POOR AIR QUALITY: Southbound traffic on the Eastern Road heading for the city
Published in the Portsmouth News on 27th September 2013
Story by Jeff Travis
The air we breathe is a commodity many of us probably take for granted
It’s free and there seems to be no shortage of it.
But clean oxygen-filled air sustains all of us and is a major contributor to a healthy, long life.
Indeed, a government report in 2010 described poor air quality as ‘an invisible killer’, probably contributing to more deaths than obesity, traffic accidents and passive smoking.
Air quality is at the top of the agenda at Portsmouth City Council as it launches an action plan to improve the air we breathe – which we take in, on average, between 12 and 16 times every minute.
Five areas in the city are currently exceeding the EU limits for nitrogen dioxide – one of the most toxic pollutants from vehicles.
Portsmouth is by no means alone as other cities also struggle to combat pollutants, mainly exacerbated by Britons’ love affair with the humble automobile.
But it’s getting serious.
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