Ninety-six percent of Europe’s urban population was exposed to fine particulate matter above the health-based guidelines set by the World Health Organization (WHO)
Air pollution
Subtopics
Air pollution is the biggest environmental health risk in Europe
Air pollution is hard to escape, no matter where you live. It can seriously affect your health and the environment. Even though air quality in Europe has improved over recent decades, the levels of air pollutants still exceed EU standards and the most stringent World Health Organization guidelines.
European Air Quality Index
NEW MOBILE APP AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD --- How clean is the air you’re breathing right now? How does the air in your city compare with that of a neighbouring city or region? Air pollution is the single largest environmental health risk in Europe. The European Environment Agency's European Air Quality Index allows users to understand more about air quality where they live. Displaying up-to-the-minute data for the whole of Europe, users can gain new insights into the air quality of individual countries, regions and cities.
Data sources:
- Air Quality e-Reporting (AQ e-Reporting) provided by European Commission
National air pollutant emissions data viewer 1990 – 2019
This data viewer provides access to the latest air pollutant emission inventory reported to EEA by EU Member States under the National Emission reduction Commitments (NEC) Directive.
Ninety-six percent of Europe’s urban population was exposed to fine particulate matter above the health-based guidelines set by the World Health Organization (WHO), according to the latest annual European Environment Agency (EEA) air quality assessment published today.
Breaches of EU air quality limits for nitrogen dioxide across Europe were predominantly due to road traffic, while domestic heating lay behind the majority of exceedances for particulate matter, according to a European Environment Agency (EEA) assessment on air quality plans published today.
Published: 01 Apr 2022
Air pollution is the single largest environmental health risk in Europe, causing cardiovascular and respiratory diseases that lead to the loss of healthy years of life and, in the most serious cases, to premature deaths. This briefing presents the status of concentrations of pollutants in ambient air in 2020 and 2021 by pollutant, in relation to both EU air quality standards and WHO guidelines. The assessment shows that exceedances of standards are common across the EU, with concentrations well above the latest WHO recommendations. Nevertheless, in 2020, lockdown measures adopted to minimize the spread of the COVID-19 impacted on emissions of air pollution from road transport and lead to improved air quality.
Published: 16 Feb 2022
Air quality remains a persistent problem in Europe, continuing to harm health and ecosystems. This briefing reviews the status of air quality plans put in place by countries in situations where air pollution limits are exceeded. It also identifies the sources of air pollutants that lie behind such exceedances. The assessment covers 21 Member States of the European Union , as well as Norway and the United Kingdom . The European level assessment is complemented by case studies providing examples of measures that have led to an improvement in air quality in six European cities.
Browse catalogue
Filtered by
Vast majority of Europe’s urban population remains exposed to unsafe levels of air pollution
News 01 Apr 2022Ninety-six percent of Europe’s urban population was exposed to fine particulate matter above the health-based guidelines set by the World Health Organization (WHO), according to the latest annual European Environment Agency (EEA) air quality assessment published today.
Emissions from road traffic and domestic heating behind breaches of EU air quality standards across Europe
News 16 Feb 2022Breaches of EU air quality limits for nitrogen dioxide across Europe were predominantly due to road traffic, while domestic heating lay behind the majority of exceedances for particulate matter, according to a European Environment Agency (EEA) assessment on air quality plans published today.
Europe’s urban population remains at risk due to levels of air pollution known to damage health
News 07 Dec 2021The vast majority of Europe’s urban population is exposed to levels of air pollutants above new World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, according to an updated European Environment Agency (EEA) analysis on air quality in Europe released today.
Air pollution continued to cause a significant burden of premature death and disease in Europe in 2019. A European Environment Agency (EEA) analysis, published today, shows that improving air quality to the levels recently recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) could prevent more than half of the premature deaths caused by exposure to fine particulate matter.
Filtered by
The European Union has embarked on ambitious plans to drastically reduce emissions and pollution over the coming decades. Part of this includes the recently launched Zero Pollution Action Plan which will focus on cutting air, water and soil pollution to levels no longer considered harmful to human health and the environment. We sat down with Ian Marnane, EEA environment, health and well-being expert working on an upcoming EEA report on Zero Pollution, which is expected to be published later this year.
The loss of biodiversity and natural ecosystems we are currently witnessing is just as catastrophic as climate change. In fact, the two are closely entwined, as climate change accelerates biodiversity loss and healthy ecosystems are a vital ally in the fight against climate change.
Awareness of our nature has never been as high as it is today. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions many of us headed outside to our nearest green spaces for respite and solace — necessary breaks from our lockdown existence. It once again reminded us of the vital and valued role that our nature plays in our mental and physical well-being.
Can putting a value on nature help protect it or do we need new governance models? How is trade linked to biodiversity loss and inequalities? We talked to James Vause, the lead economist at the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), who contributed to the Dasgupta review on the economics of biodiversity, especially to the chapter focused on trade and the biosphere.
Filtered by
Air pollution is the single largest environmental health risk in Europe, causing cardiovascular and respiratory diseases that lead to the loss of healthy years of life and, in the most serious cases, to premature deaths. This briefing presents the status of concentrations of pollutants in ambient air in 2020 and 2021 by pollutant, in relation to both EU air quality standards and WHO guidelines. The assessment shows that exceedances of standards are common across the EU, with concentrations well above the latest WHO recommendations. Nevertheless, in 2020, lockdown measures adopted to minimize the spread of the COVID-19 impacted on emissions of air pollution from road transport and lead to improved air quality.
Air quality remains a persistent problem in Europe, continuing to harm health and ecosystems. This briefing reviews the status of air quality plans put in place by countries in situations where air pollution limits are exceeded. It also identifies the sources of air pollutants that lie behind such exceedances. The assessment covers 21 Member States of the European Union , as well as Norway and the United Kingdom . The European level assessment is complemented by case studies providing examples of measures that have led to an improvement in air quality in six European cities.
Air pollution is the single largest environmental health risk in Europe and has significant impacts on the health of the European population, particularly in urban areas. While emissions of key air pollutants and their concentrations in ambient air have fallen significantly over the past two decades in Europe, air quality remains poor in many areas.
Fluorinated greenhouse gases (F-gases) contribute to climate change and in 2019 made up 2.3% of total EU greenhouse gas emissions. F-gases have a range of applications, particularly in the refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump sector. Most F-gases have much higher global warming potentials than other greenhouse gases. This briefing outlines the important trends in the EU supply of F-gases for the period 2007-2020 and monitors progress under the hydrofluorocarbon phase-down schemes of the F-gas Regulation and the Montreal Protocol.
Filtered by
Filtered by
Document Actions
Share with others