Summary of today's editorial "Economic World":
Policy crisis in air pollution.
Parham Pahlan; Editor of the World of Economics.
Tehran has been dealing with air pollution for years, and policymakers' responses are usually limited to emergency meetings, traffic restrictions, and the closure of educational and administrative centers.
Investigating the behavior of suspended particles smaller than 2.5 microns in a three-year period shows that out of 116 polluted days in 19 critical periods, the average pollution decreased in the days after the crisis; But at the same time, the wind speed increased and the rain also helped wash away some of the particles.
The concentration of pollutants on the first day after the crisis averaged 149, on the second day 128 and on the third day 111, while the wind speed increased from 9.2 to 11.6 and then 13.3 meters per second. Even taking into account the natural return of pollution to the average, the decrease recorded was about 22 units; While the normal drop on normal days is estimated to be around 8 units.
These findings show the role of atmospheric conditions in reducing pollution in the short term, but wind and rain do not mean a permanent reduction of pollutant emissions.
The main problem is not the lack of special knowledge; Rather, it is about the amount of use of available knowledge in decision-making and policy reform.
The annual repetition of emergency measures shows that policy-making does not learn from past experience and does not take seriously the prediction and targeting of the main sources of pollution.
Tehran needs a scientific, assessable and preventable decision to clean it up, without relying on the chance of wind and rain.
The official channel of Donya Akhtaz newspaper.