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Soil is a key component of Europe’s natural capital. It contributes to basic human needs by, among other things, supporting food provision and water purification. But our soils are threatened and undergoing degradation. Binding EU targets would be necessary if we are to restore and protect this essential resource.
Excessive nutrient inputs to soils is a great source of concern as it leads to reduced plant species richness in a broad range of European ecosystems.
It is estimated that for approximately 65-75 % of the EU27 agricultural soils, nitrogen inputs through fertiliser, manure, biosolids and nitrogen-fixing crops exceed critical values beyond which eutrophication can be expected.
On average across Europe, about a 40 % reduction in nitrogen inputs would be needed to prevent this exceedance.
This interactive data viewer provides accounts of land surface sealing status and change in Europe (EEA39 and EU28) for every 3 years between 2006 and 2015, measured by the high resolution Copernicus imperviousness datasets. The viewer facilitates the assessment of soil sealing over a specific period, which can be analyzed within user defined spatial units such as administrative regions, biogeographical regions or land cover classes.
Soils can both remove carbon from the atmosphere or emit greenhouse gas emissions. According to a European Environment Agency (EEA) briefing, published today, European soils are currently a net source of greenhouse gas emissions and, if not addressed, this could pose a risk to the European Union (EU) climate targets. Mitigation actions can reduce the loss of carbon and have important co-benefits on biodiversity, but some actions can also have trade-offs such as emissions of other greenhouse gases.
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Soils can both remove carbon from the atmosphere or emit greenhouse gas emissions. According to a European Environment Agency (EEA) briefing, published today, European soils are currently a net source of greenhouse gas emissions and, if not addressed, this could pose a risk to the European Union (EU) climate targets. Mitigation actions can reduce the loss of carbon and have important co-benefits on biodiversity, but some actions can also have trade-offs such as emissions of other greenhouse gases.
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The European Union has embarked on ambitious plans to drastically reduce emissions and pollution over the coming decades. Part of this includes the recently launched Zero Pollution Action Plan which will focus on cutting air, water and soil pollution to levels no longer considered harmful to human health and the environment. We sat down with Ian Marnane, EEA environment, health and well-being expert working on an upcoming EEA report on Zero Pollution, which is expected to be published later this year.
What do many vineyards scattered across idyllic landscapes, industrial sites and landfills have in common? The presence of chemicals might be the answer. From heavy metals to organic pollutants and microplastics, the soil in which we grow our food and the land on which we build our homes might be contaminated with different pollutants. Contaminants are widespread and are accumulating in Europe’s land and soils. How can we tackle this problem?
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Software updated on 12 August 2022 12:14 from version 22.5.18
Software version: EEA Plone KGS 22.8.10
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