<
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/mar/13/air-pollution-levels-have-improved-in-europe-over-20-years-say-researchers>
"Air pollution levels have improved in Europe over the past 20 years, research
has found.
However, despite these improvements, most of the European population lives in
areas exceeding the World Health Organization’s recommended levels. About 98%
of Europeans live in areas the WHO says have unhealthy levels of small
particles known as PM2.5, 80% for larger ones known as PM10, and 86% for
nitrogen dioxide.
The study, led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), looked
at pollution levels in more than 1,400 regions in 35 European countries,
representing 543 million people.
“Targeted efforts are needed to address PM2.5 and ozone levels and associated
compound unclean days, especially in the context of rapidly increasing threats
from climate change in Europe,” said Zhao-Yue Chen, ISGlobal researcher and
lead author of the study.
The results, published in the journal
Nature Communications, show that
overall suspended particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) and nitrogen dioxide
(NO₂) levels have decreased in most parts of Europe.
PM10 had annual decreases of 2.72%, PM2.5 had an annual drop of 2.45% and there
was a yearly fall in NO₂ of 1.72%.
The tiny particles defined as PM2.5 and PM10 are small enough to embed
themselves deep into the lung and have been linked to a wide range of health
problems including heart disease, cancer and premature births. They have been
estimated to be linked to the early death of more than 400,000 people across
Europe each year.
Experts say more than 200,000 of these could be prevented if the air in Europe
met World Health Organization guidelines. Particulate pollution comes from the
burning of solid and liquid fuels, mostly through power generation, domestic
heating and motor traffic. It can also form in the air from chemical reactions
between other pollutants."
Via
Fix the News:
<
https://fixthenews.com/good-news-child-deaths-clean-cooking-conservation-southern-ocean/>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
