"Clear and cold winter days are actually more hazardous in terms of air pollution," states the Ministry of the Environment air pollution division. This is because air layers do not mix on cold days, with the result that pollutants emitted from cars stay near the ground for hours.
The Ministry of the Environment believes bad pollution days are likely until March, endangering cardiac and pulmonary patients and small children, who should be exposed as little as possible to this pollution.
Ministry of the Environment data indicate that the air quality in the Dan region, Jerusalem, Afula, Beit Shemesh and Beersheva has improved, compared with the corresponding period last year, with a decline in the number of bad pollution days and in the number of deviations from air quality standards.
The improved air quality is due to a combination of the weather, which encourages the dispersion of pollutants in the atmosphere; and enforcement measures. Nonetheless, the ministry warns about the risks of pollution.
The environmental poverty report, published yesterday by the Israel Union for Environmental Defense, describes the air quality in Israel as "catastrophic". The report states that hundreds of violations of air quality standards are recorded every year in Rehovot, Modi'in, Yavne, Carmiel, and elsewhere. The report also found that standards for emissions from gasoline-powered vehicles and the supervisory methods at motor vehicle test centers were obsolete and irrelevant for resolving the problem of smog.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on December 20, 2004