Forecasters name Kazakhstan cities with the most polluted air
Tengrinews.kz — Kazakhstan has named the cities with the highest levels of air pollution for August, according to data provided by Kazhydromet.
In August, Kazhydromet assessed air quality across 69 settlements nationwide. The monitoring results are as follows:
3 settlements recorded very high pollution levels;
6 recorded high levels;
26 recorded elevated levels;
34 recorded low levels.
Very high levels of pollution were recorded in Karaganda, Astana, and the village of Shubarshi.
High levels were identified in six cities: Aktobe, Almaty, Ust-Kamenogorsk, Arkalyk, Petropavlovsk, and Khromtau.
Elevated levels were recorded in 26 locations: the cities of Atyrau, Shymkent, Kostanay, Semey, Ridder, Temirtau, Zhezkazgan, Satpayev, Abay, Kulsary, Pavlodar, Turkestan, Talgar, Zhitikara, Kandyagash, Aralsk, Shu, Ayagoz, and Altay; the village of Zhanbay; and the settlements of Inderborsky, Ganyushkino (Kurmangazy), Kenkiyak, Shieli, Karabalyk, and Dostyk.
Low pollution levels – were found in 34 locations: the cities of Kokshetau, Uralsk, Kyzylorda, Ekibastuz, Balkhash, Shemonaikha, Rudny, Aktau, Atbasar, Aksu, Aksay, Zhanatas, Taraz, Karatau, Kentau, Saran, Zharkent, Stepnogorsk, Shchuchinsk, Taldykorgan, and Zhanaozen; the settlements of Ayiteke Bi, Toretam, Akay, Aksu, Auezovo, Bestobe, Burabay, Glubokoye, Burlin, Beyneu, Sastobe, and Korday; and the village of Makat.
How air quality is monitored
In August, monitoring was conducted at 173 stations across 69 settlements: 45 of these utilize manual sampling, while 128 operate automatically. In Almaty alone, there are 16 stations: four manual and 12 automatic.
Specialists track concentrations of pollutants including PM2.5 and PM10 particles, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, hydrogen sulfide, and heavy metals.
2024 Monitoring Overview
Since February, the Tengrinews.kz editorial team has been requesting monthly air quality data from Kazhydromet.
In February, very high pollution levels were recorded in Karaganda, Satpayev, and Abay. Notably, Karaganda registered 55 instances of high air pollution within that single month.
In March, the list expanded to four locations: Karaganda, Zhezkazgan, Satpayev, and Abay. Karaganda recorded another 19 instances of high pollution during the month.
In April, very high pollution levels were observed in two cities: Karaganda and Petropavlovsk. Satpayev and Abay moved into the high pollution category, while Zhezkazgan shifted to the elevated category.
In May, Karaganda again remained in the worst category. It was joined by the village of Shubarshi. Satpayev, Abay, Zhezkazgan, Petropavlovsk, Almaty, Astana, and several other cities were classified as having high pollution levels at that time.
In July, very high pollution levels were once again recorded in Karaganda, Satpayev, and the village of Shubarshi. High levels were noted in 10 locations, including Almaty, Astana, Aktobe, Ust-Kamenogorsk, and Petropavlovsk.