The WHO recommends that the concentration of particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of less than 2.5 microns (PM 2.5) should not exceed five micrograms per cubic metre. Only 3.4 percent of the cities surveyed met the standard in 2021. Air pollution levels in 93 cities were measured at 10 times the recommended maximum levels.
China’s data is improving
“There are many countries that are making great strides in reducing,” said WHO expert Christi Schroeder. “China started with very high levels, which continue to fall over time.” In contrast, air quality in India deteriorated. New Delhi remained the world’s most polluted capital. It is followed by Dhaka in Bangladesh and N’Djamena in Chad. Vienna ranks 75th among the capital cities included in the study.
The best-rated regions in the IQAir report are the French-owned archipelago of New Caledonia in the South Pacific, as well as the U.S. territories of the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. In the previous year, these three territories were the only ones examined to comply with the WHO limit values.
Also among the capitals, Australia’s Canberra managed to stay under the hurdle. Like Paris (68th place), Berlin (72nd place) and Rome (77th place), Vienna is among those cities where the limit value is exceeded two to three times. Bern (81st), London (82nd), Tokyo (87th) and several northern European capitals, for example, are better off.
(Service – Report with interactive map: https://www.iqair.com/us/world-air-quality-report)
Global climate strike by Fridays For Future
The activists of Fridays For Future (FFF) took to the streets in solidarity with Ukraine at the beginning of March. The Russian invasion is now also the focus of the tenth edition of the global climate strike next Friday. For the fourth time, a climate protection law has also been called for in Austria, because “there have been no climate targets for 450 days,” reminded Daniel Shams of FFF Austria at a press conference in Vienna.
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Source: Nachrichten
