September 7 is celebrated throughout the World as "International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies". It was declared by the UN General Assembly on December 19, 2019 with the aim of strengthening international cooperation in improving air quality and reducing air pollution.
As part of the Council of the Day, on September 6, the Ministry of Environment initiated a visit of mass media representatives to "ArmHydromet" SNCO of the Ministry of Environment to learn about the air quality monitoring process in Armenia.
After welcoming the journalists, Levon Azizyan, Director of "ArmHydromet" SNCO, presented to the journalists the council of the day and noted that the problem of air pollution is the most serious threat to the environment in the World and in Armenia. For the protection of air quality, air quality monitoring is the first link leading to clean air, which is implemented in Armenia by the "Hydrometeorology and Monitoring Center" SNCO of the Ministry of Environment.
Levon Azizyan also answered the journalists' questions related to air quality monitoring, referring to air polluting factors, the level of air pollution in different parts of the RA, the possibilities of technical re-equipment of the observation stations belonging to the structure, as well as the center.
In addition to having theoretical understanding of air quality monitoring, the journalists had the opportunity to take a tour of the laboratory and get familiar with the actual process of air quality monitoring, from sampling to data summarization, and to get explanations from experts on the details of the process.