Airparif’s forecasts for the next few days raise fears that a large-scale ozone pollution episode will add to the heatwave.
Be careful, in addition to the heatwave episode throughout France, Ile-de-France residents will have to face another threat. A peak in air pollution in Ile-de-France is expected for the ozone pollutant this Wednesday and Thursday. Ozone concentrations above the information and recommendations threshold for ozone (180 µg / m3 on average over one hour) are currently impacting the region, de facto triggering the first threshold of the information and alert procedure Airparif (more than 100 km² of the Île-de-France region concerned and more than 10% of the population of a department).
It includes actions to inform the population, health recommendations for particularly sensitive categories in the event of short-term exposure, as well as recommendations and measures aimed at reducing some of the polluting emissions, such as the recommendation made by the authorities to motor vehicle drivers to limit their speed.
The fear of a major episode
To explain this situation, the regional air quality monitoring network indicates that “these levels are due to emissions of pollutants from human activity and natural sources and to meteorological conditions which favor the transformation of these pollutants. : ozone is a so-called “secondary” summer pollutant, the formation of which requires sunshine and high temperatures which allow the combination of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds emitted by the Paris area ”. And for the rest of the week, the association is hardly more optimistic: “The forecasts for the next few days raise fears that an episode of greater magnitude will be added to this local episode, and will make it continue” .
Anne Hidalgo’s antipollution plan
So, to reassure Parisians, Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, recalled this morning on Europe1 that the first part of the anti-pollution plan for the capital entered into force on Wednesday. The oldest buses, coaches and heavy goods vehicles (registered before October 1, 2001) will no longer be able to run between 8 and 8 p.m. in intramural Paris.
And as of July 1, 2016, the traffic ban will also apply during the week to class 1 diesel vans and private vehicles (prior to 1997) as well as to motorized two-wheelers prior to May 31, 2000. The town hall is responsible for goal of completely banning diesel in the capital by 2020.
Financial aid will encourage individuals to purchase electric vehicles or take public transport. The number of cycle paths will also be doubled and a network Express bike will be implemented.
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