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Air legislation in Europe: Air pollution is not the same everywhere. Different pollutants are released into the atmosphere from a wide range of sources. Once in the atmosphere, they can transform into new pollutants and spread around the world. Designing and implementing policies to address this complexity are not easy tasks. Below is an overview of air legislation in the European Union.
Located in Signals — every breath we take › Signals 2013 › Articles
EEA Signals 2013 - Every breath we take: Improving air quality in Europe: Signals 2013 focuses on Europe’s air. This year’s edition tries to explain the current state of air quality in Europe, where they come from, how air pollutants form, and how they affect our health and the environment. It also gives an overview of the way we build our knowledge on air, and how we tackle air pollution through a wide range of policies and measures.
Located in Publications
SO2 winter average, 2004/2005: Located in Data and maps › Maps and graphs
Change in acidifying pollutants emissions for each sector and pollutant between 1990 and 2007 (EEA member countries): No emissions data are available for Liechtenstein.
Located in Data and maps › Maps and graphs
Ozone AOT40 for forest, 2005: Located in Data and maps › Maps and graphs
PM10 showing the 36th highest daily values at urban background sites superimposed on rural background concentrations, 2005: Located in Data and maps › Maps and graphs
Distance-to-target for EEA member countries: Data are for ozone precursors. The distance to target results are shown in green (countries need to do more to be on track to meet their ceiling in 2010) and purple (countries are on track to meet their ceiling in 2010)
Located in Data and maps › Maps and graphs
Percentage of urban population resident in areas for days per year with SO2 concentration exceeding daily limit value, 1997-2009 (EU-27): The limit value is 125 µg SO2/m3 as a daily average, not to be exceeded more than three days in a year and to be met by 2005. Over the years 1997-2009 the total population for which exposure estimates are made, increased from 56 to 100 million people due to an increasing number of monitoring stations reporting under the Exchange of Information Decision. Year-to-year variations in exposure classes are partly caused by the changes in spatial coverage. Only urban and sub-urban background monitoring stations have been included in the calculations. Data for Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg and Malta, are not included due to the geographical coverage of the Urban Audit.
Located in Data and maps › Maps and graphs
36th highest 24-hour mean PM10 concentration observed at urban background stations, 1997-2009 (EU-27): Only urban and sub-urban background monitoring stations have been included in the calculations. Data for Cyprus, Greece, Luxembourg and Malta, are not included due to the geographical coverage of the Urban Audit.
Located in Data and maps › Maps and graphs
Trend in NO2 and NOX annual mean concentrations (2001–2010) per station type (top); percentage frequency distribution of estimated annual change of NO2 annual mean concentrations at urban stations and at traffic stations (bottom): All stations in EU Member States, with at least 75 % data coverage for at least eight years were included in the analysis. Concentrations per station type are given in μg/m3. In the top two diagrams a geographical bias exists towards central Europe where there is a higher density of stations. In the percentage frequency distribution graphs, closed bars denote stations showing a statistically significant trend, open bars denote stations with a non-significant trend. Statistically significant trends (level of significance 0.1) are calculated by applying the Mann-Kendall test. The applied method is described in de Leeuw, 2012.
Located in Data and maps › Maps and graphs