“Today, September 20, acrid smog was recorded in the air in several cities of Ukraine. For some time, Kyiv led the anti-rating of cities in the world with the dirtiest air, and Konotop, Lutsk and Kharkiv also faced the problem. The Swiss company IQAir reported that Kyiv took first place in the world anti-rating for air pollution for a while, and later dropped to second place”, — write on: ua.news
Today, September 20, acrid smog was recorded in the air in several cities of Ukraine. For some time, Kyiv led the anti-rating of cities in the world with the dirtiest air, and Konotop, Lutsk and Kharkiv also faced the problem.
The Swiss company IQAir reported that Kyiv took the first place in the world anti-air pollution rating for a while, and later fell to the second step, with Cairo (the capital of Egypt) on the first.
The capital’s Department of Environmental Protection explained that an increase in the concentration of suspended particles, i.e. dust, is being recorded in Kyiv, and in some areas of the city the maximum pollution is 100 points, the lowest concentration is 74 points.
The probable cause of the pollution is fires in ecosystems in the territory of the Kyiv region, where the forest is burning on the territory of 172 hectares. As of now, a large number of fire foci have been localized, the remainder is about 2 hectares.
Air pollution in the capital has been observed since 01:00 of the current day. Kiyans are called to:
- do not go outside once more and close the windows,
- to refuse physical activity in the open air,
- drink a lot of water.
Air pollution due to fires in peatlands and open areas is recorded not only in the capital. In particular, the caustic smog covered Konotop in the Sumy Oblast.
“In Konotop, you can definitely hang an ax in the air now… And all this is because the peatlands caught fire… It is very difficult to breathe. The relevant services are working. Do not stay outside for a long time. Keep the windows closed,” Konotop Mayor Artem Semenikhin wrote in Telegram.
In Lutsk, the air quality index is 153 in some places – this is a harmful level of pollution that can cause discomfort when breathing.
Volodymyr Dundar, deputy director of the Department of Environmental Protection and Adaptation to Climate Change, expressed hope on the air of the telethon that the relevant services will overcome the challenges related to fires in the near future, and the air will be purified by natural mixing.
“Unfortunately, due to low wind speed, air purification does not happen quickly. We hope that there will be no additional fires and in the near future we will be able to move around the city freely and breathe fresh air,” said Dundar.
However, experts cannot give specific forecasts when this will happen, as the elimination of the consequences of the fires is still ongoing.
“We predict a certain increase in wind speed, which directly affects the speed of air purification in the capital and beyond,” Dundar added.
He also commented on IQair data on the level of pollution in the Ukrainian capital and exceeding the norm by 12.5 times. It is impossible to officially confirm such information, he noted.
“As of now, there is really a lot of pollution. We cannot say the frequency of exceeding the norm. Since dust is not differentiated from the point of view of any concentration norms…Therefore, we cannot confirm such data. But the pollution is really significant,” Dundar concluded.
Earlier, smog was recorded in Chernihiv due to a fire on peat fields in the border community of Snovska.
In Kyiv, experts predicted an improvement in the air condition in a few hours.
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