Air quality in Athens has deteriorated noticeably

Smog over Athens

Air pollution in Athens is rated as “moderate” according to air pollution data released on Monday by the European Environment Agency (EEA).

More than 340 European cities are included in the map based on data collected from measuring stations across the European Union, with Athens ranked 269 place on the list.

Characteristic moderate given for air with a higher pollution level 10, but not more than 15 µg/m³. Indicator for Greece 13.4 µg/m^3. The cleanest cities in terms of air pollution over the last 4 years (2020-2023) are the cities of Umeå in Sweden, Faro and Funchal in Portugal.

344 cities included in European Air Quality Viewer. Cities are ranked from most clean before the most polluted based on average fine particulate matter (PM) levels _2.5 ). Data for the ranking was collected from more than 400 monitoring stations in EEA member countries over the past two calendar years.

Active Air Quality Viwer website on the map Here.

From 2020 to 2022, air quality was good only in 11 citiesmeaning PM 2.5 levels were lower sanitary recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO) for long-term exposure of 5 micrograms per cubic meter of air (5 µg/m³). The norm was exceeded in 97% of the 343 European cities included in the viewing program.

The average daily PM 2.5 level at the beginning of January 2024 in Athens is 10 μg/m^3, with peak values ​​up to 20 µg/m³which is 4 times higher than normal.

In contrast, the European Union’s annual limit (EU) for PM 2.5, equal to 25 µg/m ³was exceeded only in three most polluted citiesincluding Nowy Sacz (Poland), Cremona and Padua in Italy, highlighting the difference between the guideline and the EU standard.

Situation with NO²at a norm of 2 mg/m ³, in Athens it is regularly exceeded to levels of 72-100 mg/m ³13-20 times higher than normal.

The European city air viewer app can be used to check the air quality in European cities over the past two years. Viewer focuses on long-term PM concentrations _2.5 since long-term exposure to air pollution causes the most serious health effects, and PM _2.5 is the air pollutant with the greatest health impact in terms of premature death and disease.

Athens has the dirtiest air in Greece. The situation is aggravated during the period when the population actively uses fireplaces – at the end of winter and beginning of spring, as well as during the period when African dust falls on Greece.

In accordance with National Emissions Commitments (NEC) Directive EU Member States must meet national commitments to reduce emissions five air pollutantsto provide clean air for human health and the environment. In line with the directive, 2020 saw a move to a new, more ambitious set of national emissions reduction commitments.

Based on an analysis of data provided by member states and not yet fully verified by the commission, the report showed that the most big problem emission reduction remains ammonia in agriculture, with 11 member states needing to reduce their emissions levels. Only 13 countries have met their commitments for each of the five major pollutants (nitrogen oxides, non-methane volatile organic compounds, ammonia, sulfur dioxide and PM _2.5). Fourteen member states have failed to meet their commitments to reduce emissions of at least one of the five major air pollutants.

The EEA analysis is based on the latest air pollutant emission inventories reported by member states in February 2022. It provided the first opportunity to evaluate emissions reduction performance against emissions reduction commitments for 2020–2029.

ATHENS

In the photo: Athens, spring 2021, African dust over the city.

Speaking about the air quality in the Greek capital, Evangelos Gerasopoulos, director of the atmospheric chemistry department at the National Observatory in Athens, stressed that “it has become much better in recent years, but there is still a lot of room for improvement.” Since 2019, the observatory has installed more than 100 air quality monitoring stations across the country. “Greece is located in a region with high background air pollution due to neighboring countries in Eastern Europe, and meteorological conditions are also favorable for the transport of pollution across borders,” Gerasopoulos added.

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