Air pollution in Turkey

Approximately 238,000 air pollution deaths could be avoided each year if the EU27 countries actually met World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for air pollution, according to figures from the European Environment Agency (EEA).

And more than 400,000 deaths could be avoided if particle air pollution could be avoided completely.

With the demand for fossil fuels for heating purposes growing in the winter months and traffic in Istanbul worsening, experts warn that smoke from burning coal and wood in households and rising pollution in the city could leave citizens more susceptible to heart and lung diseases.

The majority of people in European cities live among unhealthy levels of air pollution, despite improvements over the past two decades and declining emissions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This was announced by the European Environment Agency (EEA), quoted by Reuters.

Air in Istanbul became more polluted this year after most of the measures that kept people at home and restricted the use of cars were scrapped.

Turkey's Çorum and Erzurum were among the top 10 cities of Europe with the most polluted air, according to a report, while Turkey ranks as the 46th country in the world list with an average particle rate of 18.70 per cubic meter.

Air quality dramatically improved in Turkey last year as people sheltered in their homes to help curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, says a report.

The rate of air pollution in Istanbul decreased by 10 percent last year compared to 2019, a Turkish academic said.

With many people spending more time at home due to the COVID-19 outbreak, this has brought an improvement in air quality.

The air quality in Turkey's prominent cities is deteriorating day by day, with experts raising concerns as the air pollution in some cities of Turkey has reached alarming levels, according to the data of the Environment and Urbanization Ministry's Continuous Monitoring Center.