But... how?
Despite government incentives and regulations some people burn garbage in stows. It's a local cultural thing and the state seemingly is powerless to do anything about it despite being the 20th economy in the world.
Kraków, Poland in top 5 worst air quality worldwide
11–20 of 158 posts
Re: Kraków, Poland in top 5 worst air quality worldwide
#12But... how?
I'd suspect just small amount of datapoints with maybe bias for people installing air sensors because that particular area's air quality is bad for whatever reason (near to road, neighbour have old coal boiler etc.)
Re: Kraków, Poland in top 5 worst air quality worldwide
#13But... how?
Assuming a large contributing factor is all the coal plants now running to sustain Germany's independence from nuclear? Berlin's air quality has also tanked a lot since the energy crisis started.
Why would you jump to this conclusion? I wonder why some people on internet are repeating narratives like drones.
Poland has largest use of coal in EU. Czechia and Germany are behind. Poland is including energy from sun and wind now a lot but there is still long way. Unlike surrounding countries they never had nuclear for some reason. https://app.electricitymaps.com/map/zone/PL/live/
Re: Kraków, Poland in top 5 worst air quality worldwide
#14Re: Kraków, Poland in top 5 worst air quality worldwide
#15But... how?
From this source: https://www.iqair.com/mx-en/newsroom/krakow-among-top-10-mos...
"Krakow’s pollution stems from a mix of local and regional sources. A primary culprit is domestic heating, the burning of coal and wood in older, inefficient household boilers and stoves remains widespread in the Małopolska region (1).
Car traffic also adds nitrogen oxides and fine particulates, exacerbated by an ageing vehicle fleet. Topography and meteorology worsen the problem, Krakow sits in a basin-like region prone to temperature inversions and limited ventilation, allowing pollutants to accumulate.
Additionally, emissions drift in from surrounding municipalities and industrial zones, making regional coordination crucial to air quality. Despite a solid-fuel ban in the city since 2019 and the replacement of many coal boilers, compliance is uneven and some residents still use banned fuel."
Re: Kraków, Poland in top 5 worst air quality worldwide
#16But... how?
From this source: https://www.iqair.com/mx-en/newsroom/krakow-among-top-10-mos... "Krakow’s pollution stems from a mix of local and regional sources. A primary culprit is domestic heating, the burning of coal and wood in older, inefficient household boilers and stoves remains widespread in the Małopolska region (1). Car traffic also adds nitrogen oxides and fine particulates, exacerbated by an ageing vehicle fleet. T…
The issue with solid-fuel ban is that its banned only inside of the city itself, not in the surrounding towns
Re: Kraków, Poland in top 5 worst air quality worldwide
#17Warsaw is top 15, Krakow and Warsaw are the only European cities in the top 15. For some added context, it's around -10 degrees celcius there right now. I don't know why Poland stands out here, but I know that older residential areas burn wood (in other Eastern European countries as well), because that's just how you heat an old house: these neigbourhoods are horrible to walk through in winter, because the air just stinks of smoke.
Re: Kraków, Poland in top 5 worst air quality worldwide
#18The air in Kraków is fine once you give it a good chew. I don't know why people are complaining.
LOL, Slavic humor at its best :)
I live in Ostrava, some 160 km away. Entire Upper Silesia is a bad place for air quality in winter, it can often be seen on continental maps as a sore red spot.
Fortunately most of the coal burning is gone, but individual people still burn all sorts of shit in their homes. PET bottles etc.
Re: Kraków, Poland in top 5 worst air quality worldwide
#19Warsaw is top 15, Krakow and Warsaw are the only European cities in the top 15. For some added context, it's around -10 degrees celcius there right now. I don't know why Poland stands out here, but I know that older residential areas burn wood (in other Eastern European countries as well), because that's just how you heat an old house: these neigbourhoods are horrible to walk through in winter, because the air just s…
Burning coal and wood wouldn't be that bad. Unfortunately its quite common that people burn their trash
Re: Kraków, Poland in top 5 worst air quality worldwide
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
It’s in the valley and because Polish state is kinda weak they cannot enforce nearby villages to stop burning garbage to heat their homes.
at least try to hide your racism
LOL, there is nothing racist about it, neither Poland nor Czechia are really into environmental enforcement against individuals, and you can definitely smell it in winter. As of now, "small sources of pollution" (e.g. mostly individual homes) are at least comparable to industry when it comes to releasing bad stuff into the air.
I hate the acrid smell of burning plastic, but no one will do anything about it.