SARAJEVO, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Residents in many parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) were warned Saturday to avoid or reduce outdoor activities due to air pollution.
According to the data from the website of Federal Monitoring Weather Department, several cities including the capital city of Sarajevo are in a state of severe air pollution, with the concentration of suspended particulate matter reaching 383 milligrams per cubic meter, compared with the normal level of 50 milligrams per cubic meter.
The main cause of air pollution in BiH is nitrogen oxides from cars, coal-fired power plants and factories. Air pollution is also a legacy of the civil wars of the 1990s. After the end of the BiH civil war in 1995, the economic situation continued to deteriorate, with most residents unable to afford electricity and gas turning to relatively cheap coal and wood for heating, the Federal Monitoring Weather Department explained.
