In 9 out of the past 10 years, Kazakhstan’s largest city has recorded a «high» level of atmospheric air pollution, with only 2017 assessed as «elevated». More than 2.3 million residents of Almaty breathe air that periodically contains concentrations of harmful substances exceeding the maximum permissible limits.
Almaty is located in a basin at the foot of the Zailiyskiy Alatau mountains and has a continental climate, influenced by mountain-valley circulation. This effect is especially noticeable in the northern part of the city, which lies directly in the transition zone from mountain slopes to flatland.
The city’s geographical location has never been favorable for natural air exchange, and over the past 20 years, massive unplanned construction has worsened the situation to the point where the city remains under a dense blanket of smog for more than half the year.
Air quality monitoring in Almaty is conducted at 16 stationary posts:
- at 4 posts, manual air sampling is carried out three times a day for 22 indicators: 1) suspended particles (dust); 2) sulfur dioxide; 3) nitrogen dioxide; 4) carbon monoxide; 5) formaldehyde; 6) phenol; 7) nitrogen oxide; 8) cadmium; 9) copper; 10) arsenic; 11) lead; 12) chromium (6+); 13) nickel; 14) zinc; 15) benzo(a)pyrene; 16) benzene; 17) ethylbenzene; 18) chlorobenzene; 19) para-xylene; 20) meta-xylene; 21) cumene; 22) ortho-xylene;
- at 12 automatic air monitoring stations, data is recorded every 20 minutes for 7 indicators: 1) suspended particles PM2.5; 2) suspended particles PM10; 3) sulfur dioxide; 4) carbon monoxide; 5) nitrogen dioxide; 6) nitrogen oxide; 7) ozone.
Two indices are used to assess air quality:
- Air Pollution Index (API) – a metric that considers the concentrations of several key pollutants and their impact on human health. It uses daily or annual average concentrations to determine the level of chronic pollution;
- Standard Index (SI) – a metric calculated as the highest measured one-time concentration of a pollutant divided by its maximum permissible concentration. It helps identify the most polluting substance at a particular post or in the city and is used to assess short-term air pollution.
Almaty is not an industrial city; its heat and power sector is represented by TPPs 1, 2, and 3, and most of the private sector is connected to gas. However, suburban areas in the region have many private houses heated by stoves, which significantly contributes to Almaty’s air pollution. Vehicle exhaust emissions also have a serious negative impact on air quality.
The main emissions from TPPs and stove heating are suspended particles, carbon and nitrogen oxides, hydrogen sulfide, and sulfur and nitrogen dioxides. Vehicle exhaust gases also release large amounts of carbon and nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide into the urban atmosphere.
According to RSE «Kazhydromet», in 2015–2016 and 2018–2021, Almaty’s Air Pollution Index was at a «high» level (API = 7–8), and in 2017 it was «elevated» (API = 5–6). In 2022 and 2024, air pollution was assessed by the SI as «high», and in 2023 as «very high».
In 2024, monitoring posts recorded 31,960 cases of harmful substances exceeding maximum permissible concentrations. The majority of pollutants consisted of carbon and nitrogen oxides, ozone, nitrogen and sulfur dioxides, PM2.5, and PM10.
Almaty is located in a basin at the foot of the Zailiyskiy Alatau mountains and has a continental climate, influenced by mountain-valley circulation. This effect is especially noticeable in the northern part of the city, which lies directly in the transition zone from mountain slopes to flatland.
The city’s geographical location has never been favorable for natural air exchange, and over the past 20 years, massive unplanned construction has worsened the situation to the point where the city remains under a dense blanket of smog for more than half the year.
Air quality monitoring in Almaty is conducted at 16 stationary posts:
- at 4 posts, manual air sampling is carried out three times a day for 22 indicators: 1) suspended particles (dust); 2) sulfur dioxide; 3) nitrogen dioxide; 4) carbon monoxide; 5) formaldehyde; 6) phenol; 7) nitrogen oxide; 8) cadmium; 9) copper; 10) arsenic; 11) lead; 12) chromium (6+); 13) nickel; 14) zinc; 15) benzo(a)pyrene; 16) benzene; 17) ethylbenzene; 18) chlorobenzene; 19) para-xylene; 20) meta-xylene; 21) cumene; 22) ortho-xylene;
- at 12 automatic air monitoring stations, data is recorded every 20 minutes for 7 indicators: 1) suspended particles PM2.5; 2) suspended particles PM10; 3) sulfur dioxide; 4) carbon monoxide; 5) nitrogen dioxide; 6) nitrogen oxide; 7) ozone.
Two indices are used to assess air quality:
- Air Pollution Index (API) – a metric that considers the concentrations of several key pollutants and their impact on human health. It uses daily or annual average concentrations to determine the level of chronic pollution;
- Standard Index (SI) – a metric calculated as the highest measured one-time concentration of a pollutant divided by its maximum permissible concentration. It helps identify the most polluting substance at a particular post or in the city and is used to assess short-term air pollution.
Almaty is not an industrial city; its heat and power sector is represented by TPPs 1, 2, and 3, and most of the private sector is connected to gas. However, suburban areas in the region have many private houses heated by stoves, which significantly contributes to Almaty’s air pollution. Vehicle exhaust emissions also have a serious negative impact on air quality.
The main emissions from TPPs and stove heating are suspended particles, carbon and nitrogen oxides, hydrogen sulfide, and sulfur and nitrogen dioxides. Vehicle exhaust gases also release large amounts of carbon and nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide into the urban atmosphere.
According to RSE «Kazhydromet», in 2015–2016 and 2018–2021, Almaty’s Air Pollution Index was at a «high» level (API = 7–8), and in 2017 it was «elevated» (API = 5–6). In 2022 and 2024, air pollution was assessed by the SI as «high», and in 2023 as «very high».
In 2024, monitoring posts recorded 31,960 cases of harmful substances exceeding maximum permissible concentrations. The majority of pollutants consisted of carbon and nitrogen oxides, ozone, nitrogen and sulfur dioxides, PM2.5, and PM10.