Rains bring relief to polluted cities

When two weeks of hot summer weather ended in thunderstorms yesterday, no one was more relieved than the French Environment Minister, Ms Dominique Voynet. In the sunshine and absence of wind, car exhaust was recombining into ozone, forcing authorities in France's main cities to issue warnings that children, old people and those suffering from respiratory ailments should stay indoors.

By yesterday afternoon, only Munchausen, in eastern France, still recorded the EU health alert level of 180 micrograms of ozone per cubic metre. The air pollution experts at the Association for the Surveillance of Pollution in Alsace (ASPA) are praying for bad weather by mid-week.

Ozone pollution is a problem every time hot weather comes to France, but this alert, which began on August 8th, was exceptional for its duration.

Ms Voynet came under fire for her absence during the crisis; she was on holiday in Ireland with her companion and their infant daughter, and had turned off her portable cellphone while aides of the Prime Minister, Mr Lionel Jospin, frantically tried to track her down.

Ms Voynet finally proposed long-term measures on August 21st. She wants to invest more in public transport, alter vehicles so they cannot exceed 130 kmph, and allow only lesser polluting cars bearing a green sticker to be used when alert levels are reached.

Finally, she would like to tax diesel fuel, used by 40 per cent of French vehicles. Diesel pollutes more than normal petrol, but costs less at present. The head of the truckers' union said they would not allow themselves "to be sacrificed on the altar of pseudopollution", and car manufacturers also objected to the proposal. But no one complained when Paris public transport tickets were sold at half-price for two days.

The problem is not France's alone, Mr Frederic Bouvier of ASPA told The Irish Times. Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy and Britain also suffer from chronic ozone pollution.

One of the most disturbing - and ignored - aspects, Mr Bouvier said, is that "the base level of ozone in the atmosphere has quadrupled since the beginning of the century, from 20 to 80 micrograms per cubic metre. It increases 2 per cent every year, so alert levels are reached more quickly."

Nor is air pollution confined to the summer months. "In the winter, we don't have ozone pollution, but there will be nitrogen dioxide and dust," Mr Philippe Lameloise, the director of Airparif surveillance network for the Paris region, said. Nitrogen dioxide pollution is also caused by cars and the absence of wind, but occurs even in the coldest winter weather. The problem will not go away and the French show no inclination to give up their cars. It's enough to make Ms Voynet long for another holiday in Ireland.