Wind isn't enough: Legambiente's "Bon'aria di Sardegna" report reveals a worrying picture for fine particulate matter (PM10). Less than a third of monitoring stations are below WHO thresholds, and five exceed EU 2030 standards. Furthermore, Cagliari will have to reduce PM10 concentrations by nearly 30% over the next four years to remain within the 2030 limits . Only eight stations in a significantly scaled-down monitoring network are capable of detecting PM2.5, the pollutant most relevant for health impacts. The data for NO2 has improved significantly: only two stations (including Cagliari) do not meet EU standards. However, improvements have been recorded over the years in all the parameters examined.
According to the report, the unknown factor remains the lack of continuous measurement in urban areas like Olbia, Nuoro, and Oristano. "We must dispel the myth that Sardinian cities have air cleansed by the mistral wind," says Marta Battaglia, president of Legambiente Sardegna, "because just because we can't visually perceive the presence of pollutants doesn't mean they're not there. The anthropogenic origin of pollution is, if anything, good news: we know what to do to reverse the trend."
According to Legambiente, Sardinia's air quality monitoring network has been progressively dismantled, going from 43 monitoring stations active before 2018 to the current 25, only 9 of which are capable of detecting PM2.5, leaving provincial capitals like Nuoro without any continuous surveillance.
SOS to the Region: it should equip itself, says Legambiente, with a widespread "alert" network that would better protect citizens' health. Furthermore, environmentalists say more attention should be paid to public transportation. Legambiente insists that biomass boilers and heat generators should be progressively banned in the most polluted areas; in other areas, however, support should be given to the installation of "nearly zero" emissions technologies, with integrated or external filtration systems, or hybrid solutions. In rural areas with intensive agriculture and livestock farming, agricultural emissions can exceed industrial or urban emissions.
