EU environmental agency rates Athens air quality as ‘moderate’
Air quality in Athens is only “moderate,” according to data published on Monday by the European Environment Agency (EEA).
The cleanest cities in terms of air pollution over the last two years (2020-2021) are Umea in Sweden and Faro and Funchal in Portugal. More than 340 European cities are included in the map based on data collected from measuring stations across the bloc.
Athens ranks 227th in the list. Referring to the Greek capital’s air quality, the director of atmospheric chemistry at the National Observatory of Athens, Evangelos Gerasopoulos, stressed that “it has become much better in recent years, but there is still a lot of room for improvement.”
Since 2019, the Observatory has set up over 100 air quality monitoring stations across the country. “Greece is located in a region with a high air pollution background due to neighboring Eastern European countries, while meteorological conditions also favor the transfer of pollution across borders,” he said.
