MINSK, 4 January (BelTA) – Air quality in Belarusian cities is the highest on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, Deputy Head of the Sakharov International State Environmental Institute at Belarusian State University Maria Germenchuk said in a video interview at the website of the National Press Center, BelTA has learned.
Environmental conditions in Belarus are quite favorable, Maria Germenchuk noted. According to her, the country has enough instruments and mechanisms to control the environmental conditions. “Belarus has a well-developed national monitoring system. It is important to monitor the state of atmospheric air in the online mode, because it varies in the course of the day and week. Air in cities is the cleanest on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. There is less traffic on Saturdays and Sundays, so by Tuesday the air becomes cleaner, and after that pollutants start to mount up anew,” Maria Germenchuk said.
As for the time of day, air quality is the lowest at around 16.00-17.00, and the highest in the morning. “We know such details thanks to monitoring. It is important to know where air pollution levels are the highest and why. Air quality depends on a number of factors, for example, manufactures or boiler houses in the vicinity and traffic levels,” Maria Germenchuk noted.
Belarus' national environmental monitoring system plays an important role in implementing the state policy in the field of environmental protection and provides information support for decision-making in environmental matters. The system provides for observation of changes in atmospheric air, surface and ground water, and soil and monitoring of the state of forests, fauna and flora, geological environment, discharges and emissions of enterprises, and so on. The network of observation points encompasses the whole country and is expanding.
