Poland moves to counteract most severe air pollution in years

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Warsaw Authorities made a decision on Monday allowing citizens to use public transportation for free, in efforts to fight most severe air pollution in years.

A smog alert has been put in place in the country as permissible standards have been significantly exceeded.

“Warsaw’s air pollution exceeded significantly permissible standards. Elderly people, persons with respiratory problems and children should avoid walks and stay at home’’, said spokesperson for the Warsaw City Hall Bartosz Milczarczyk.

Since Sunday, the air quality nationwide had noticeably worsened. The problem is probably even worse in the south of Poland.

Since Sunday, the standard of PM 10 and PM 2.5 concentration was exceeded by a few hundred per cent, and in most severe cases more than two thousand per cent.

These include mostly the Little Poland province and Silesia regions.

The air pollution is supposed to lessen on Monday; however, lack of wind increased the gravity of the situation.

In Western Europe countries such as France, the alert is issued when PM 10 level reaches 80 ug/m3, Polish alarm level is four times higher 300 ug/m3, which makes recent data appear to be even more severe.

On Sunday, the PM 10 level in Warsaw reached 492 ug/m3.

In southern cities, such as Wodzislaw Slaski, Rybnik or Pszczyna, it was much higher.

Due to the poor air quality, classes were suspended at schools and parents were told to let children stay at home in some cities.

The local authorities recommend the elderly and pregnant women to avoid going out as well.

People should also avoid excess activities outside.

In many towns, public transportation is free until the situation gets better.

The government and experts also called on the citizens to stop using low-quality fuels, such as culm, at least until the alert is over. (Xinhua/NAN)

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