Air quality in Austria 2024: Never before!

Air quality in Austria 2024: Never before!

Air quality in Austria reached a low in 2024, which is called "one of the lowest loads of the past two decades", as the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) reports. In particular, the values for fine dust (PM2.5 and PM10), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ozone (O3) have been significantly reduced. A comprehensive analysis is expected in the summer of 2025. The load with ozone is comparable to the values of 2020 and is lower than in the years before. The ozone information threshold was also only exceeded in northeastern Austria at six measuring points, while there were still eleven measuring points in 2023, such as nön.at point out.

positive trends and crossing limit

The preliminary annual means for nitrogen dioxide show that the EU limit of 40 μg/m³ has not been exceeded at any measuring point, which signals a continuous decline in the NO2 load. This is mainly attributed to stricter exhaust gas limit values for new vehicles and the electrification of the vehicle fleet. No exceedings of the IG-L limit value were found in relation to fine dust, although in 2023 there were reported to overruns in two points for sulfur dioxide. Nevertheless, the health effect of air pollution remains worrying, since it is negative even at lower concentrations. This is shown by the UBA, which the new EU guidelines come into force from 2030 to improve the air conditions, such as 5min.at reported.