13:27 12 March 2023
New ranking of the most polluted localities in Poland published
Each year, the Polish Smog Alarm publishes a list of the most polluted cities in the country. Rankings are based on the year 2021 and show the most heavily polluted cities. Unfortunately, this list also includes spa towns. Additionally, the ranking only includes those cities where air quality measurements are taken, which is about 300 locations – while there are 2500 municipalities in Poland. Therefore, it is not known whether the air is clean in the remaining cities.
"The leaders are always the same. Nowy Targ won last year. This year, Nowa Ruda from the Lower Silesian Voivodeship won – a small town with a population of several thousand, located in a mountain valley in Lower Silesia, surrounded by mountains," Piotr Siergiej from the Polish Smog Alarm said.
"Such towns dominate the ranking – heavily heated with coal furnaces: Nowa Ruda, Nowy Targ, Sucha Beskidzka. Spa towns like Rabka Zdrój and Goczałkowice Zdrój are also joining this list. The standards are being heavily exceeded in southern Poland. The reason is quite obvious – the density of buildings. Although there is still a lot to be done in the North," Siergiej analyzed.
