By RFIPalled on 19-08-2019Modified on 19-08-2019 at 22:49
Greenpeace has been investigating a survey of sulfur dioxide pollution around the world, and in second place in the ranking of the most affected sites is the province of Mpumalanga. This is where the coal plants that supply the country's energy are concentrated.
To carry out this survey, Greenpeace used NASA's satellite images and spotted the most polluted points of this gas harmful to health. Sulfur dioxide causes respiratory diseases.
The industrial city of Norilsk in Russia ranks first, but just behind is the South African city of Kriel in the Mpumalanga region. It is in this province, about a hundred kilometers east of Johannesburg that are divided twelve coal-fired power plants, mostly managed by Eskom, the national electricity company on the brink of bankruptcy. Aging facilities and far from meeting environmental standards.
Greenpeace is worried about the "airpocalypse" that threatens the country, while the region has already been shown to be the most affected in the world by nitrogen dioxide, another pollutant gas.
BREAKING NEWS: A new Greenpeace study found that Kriel in Mpumalanga is the second worst SO2 pollution hotspot in the world đź >> https://t.co/UncuuZYZsJ
And Kriel is closer to Johannesburg than you think!
#airpocalypse #airpollution #endcoal pic.twitter.com/u7LUaQ4zcD
Yet until recently, the government had been planning to ease the legislation around sulfur dioxide releases. The law was suspended after pressure from local activists.
According to a World Bank study, 20,000 South Africans die each year because of air pollution.
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The most polluted place in the world is in South Africa according to Greenpeace
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