The European environment – state and outlook 2010

Country-wise ecosystem damage area for acidification in Europe, 1995-2010: Data source of deposition-data used to calculate exceedances: EMEP/MSC-W
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Ozone inter-annual variations, SOMO35, 1996-2004: Urban, traffic, and rural background stations vertical bars represent 10th and 90th percentiles.
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Change in CO emissions 1990-2008 (EEA member countries): The reported change in carbon monoxide (CO) emissions for each country, 1990-2008.
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Repairing our ozone layer: In 1987, delegates from around the world signed the Montreal Protocol designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of a number of substances believed to be responsible for ozone depletion. This recent video illustrates the results of the Protocol, which is considered to be one of the most successful international environmental agreements.
Located in Environmental topics › Air pollution › Multimedia
Ozone 2010 - Target value for the protection of vegetation: In the air quality directive (2008/EC/50), the EU has set a target value and a long term objective value for ozone (O3) for the protection of vegetation. Target value: the AOT40 may not exceed 18000 (µg/m3) per hour in the period from 1 May to 31 July averaged over five years. Long term objective value: the AOT40 may not exceed 6000 (µg/m3) per hour in the period from 1 May to 31 July within a calendar year. AOT40 (expressed in (μg/m3) ∙ hours) means the sum of the difference between hourly concentrations greater than 80 μg/m3 (= 40 parts per billion) and 80 μg/m3 over a given period using only the one-hour values measured between 8.00 and 20.00 Central European Time (CET) each day. More information is provided in Annex VII of directive (2008/EC/50).
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Emissions of ozone precursors (CSI 002) - Assessment published Oct 2010: Emissions of all ground-level ozone precursor pollutants have decreased across the EEA-32 region between 1990 and 2008; nitrogen oxides (NO X ) by 34%, non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) by 45%, carbon monoxide (CO) by 56% and methane (CH 4 ) by 26%. This decrease has been achieved mainly as a result of the introduction of catalytic converters for vehicles. These changes have significantly reduced emissions of NO X and CO from the road transport sector, the main source of ozone precursor emissions. The EU-27 is still some way from meeting its 2010 target to reduce emissions of NO X , one of the two ozone precursors (NO X and NMVOC) for which emission limits exist under the EU's NEC Directive (NECD). Whilst total NMVOC emissions in the EU-27 were below the NECD limit in 2008, a number of individual Member States anticipate missing their ceilings for one or either of these two pollutants. Of the three non-EU countries having emission ceilings set under the UNECE/CLRTAP Gothenburg protocol (Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland), all three countries reported NMVOC emissions in 2008 that were lower than their respective 2010 ceilings. However both Liechtenstein and Norway reported NO x emissions in 2008 that were substantially higher than their respective 2010 ceilings.
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Air pollution by ozone (CLIM 006) - Assessment published Sep 2008: Climate variability and change has contributed to an increase in average ozone concentrations in central and South-Western Europe (1-2 % per decade). During the summer of 2003, exceptionally long-lasting and spatially extensive episodes of high ozone concentrations occurred, mainly in the first half of August. These episodes appear to have been associated with the extraordinarily high temperatures over wide areas of Europe and illustrate the expected more frequent exceedances of the ozone information threshold under projected climate change. The projected climate-induced increase in ozone levels may result in current ozone abatement policies becoming inadequate.
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APE_F03: Emissions of ozone precursors - outlook from LRTAP (Outlook 003) - Assessment published Jun 2007: On the basis of existing policies and measures, emissions of ozone precursors (NOx) of land-based air pollutants are expected to decline significantly (by 47% for NOx emissions) up to 2030. Hence, the EU as a whole is expected to comply with the 2010 targets of the national emission ceilings directive. However, while a number of Member States are well below their binding upper national emission ceilings, others are not on track. The implementation of all feasible technical measures (best available technologies) is estimated to offer a considerable potential for further reductions in the emissions.
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Critical load exceedance for nitrogen (SEBI 009) - Assessment published May 2010: Nitrogen emissions and deposition of nitrogen compounds have decreased since 1990 but relatively little compared to sulphur emissions. Agriculture and transport are the main sources of nitrogen pollution (EEA, 2007c). In addition, nitrogen components can lead to eutrophication of ecosystems. When this pollution exceeds certain levels ('critical load'), it is damaging to biodiversity. Critical load exceedance is still significant (1) . (1) The critical load of nutrient nitrogen is defined as 'the highest deposition of nitrogen as NOX and/or NHY below which harmful effects in ecosystem structure and function do not occur according to present knowledge' (ICP, M&M, 2004).
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Emissions of acidifying substances (version 1) (CSI 001) - Assessment published Oct 2005: Emissions of acidifying gases have decreased significantly in most EEA member countries. Between 1990 and 2002, emissions decreased by 43% in the EU-15 and by 58% in the EU-10, despite increased economic activity (GDP).
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