Fine particle air pollution declined in Europe and China last year as emissions linked to human activities fell, the United Nations (UN) said in a report published Thursday (5/9).
Nanoparticles known as PM2.5 (because they are less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter) – pose serious health risks if inhaled over long periods of time, as they are small enough to enter the bloodstream.
These particles come from human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels, transportation and industry, as well as forest fires and windblown desert dust.
“The 2023 data shows a negative anomaly, which means there is a decrease in PM2.5 compared to the reference period of 2003-2023 in China and Europe,” said Lorenzo Labrador, a scientist at the World Meteorological Organization (World Meteorological Organization/WMO).
The UN agency, in its annual bulletin published ahead of the International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies on September 7, stressed that air quality and climate change are closely linked.
“Climate change and air quality cannot be addressed separately. They go hand in hand and must be addressed together,” WMO Secretary-General Ko Barrett said in a press release.
WMO emphasizes that the chemicals responsible for atmospheric pollution are usually emitted together with greenhouse gases.
“The vicious cycle of climate change, wildfires and air pollution is having an increasingly negative impact on human health, ecosystems and agriculture,” he said.
According to the World Health Organization (World Health Organization/WHO), nine out of ten people breathe highly polluted air.
'Status quo' in the United States
The UN weather agency, using data from the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (National Aeronautics and Space Administration/NASA) and the European Union's Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service), noted that PM2.5 reached higher than average levels in India due to human and industrial activities.
Labrador said levels of fine particles were increasing in the Indian subcontinent and parts of Southeast Asia.
However, China and Europe recorded lower than average rates, the WMO said.
“We tend to think that the reductions in pollution in Europe and China are a direct result of years of emissions reduction efforts in those regions,” Labrador said.
That's a finding that's not particularly surprising to scientists at the WMO, he said, who have been watching the trend since they first published the bulletin in 2021.
While Labrador said air pollution in the United States maintained the “status quo,” wildfires in North America in 2023 caused “very strong emissions” compared to the previous two decades, the report said.
The organization also reported that dust emission levels were lower than usual in the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa. (rz/ft)
