Environmental chemistry

Earth's protective ozone layer is slowly but noticeably healing at a pace that would fully mend the hole over Antarctica in about 43 years, a new United Nations report says.

This year, the ozone hole near the South Pole is smaller than when it was discovered, This, however, is due to the Antarctic weather being whimsical rather than the effort to reduce pollution, the AP reported, citing NASA.

The life expectancy of Greeks is being shortened by up to two years due to high atmospheric pollution levels, according to the findings of new international research presented at a two-day conference that concluded on Crete on Tuesday.

The ozone hole over Antarctica is the smallest in almost 30 years. According to the U.S. Atmospheric Administration, this year its size is twice smaller than usual. In addition, it is located far from the pole, unlike before.

Observations of the gas's depletion high in the atmosphere demonstrate that it hasn't opened up in 2019 in the way it normally does, BBC reported.

This is a common phenomenon in the warm months.
The concentration of fine particulate matter in Plovdiv was 2 times the admissible average daily levels on Friday morning. The increase of dust in the atmosphere is registered by the station of the Executive Agency for Environment in Dimitrovgrad.

Rising ozone pollution in China's cities has emerged as a major health risk, causing a rise in deaths from strokes and heart disease among vulnerable residents, according to a new study by a team of Chinese researchers.

The Health Ministry is warning people in Athens who have respiratory ailments and heart conditions as well as those with sensitive health to avoid being outdoors due to high levels of ozone.

In our country, coal power plants are being opened one after the other. Almost every day we say, "Agriculture has died; we import everything." To be able to understand the relationship between the two, let us look at how coal investments affect agriculture. 

The World Health Organisation (WHO) released a report that estimeted 8.2 million people died due to causes linked to air pollution. This number is unfortunately on the rise. The most harmful pollutant for human health is a particle found in smoke, smog, dust and lodges in the lungs causing long term health problems like asthma and chronic lung disease.

Several regions of Switzerland will be imposing restrictions on the automobile traffic on account of the ozone peak, caused by the heats over the past several days.

The ticket prices for public transportation have been reduced for the purpose of encouraging citizens to leave their cars behind and hopefully to cause decreased levels of pollution.