- Title: Paris shrouded in smog from high pollution levels
- Date: 5th December 2016
- Summary: VARIOUS OF SMOG SHROUDING BUILDINGS ACROSS PARIS SKYLINE
- Embargoed: 20th December 2016 14:14
- Keywords: pollution Paris environment climate change global warming
- Location: PARIS, FRANCE
- City: PARIS, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Reuters ID: LVA0025BLYCEF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Paris's skyline was shrouded in smog on Monday (December 5) as the city faces elevated pollution levels from increased heating and high levels of road traffic.
Air quality surveyor for the Ile-de-France Paris region, AirParif, said cold weather and low winds have prevented the dispersion of toxic emissions in the French capital, pushing pollution levels upwards.
"Since last Wednesday, the Ile-de-France (Paris region) is facing a period of pollution, a period of particle pollution, of PM10 (particles 10 micrometers or less in diameter), which began on Wednesday when the 'information threshold' was reached. That's the first level in the warning and alert system. The second level is an alert, which was reached on Thursday and Friday. This period of pollution is linked to emissions of pollutants from residential heating using wood and road traffic," AirParif weather forecaster Charles Kimmerlin said.
Parisian authorities have advised motorists to reduce their speed on the city's main routes, with the limit dropping from 80 km/h to 70km/h along the congested ring road.
On Tuesday (December 6), Paris and towns across the Ile-de-France region will ban vehicles with odd-numbered license plates from circulating in an effort to curb pollution.
Out on the streets of Paris, Parisians had mixed thoughts over the city's pollution levels.
"Generally I'm rather happy with the quality of the air. I haven't really felt any problems in the air linked to breathing. But it's true that this morning, the fact I saw this sort of smog, it made me realise that actually I'm breathing in air that's a lot more polluted than I thought," passer-by Stephane said.
"Not at all, I don't feel it personally. But on the other hand, it's true that on the weekends when I leave Paris for the countryside, I notice the difference when I come back to Paris. The air is a bit heavier, but right now I don't feel it," Farid Abderrezak, who works in a bank, told Reuters Television.
Recruitment employee Sophie Olivier said her office, which is up high, kept its windows closed because of the high pollution levels.
"Even at lunchtime, when we go out to the Grands Boulevards area, it's unbreathable," she said.
AirParif said pollution levels in Paris were too high throughout the year, estimating that over 1.1 million residents in the Ile-de-France Paris region were regularly exposed to elevated pollution levels. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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