Air

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As much as water, air is an essential element of life. Invisible, all around us, we use it every second without giving it a second thought, and we need to be seriously concerned about it.

Industry, trucking and wood heating stoves are all sources of emissions of contaminants into the atmosphere that can affect air quality to the point where it sometimes can also affect our health. Climate, as an inherent parameter of air quality, influences our lives in a major way. Daily climate variation dictates how we behave, whether this involves winter road management, summer harvesting or recreational activities in all seasons.

The mission of the Ministère consists, among other things, of ensuring the state of the atmosphere through a vast monitoring station networks throughout the south of the province that measure the quality of the air. The Ministère is also responsible for producing an annual inventory of all atmospheric emissions, including greenhouse gas.

Whether through its effect on climate change, the thinning of the ozone layer, smog episodes or acid rain, air pollution has local, regional and international consequences for human and ecosystem health. For this reason, the Ministère works diligently to prepare and apply air quality agreements, laws and regulations and to set quality oversight criteria for emitters of contaminants in order to limit the impact of related issues.