Ecologists explained smog over Astana

Ecologists explained the reason of the smog over Astana, Tengrinews.kz reports citing ecology department of the Economic Regulation and Control Commission of Kazakhstan Environmental Protection Ministry. A mixture of smoke, fog and dust has been in the capital's air for days. “According to hydrometeorological monitoring of Astana, seven cases of absolute windless conditions were registered in Astana in January, three of them were registered on January 16, 17, 18. Average wind speed is very low: 3-4 meters/second. This causes the bad ecological situation in the city,” head of laboratory-analytical control department Assel Dautbayeva said. Besides, the smog also appeared because of an increase in exhausts because of the weather conditions. “Cold made thermal power plants increase load to maintain heat level in the city. Of course, they are now working at a higher load. We know that the private sector also has an effect on the air quality in Astana because they are heating up the houses by burning black coal. Cars have their effect as well. The temperature went down drastically and, of course, emissions volume increased. This caused the smog to appear over the city. We see this situation every year during cold days,” Dautbayeva said. It is not yet clear how polluted Astana air is, as the concentration of contaminants, according to expert, is currently being defined.