Almost all Europeans still suffer from polluted air / Article / LSM.lv

Report: Almost all Europeans still suffer from polluted airRihards Plūme00:00 / 04:53

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According to a report published this week by the European Environment Agency, European Union, national and local policies and emission reductions in key sectors have improved air quality across Europe. Emissions from major air pollutants from transport have fallen significantly since 2000, despite increasing mobility and the associated increase in greenhouse gas emissions. Emissions from energy supply have also decreased significantly. However, the reduction of emissions from buildings and agriculture has been slow.

According to the report, six European Union Member States – Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Italy, Poland and Romania – exceeded the fine particulate matter limit set by the bloc in 2018. But only four European countries – Estonia, Finland, Iceland and Ireland – had fine particle concentrations below the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, which are stricter than those set in the European Union. The report also acknowledges that there is still a gap between the European Union’s air quality limits and the World Health Organisation’s guidelines. The European Commission is seeking to address this issue by reviewing European Union standards in line with the Zero Pollution Action Plan.

“In most cases, people really live in places where air quality has greatly improved, meeting the standards set by the European Union. But when we use WHO standards, we see that at least 80% or even 90% of people living in urban areas still live in air quality that is not considered healthy, ‘said Hans Bruininks, executive director of the European Environment Agency.

Particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide and ground-level ozone are identified as the three air pollutants that have the greatest impact on human health. The authors of the report point out that in 2018, 60,000 fewer people died prematurely in Europe as a result of fine particulate matter pollution than in 2009, but that there are still several hundred thousand people every year. At least 417,000 deaths in 41 European countries in 2018 are due to fine particles. Another 55,000 deaths are due to nitrogen dioxide and more than 20,000 to ground-level ozone. Most people died from air pollution in Germany, Italy and Poland, and the least in Liechtenstein and San Marino. Latvia is in the middle between the three Baltic States.

In 2018, the number of deaths related to air pollution in Latvia was almost 2,000, which is less than in Lithuania, but more than in Estonia.

“We also see a serious and large geographical difference between the Member States in the east and the poorer regions and urban areas that suffer from poor air quality. This is not always for the same reasons. In some cases, these are energy systems such as fossil fuels and fuels. Elsewhere, in poorer regions, such as heating homes, coal, wood or anything else is still used just to warm up. In larger cities, on the other hand, pollution is associated with unhealthy modes of transport and mobility, which cause serious air quality problems, ” explains Bruininks. ” I would say that I can agree that the picture is generally positive, but more than 400 000 European citizens are still dying prematurely due to poor air quality. I think we as a society need to continue on the path to higher standards and innovation that will steer us in the right direction. ”

The report also analyzes the link between air quality and the Covid-19 pandemic. Preliminary data from the European Environment Agency for this year and data from the “Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring” have confirmed previous observations. Namely, they show a certain reduction of air pollutants to 60% in many European countries, where virus control measures were implemented this spring. However, the Agency has not yet calculated data on the potential health benefits of cleaner air.

Meanwhile, as acknowledged by the World Meteorological Organization under the auspices of the United Nations,

quarantine regimes and other restrictions imposed in the fight against Covid-19 have reduced emissions. However, they have not reduced the concentration of greenhouse gases,

which traps heat in the atmosphere, raises temperatures, causes sea levels to rise and contributes to extreme weather.

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