Air pollution levels exceed limit values in 116 German cities – NGO
The concentration of harmful nitrogen dioxide (NO2) emissions are above the legal limit in 116 cities and municipalities in Germany, NGO Environmental Action Germany (DUH) says in a press release. The NGO’s analysis included 41 cities that so far had not been officially monitored and are exempt from government programmes to improve air quality, which so far includes 65 cities. “We have a problem across the board in Germany with the diesel poison nitrogen oxide in the air we breathe,” DUH Jürgen Resch said, adding that air quality improvement programmes had to be extended to all affected cities. The limit of 40 micrograms per cubic metre had been far exceeded in Bonn (77 mg/m3), Stuttgart (67 mg/m3), Hamburg (62 mg/m3) and Düsseldorf (59 mg/m3), the DUH says.
Find the press release in German here.
See the CLEW article One year after Germany’s “diesel summit,” air quality challenge remains and the dieselgate timeline for more information.