What do Paris, Brussels, Dusseldorf, Luxembourg and Metz have in common? All of these cities are part of the same area of air polluted by numerous industries.
According to Greenpeace India, the southern half of the Grand Duchy is part of vast sulfur dioxide polluted area that stretches over several thousands of square kilometers. This gas, which is irritating for the respiratory tract, is present in a higher concentration in the south of the country.
NASA joined efforts with Greenpeace to compile and publish the document. The map shows that there are several coal plants in the area. Closest to Luxembourg are the one in Saint-Avold (France) and east of Saarlouis (Germany). Four more are situated between Aix-la-Chapelle and Cologne. These findings echo the recent Eurostat study that found that more than 18% of Luxembourg residents say they had been exposed to polluted air and other environmental problems.
Even though Luxembourg is part of this air-polluted area, it pales in comparison to the world's most polluted zones. These are located around highly polluting industrial zones such as coal or gas plants and refineries. Some of these sites are in Mexico, southern Peru, India (15% of pollution created by man) or Russia. Sometimes natural factors (such as volcanoes) aggravate the mad-caused pollution.
According to the World Health Organization, more than 7 million people die each year as a consequence of bad indoor and outdoor air quality.
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