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The Single Biggest Cause of European Air Pollution is, Apparently, Farming

The study, which was recently published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, was conducted by the Earth Institute at Columbia University in New York and studied air pollution data from around the globe. 

Nitrogen compounds that are found in fertilisers and are released as a by-product of animal waste are thought to be the prime cause of such pollution. When winds blow these compounds to industrial areas, they react with contaminants such as sulphur, carbon and particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5). This reaction solidifies the particles into harmful substances which can be inhaled by humans and animals, causing a myriad health problems. If these particles infiltrate our bloodstream, they can inhibit the functions of our hearts, lungs and liver, causing respiratory and cardiovascular problems and even leading to premature death. In fact, a report from the Royal College of Physicians suggests that poor air quality could be claiming the lives of as many as 40,000 people in the UK on a yearly basis.

Read the full article @ Pollution Solutions

Paris's One Sunday Without Cars Shows Up To 40% Drop in NO2 Pollution

Paris’s “day without cars” last week led to such a dramatic drop in both air and noise pollution that the mayor’s office is now planning more vehicle-free days in the French capital. Airparif, which measures city pollution levels, said levels of nitrogen dioxide dropped by up to 40% in parts of the city on Sunday 27 September. There was almost one-third less nitrogen dioxide pollution on the busy Champs Elyées than on a similar Sunday. Along the Seine in the city centre, levels were down by about 40%. At the busy Place de l’Opera, levels were 20% lower.

Bruitparif, which measures noise, said sound levels dropped by half in the city centre. Officials and environmentalists hailed the event as a success despite disappointment that police had refused to allow the ban to cover the whole city. The official intervention meant only 30% of Paris was off limits to vehicles. City mayor Anne Hidalgo, who has made reducing Paris’s worryingly high pollution levels a top priority, said she hoped to introduce a regular citywide vehicle ban.

Read more @ The Guardian

Europe's Problem with Diesel Cars

More @ The Guardian - New UK government tests confirm that diesel cars produce a lot more air pollution in real-world driving when compared with the legal tests. Those sold since 2009 emitted six times more nitrogen oxides, on average. Compared with the stricter standards applied to petrol cars, the average diesel sold between 2009 and 2015 emitted 19 times more nitrogen oxides.

In 2014, more than half of new cars in Europe were diesel, so solving our air pollution problems will not be easy. The Airuse project highlighted the role of taxation in car buying choice. All European countries, except the UK, have lower tax on diesel fuel compared with petrol.

Unsurprisingly, diesel tends to dominate car sales in countries where the fuel is most favoured by taxation: Luxembourg, Belgium, Portugal, Spain, France and Greece – where the ending of a ban on diesel cars in Athens and Thessaloniki in 2011 led to a boom in sales. India recently removed subsidies on diesel, but there is no sign of an end to the European tax incentives.

Air use also highlighted how the geography of the Mediterranean affects its air pollution, with shipping, dry dusty soils and dense city centres adding to the problems from a high proportion of diesel cars. The UK and other countries surrounding the North Sea and the Channel form one of Europe’s most densely populated areas. It also contains Europe’s only two mega-cities – London and Paris – which are separated by less than 350km. This makes action on traffic pollution the key to cleaning the air over our region.

NOx and PM Pollution Down by 30%, if Personal Vehicles are Cut by 50% in Paris

 

When it comes to city pollution, Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo is clearly ready for battle. Speaking to the French press Sunday, Paris’ first female mayor announced what could be the most drastic anti-pollution measures any major world city has implemented yet: By 2020, no diesel fuel at all will be burnt within Paris. Regular cars will be banned outright from its more polluted roads, which will be open solely to electric and hybrid vehicles. Meanwhile, the city’s most central districts (the first four arrondissements) will be barred to all but residents’ vehicles, deliveries, and emergency services, transforming Paris’ Right Bank core into a semi-pedestrian zone. As a counterbalance, the number of cycle lanes will be doubled by 2020, while the city will fund an extended electric bikeshare scheme to encourage more people to get on two wheels. “I want us to be exemplary” Mayor Hidalgo has declared. She seems to be putting money where her mouth is.

