We have recently experienced very heavy smog in all the major cities in Poland. In Kraków area, for example, the concentration of PM10 in Nowa Huta exceeded the norm 1200 times, but also the situation in the downtown was very dangerous. Similarly Wrocław, Warsaw and Silesia went through problematic time. Also in Lodz the norms were not kept, the dirt in air was noticeable with blind eye, not mentioning the measure results.

There have been several reasons for this. First of all as it is getting cold the heating season started. Still in many old tenements people use coal as the major fuel, it happens also that some pour families burn rubbish. Second, there are more and more cars in streets. All the former citizens who moved to the suburbs now come back bringing their children to schools and kindergartens, or they just come daily to work. During warmer months some of these people rode their bikes to commute, now as it is getting colder they have switched back to cars. The lack of planning and exaggerated supply of land for construction purposes without proper thinking on the possibilities to serve them with transportation services afterwards, creates huge need for individual solutions. There are no strict norms on cars’ environment friendly exhaust systems. We are probably the largest market in Europe for the used old cars. There are no norms on the fuel quality. Yet not so long ago some municipalities preferred buying coal heaters instead of gas ones because the only requirement they had to fulfil was prize. The current situation is the direct consequence of these deficiencies of legal regulations. Even if very recently the new antismog law has been approved there are still no detailed regulations how to make it work.

All major newspapers write alarming articles but still the discussion shows that there are quite many people who do not see any need for change. They are not affected personally, their families safe from pollution in the suburbs. They come to the town only for few hours a day, park their cars, head towards work and afterwards flee to their refuge. At the same time, we the citizens who want our cities to remain were they are, who do not want to spend larger portions of our days stuck in cars, who want our children to have friends nearby and who simply love living in downtowns or also those of us who cannot afford moving out for various reasons, we must breathe this dirty air, experience cough, stay sick, help our elderly families and care for children when sick, and constantly clean.

Possibly we need more low cost detectors, like in the case discussed by the scientists from the University of Cambridge (below)? Maybe we should engage yet more as activists to fight for clean air to balance the voice of those who are not able to understand that their daily routines affect others? What else may be done? Another solution is just to flee as well.