The measures taken by state and local authorities to lower the air pollution in Skopje are obviously not enough. The data provided by the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning – MEPP’s air pollution monitoring stations in the capital of North Macedonia indicate that during this winter in February and March the air was more polluted compared to the same months the last year.
Meta.mk analyzed the monthly reports about the ambient air quality in Skopje during February and March 2021 and compared them with the identical months of the previous year. The results show that during 24 days in February this year, at the monitoring station in Centar, the concentration of PM 2.5 particles was over the maximum allowable concentration of 25 μg/m3. At the monitoring station in Karposh, an equally worrisome result was received during the monitoring in a period of 22 days compared to February.
During this past winter, the situation with the registered PM 10 particles in Skopje’s air also worsened. At the monitoring station in Gazi Baba, the mid-day concentration of PM 10 particles in February 2021 was 65.11 μg/m3 while last year in February, 50.33 μg/m3 were measured. As a reminder, the allowed mid-day concentration of PM 10 particles is 50 μg/m3.
Apart from the significant increase in air pollution in Skopje in February, even during March this year, at the majority of monitoring stations in the capital, a more polluted air was registered by the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning compared to March 2020.
