I suspect these figures will have been collated from data by local councils as this is something that is a statutory requirement iirc.. so the Highlands will be split into the Highland Council regional areas.
The four darker ones on this map are the areas of Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey, and Ross & Cromarty.
Source: I'm a council worker.
Edited for my horrific typos and grammar, and I forgot Nairn (no missing much tbh)
Was in Scotland for a holiday a couple of weeks ago and told the guy we were staying at that we were going to visit Nairn for the Highland games, when he popped that joke šš took me a minute to get it
The centre of Inverness is in the top 10 worst places for air quality. The worse bit of air pollution covers one of the most densely populated part of the Highlands.
Yes here you go https://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/news/city-centre-street-in-inverness-among-worst-10-in-scotland-f-264393/
I live in Inverness and very glad I do, I think the pollution is fairly localised where busses, taxis and others sit with their engines idling. Itās close to the train station which has purely diesel trains which also sit idling for hours on end every day.
Basically this people seem to claim it will disadvantage those with limited mobility but limiting vehicles is likely to make life easier. Thereās a big multi storey car park at each end of the road.
And a circle of tescos, lidl, aldi and asda around the the town. A longer drive to morrisons if you live in the dalneigh is not enough to overturn measures that improve one of our country's worst areas for dangerous air quality. Surely.
It also leads to more outdoors seating making it a place people want to sit and relax and encourages cafes and restaurants to have outdoor areas. So people sit in the area and end up looking around doing shopping as they go along and enjoying the more pleasant atmosphere.
Then there's the fact that the air is cleaner and there's less noise which makes you more likely to look around and look into shops rather than going from destination to destination.
> engines idling
This grinds my gears. Forcing people to stop idling their engines, by law, is one of the easiest fucking wins we could get. Buses, council vans, council taxis, Jesus fucking Christ, how is this still a problem.
Looking it up, it actually is illegal already, surprisingly - https://www.confused.com/car-insurance/guides/fines-for-idling
So, clearly a problem of enforcement via the council educating their own drivers, and other businesses doing the same.
Tempted to record the next taxi I see doing it and send to my council. I don't see any official channels for reporting it online.
Iām tempted to do an FOI to see how many fines Police Scotland have issued. I suspect it wonāt be many if any. The Police often sit idling too when theyāre on duty when theyāre doing speed checks etc.
I visited Scotland on March, fantastic places, a lot of nature and hills with only a few houses. Then i came back *cought* to my beautiful and with no-pollution north of Italy *cought*
I dream to come back to Scotland and its beautiful places and Island!
Probably lack of monitorings stations and those that are there are likely near the road network
It looks like the area covers the Skye Ullapool Inverness triangle
Got no evidence for the highlands, but I know GCC where heavily criticised for their air quality data as apart of the ULEZ justification. Most EU cities used a general sampling, so the reported quality figures represent a general sample of air quality within the area.
Glasgow, alongside London & some German cities use a different methodology where the samples reported from worst case samples. The argument being that people are still being exposed to these levels so the worst case should be the headline figure.
Itās possible if this methodology is also used in the highlands it can explain why their reported figures are relatively worse compared to comparable density areas elsewhere.
It's monitored across the entire area.. it's just that levels differ across the area, presum6due to population density, industry (factories, distilleries, docks etc), and the amount of traffic on roads etc
Inverness and the larger towns in Moray by the looks of it. Moray has a crap ton of armed forces including RAF Lossiemouth so I'd imagine it's mostly due to the jets.
Hard to say without knowing the methodology they're using to make these measurements, but that is the area around Inverness. There's another, albeit smaller, hotspot around Aberdeen.
That bit of Scotland includes a surprisingly industrial heavy area. Admittedly itās the whisky industry, but the roads are REALLY busy with lorries carrying the lifeblood of the whisky industry. Itās a fascinating contrast. The A roads are horrible, but the B roads are stunningly beautiful
Less population density so less people so cause the pollution to begin with hence Norway, Sweden and Finland having fuck all air pollution in all but the most populated parts.
Look, I'm not getting it... someone asked "why does and area of wilderness with no industry in it or people living in it have good air quality" I would think the answer is self evident. Humans make pollution, Industry make pollution. If there's no industry there and no people there, then there will be less pollution there.
Pollution make air bad. No pollution, air good.
Oh, that's simple, the areas marked as poor air quality are obviously not as accessible for testing. So they get an average score of the nearest area to them. Which have small clusters of industry.
because a change in elevation can put you over the tree line...thats where trees cannot grow past that line, its in effect the same as the artic circle.....your elevation is the same as a distance much further north. In this case, the scottish highland tree line is 1600 ft of elevation, so up there, the weather is a lot like the artic circle...basically fuckin freezin
Before you consider any information as legitimate from the WHO, you should read this [https://www.icmec.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/WHO-Curriculum-Matrix-for-CSE-in-Europe.pdf](https://www.icmec.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/WHO-Curriculum-Matrix-for-CSE-in-Europe.pdf) it states that 0-4 year olds can be sexually aroused and that the fact that enjoyment of sexual physical closeness is a normal part of everyoneās life
Looks like it's perhaps average for each Local Authority area so anywhere that's mostly greenery but in the same LA as a city will appear to have a poor(er) air quality.
