Today, the Norwegian Environment Agency released the overview of air quality in Norwegian municipalities last year. Ringsaker, Bærum, Drammen, Lørenskog and Oslo broke the limit values for particulate matter in 2022. That’s five more municipalities than the previous year. – Not surprisingly, says senior adviser in the Norwegian Environment Agency, Line Merete Karlsøen. She reasons this with, among other things, new guidelines from the government. From 1 January 2022, there were new and lower limits for how much particulate matter is permitted in the outdoor air. Nevertheless, Oslo, Drammen and Lørenskog also broke the old limit values last year, the directorate points out. POLLUTION: A total of five municipalities breached the statutory limit values for particulate matter. Photo: Bjørn Sigurdsøn / Scanpix Particulate matter is small particles in the air that are formed, for example, by driving on asphalt, exhaust or when people burn wood in the fireplace. High levels of particulate matter are one of the most important environmental causes of premature death. It can lead to disease in the respiratory tract and cardiovascular diseases. There are several reasons why some municipalities have more particulate matter than others. – It could be a combination of high population and weather conditions. In Eastern Norway, they often have longer and drier periods in the spring, says Karlsøen. Upturn in the west Over the mountain, in Bergen municipality, on the other hand, they have managed to stay within the limit values. The environmental council, Ingrid Nergaard Fjeldstad (V), is satisfied with that. – It is very good that we have control over the air in our city. After all, there has been targeted political work over many years to gain control over the air, she says. In Bergen, people have struggled with poor air quality for many years. The city is surrounded by mountains, and on very cold winter days this causes the air to stand still. In some cases, this can result in high and dangerous air quality – We have had a very high focus on this. Not many years ago we had to keep the children inside because of the air. It is a situation we cannot have. At one point, the air quality in Bergen was so bad that it broke the EEA rules. Now it has turned around. Photo: INGFRID BERGE FOSSÅSKARET The Environment Agency lists several reasons why they may have now managed to crack the code. – One of the most important measures is that we have put the light rail in place, so that more people travel by public transport. But the measure that we believe has worked the most is that we introduced a rush-hour charge. This has reduced car traffic. She also mentions the introduction of studded tire fees and toll fees as reasons. – It shows that we can bring about change through politics, and that it is a good way to freshen the air, at least right now. We will continue to follow up so that the air stays fresh. Ingrid Nergaard Fjeldstad (V) believes that the rush hour tax has been central to reducing particulate matter in Bergen. Photo: Leif Rune Løland – Forced to do something about it Each individual municipality is responsible for looking after and regulating air quality. Ringsaker municipality is one of the five municipalities that failed to comply with the limits. – The fact that we break the limits for particulate matter is of course not good for health. We have to do something about it, says Ole Roger Strandbakke in Ringsaker municipality. He mainly points to two factors: a lot of car traffic and wood burning from households. – Here we have to give people advice about wood burning. The second is that we create the right conditions for walking, cycling and public transport, and that we get fewer cars in the city centre, he continues. Examples of other common measures are environmental speed limits, lower speeds and studded tire fees. Line Merete Karlsøen in the Norwegian Environment Agency does not think it is surprising that five municipalities have breached the boundaries. Photo: Privat Line Merete Karlsøen in the Norwegian Environment Agency points out that better air quality and less pollution will be an important national focus in the coming years. – The fact that we breached the limit values in 2022 shows that we still have to work on reducing air pollution in Norway, she notes.
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This is how Norwegian municipalities scored on air quality last year. Eastern Norway is the worst, while Bergen is on the rise – news Vestland
