Smog situation and regulation in the city of Prague

What is smog?

Smog occurs when there are high levels of pollution in the air, and the atmosphere is filled with harmful emissions that may negatively affect human health. The Czech Hydrometeorological Institute (CHMI) operates under the authority of the Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic Smog Warning and Regulation System (SVRS). Information provided by the system is used, firstly, to inform of smog outbreaks with increased concentrations of emissions in the air and, secondly, to reduce the discharge of pollutants from sources which significantly affect the air quality of the territory.

Amongst monitored particles are PM10 particles (particles of effective size up to 10 μm), sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and tropospheric ozone (O3).

Current information about the air quality in Prague available on Prague City Hall’s Environmental Portal, http://portalzp.praha.eu/jnp/index.html.

The website is only in Czech at the moment.

Some articles on the Environmental Portal include:

• What are the types of smog and how does smog originate?

• How should I behave when there is smog?

• What does Prague do when there is smog?

• Conditions for terminating the smog situation and revoking regulation or warning

• Smog in the city of Prague, 2004 - 2017