Revealed: almost everyone in Europe is breathing toxic air | Air pollution
Revealed: almost everyone in Europe is breathing toxic air | Air pollution
www.theguardian.com
Revealed: almost everyone in Europe is breathing toxic air
6 comments
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Hooray!
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This is the best summary I could come up with:
Europe is facing a “severe public health crisis”, with almost everyone across the continent living in areas with dangerous levels of air pollution, an investigation by the Guardian has found.
Analysis of data gathered using cutting-edge methodology – including detailed satellite images and measurements from more than 1,400 ground monitoring stations – reveals a dire picture of dirty air, with 98% of people living in areas with highly damaging fine particulate pollution that exceed World Health Organization guidelines.
The measurements refer to PM2.5 – tiny airborne particles mostly produced from the burning of fossil fuels, some of which can pass through the lungs and into the blood stream, affecting almost every organ in the body.
“This is a severe public health crisis,” said Roel Vermeulen, a professor of environmental epidemiology at Utrecht University who led the team of researchers across the continent that compiled the data.
“These deaths are preventable and the estimate does not include millions of cases of non-fatal diseases, years lived with disability, attributable hospitalisations, or health effects from other pollutants.”
Some towns and cities across Europe, including London and Milan, are making strides to tackle air pollution, from the introduction of ultra-low emissions zones to traffic reduction schemes and walking and cycling initiatives.
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Be nice to see if there’s an interactive map with companies that are producing pollution …
6 comments
The live measurement per https://waqi.info at my home location is 5, the interactive map of the guardian says "8.5 to 10". Who to trust? Idk
Mine says 5 too, would be nice to know, who's to trust
Also, iqair.com notes it at 3.7 µg/m³. waqi.info or aqicn.org now notes a 7. It seems to correlate exactly with 7 and 12 am as well as ~ 5 pm, so the typical times with more traffic. Not a good station for averages then, I guess. It still is lower than what the guardian says.