Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
6.2.2.
The emergence of car pollution and the systematic creation of a
measurement network
Pollution has changed. There are fewer cases with generalized pollution even if
some local factories plumes are still being observed. Figure 6.1 shows how sulfur
pollution levels have decreased in an industrial region such as Dunkirk in the North
of France, and also shows that car pollution levels are high in the centers of larger
towns and cities. Nitrogen dioxide levels, which are considered as an indicator of
urban pollution, have not changed very much. The difference between values
measured at a background station, and those measured at a near station (see below)
are increasing.
140
120
100
80
DK Port
MALO
Fort Mardyck
ST Pol N
60
40
20
0
19791980198119821983198419851986198719881989199019911992199319941995199619971998
Figure 6.1.
The evolution of annual averages of sulfur dioxide levels for four stations
based in Dunkirk, France. The averages of the stations found closest to the
factories have also decreased significantly over a period of 20
years. Source: ATMO Nord-Pas-de-Calais
This evolution of atmospheric pollution has affected Europe as a whole ever
since the phenomenon of acid rain highlighted the importance of cross-border
pollution. With the introduction of LAURE, France has tried to respond to the
different directives that were set by the European Union, by systematizing the
monitoring system to be adopted throughout the whole of the country. This task of
monitoring pollution levels in France was confined to registered associations that
monitor air quality (AASQA). These associations are organizations developed and
