This year’s
Air Quality Index got launched today by the EU Environment Agency (EEA) and the
European Commission during the Clean Air Forum that took place on Thursday in
Paris, paired with the publication of the Air Quality Atlas, a tool developed
by the Commission’s Joint Research Centre.
The
published Air Quality Index allows the EU citizens to monitor air quality in
real time, as the Commission’s Joint Research Centre that maps the origins of
fine particulate matter, such as dust, smoke, soot, pollen and soil particles,
in the Air Quality Atlas.
The new
European Air Quality Index features an interactive map that shows the local air
quality situation, based on five key pollutants that harm people’s health and
the environment: particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), ground-level ozone (O3),
nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and sulphur dioxide (SO2), displaying real-time data for
the whole of Europe.
The Air
Quality Atlas provides information on the geographical and sectoral sources of
air pollution for the 150 biggest cities in Europe, providing information on
the pollutant emissions and their origins, transport, agriculture, industry and
residential heating.
Both tools
aim to pave the way for targeted measures to improve air quality and raise
citizens’ awareness of the air quality situation in Europe, as 400 000 citizens
die prematurely in the EU as a result of poor air quality, ten times more than
the people that lose their lives at road traffic accidents in the bloc, while
millions suffer from respiratory and cardiovascular diseases caused by air pollution.
Commissioner
for Environment, Maritime Affairs, and Fisheries Karmenu Vella, suggested that
the Air Quality Index is needed to inform European citizens about the state of
the air they breathe in their own neighborhood. “We are working with cities, regions,
countries, and industry to tackle the sources of that pollution, which is a
cocktail coming from factories, homes, and fields, not only from transport.”
“In order to tackle air pollution we must
first understand where it comes from”, said Tibor Navracsics, Commissioner for
Education, Culture, Youth, and Sport, responsible for the Commission’s Joint
Research Centre, that “provides essential information on pollution sources for
the European cities that are struggling with air quality. It will help cities
to design air quality plans which focus on their most polluting activities.”
https://www.neweurope.eu/article/eu-commission-maps-sources-level-air-pollution-europe-new-air-quality-index-atlas/