(16 November 2017) – Today, the European Commission and the EU Environment Agency launched a new Air Quality Index, coinciding with the publication of the Air Quality Atlas, a tool developed by the Commission’s Joint Research Centre.
The Air Quality Index and the Air Quality Atlas in European Cities are two tools that will help to pave the way for targeted measures to improve air quality and raise citizens’ awareness of the air quality situation in Europe.
The new European Air Quality Index has a user-friendly interactive map that shows the local air quality situation, based on five key pollutants that harm people’s health and the environment: particulate matter, ground-level ozone, nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide. Displaying real-time data for the whole of Europe, the new Index allows citizens to find out how clean the air is that they are breathing. Users can zoom in or search any town or region in Europe to check the local air quality situation.
The Air Quality Atlas provides information on the geographical and sectorial sources of air pollution for the 150 biggest cities in Europe. It shows that pollutant emissions in cities originate mainly different human activities; and that transport, agriculture, industry and residential heating and responsible for the largest part.