It's on the front pages of every news outlet. The smog emergency is the story with which we will close 2015. Cities such as Milan and Rome are seeking radical solutions to reduce particulate and pollutant emissions, while Environment Minister Gian Luca Galletti has convened a coordination meeting with city mayors and regional representatives to find a possible common solution. And as the debate shifts to politics and people "play" with the numbers, the air around us continues to be poisoned.

This exceptional event — which includes the absence of rainfall and wind, combined with temperatures above seasonal averages — is also a consequence of one of the hottest years ever recorded at global level.

2015 is the hottest year

This is how 2015 will close: with images of Alpine peaks bare of snow, 20 degrees Celsius in New York, and a mild start to winter recorded across our peninsula. The year that is about to end has in fact registered a global increase of 1.14 degrees (the Paris agreement aims for an increase of between 1.5 and 2 degrees over the coming decades), setting a new record for the rise in temperatures above pre-industrial levels. And the forecasts for 2016 are no different: next year will be a scorching one, in terms of average temperatures.

The El Niño phenomenon

There is another extreme event that occurs regularly every seven to eight years and that this year has reached an intensity equal to that of 1998. El Niño is nothing other than an anomaly in the surface temperature of the equatorial Pacific — an anomaly capable of influencing the entire global climate, including the Mediterranean part of Europe. "We expect 2016 to be the warmest year on record due to climate change, but 25 per cent of that is also down to El Niño," Adam Scaife told the Guardian; he leads the Met Office, the British meteorological service. El Niño is not linked to climate change, but it is the latter that will amplify its effects.

The smog poisoning the air

In the absence of rainfall, emergencies arise. Some point the finger at transport, others at wood burning, others at building heating. But it is the official data that provide a true picture of the responsibilities of the various sectors in producing concentrations of particulate matter and pollutants in the atmosphere. On this point, the Air quality in Europe 2015, published at the end of November this year, comes to our aid. According to the report, the largest source of particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) in the European Union is domestic and commercial heating, accounting for 43 per cent of PM10 and 58 per cent of PM2.5. The second largest source is the industrial sector, which contributes 22 per cent of PM10 and 16 per cent of PM2.5. Transport, again based on the European average, is responsible for 13 and 15 per cent respectively. It is clear that the percentages change in large urban centres and in densely populated and industrialised areas, but these are nonetheless the sectors on which action must be taken.

The fight requires courageous choices

The time has come to make bold decisions — not only on the part of institutions. It is necessary to pursue a serious policy of energy retrofitting of existing buildings, in order to drastically cut the consumption that reliably sends pollutant levels soaring practically every year. To this must be added a clear choice on energy production sources, which must aim, as far as possible, for zero emissions: many countries, even if smaller than ours, have been working on this for years and the results are there to see.

Finally, far-sighted planning on mobility is needed, particularly in urban centres and their immediate outskirts: strengthening public transport, making it affordable, punctual, reliable. Expanding all forms of car, bicycle and motorbike sharing. Encouraging the use of bicycles, especially for medium distances, by creating dedicated, accessible routes. Believing in electric and hybrid mobility. And lastly, a cultural shift is needed — one that must start with each and every one of us.

"The right to health," comments Donatella Bianchi, director of Wwf Italia, "comes before any other economic interest, and guaranteeing it is a duty of the political and institutional world. To combat air pollution, as has been the case with climate change, drastic decisions and targeted strategies based on scientific criteria and new models of mobility and urban organisation are needed." The time has come to decide which side to stand on.