Usually, as early as mid-October in the valley regions of Bosnia, which are also the most populated areas in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with each stabilization of weather conditions, days with significantly impaired air quality can be expected, which can have a negative impact on the health of citizens, they said from the Federal Hydrometeorological Institute of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“This year, we had only one day with significantly increased air pollution in October, and only on Friday, November 10 and Sunday, November 12 (on Saturday, the air quality was mostly moderately polluted) did we have cases when a large number of measuring devices places where the prescribed values for concentrations of sulfur dioxide and/or floating particles (“PM10, PM2.5”) are exceeded. Usually by mid-November we expect at least 10, 15 or even more days with very unhealthy air,” said Enis Omerčić from the Federal Hydrometeorological Institute of BiH to Fena news agency.
According to him, in the following period, until March next year, impaired air quality with a smaller or larger potential negative effect on the health of citizens is expected every time the weather conditions stabilize – without permanent or strong winds and without intense precipitation.
“It is a regular occurrence, conditioned mainly by natural-geographical factors on which the number of days with excessively polluted air also depends. Making a forecast for the whole winter in advance is ungrateful and almost impossible. Sometimes it is almost impossible to make an accurate pollution forecast three days in advance,” Omerčić pointed out.
He emphasized that the beginning of this “pollution season” is satisfactory for now.
Omerčić said that the past two years had a similar start to the season, which resulted in a smaller number of days with excessively polluted air and somewhat lower total average annual concentrations of pollutants.
“For expample, in 2022, the lowest concentration and number of days with polluted air were measured at almost all measuring points, since we have the measurement results. This does not mean that the air is “good” or clean, but it certainly indicates that the condition is ameliorating. We hope that we will have similar measurement results at the measuring stations this winter as well. Such results are mostly the result of somewhat more favorable general meteorological conditions during autumn and winter, which can be attributed to climate change,” said Omerčić.
As for anthropogenic impacts on reducing pollution, as he said, progress is slow and weak with a small number of exceptions.
“A good example is the recent commissioning of the new city heating plant in Zenica, which burned 150,000 tons of coal last winter alone than in previous years (now the by-products of the local coking plant are used – the so-called coking gas). Pollution with sulfur and floating particles in Zenica has not disappeared, it is still very high and the air is too often of poor quality, but the number of days with severe pollution has decreased, the maximum concentration values have decreased and overall, average annual values. A larger number of similar projects could ultimately significantly reduce pollution in our cities,” said Omerčić.
