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NEA: ‘Except for Oslo, Air-quality improving’

Oslo. Air-quality.Photo : Håkon Mosvold Larsen / NTB scanpix

The Norwegian Environment Agency (NEA) is tasked with monitoring air quality levels within Norway. New data from the agency’s vast network of monitoring sites concludes that Norway’s 2017 air pollution levels improved over 2016’s readings.

 

NEA Director Ellen Hambro gave comment upon 2017’s improvements; “Over the past few years, we’ve improved local-level focus upon pollution’s hazards. Many localities have reduced pollution with new, state-provided tools made available to municipalities to battle emissions & improve local air quality.”

The dark-lining inside these latest figures is Oslo’s Bygdøy allé station. In 2016, six stations reported toxic, higher-than-minimum NO2 within samplings used to determine air purity.

All of 2017’s monitoring stations registered minimum-or-lower levels of NO2, except for Bygdøy allé. There, 41 micro-grams (mg) nitrogen dioxide (NO2) per cubic meter of air (PCM) were measured, with 40 mg set as the standard.

However, 41 mg of NO2 is the lowest level Oslo’s seen in 10 years, and is also remarkably lower than 2016’s 55 mg/pcm NO2 toxic-air measurements.

In 2017, Bergen’s air-quality monitoring station registered an anual average of 35 mg/pcm NO2, another impressive 10 year low.

Norway’s local air quality is mostly fouled by nitrogen dioxide and dust; with road traffic & combustion engines as primary sources of local NO2.

Each year, the NEA prepares preliminary summary of national air-quality levels as certified by the reporting municipalities. The report is then forwarded for national level certification, then presented to the European Union’s EEA.

 

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today