Air quality in Karabuk

What is the current level of air pollution in Karabuk?

Karabük is a town and the capital district of Karabük Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. It can be found near the Filyos River where the Arac and Soganli rivers converge. It was established as a town in the 1930s and soon became an important area in the manufacture of iron and steel. Because of this, it is well-known for its high level of air pollution. The last census was conducted in 2009 and estimated the population to be approximately 108,000, although this will probably have increased by now.

During the middle of 2021, Karabuk was experiencing a period of “Good” quality air with a US AQI reading of just 15. This United States Air Quality Index number is an internationally used set of metrics supported by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and is used to compare the air quality in different cities throughout the world using comparable standards. It is calculated by using the levels of the six most commonly found pollutants. If figures are not all available, the level is calculated using what information is available. In the case of Karabuk, the only measurement recorded was that of PM2.5 which was 16.5 µg/m³.

At what time of year can the best quality air be found in Karabuk?

Air pollution can be very volatile and, as such, can change very quickly depending on many variables, such as wind speed and direction and the strength of sunlight.

Looking back at the figures published by the Swiss air monitoring company IQAir.com for 2020 it can be seen that during the month of August, Karabuk achieved the WHO target figure for being less than 10 µg/m³. From March until the end of November (with the exception of August), the air quality was classed as being “Moderate” with readings between 12.1 and 35.4 µg/m³. For January and February the quality slipped down into the “Unhealthy for sensitive groups” classification with figures between 35.5 and 55.4 µg/m³. In the twelfth month of the year, December saw the quality slip once more, this time into the “Unhealthy” bracket with a figure of 57.5 µg/m³.

Records for air quality were first kept in 2019 when the average figure was 22.8 µg/m³, but it deteriorated in 2020 when the figure recorded was 26 µg/m³. Even then, this figure may not be 100 per cent accurate because of the restrictions put into place because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

What is the main source of air pollution in Karabuk?

As a result of some natural events that occur in nature, substances that pollute the air may occur. Pollutants emerging in this way do not stay in the atmosphere for a long time. These events can include volcano activities, forest fires and desert dust.

Due to the activities of human beings, the balance of nature is negatively affected. In air pollution, pollution from artificial sources is more important. Because air pollution, especially in large residential areas and industrial areas, is the most important issue for people today. This pollution is mostly caused by human activities. These resources can be listed as follows; the burning of fossil fuels, transportation and industry.

This pollution, which is caused by human-induced activities, varies depending on factors such as the industrial development of the region, its population, and urbanization.

Meteorological factors, location and topographic structure, unplanned urbanisation and lack of green areas and the quality of the fuels used are the factors affecting the pollution from artificial sources.

Fire has been one of the most important needs for humanity since its discovery. It has been used extensively, especially for heating purposes. Today, we burn stoves and heaters in homes, schools and workplaces for heating purposes during the winter months. Wood, coal, fuel-oil and natural gas are used as fuel in stoves and heaters. When these fuels are burned in stoves and heaters, carbon monoxide (CO), sulphur dioxide (SO₂), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter emitted from the chimneys pollute the air.

As well as the pollution caused by heating in the cities, the harmful exhaust gases caused by the motor vehicles, which increase in parallel with the increase in population and income level, also emerge as an important air pollution problem that needs to be taken precautions. The harmful substances in the exhaust gases of gasoline and diesel vehicles cause much more damage to the environment, especially in large urban centres where population and traffic are dense. Pollutants originating from vehicles: carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), hydrocarbons (HC) and lead (Pb).

Can anything be done to improve the air quality in Karabuk?

Experts say that the air pollution problem in Karabük has turned into a crisis, the issue is being pulled to different places and the most important source of pollution is not taken into account. They list the pollutant sources as sulphur dioxide (SO₂), particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide and ozone draw attention to the increase in sulphur dioxide in recent months.

What detrimental effects does the air in Karabuk have?

Ozone is powerful and aggressive. High levels of ozone corrode materials, buildings and living tissue. It reduces the ability of plants to photosynthesize and makes it difficult to take carbon dioxide. It also harms plant reproduction and growth, reducing crop yield and forest growth. In the human body, it causes inflammation in the lungs and bronchi. When exposed to ozone, our body tries to prevent it from entering our lungs. This reflex reduces the amount of oxygen we breathe. Breathing less oxygen with each breath causes our heart to work harder.

Therefore, for those who already have cardiovascular diseases or respiratory diseases such as asthma, environments with high ozone content can be debilitating and even fatal.

Combustion of fuel usually changes the form of many substances in our atmosphere, including nitrogen, which is most abundant. When nitrogen reacts with oxygen, nitrogen oxides are formed in the air (including nitrogen dioxide NO₂). When nitrogen reacts with hydrogen atoms, it forms ammonia (NH₃), another air pollutant with serious adverse effects on human health and nature.

In fact, combustion processes release many different air pollutants, from sulphur dioxide and benzene to carbon monoxide and heavy metals. Some of these pollutants have short-term effects on human health. Others, which contain some heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants, accumulate in the environment. This allows them to enter our food chain and reach our tables.