The data released by the Swiss company IQAir, which indicates Milan among the most polluted metropolises in the world, "are truly alarming and force us to reflect on what has not been done in the past and on what should be done now, with the utmost urgency" states WWF Italy in a note indicating the need to "finally start a serious ecological and energy transition".
"While the quality of the air in Milan is mainly affected by vehicular traffic and emissions linked to heating systems, the pollution of the Po Valley is also heavily caused by intensive farming and industrial agriculture as well as by transport and the combustion of biomass, especially in old and inefficient plants. First and foremost, fossil fuels are under attack", explains the NGO.
"We need to change lifestyles, in transport, in heating, in agriculture - we read in the note from the environmentalist association - And we must start immediately, in a radical way. Of course, the conformation (orographic and meteorological conditions) of the Po Valley also contributes. But it cannot constitute an alibi, if anything an incentive to intervene urgently on a problem that has been known for decades. Instead we are facing yet another alarm for citizens' health".
According to the WWF, "the data from the recent Swiss survey certainly do not confirm the terrible quality of the air, but decades of air analysis studies by Arpa with countless exceeding of the limits for PM10, PM2.5 and nitrogen oxide, for entire weeks and for dozens of days a year with very serious health consequences".
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