Air pollution

The Ring Road system in Athens, designed to alleviate traffic congestion and reduce air pollution, operates by regulating vehicle movement in specific road zones. The implementation of these restrictions is expected to resume around mid-October, although the exact date has yet to be announced.

The average nitrogen dioxide level in Istanbul — an indicator of air pollution — increased from 35.55 micrograms per cubic meter to 40.61 micrograms per cubic meter in the first seven months of 2024, representing a 14 percent increase from the same period in 2023.

A fire erupted around 3:00 PM today in a senior care home located in the center of Bankya, Bulgaria, resulting in one fatality and several injuries. The blaze engulfed an entire floor of the building, sending thick smoke billowing over the city. Emergency services, including three fire brigade teams, responded to the scene promptly.

The smoke caused by the fire which broke out in Varnavas on Sunday afternoon in Varnava and quickly spread throughout northeast Attica, reaching toxic levels in the atmosphere, with an adverse impact on the health of people with pulmonary issues.

An image captured by the European meteorological satellite Meteosat-11 shows the extensive dispersion of smoke from the wildfire that has been raging since Sunday afternoon in northeastern Attica.

Processed and distributed by the National Observatory of Athens website, meteo.gr, the image reveals that the smoke has been carried more than 300 km southwest. 

The smell of smoke and soot pervaded Athens, with the sky darkening as a wildfire burned northeast of the Greek capital on Sunday

More than 250 firefighters, 67 fire engines, 12 planes and six helicopters are fighting the fire, which broke out around 3 p.m. local time around 35 kilometers (22 miles) from Athens.

Air pollution, a leading cause of lung cancer, has seen a 3 percent increase in Istanbul in 2023 compared to the previous year.

Experts cite traffic density and the use of fossil fuels as the main contributors to this pollution

In 2023, approximately 41,000 people were diagnosed with lung cancer in Türkiye, a country already noted for its high rates of lung cancer in men.

The air quality in Plovdiv has significantly deteriorated, with fine dust particle levels exceeding the norms by seven times, according to Ivan Stoyanov, the Deputy Mayor for Ecology and Health. Stoyanov, who is currently at the Tsalapitsa fire site, reported that mobile air quality stations detected a concentration of 350 mg/m³ of fine dust particles (FDP) 10.

More than 7 per cent of all deaths in India’s top ten cities are linked to air pollution, according to a wide-ranging study released today leading scientists to call for saving tens of thousands of lives annually.

Smog-plagued Indian cities, including the capital New Delhi, are among the world’s top cities in terms of air pollution.

Aiming to measure the impact of human activities on local air quality with greater precision, a novel air quality monitoring network featuring smart benches is being developed in Attica. This innovative initiative, known as Faircity, is a collaborative effort between the National Observatory of Athens and the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.