Published : Jul 11,
2012 - Human activities are the main cause
of poor air quality, but natural sources
of air pollution also play a role. A new
report from the European Environment Agency
(EEA) considers how particulate matter from
these natural sources affects the air we
breathe.
Poor air quality from natural sources is
by definition outside of our control. But
this analysis shows that authorities should
make extra efforts to reduce the air pollution
they can control, because the cumulative
effect of natural and man-made particulates
can damage people's health.
Jacqueline McGlade,
EEA Executive Director
The report is the first evaluation of Member
State reporting under the EU's Air Quality
Directive. The directive sets legally binding
limit values to improve air quality. However,
countries can subtract the pollution from
natural sources, as they are only obliged
to reduce man-made air pollutant emissions.
So the report also includes European Union
(EU) Member States documentation of natural
contributions which led to exceedances of
air quality limit values set by EU legislation.
It is difficult to calculate
the exact amount of pollutants emitted from
natural sources, the report notes, but in
many countries the contribution to particulate
matter levels in the air can be significant.
The most common natural
sources of particulate matter in Europe
are desert dust, volcanoes, forest and grassland
fires, and salt from sea spray. The particular
source of pollution can be identified using
various methods including chemical analysis
of particles sampled from the air, meteorological
data satellite measurements and modelling.
Eleven EU Member States
reported that natural sources pushed particulate
matter concentrations over the limit values
in 2008 or 2009 (Austria, Cyprus, Germany,
Greece, France, Italy, Latvia, Malta, Portugal,
Spain and the United Kingdom). The highest
numbers of cases were reported by Mediterranean
countries (Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy
and Spain). Spain had the highest number
of measuring stations reporting exceedances
caused at least in part by natural sources.
"Poor air quality
from natural sources is by definition outside
of our control," EEA Executive Director
Jacqueline McGlade said. "But this
analysis shows that authorities should make
extra efforts to reduce the air pollution
they can control, because the cumulative
effect of natural and man-made particulates
can damage people's health."
Natural sources of particulate
matter
'African dust' from the Sahara is the most
common natural source of particulate matter
in the air. In the Western and particularly
in the Eastern Sahara rainfall is extremely
rare and irregular. Temperatures can rise
above 50° C during the summer months.
Extremely dry and hot conditions create
turbulence during the day which can propel
dust upwards to a height of 4-5km. Such
turbulence is usually followed by meteorological
stability during the night. Particles can
stay at these heights for weeks or months,
and are often blown across Europe.
Sea spray is also a source of particulate
matter, and can contribute up to 80 % of
particle levels in the air in coastal areas.
This is mostly salt, whipped into the air
by strong winds.
The sudden eruption of a volcano, for example
on Iceland or in the Mediterranean, has
the potential to produce transient peaks
of airborne particulate matter in Europe.
Forest and grassland fires in Europe burn
an average of almost 600 000 hectares of
land per year, a significant source of air
pollution. It is difficult to determine
whether these fires are truly 'natural sources'
– the report notes that approximately nine
out of 10 fires are caused directly or indirectly
by humans, for example by arson, discarded
cigarettes, campfires or farmers burning
crop residues after the harvest.
+ More
ECRINS map project pinpoints
water information in Europe
Published : Jul 18,
2012 - Europe’s freshwater supplies are
under pressure. To improve the understanding
and management of water resources, the European
Environment Agency (EEA) has created a comprehensive
series of map layers showing hydrological
features. The tool, providing support to
policy makers, spans river catchments from
Iceland to the edge of the Persian Gulf.
The ECRINS map layers will be an extremely
important tool for understanding water resources
in Europe. The maps cover the EU and EEA
member countries, and include data from
many others – in fact covering 70 % of rivers
in 10 million km 2 of river basins across
continental Europe and the Middle East.
Better access to information like this can
help us use our finite water resources most
wisely
Jacqueline McGlade,
EEA Executive Director
The EEA Catchments and Rivers Network System
(ECRINS) is a dynamic set of map layers
displaying the location and characteristics
of hydrological features such as lakes,
dams, abstraction points as well as monitoring
stations and sewage treatment plants. It
covers river catchment information over
the previous ten years. The maps directly
support environmental analysis such as water
accounts and policy-making. For example,
one layer delineates all river catchments,
which is useful for those working to implement
the European Union’s Water Framework Directive
(WFD) at the river basin level.
