In the northern hemisphere pollution is transported by the major air currents to the most remote parts of the earth, such as Greenland and other sensitive Arctic areas. Solving this problem requires Nordic co-operation.

Secondly, through satellite measurements scientists have gained much knowledge about how polluted matter is transported between the continents.

And thirdly, scientists are concerned that the ongoing climate change in the world will result in even more pollution in the High North. This is due to the fact that the known air currents, cloud formations as well as high and low pressures over the continents will change as the climate changes. If, for example, the Gulf Stream changes there is a chance that the atmospheric air currents will move further north. The result could be that an even greater amount of air borne pollution will reach Greenland and the Arctic. This is exactly the problem that the Nordic countries would like to avert, before it is too late.

Despite long-term and forward-looking Nordic co-operation on air quality there is limited awareness and knowledge of these activities in the Nordic countries. Read the publication "Cleaner air for our lungs’. This has been produced to illustrate the problems of air quality and how they can be solved.

The Nordic Air Group was set up under the auspices of the Nordic Council of Ministers in 1983, and the Nordic Sea and Air Quality Group was added in 1993. Nordic co-operation during the 1980s, 1990s and the early 2000s has had great influence on work in environmental issues. The aim of work in the air quality area has been to reduce the amount of pollutants in the air, so that they do not exceed levels which damage the environment and public health.