Air pollution is getting worse from year to year, particularly in eastern and central Europe.
According to the list compiled by Airly, Zagreb, the Croatian capital, Bucharest, Romania, or the Greek city of Thessaloniki, are those with the highest concentrations of PM10, respirable particles with a diameter of less than 10 micrometers. These particles are especially harmful to health, and cause respiratory diseases.
Cities like Naples, in Italy, Krakow, in Poland, or Athens, in Greece, have large concentrations of nitrogen dioxide in the atmosphere, as a result of the combustion of fossil fuels.
Victor Warkalowski, CEO and founder of Airly, explains:
“We have taken all pollutants into account, starting with particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, etc. It shows that Central and Eastern Europe faces different problems when it comes to air pollution compared to Western Europe such as France or Europe. The UK, when the problem comes from nitrogen dioxide levels and movement Traffic. So you see that there are different sources of pollution, but air pollution remains the biggest killer of man.”
In addition to being harmful to people’s health, air pollution also ends up being a risk to the global economy. Therefore, the founder of Airly advocates the need for urgent measures on a planetary scale.
“We also need to think about the economic impacts, where air pollution costs 1% of global GDP as a result of sick days, medical treatment and reduced productivity. And I think that’s a really terrifying thing to share, which is why we have to start taking action to reduce air pollution globally. “.Warchalowski concludes.
According to the latest data from the World Health Organization, air pollution is the cause of seven million premature deaths annually worldwide.
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