A decade of cleaner air across 120 European cities

Emissions of the major air pollutants across the European Union have fallen by roughly 3 to 5 percent per year over the past decade, according to the annual Assessment Report on European Air Quality 2025. The report was released by the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service, an EU program that has tracked pollution levels for more than ten years. Industry and road transport saw the sharpest drops. Since 2015, industrial emissions of sulphur oxides have fallen by 59 percent, and nitrogen oxides from cars are down 40 percent. "The overall picture remains positive," the report said, crediting long-standing policies and cleaner industrial systems. The authors do note that weather still nudges numbers up and down year to year, which is the sort of caveat scientists include because they have to. Copernicus monitors 120 cities across Europe and says it will keep identifying not only where pollution happened but the factors behind it.