After an unprecedented peak for ten years, pollution levels are slowly decreasing in Paris. In Lyon, the improvement is not expected for several days.
The wind returns and disperses the cloud of pollution in which several French cities have been bathing for ten days. While Paris had not known for ten years such levels of fine particles (up to 146 micrograms / m3), and for such a long period, the return to normal seems to be announced for this week.
“Average” pollution
The latest AirParis report, dated Friday, was already more optimistic. “The episode of fine particles (PM10) that Île-de-France has been experiencing for ten days should end this weekend. Airparif does not plan to exceed the information threshold”, specified the agency.
“This improvement is made possible both by less traffic on weekends and more dispersive weather conditions, with in particular more wind and a height of the boundary layer (the volume in which pollution can disperse) greater”, can we still read.
Words confirmed this Sunday on LCI. The agency still provides high rates, although below the thresholds. Alternating traffic, which was put in place for four days this week in Paris and in 22 municipalities in the inner suburbs, will “probably not be renewed”.
The #pollution in Île-de-France will be average today (index 58/100) and average tomorrow (62/100). https://t.co/uFdy5tXBv1
— Airparif (@Airparif) December 11, 2016
Lyon: high levels
The situation is more difficult in Lyon and Villeurbanne (Rhône), where pollution levels are struggling to come down. On his site, the Air Rhône-Alpes monitoring agency shows poor air quality. The improvement is not expected before the middle of next week, due to favorable weather conditions for cloud stagnation, she told LCI.
However, the prefecture does not seem to have taken the decision to renew the alternating traffic, experienced for the first time last week in these two cities.
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