The ECRINS package is
a public good, so is available to anyone,
including European institutions, national
water agencies, scientists, businesses,
students and NGOs active in environmental
assessments. Users need GIS (Geographic
Information System) software to access the
map layers.
The ECRINS layers can
be combined with others, such as those focusing
on population or agriculture, to build an
increasingly detailed picture of the influences
on Europe’s water resources. It is hoped
that this will allow users to answer a number
of different questions, such as 'How many
people live upstream of this lake?', 'What
is the flow discharge at this point?', 'How
many cubic metres of water are abstracted
to irrigate fields?', 'What is the annual
water balance for this basin?', 'What is
the length of accessible rivers below that
dam?'
“The ECRINS map layers
will be an extremely important tool for
understanding water resources in Europe,”
EEA Executive Director Jacqueline McGlade
said. “The maps cover the EU and EEA member
countries, and include data from many others
– in fact covering 70 % of rivers in 10
million km2 of river basins across continental
Europe and the Middle East. Better access
to information like this can help us use
our finite water resources most wisely.”
ECRINS has been built
on the Catchment Characterisation and Modelling
(CCM) system developed by the European Commission’s
Joint Research Centre (JRC) with a resolution
of 1:250 000. The CCM has been completed
with other layers with a resolution between
1:100 000 and 1:500 000.
The geographical coverage
of ECRINS goes beyond EU-27 and the EEA
Member countries. All of continental Europe
west of the Urals, the Caucasus region and
the Tigris-Euphrates river system is catalogued.
It includes an improved catalogue of names,
meaning that particular river systems with
several local names may be easier to find.
The layers are available
as Geodatabase files which can be opened
with well-known programmes such as Microsoft
Access and ArcGIS. They are also compatible
with GDAL/OGR open source applications.
+ More
Eleven Member States
exceed air emissions limits under LRTAP
Convention
Published : Jul 30,
2012 - Emissions of most air pollutants
have fallen over the last two decades in
Europe. But many Member States have exceeded
internationally-agreed pollutant limits
set to protect human health and the environment,
according to a new report from the European
Environment Agency (EEA). Road transport,
households, power plants, agricultural activities
and certain industry sectors continue to
emit significant amounts of air pollution.
In the last two decades we have cut the
amount of pollution going into Europe's
air. Regulation both in the EU and internationally
works when it is properly implemented. The
fact that many countries missed their emissions
ceilings in 2010 shows we need to continue
our efforts to safeguard European citizens'
health.
Jacqueline McGlade,
EEA Executive Director
In 1999, many of the
countries that now comprise the European
Union committed to cut emissions of air
pollutants under the Gothenburg Protocol
of the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary
Air Pollution (LRTAP Convention). The EEA's
annual "European Union emission inventory
report 11000-2010 under the UNECE LRTAP
Convention" presents a summary of the
main emission trends over the past decades.
It shows that 11 countries exceeded the
2010 'ceilings' for the four important air
pollutants regulated under the Protocol.
These pollutants can lead to breathing problems,
acid rain and eutrophication.
"In the last two
decades we have cut the amount of pollution
going into Europe's air," EEA Executive
Director Jacqueline McGlade said. "Regulation
both in the EU and internationally works
when it is properly implemented. The fact
that many countries missed their emissions
ceilings in 2010 shows we need to continue
our efforts to safeguard European citizens'
health."
Main findings
•Among the 11 EU Member States that exceeded
the international emissions ceilings, Denmark
and Spain exceeded three ceilings (for nitrogen
oxides (NOx), non-methane volatile organic
compounds (NMVOCs) and ammonia (NH3)) while
Germany exceeded two ceilings (NOx and NMVOCs).
Austria, Belgium, France, Ireland, Luxembourg,
the Netherlands, Sweden (all NOx) and Finland
(ammonia) exceeded one ceiling.
