Air pollution in Prague, Czech republic

Political and economical changes in the Central and Eastern Europe at the end of eighties significantly influenced urban air quality. In Prague (a typical central European city), fossil fuels used in the past for heating were substituted by natural gas. At the same time the number of vehicles registered in the city increased substantially. To quantify the trends in urban air quality of Prague, Czech capital, monthly averages of PM10, SO2, NO2, NO, O-3 and CO concentrations from the Prague network of automated monitoring stations were analyzed together with long term trends in fuel consumption and number of,vehicles registered in Prague within a period of 1992-2005. The results show that concentrations of SO2 - the pollutant strongly related to fossil fuel burning dropped significantly during the period of concern. Similarly NO, and PM10 concentrations decreased significantly in the first half of the nineties, but remained father stable or increased after 2000. Monthly ozone concentrations remained stable during the period analyzed. Economical changes in late eighties had a strong positive influence on Prague air quality namely in the first half of the period studied, nevertheless, the current trend in some of the pollutants (PM10, NOx) is not so promising.