The long road towards better air quality in the European Union

As we get around, heat our homes and grow food, we emit harmful molecules we breathe in every day. This pollution causes thousands of people in Europe to fall ill each year.

But progress is being made. Our air is becoming cleaner, and technology allows us to monitor air quality in real time, and even improve it.

In Poland, fine particle levels regularly breach European limits. Warsaw is a case in point. In winter, the capital experiences episodes of smog.

"When the winter hits and people will start heating up their houses... it's just dreadful," said one resident.

Here, coal-fired heating is the main source of pollution. But Warsaw has embarked on a mission to replace these stoves, that the locals call 'smokers'. In fact, the city has banned them last October 1.

"There have been a lot of changes over the last few years. Even this 100-year-old house has been fitted with gas", said one Warsaw resident who mentioned the importance of European funding in this change.

"We have a special 'police force' who control the situation. Even the neighbours are starting to control the situation. People are learning a lot."

Air quality in the city has continued to improve, according to data from the nearby monitoring station.

In Warsaw, it is estimated that the number of smokers has been reduced from 17,000 to 4,000 in just a few years. But that's still too many, according to Piotr Siergiej, a spokesman for Polish Smog Alert, a citizens' movement that has played a decisive role in the fight against air pollution over the last decade.

"We're trying to use the data," Piotr said. "You talk to people and they say, 'No, there's no air pollution, what are you talking about? I don't smell anything.'

"If you ask someone ten years ago what the main source