.[6] In March, the Air Visual API website ranked Belgrade temporarily at the top of its global index of cities with the worst air pollution.[7]
Small Hydropower Plants
Around 100 small hydropower plants have been built in Serbia, according to the Ministry of Environmental Protection.[8] The state power company offers strong incentives and commits to buying electricity generated by the plants at a price 50 percent higher than the market rate. Helped by environmental activists, villagers in Rakita have removed pipes installed to serve a new hydroelectric power plant on the Rakitska river.[8]
Deforestation
According to Global Forest Watch, Serbia lost 52.8kha of tree cover from 2001 to 2019, equivalent to a 1.9% decrease in tree cover since 2000.[9]
^58-3Archived 2011-05-11 at the Wayback Machine: "From the Pancevo industrial complex (petrochemical plant, fertilizer plant and oil refinery), which stands at the confluence of the Tamis River and the Danube, more than 100 tons of mercury, 2,100 metric tons of 1.2-dichlorethane, 1,500 tons of vinyl chloride (3,000 times higher than permitted levels), 15,000 tons of ammonia, 800 tons of hydrochloric acid, 250 tons of liquid chlorine, vast quantities of dioxin (a component of Agent Orange and other defoliants), and significant quantities of sulphur dioxide and nitrates were released into the atmosphere, soil and waterways. From the Zastava car factory in Kragujevac, unknown quantities of pyralene oil leaked into the Lepenica River (a tributary of the Velika Morava) via the sewage system."