Sarajevo again among the most polluted cities in the world

The concentration of fine particulate matter in Sarajevo in the afternoon was 47 times higher than the threshold set by the World Health Organization.
Sarajevo declared a state of alert as the Bosnian capital again ranked among the most polluted cities in the world. 
The concentration of fine particulate matter in Sarajevo in the afternoon was 47 times higher than the threshold set by the World Health Organization. 
The city's air quality index reached 320, according to IQ Air, which measures global air pollution - anything above 300 is considered dangerous. 
In Sarajevo, a city of more than 400,000 people surrounded by mountains where temperatures drop in winter, pollution peaks are common. 
"The biggest problem is individual heating," says Anes Podic, head of the environmental organisation Eko-Akcija, adding that between 30,000 and 40,000 households use solid fuels, mostly wood. 
"They burn damp wood in very poor quality stoves and we end up with very high emissions." 
But the government "doesn't want to solve the problem," he says, and "as a result we are often at the top of the (pollution) blacklists, along with much larger cities with 10, 20 or 30 million inhabitants." 
The effects of pollution on local residents are well documented, including in the region. 
According to a UN study published in 2019, air pollution is responsible for 20% of all premature deaths recorded in 19 Balkan cities. 
Balkan residents lose up to 1.3 years of life as a result of air pollution, the UN study said. | BGNES