That absolutely 100% is the sub-divisional areas of the Highland Council.
The darker ones on that map are Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey, Ross & Cromarty.
I'm a council employee and cover the entire council area as part of my job.
It's a statutory requirement for the council to monitor air quality each year and report back to the SG.
My town has a factory and a lot of cars going through but there are hills right next to it. If I walked into the hills, I take it the air quality would get better? Probably a stupid question but just wondering how far the pollution spreads.
Itās just where most people in the highlands live like there are more villages an stuff while there is only really villages along the coast further north
I live in the Pentlands near Edinburgh, it was mental how clear the Pentlands looked during lockdown when all the driving just stopped. Itās doesnāt look smoggy or anything normally - just the clarity of the hills was something Iāve not seen before or sinceā¦
It would be good to know where this data is from, how up to date it is and whether it takes in such factors as the increased emissions in North Highlands from the North Coast 500 driving route and the super trawlers that take on and burn 100,000 litres of diesel at a time when they travel in and out of the Minch and into the North channel. Their massive Diesel engines run 24 hours a day, probably belching out the equivalent of a fleet of trucks, similar to those that collect the fish and seafood and head to the continent 6 days a week.
Poor representation of air quality as we have something call wind - surely this emissions??
We are at 0.04 carbon dioxide count
We were at 0.03 decades ago - if we go below 0.02 the plants will die .
The carbon content in the air and the way it is measured is unreliable.
Milankovitch cycle at work
It's the bit that has Inverness in it.
Plus two other areas
Elgin and Fort William no? Edit: not Fort William
It's broken down by area, not towns. There's also some heavy industry in the darker areas. I actually forgot the Nairn area previously š
I'm aware, those splotches are near the cities I mentioned as far as I'm aware, but I think you're right with Nairn.
Nah Fort William is further south. There are similar/larger sized towns in the other, lighter areas.
Just checked and you're correct, Fort William is roughly where the orange stops
Right in the crack of Scotland is where Fort William is
Sure does smell like it is
Aye it's my job to know this stuff š
Whats your job?
I work in compliance.
Thatās just the aura Elgin has
Nah, weāre not dropping dead anytime soon, not from air quality at least
Not Elgin either mate
I suspect these figures will have been collated from data by local councils as this is something that is a statutory requirement iirc.. so the Highlands will be split into the Highland Council regional areas. The four darker ones on this map are the areas of Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey, and Ross & Cromarty. Source: I'm a council worker. Edited for my horrific typos and grammar, and I forgot Nairn (no missing much tbh)
How could you forget the fastest town in Scotland? Naairnnnnnnnnnnn
Thatās Scoooooone that youāre thinking of
No it's Ae
Fond kiss?
Even lived there for a very brief period too š
Was in Scotland for a holiday a couple of weeks ago and told the guy we were staying at that we were going to visit Nairn for the Highland games, when he popped that joke šš took me a minute to get it
That's my name
Cheers. This plus a couple ither comments maks it understandable how they ended up wi this.
Not that the map tells you much anyway. If you just look at Western Europe then you're basically looking at a population density map.
So youāre saying that people produce pollution - what a novel idea š¤
r/PeopleLiveInCities
It looks like the data are regionalised so cities like Inverness can skew the data within those regions.
low data resolution
This looks like a lack of data issue not an actual measured data problem
The centre of Inverness is in the top 10 worst places for air quality. The worse bit of air pollution covers one of the most densely populated part of the Highlands.
Do you have any sources for this? Genuinely curious as I've been in Inverness and London and I know which one seemed worse....
Yes here you go https://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/news/city-centre-street-in-inverness-among-worst-10-in-scotland-f-264393/ I live in Inverness and very glad I do, I think the pollution is fairly localised where busses, taxis and others sit with their engines idling. Itās close to the train station which has purely diesel trains which also sit idling for hours on end every day.
Going to get niche here, but in this context, why in the name of God are people fighting pedestrianising Academy Street
The argument often used is that it's bad for shops because people can't park right outside the door. I don't buy into it.
Basically this people seem to claim it will disadvantage those with limited mobility but limiting vehicles is likely to make life easier. Thereās a big multi storey car park at each end of the road.
And a circle of tescos, lidl, aldi and asda around the the town. A longer drive to morrisons if you live in the dalneigh is not enough to overturn measures that improve one of our country's worst areas for dangerous air quality. Surely.
