Official government data has revealed that air pollution in Leeds has has almost matched highs from 2019, the year before Covid.
In April and May of this year the Average Air Quality Index (AAQI) was 3, this is just below the three-year high of 3.2 from April 2019. This is particularly concerning as road traffic numbers and flight figures from Leeds Bradford Airport have decreased drastically over the last two years because of the Covid lockdowns.
There is a clear correlation to see between increasing air pollution rates and warm weather as hotter months see more flights and an increase in traffic compared to other times of the year. The months in question are April through to August when the temperature is warm both in Leeds and abroad and is a peak time for people booking holidays for this reason.
Perhaps the most worrying statistic is from April 2020, when zero flights took off from Leeds Bradford Airport but yet the AAQI was still 3.2 which matched the figure from April 2019. Road traffic had also decreased by nearly three million between these dates, owing to the lockdown, which raises further eyebrows over how this number is so high.
The burning of fossil fuels, primarily by motor vehicles, is the number one cause of air pollution which shows that there are other causes that need to be addressed if these higher air pollution rates are to be combatted.
