AMMAN — Director of Environmental Monitoring
and Assessment at the
Ministry of Environment Ali Mashni said the ministry was
not aware of a Green Peace (GP) report published this week suggesting that
Jordan’s capital has witnessed an increase in nitrogen oxide levels in the
atmosphere this year compared to 2020.
اضافة اعلان
He pointed out that GP uses a different
pollution measurement method than the ministry; while GP uses satellites, the
ministry uses air quality monitoring stations that are located across the
Kingdom.
The GP report, based on monitoring levels of nitrogen
oxide in the atmosphere of leading
Middle Eastern and North African cities, was
recently published and carried by Al-Ghad News.
It stated that in the year 2020, Amman’s nitrogen oxide levels witnessed
a 44 percent drop compared to the previous year’s levels. GP uses the Dobson
unit, which is a measurement unit that monitors the concentration of specific
gases in parts of the atmosphere, using satellites.
According to the report, in 2020, the nitrogen
levels in Amman were 0.116 Dobson units (DU). In 2021, that number increased to
0.209 DU, representing an 81 percent increase from 2020’s levels.
While Jordan, like the rest of cities
worldwide, witnessed a drop in air pollution levels during 2020 as a result of
nationwide lockdowns and curfews to prevent the spread of the
coronavirus,
which explains the disparate pollution rates between 2020 and the current year,
Mashni attributed the findings to another factor; the use of different measurement
methods.
“If anybody wanted to quickly learn about air
pollution levels throughout the Kingdom, they are encouraged to visit the
Ministry’s Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Directorate website, which
gives people access to air pollution data from 12 ambient air quality
monitoring stations located in Zarqa, Irbid, and Amman,” he said.
Mashni made it clear that the ministry’s
monitoring stations would most likely yield different results compared with the
satellites. “Emissions revealed by satellites for a specific city might be
inaccurate due to the unintended inclusion of emissions from nearby cities in
the region,” he said, which explains why GP's monitoring methods are fundamentally
different from the ministry's methods.
The Environmental Monitoring and Assessment
Directorate Website
(jordanenv.com) rates the air pollution situation of
numerous Jordanian locations from various cities as either good, moderate,
unhealthy, very unhealthy, or hazardous, and the rating fluctuates by the hour.
On Sunday afternoon, Tabarbour (greater Amman area) and Al-Masana, in Zarqa measured
“moderate.”
The detrimental health effects on the human
body posed by nitrogen oxide’s presence in the atmosphere relies on three
crucial factors, according to Mashni: Firstly, the concentration of nitrogen
oxide in the atmosphere. Secondly, the length of time spent being exposed to
the pollutant. Lastly, the sensitivity of the individual towards nitrogen
oxide, which varies from person to person.
According to Mashni, the latest data ranked Jordan
36th globally in air quality, which makes the Kingdom a relatively safe country.
“I hope we can preserve our position in this ranking,” he added.
Former Minister of Environment and the
Chairman of the
Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature, Khaled Irani,
told
Jordan News that he expected current nitrogen oxide
levels in Jordan to be higher than previous years, due to an increase in the
movement of cars, which is a primary factor behind nitrogen oxide emissions.
“The transportation sector consumes 45-50
percent of the Kingdom’s total energy consumption,” he remarked, adding that “nitrogen
oxide has harmful respiratory effects, and can lead to irritation and certain
diseases in the human eye. As a direct pollutant, it can be considered more
harmful on people’s health compared to carbon dioxide. Nitrogen oxide is
present in the atmosphere naturally, but in excess, it is problematic,
especially since it is trapped as a greenhouse gas.”
Some positive steps that could improve the air
pollution situation in Jordan, in Irani’s view, should start with “the priority
of merging the energy sector with the transportation sector to create an
advanced transportation network. Through using excess electricity as renewable
energy, the transportation sector can be transformed for the better. The Bus
Express project is a step in the right direction, but more can be done,” he
said
According to Mashni, the Ministry highly
encourages the use of environmentally friendly alternatives to diesel-powered
cars, like solar-powered and electric-powered vehicles, as the number one
source of pollution in Jordan comes from transportation.
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