 

3-Dimensional Air Quality Map for Paris (Video)

 

Read more @ City Labs

 

In Spring 2014, Air Pollution in Paris Equals Beijing

 

If these plans sound drastic, it's because the problem is, too. Central Paris is often overlaid with toxic fug that some claim reduces the average citizen's life expectancy by six months.

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

If these plans sound drastic, it’s because the problem is, too. Central Paris is still traffic-snarled and often overlaid with toxic fug, evidence of a pollution splurge that the French press claims reduces the average Paris metro area citizen’s life expectancy by six months. In the past year, Paris has already taken some unprecedented measures to combat the problem. During a pollution spike this March, the city went as far as banning cars with odd-numbered license plates from entering Paris proper in a bid to cut city traffic. Coupled with free public transport, this measure had a perhaps surprising effect: It actually worked, with nitrogen dioxide and particulate levels dropping hard—by as much as 30 percent in places.

Real time air quality information from European Cities.

Since coming to power in March, Hidalgo has kept on a roll with anti-pollution measures to back up this tough stance. She’s already started getting rid of city buses that run on diesel, a particular national bugaboo in France because previous state policies heavily promoted its use. Now its greater particulate and nitrogen dioxide emissions have provoked an official backlash, and Paris wants engines burning the fuel off the roads. It’s only fair to point out that by creating 25 percent of Paris’ particulate pollution, road transport is just one source of the city’s problem. Another substantial chunk—23 percent in total—comes from heating with wood fires. You might expect the city to deal with this problem first—and in fact, they have. As of January 1, 2015, all wood fires will be banned within Paris proper.

 

Using Ballons to Visualize Air Pollution

 

 

These measures might seem unthinkable in more car-dominated cities, but the number of Parisians don't own a car has risen to 60 percent this year.

London's NO2 Concentrations Worse Than Beijing

Levels of the harmful air pollutant nitrogen dioxide at a city-center monitoring station are the highest in Europe. Concentrations are greater even than in Beijing, where expatriates have dubbed the city’s smog the “airpocalypse.”

It’s the law of unintended consequences at work. European Union efforts to fight climate change favored diesel fuel over gasoline because it emits less carbon dioxide, or CO2. However, diesel’s contaminants have swamped benefits from measures that include a toll drivers pay to enter central London, a thriving bike-hire program and growing public-transport network.

“Successive governments knew more than 10 years ago that diesel was producing all these harmful pollutants, but they myopically plowed on with their CO2 agenda,” said Simon Birkett, founder of Clean Air in London, a nonprofit group. “It’s been a catastrophe for air pollution, and that’s not too strong a word. It’s a public-health catastrophe.”

Read more @ Bloomberg News

London isn’t alone in having bad air in Europe, where 301 sites breached the EU’s NO2 limits in 2012, including seven in the British capital. Paris, Rome, Athens, Madrid, Brussels and Berlin also had places that exceeded the ceiling. The second and third-worst sites among 1,513 monitoring stations were both in Stuttgart after London’s Marylebone Road.

“Nitrogen dioxide is a problem that you get in all big cities with a lot of traffic,” said Alberto Gonzalez Ortiz, project manager for air quality at the European Environment Agency, which is based in Copenhagen. “In many cases it’s gotten worse because of the new fleets of diesel cars.”

The EU limits NO2 to a maximum of 40 micrograms per cubic meter of air. The concentration on Marylebone Road, a stone’s throw from Regent’s Park, was almost 94 micrograms in 2012, according to the most recent data from the EEA.

The level for the site last year was 81 micrograms, and it’s averaging 83 micrograms this year, according to King’s College London. In 1998, when the King’s College data begins, it was 92. That’s about the time the switch to diesel started.