- Title: Paris faces two-day pollution alert
- Date: 1st December 2016
- Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (DECEMBER 1, 2016) (REUTERS) HAZE ABOVE PARIS SKYLINE
- Embargoed: 16th December 2016 14:33
- Keywords: pollution air Paris France alert
- Location: PARIS, FRANCE
- City: PARIS, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Reuters ID: LVA0015B1ZDJB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Paris' skyline was shrouded in smog on Thursday (December 1) as the city and its region faced a two-day pollution alert due to meteorological conditions.
The regional health agency asked its residents to reduce their physical activity in order to lessen the impact of pollution on public health.
"This spike in pollution is due to, on the one hand, the rise in emissions caused by the cooler temperatures. So there is more heating being used, and we also have other sources of pollution - traffic and manufacturing. These factors create an accumulation of pollution, with the meteorological conditions preventing the dispersion of pollutants," said weather forecaster Lionel Guiseppin at air quality surveyor for the Ile-de-France Paris region, AirParif.
He added that pollution in Paris was elevated throughout the year, estimating that over 1.1 million residents in the Ile-de-France Paris region were regularly exposed to high pollution levels.
Police recommendations included lowering the maximum speed of vehicles by 20 km/h, reducing manufacturing emissions as well as a prohibition of burning organic waste in the open-air.
Commuter Stephane Bourgeois, who travels in to Paris from the suburbs, said he noticed a difference when he arrived in the city.
"It is true that I see on a regular basis when I arrive on a suburban train at Saint-Lazare (Parisian railway station), when I arrive in Paris, just the air quality. It's really obvious, you can always feel the difference," the 39-year-old said.
Not everyone, however, was aware of the spike.
"The sky is blue so it might be psychological, but I feel as though I'm breathing properly. It's cold. I can smell the exhaust pipes right now but I don't feel as though I'm breathing badly," 42-year-old Alice Lombard said.
"We can't tell the difference probably because we are permanently in it (pollution). There's not much in it, even if we're not always experiencing this spike, we're probably close to it. We're not particularly aware of it," another passer-by, Olivier Dervin said.
AirParif is expected to remove the warning by December 2, but said pollution levels will still be too high in the French capital. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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