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shut down
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All over the country, nitrogen dioxide levels fell over the past year. The main reason was the decrease in traffic.
The trend of the preliminary balance has been confirmed: the limit value for nitrogen oxide was complied with almost everywhere in Hesse last year. The reduced traffic during the lockdown is not solely responsible for this. The efforts of the cities also showed their effect, stressed Environment Minister Priska Hinz (Greens) on Friday in Wiesbaden. “More bike paths, better public transport connections, Park & Ride parking spaces, intelligent traffic light systems. All of this contributes to better air and also makes our cities more attractive. “
The Association of Hessian Entrepreneurs’ Associations (VhU) took the publication of the annual balance sheet as an opportunity to question the sensibility of driving bans. In Wiesbaden, the NO2 limit values would also be complied with without. And they should be checked in Darmstadt, demanded Klaus Rohletter, chairman of the VhU traffic committee.
Balance 2020
In Darmstadt NO2 levels fell by twelve micrograms per cubic meter, a decrease of 26 percent compared to 2019.
In Frankfurt NO2 pollution decreased by 22 percent, and all measuring points complied with the limit value.
In Offenbach it was minus 15 percent. In Wiesbaden minus 17 percent
www.hlnug.de
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Hinz hopes that fewer cars will roll through the country even after the pandemic. “If it remains possible in the future to work more often in the home office and hold one or the other conference online, that means less commuting, less travel, less nitrogen oxides and less CO2.”
As the final balance of the Hessian State Office for Nature Conservation, Environment and Geology (HLNUG) shows, the NO2 concentration decreased by an average of around six micrograms per cubic meter. This corresponds to a decrease of around 18 percent compared to the previous year. In rural areas, the values fell by an average of around 13 percent and in cities by 19 percent. “This development is very positive,” said HLNUG President Thomas Schmid. But whether the downward trend will continue after the Corona crisis will not be seen until 2022. “The measures to improve the air in the cities should therefore not be ended prematurely, but continued in the long term.”
Regarding the traffic hotspots in the cities, the experts found that in Darmstadt there was only one measuring point in Hügelstrasse which was just above the limit of 40 micrograms per cubic meter on an annual average. Frankfurt adhered to the limit values everywhere. Remarkable: At the Mainkai, which is temporarily closed to traffic, the average decline was almost 40 percent, almost twice as much as the urban average. In Offenbach, the most heavily polluted measuring points were reportedly 39 micrograms per cubic meter in Mainstrasse. In Wiesbaden at 37 micrograms per cubic meter at the Ringkirche measuring point.
The HLNUG monitors compliance with the limit values for nitrogen dioxide at 60 measuring points nationwide. Many of them had already reduced their NO2 levels in 2019.
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