Pollutionwatch

January was a busy month in the UK for air pollution watchers. Early on, much of the country suffered from a classic winter pollution episode from the 1st right through to the 10th. In the middle of the month, pollution concentrations generally dropped, with the only significant problems occurring with nitrogen dioxide concentrations at the Bury roadside monitoring site. Right at the end of the month, on the 30th and 31st, particle levels rose again as high pressure over Scandinavia led to the UK receiving a flow of polluted air from central Europe.

At the start of the month, the European Commission announced that it was preparing legal proceedings against the UK over our failure to meet targets for particle pollution. We are one of 10 countries that are facing this threat, which is backed by the risk of unlimited fines. Albeit slightly late in the day, last month also saw Defra launch a public consultation on its planned application to the commission for a time extension until 2011 for meeting the limits.

They also released the provisional indicator for air pollution in 2008: the figures suggest that the improvements in air quality seen in the 1990s have more or less ground to a halt. The main indicator, based on the number of days with moderate or higher pollution shows that, other than 2003 and 2006 where we experienced unusually high pollution due to extreme summer heatwaves, 2008 was the most polluted year this century.

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