Polish cities to be world leaders in terms of air pollution
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The Swiss air quality measurement platform IQAir placed Warsaw in the 1st place of the most polluted major cities in the world. Yes, Warsaw on Sunday surpassed the capital of Bangladesh – Dhaka, Indian Delhi, or Pakistani Karachi in this classification. But also the former capital of Poland, Kraków, did not fall asleep in the ashes and was yesterday in 5th place.
Disease and death from this are, of course, the biggest problem. But the impact of smog can also be quantified: health costs translate into economic costs, and these amount to PLN 111 billion annually, according to the estimates of the Polish Economic Institute (PIE).
"PM 2.5 is considered the most harmful among the dust and substances responsible for air pollution. Its concentration in 2017 in Poland was 23 micrograms per cubic meter. WHO recommends that the concentration of this dust in the air should not exceed 10 micrograms per cubic meter. It is due to its high concentration that it is estimated that in 2019 in Poland it contributed to the premature death of 43,000 people," PIE reported.
