Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Drop in air pollution during lockdown in Aberdeen and Inverness as Scotland hits legal limit for first time

A quiet A92 looking towards Aberdeen
A quiet A92 looking towards Aberdeen

Scotland’s air pollution levels hit legal limits for the first time in 2020, new figures have revealed.

That achievement is being credited to the huge changes to public life during the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns put in place to limit its spread.

Government instructions to stay at home, and closure of schools and offices saw traffic numbers on the road plummet as the country ground to a halt from March until restrictions were eased in July.

The country’s leading environmental campaigning organisation, Friends of the Earth Scotland, says that has led to a massive improvement in air qualities in cities such as Aberdeen and Inverness, both of which experienced a steep drop in toxins from diesel leading to a improved air quality.

In Aberdeen, one of the city’s worst areas for diesel pollution, Wellington Road, saw its level of harmful nitrogen dioxide drop from an average of 35 microgrammes per cubic metre across 2019 to 24.99 in 2020.

Union Street and Market Street saw similar drops during 2020 to averages of 23.79 and 22.43 respectively. And further down the scale, King Street and Errol Street saw their levels drop from 20.1 and 16.3 in 2019 to 15.5 and 13.1 in 2020, respectively.

In Inverness, Academy Street was the worst in the city for air pollution. It was a drop in its levels of nitrogen dioxide from 42.7 in 2019 to 26.9 in 2020. The city as a whole saw its levels drop from 16.5 to 12.6 over the same period.

Both cities saw temporary walking and cycling routes introduced to support social distancing during the first lockdown last spring.

The air quality data, and traffic figures, show the improvements in air quality due to Covid-19 restrictions were short-lived and pollution soon returned to high, pre-pandemic levels. However the drop in the spring was sufficient to bring the annual average down considerably on 2019 levels.

Academy Street, Inverness. Photo: Sandy McCook

Friends of the Earth Scotland insists it shows a clear link between car journeys and pollution levels and called on local authorities in the north and north-east to do more to maintain the low levels.

The charity’s air pollution campaigner Gavin Thomson said: “It’s a huge pity that it took a deadly pandemic to bring our air quality within legal limits. Scotland’s car-choked transport system was brought to a halt in Spring, and this is why our annual averages of pollution are much lower than previous years. Any improvements in air quality in Scotland have been short-lived with traffic quickly returning to pre-pandemic levels.

“We need to remember that pollution damages our health through long-term exposure, such as living near a main road throughout your childhood. The reduced pollution for a couple of months during the strictest lockdown is unlikely to have many long-term health benefits.”

The legal air quality standards, which came into force in 2010, have been breached every year in Scotland.

Mr Thomson added: “The Scottish Government’s recently published ‘Cleaner Air for Scotland’ strategy contains very few ideas for reducing polluting traffic and cleaning up our transport system. The government and councils must seize this moment to rethink how we plan our towns and cities, and how we move around.

“Temporary improvements in air quality arrived at an enormous cost to our communities and societies. There was no intention or concerted political action to reduce emissions, which is why the falls were not maintained when restrictions eased. We need a just and green recovery, including investment in our public transport and more options for safe walking and cycling, to improve the air we breathe permanently.”