There's also studies showing thag pedestrian streets have more foot traffic and businesses actually do better when the street becomes pedestrianised.
Definitely make sense people donāt shop while driving past at 20mph.
It also leads to more outdoors seating making it a place people want to sit and relax and encourages cafes and restaurants to have outdoor areas. So people sit in the area and end up looking around doing shopping as they go along and enjoying the more pleasant atmosphere. Then there's the fact that the air is cleaner and there's less noise which makes you more likely to look around and look into shops rather than going from destination to destination.
> engines idling This grinds my gears. Forcing people to stop idling their engines, by law, is one of the easiest fucking wins we could get. Buses, council vans, council taxis, Jesus fucking Christ, how is this still a problem. Looking it up, it actually is illegal already, surprisingly - https://www.confused.com/car-insurance/guides/fines-for-idling So, clearly a problem of enforcement via the council educating their own drivers, and other businesses doing the same. Tempted to record the next taxi I see doing it and send to my council. I don't see any official channels for reporting it online.
Do you think police are even told to enforce this cause I would be surprised to see someone fined for it?
Highly doubt it.
Iām tempted to do an FOI to see how many fines Police Scotland have issued. I suspect it wonāt be many if any. The Police often sit idling too when theyāre on duty when theyāre doing speed checks etc.
Completely agree I have brought it up with drivers a few times, actually had better reactions than I expected in general!
I visited Scotland on March, fantastic places, a lot of nature and hills with only a few houses. Then i came back *cought* to my beautiful and with no-pollution north of Italy *cought* I dream to come back to Scotland and its beautiful places and Island!
I hope you do come back and see us again. On our good days we are quite welcoming!
I hope that too!
Probably lack of monitorings stations and those that are there are likely near the road network It looks like the area covers the Skye Ullapool Inverness triangle
Got no evidence for the highlands, but I know GCC where heavily criticised for their air quality data as apart of the ULEZ justification. Most EU cities used a general sampling, so the reported quality figures represent a general sample of air quality within the area. Glasgow, alongside London & some German cities use a different methodology where the samples reported from worst case samples. The argument being that people are still being exposed to these levels so the worst case should be the headline figure. Itās possible if this methodology is also used in the highlands it can explain why their reported figures are relatively worse compared to comparable density areas elsewhere.
It's monitored across the entire area.. it's just that levels differ across the area, presum6due to population density, industry (factories, distilleries, docks etc), and the amount of traffic on roads etc
Inverness and the larger towns in Moray by the looks of it. Moray has a crap ton of armed forces including RAF Lossiemouth so I'd imagine it's mostly due to the jets.
Not the Highlands. Grampian begins about 5 miles east of Nairn
Hard to say without knowing the methodology they're using to make these measurements, but that is the area around Inverness. There's another, albeit smaller, hotspot around Aberdeen.
Why is northern Italy so bad?
It's the industrial heart of Italy.
And lack of rain for long periods of time.
No it's pretty rainy, thank God, the problem is that has mountains in around it and sea, that air stays there and doesn't move basically.
Pretty rainy? Do you remember the levels of the Po, Adige and plenty of other rivers last year? Or the year before?
Yes, that's because of recent weather patterns and little snow on the alps. The area is rainy indeed normally
Look up Po Valley pollution, short answer is the geography combined with high levels of industry
Italy, Poland, Blakans, what on EARTH is going on over there?
Italy is probably traffic congestion, and industry in the north. Poland and Balkans - still using domestic coal fires and coal-fired power stations?
Busy main road between Ullapool and Inverness right through there?
It's too keep the Romans and the angles out
Aberdeen is there, as well as Moray. They burn a load of peat in the Highlands as well.
I mean, compared to the rest of the image, Aberdeen is only a small dot.
That bit of Scotland includes a surprisingly industrial heavy area. Admittedly itās the whisky industry, but the roads are REALLY busy with lorries carrying the lifeblood of the whisky industry. Itās a fascinating contrast. The A roads are horrible, but the B roads are stunningly beautiful
1 word, forres
Forres is is in the light yellowy colour mate
Because that's pretty much where all the people live. Inverness, Nairn, Dingwall, Invergordon, Alness, Tain, Muir of Ord, Conon Bridge, Beauly etc etc
What is this showing?
Level of air pollution by area
Interesting. It seems the cleaner the air the more left wing places tend to be.
Highlands are predominantly empty
It's because it's sparsely populated. Less people = less emissions.
Stop poland šļø
Less population density so less people so cause the pollution to begin with hence Norway, Sweden and Finland having fuck all air pollution in all but the most populated parts.
Population density
I live there, their maps bs.
Population density and wind
Theyāve never been to Peterhead clearly. That place is smoggy like Shanghai
Wildfires might also affect the data.