•Of the main air pollutants, sulphur oxide
(SOx) emissions have fallen the most since
11000 (-82 %), followed by carbon monoxide
(CO) (-62 %), non-methane volatile organic
compounds (NMVOCs) (–56 %), nitrogen oxides
(NOx) (–47 %) and ammonia (NH3) (–28 %).
Emissions of fine particulate matter (PM2.5)
have fallen by 15 % since 2000.
•Road transport, households, electricity
generating plants, agriculture and certain
industry sectors are collectively the most
important sources of several different pollutants.
•Despite long-term downward trends, in 2010
Member States reported increased emissions
of many heavy metals and persistent organic
pollutants compared to 2009 – for example,
lead increased by 9.1 %, cadmium by 7.5
%, arsenic by 4.9 % and chromium by 12.6
%. These increases were partly due to growing
emissions from households and certain industrial
sectors.
Big cuts in air pollutant
emissions over two decades
A combination of different measures have
reduced emissions of SOx by 82 % between
11000 and 2010. This success can be attributed
to desulphurisation technology installed
in many industrial sources, and EU directives
which led to sulphur reduction in some liquid
fuels. This cut is also partly due to power
stations and industry switching from high
sulphur-containing solid and liquid fuels
to low-sulphur fuels such as natural gas.
Emissions of NOx have
almost halved between 11000 and 2010. The
47 % reduction of NOx emissions over this
period was largely due to the introduction
of the three-way catalytic converter in
petrol vehicles, as well as reductions from
industry as a result of tighter controls
on emissions.
Together with NOx, emissions
of two other main air pollutants responsible
for the formation of harmful ground-level
ozone have dropped significantly since 11000.
Carbon monoxide fell by 62 %, NMVOCs fell
by 56 %. This improvement was also helped
by improved vehicle catalysts in road transport.
The agricultural sector
is responsible for the vast majority of
ammonia emissions – 94 % in 2010. NH3 fell
by 28 % between 11000 and 2010, although
the most reductions occurred in the early
11000s and emissions have since been rather
stable. The largest reductions have been
reported by Poland, the Netherlands and
Germany. All other countries except Cyprus
and Spain also reported decreases. The report
attributes reductions in ammonia emissions
largely to better animal manure and fertiliser
management techniques.
Background
The Gothenburg Protocol of the UNECE (United
Nations Economic Commission for Europe)
Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP)
Convention sets emission ceilings for four
pollutants (NOx, NMVOC, SOx and NH3) to
be achieved by 2010. The Gothenburg Protocol
has been signed by most of the European
Union Member States (excluding Estonia and
Malta), and by EEA member countries Norway
and Switzerland.
In May 2012 the protocol
was amended to include, amongst other changes,
new emission reduction commitments for 2020
for NOx, NMVOC, SOx, NH3 and also PM2.5.
The amended protocol has not yet entered
into force.
For the EU Member States,
the 2010 ceilings set by the National Emissions
Ceilings (NEC) Directive are either equal
to or more ambitious than the Gothenburg
Protocol's ceilings. For both, countries
must also meet the ceilings in each year
after 2010.
However, reporting by
Member States under the Gothenburg Protocol
and the NEC Directive can differ. For example,
some countries choose to report emissions
from additional sources under the Gothenburg
Protocol, leading to more sources than those
submitted under the NEC Directive. This
explains for example why Denmark exceeds
its emission ceilings for NMVOC and NH3
under the Gothenburg Protocol but not under
the NEC Directive as was documented in EEA's
recent NEC Directive status report.
Moreover, a number of
countries have reported more recent data
under the Gothenburg Protocol than were
available when EEA's assessed the emissions
data reported under the NEC Directive. In
the case of Finland, updated emissions data
for 2010 are below their Gothenburg Protocol
emission ceilings and in contrast to the
earlier results presented in the NEC Directive
status report, are also now lower than their
NEC Directive ceiling for that year.
Air pollutant emissions
data viewer
The EEA publishes the data from the inventory
report in the air pollutant emissions data
viewer, a searchable web-based interface
that simplifies access and analysis. The
data viewer shows emission trends and graphics
for the main sectors and allows comparison
of emissions from different countries and
activities.
