“Milan, what a struggle!” He sang Lucio Dalla in 2006, to also add “it's sugar and tar”. The city's air quality, according to AQI (Air Quality Index) Sunday February 18 it was the third worst in the world. The first in Europe. Only Dacca in Bangladesh and Lahore in Pakistan performed worse.
Sala: “Is Milan the third most polluted city in the world? Unreliable data"
The news infuriated the mayor Giuseppe Sala which deems the data unreliable. “They're the usual ones extemporaneous analyses managed by a private entity. Arpa does other analyzes that demonstrate the opposite and I'm annoyed at having to answer questions about issues that don't exist“. Sala will have more reassuring data from the regional environmental protection agency, but is also calling for a working table with the Lombardy Region. The truth sometimes has multiple faces. After all, it is not the first time that fine dust has swirled around undisturbed the beautiful little girl. In March 2023, another ranking was drawn up which assigned the European record in Milan.
Milan: the 4 factors that cause pollution
In short, there have been and are different measurements from which the Lombard capital does not come out well at all. It is the mirror of the entire Po Valley. Last Sunday's phenomenon is attributed to four main factors: the unfavorable geography of the plain; the high pressure that is causing the colder air to stagnate; the high density of population, houses and cars; the presence of intensive livestock farming and agricultural crops.
Nothing new, more "coal than sugar", to quote Dalla again. The toxicity percentages of Pm 2.5 in the air are due to buildings and transport, respectively by 54% and 15%.”I believe my administration has demonstrated, even with divisive decisions, that it wants do something on the environment” – says the mayor. There were Sundays on foot or traffic stops in areas of Milan. But why dispute Sunday's PM 2.5 concentration, 13,5 times higher than the WHO's annual guideline value for air quality?
During Covid, several studies have shown that the virus affected people suffering from respiratory diseases typical of unhealthy air. The Pollution level is structurally high in Milan. Evidently the measures taken by the municipality are not enough and contesting the data collected could become a boomerang for those who lead a large city. An incomprehensible closure in comparison.
