The lowlands and plains have been almost completely deforested, and nearly all remnants of the natural ecosystems that once provided a territorial system of ecological stability have been cleared. Megalomaniac intentions to construct waterways and dams endanger the last natural parts of Slovakia's rivers. The economy, characterized by a high demand for energy and raw materials, remains the cardinal problem. Although the Slovak Republic produced 3.5 million tons of pig iron and 4.7 million tons of steel in 1989, there is a shortage of domestic sources of certain high-quality raw materials that have been intensively exploited without regard for local environmental conditions. The result of this production-oriented economy is that industry consumes 63 percent of the electricity, and the overall per capita consumption of primary energy is three to seven times greater than in developed countries.
Industrial production is a major contributor to air pollution problems.
Slovakia remains ninth among European states in sulfur dioxide emissions, producing four times the sulfur dioxide of neighboring Austria. CO emissions, which in 1985 reached 65.7 kg per capita, declined to 59.4 kg per capita in 1991, but emissions of nitrous oxides increased from 38.2 kg per capita in 1985 to 44.2 kg per capita in 1991. These data include domestic stationary sources only, excluding transportation, transboundary emissions and household heating. Waste also poses great problems for the environment. Of the 34 million tons of total waste produced annually, 3.3 million tons is classified as hazardous.