In Spring 2014, Air Pollution in Paris Equals Beijing

Air pollution that has turned the skies over Paris a murky yellow and shrouded much of Belgium for days forced drivers to slow down Friday and gave millions a free ride on public transportation.

Real time air quality information for Paris, France.

This combination of photos shows the Eiffel tower (R) in central Paris through a haze of pollution taken on March 14, 2014 and during clear weather (L) on August 17, 2012. (AFP Photo / Bertrand Guay / Kenzo Tribouillard)

The belt of smog stretched for hundreds of miles, from France’s Atlantic coast to Belgium and well into Germany. It was the worst air pollution France has seen since 2007, the European Environment Agency (EEA) said.

Paris restricts car and motorcycle use - alternate driving days based on registration number (BBC).

Nearly all of France was under some sort of pollution alert Friday, with levels in the Parisian region surpassing some of those in the world’s most notoriously polluted cities, including Beijing and Delhi.
To combat the smog, public transit around Paris and in two other cities was free Friday through Sunday. Elsewhere in France and in Belgium’s southern Wallonia area, the free ride was only for Friday.

RT News, March 14th, 2014
‘As polluted as Beijing’: Paris makes public transport free amid smog crisis.

Times of India, March 14th, 2014
Polluted Paris chokes in the springtime sun.

The Verge, March 14th, 2014
Smog in Paris is so bad, the city is offering free public transportation.

The Seattle Times, March 14th, 2014
Smog sits heavy over Paris and much of France.

The smog is particularly severe in Paris because France has an unusually high number of diesel vehicles, whose nitrogen-oxide fumes mix with ammonia from springtime fertilizers and form particulate ammonium nitrate. Pollutants from the burning of dead leaves and wood also contribute.
One environmental group complained this week, denouncing the “inertia of the government,” saying it was putting lives in danger.



The French Health Ministry issued warnings particularly for the elderly, pregnant women, young children and those with respiratory ailments. In the parks, joggers could be heard complaining that they were finding it more uncomfortable than usual to run. There’s no question that pollution can be an immediate health hazard, said EEA air-quality manager Valentin Foltescu.

Real time air quality information from European Cities.

“Some people will, unfortunately, die,” Foltescu said. “There is a high correlation of pollution of this kind and mortality.” Speed limits dropped in France and Belgium and electronic billboards in Paris dispensed advice and emergency information.

But the website that keeps up-to-the-minute figures on the Paris region’s air quality slowed to a crawl and asked visitors to follow it on Twitter or Facebook rather than crash the site. Foltescu said that if everyone follows the government’s advice “You will see an instant difference.” If not, he added, the pollution would last about as long as the region’s unseasonably warm and sunny weather.