The natural environment

Air

Tree tops. On average every Aucklander breathes in 11,000 litres of air everyday. Even though this resource is all around us and our survival is dependent on it, we often forget how important having good air quality is.

Air quality

We can measure the quality of our air by looking at the presence and concentration of different pollutants. Pollutants pose human and environmental health risks such as respiratory and cardiac illnesses and reduced visibility.

Auckland Regional Council measures the following six pollutants:
fine particles, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, ozone and hydrocarbons.

Auckland city's main source of air pollution is transport. Because of our central location within the wider Auckland region we have many vehicles travelling into, out of and across the city on a daily basis. Vehicles emit an array of the pollutants mentioned above which can result in ambient air quality guideline exceedances on calm days. At present, nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter are our pollutants of biggest concern.

Auckland City Council's role

While air quality issues are dealt with primarily at the regional level, the council aims to improve our air quality through its own reach. This is done in the following ways:

the District plan advocates policies and rules that limit activities which may have significant adverse effects on air quality
implementing transport strategies and transport policies that recognise the effect that transport has on air quality
providing sustainable transport options through a range of transport projects
working closely with transport groups to provide sustainable, integrated transport solutions.

District plan
Transport strategies
Transport policies

Find out more

Auckland City Council reports annually on air in the State of the Environment report
Auckland Regional Council monitors air quality in the Auckland region and provides regional targets
The Ministry for the Environment has a clean air programme which includes national standards for air quality.

State of the Environment
Air quality in the Auckland region (www.arc.govt.nz)
Ministry for the Environment (www.mfe.govt.nz)

Published October 2008