All official European Union website addresses are in the europa.eu domain.
See all EU institutions and bodiesDo something for our planet, print this page only if needed. Even a small action can make an enormous difference when millions of people do it!
News
The EEA has received many questions about the impacts of the stark measures to limit the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) on air quality in Europe.
The EEA’s data show an accurate picture of the drop in air pollution, especially due to reduced traffic in cities. However, addressing long-term air quality problems requires ambitious policies and forward-looking investments. As such, the current crisis and its multiple impacts on our society work against what we are trying to achieve, which is a just and well-managed transition towards a resilient and sustainable society.
Hans Bruyninckx, EEA Executive Director
The EEA’s data for recent weeks show how concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a pollutant mainly emitted by road transport, have decreased in many Italian cities. For example:
Similar trends can be seen in other European cities where lockdown measures have been implemented during the week of 16-22 March.
The weekly average concentration levels of air pollutants were calculated based on data from the EEA’s up-to-date air quality data system. All daily mean values from the stations in each city have been considered for the average. Other factors than the lockdown measures, such as weather conditions, can also have an effect on weekly variations of the pollutant concentrations.
The EEA monitors Europe’s air quality through a network of more than 4,000 local air pollution measurement stations across Europe. Most of the stations, managed by the EEA’s member countries in the European Environment Information and Observation Network (Eionet), record hourly data on key air pollutant concentrations and send it to the EEA.
The European Air Quality Index uses the monitoring data to allow users to understand more about air quality where they live, work or travel. Displaying up-to-date information for Europe, users can gain insights into the air quality in individual countries, regions and cities.
Similar air quality information can be found on the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) that provides daily analyses of hourly concentrations of the regulatory air pollutants.
Although emissions of air pollutants have decreased substantially in Europe over recent decades, poor air quality continues to harm human health and the environment. Poor air quality causes an estimated 400 000 premature deaths in Europe every year and it is the single largest environmental health risk in Europe. A significant proportion of Europe’s population lives in areas where air pollution poses risks to their health.
For references, please go to https://www.eea.europa.eu/highlights/air-pollution-goes-down-as or scan the QR code.
PDF generated on 09 Oct 2024, 06:26 AM
Engineered by: EEA Web Team
Software updated on 26 September 2023 08:13 from version 23.8.18
Software version: EEA Plone KGS 23.9.14
Document Actions
Share with others