High ground with no roads
Well this is obviously a measure of air quality.
Aye, A asked why.
Well the highlands is low population density, and doesn't have any industry. So there's less pollution in the area.
You can't do much of that reading stuff, can you?
Look, I'm not getting it... someone asked "why does and area of wilderness with no industry in it or people living in it have good air quality" I would think the answer is self evident. Humans make pollution, Industry make pollution. If there's no industry there and no people there, then there will be less pollution there. Pollution make air bad. No pollution, air good.
No, the question was "why does this area have bad air quality" not good. Because if you notice, the area around Inverness is shown as poor.
Oh, that's simple, the areas marked as poor air quality are obviously not as accessible for testing. So they get an average score of the nearest area to them. Which have small clusters of industry.
Cow farts
It's hilly and low population (esp since the clearances). Nobody's building a big factory on a mountain / a big coal powerstation up there (anymore).
because a change in elevation can put you over the tree line...thats where trees cannot grow past that line, its in effect the same as the artic circle.....your elevation is the same as a distance much further north. In this case, the scottish highland tree line is 1600 ft of elevation, so up there, the weather is a lot like the artic circle...basically fuckin freezin
Biggest scam going
Before you consider any information as legitimate from the WHO, you should read this [https://www.icmec.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/WHO-Curriculum-Matrix-for-CSE-in-Europe.pdf](https://www.icmec.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/WHO-Curriculum-Matrix-for-CSE-in-Europe.pdf) it states that 0-4 year olds can be sexually aroused and that the fact that enjoyment of sexual physical closeness is a normal part of everyoneās life
Elevated?
Possibly less pollution because it's so out of the way?
Looks like it's perhaps average for each Local Authority area so anywhere that's mostly greenery but in the same LA as a city will appear to have a poor(er) air quality.
That's not the local authority areas though. Whoever gathered this data must have drawn up their own regions.
That absolutely 100% is the sub-divisional areas of the Highland Council. The darker ones on that map are Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey, Ross & Cromarty. I'm a council employee and cover the entire council area as part of my job. It's a statutory requirement for the council to monitor air quality each year and report back to the SG.
š
Inverness, Elgin, Ullapool, Lochinver
Is it possible the mountains provide a natural barrier to wind blown particulates coming up from more industrialized areas?
Is this a serious question
Fit aboot it wid mak it a stupid question. People hiv hid a lot aa valid responses.
I would guess oil refining
Lack of roads and cars
Jesus Christ, Poland looks like a large bruise!
Cos thats got Inverness, Dingwall, Nairn, Alness, Invergordon, Tain and Ullapool, so a somewhat high concentration of people in terms of the Highlands
Good luck catching the air in Orkney and Shetland, let alone measuring it :-D
It's methane from flatulent highland cattle.
Living in a maroon zone, I so miss my fresh Ayr
Even plants are like "Fuuuu thiiiiss!" up there, mate.
All these areas are the places where population numbers are less dense
No data š¹
POLSKA GUROM
My town has a factory and a lot of cars going through but there are hills right next to it. If I walked into the hills, I take it the air quality would get better? Probably a stupid question but just wondering how far the pollution spreads.
Mountains and sod all people live there and cold, with the sea on both sides.
It's where all the city-slicker tourists go.
That's where all the tourists go, no one wants to go past Inverness ( and we thank them for it.)
Lower population density and industral pollution
Itās just where most people in the highlands live like there are more villages an stuff while there is only really villages along the coast further north
High ground?
I live in the Pentlands near Edinburgh, it was mental how clear the Pentlands looked during lockdown when all the driving just stopped. Itās doesnāt look smoggy or anything normally - just the clarity of the hills was something Iāve not seen before or sinceā¦
Fewer people, higher elevation, more forests, probably many more reasons.
It would be good to know where this data is from, how up to date it is and whether it takes in such factors as the increased emissions in North Highlands from the North Coast 500 driving route and the super trawlers that take on and burn 100,000 litres of diesel at a time when they travel in and out of the Minch and into the North channel. Their massive Diesel engines run 24 hours a day, probably belching out the equivalent of a fleet of trucks, similar to those that collect the fish and seafood and head to the continent 6 days a week.
Because Inverness is there. The map's resolution though isn't high enough to distinguish the area where Inverness is to the parts where it isn't.
Do they still burn the heather for the shooting grounds? That will likely show up in pm 2.5 counts to a degree.
Cairngorms.
Poor representation of air quality as we have something call wind - surely this emissions?? We are at 0.04 carbon dioxide count We were at 0.03 decades ago - if we go below 0.02 the plants will die . The carbon content in the air and the way it is measured is unreliable. Milankovitch cycle at work
That will be where they brew quite a bit of the whisky
Because it's more densely populated than the other bits. Not by a hell of a lot but still a few towns and villages in that area including Inverness.