9 minutes agoSkopje, Europe's most polluted city
Periskopi(6 years ago)
(6 years ago)Skopje is as polluted as people with respiratory diseases climb mountains to escape, while young people just dream of immigration. But a simple app has started moving to deal with the smog. And we've always known we had pollution trouble because we could see,” said Costa Barsov, who lives in [...]
We always have days of pollution trouble because we could see,” said Costa Barsov, who lives in Skopje, Northern Macedonia. When he opened the bedroom window while I was learning, I feel like I'm drowning. When I take my dog for a walk, I have to change my clothes as soon as I get back because they smell heavy. ”
Every winter day, 16-year-old Barsov opens the AirCare app on his phone and controls the pollution level. There are two sensors near my house and it's always a lot of dirty air in winter,” he tells me. If you see a green circuit, the air around it is clear. If it is yellow, there are pollution but it does not break EU limits. If it's red or even darker, pollution is over the limit, and toxic to health.
Application has become an essential tool for Barsov, and many others in the city, to understand where pollution is and how bad it is, writes the BBC, translates Periscope.
Skopje is regularly on top of the list of Europe's most polluted cities, and sometimes even the world's. In 2018, level of The PM10 ] small, 10 - nanometer polluting particles in size that are dangerous to human health exceeded the EU limits for 202 days. Although Northern Macedonia is not part of the EU, it has opened membership talks and needs to meet air quality standards in the EU.
Currently, according to the OBS, about 4 thousand people a year die due to polluted air in northern Macedonia, and its economic costs are too high.
Costa Barsov says polluted air affects as much quality of life as he and his friends plan to get out after studies.
There are some ferns that cause smog, but they all have one thing in common - poverty. The average monthly salary in northern Macedonia is 250 euros, and many people have to heat up and prepare food through trees, coal, diapers or sometimes plastics. Also, car pollution is high and the cause of poverty, the number of old cars that fail to meet air standards is huge.
Original Full Article. /Periscope
