inquinamento atmosferico

After about 30 years of trying to gradually eliminate hydrochlorofluorocarbons, harmful gases that deplete the ozone layer and warm the planet, researchers have detected for the first time a significant drop in the levels of these substances in the atmosphere and a consequent reduction in the ozone layer depletion potential:This is reported by new research conducted by scientists from the University of Bristol and published in the scientific journal Nature.The authors explained that global concentrations of such gases peaked in 2021 – five years earlier than expected – and that since then there has been a decline which represents a significant "milestone" in blocking dangerous ultraviolet solar radiation.“This is a remarkable success story that shows how global policies are protecting the planet,” commented Veerabhadran Ramanathan, a climate scientist at the University of California who was not involved in the study. It was more than 50 years ago when...

New research has shed light on the role played by intensive farming in determining the terrible air quality in Lombardy.The study, published on Environmental Impact Assessment, specifies that cattle and pig breeding could increase even further 25% local air pollution.According to the results of the analysis, in particular, an increase of 1000 livestock units, corresponding respectively to 1% and 0.3% of the average population of cattle and pigs in a given area unit, causes a corresponding daily increase in concentrations of ammonia and PM10 fine particles.The increase resulted more marked in the case of cattle breeding, that is, +0.26 micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m3) for ammonia and +0.29 μg/m3 for PM10, compared to +0.01 and +0.04 μg/m3 recorded for pigs .A particularly important fact, especially if looked at in the current context of policies to combat polluting emissions.For example, it is even more paradoxical that the European Union, under pressure from Italy and...

On Wednesday 13 March, the European Commission launched a new procedure towards Italy, through which, by highlighting the failure to comply with the ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union issued in 2020, it will be able to decide to refer Rome to the Court, with the request to impose financial sanctions.The infringement procedure comes for failure to comply with the obligations on air quality and gives to Italy two months' time to respond and fill the gaps that have been identified.The proceedings initiated yesterday are added to the referral of the last June relating to non-compliance with the directive on waste water, launched by the Commission because, despite the progress made, it believed that the efforts carried out by the Italian authorities were still "insufficient" to deal with the problem of water pollution. The proceedings against Italy were notified with the monthly infringement package for the month of March.It was launched under Article 260 of the...

On Tuesday 20 February the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament reached a agreement to impose more stringent limits on air quality, with which the aim is to halve polluting substances by 2030.It has yet to be officially confirmed by both parties and aims to take an important first step towards achieving zero emissions by 2050.Nonetheless, within the same agreement there are quite a few exceptions, which may lead to an extension of the time needed to adapt to the new standards. up to ten years for all those areas “where compliance with the directives by the expiry date would prove unattainable due to specific climatic and orographic conditions, or where the necessary reductions can only be achieved with a significant impact on existing heating systems”, including which promptly appears Northern Italy and, logically, Lombardy.That same Lombardy where ironically they took place on the same day as the agreement anti-pollution regulations precisely because o...

On Sunday 18 February the Swiss company IQAir published a report on air quality in various cities around the world, drawing up a classification of those in which it is most polluted, in which Milan appeared third behind only Chengdu in China and Lahore in Pakistan.The list caused quite a stir, quickly becoming one of the most debated topics of the moment;Mayor Beppe Sala, questioned by journalists, provided one answer annoyed and hasty on the issue, rhetorically asking her interviewers who conducted this type of analysis, to underline the unreliability of the data coming from private entities and invite you to trust official data.Indeed, it seems difficult to imagine that Milan could place itself on the podium of the cities with the worst air quality in the world, above very large centres like New Delhi;However, this does not mean that the ranking provided by IQAir provides an interesting point of view which is worth reflecting on, which places us before the evident problem of air poll...