Auckland’s State of the Environment: Queen Street air quality worsening, concerns over water quality and muddy estuaries

Air quality on Auckland’s Queen St is worsening year on year, and a councillor says it provides strong evidence that the street should be made a zero-emissions zone “as soon as possible,” NZ Herald reports. Auckland’s State of the Environment Report 2020 (released on Wednesday this week and the third such report since 2009), provides the most up-to-date snapshot of the region’s air, land and water. The report revealed that, while air quality overall appears to be improving for the region, roadside testing shows increasing levels of nitrogen oxide in Auckland City. In particular, Queen St in the CBD has seen this gas, along with particulate matter (including black carbon), breach targets each year from 2017 to 2019.