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Air quality in Europe – recent assessments

18th EIONET Air Quality Management and Assessment Workshop Dublin , October 25 th 2013. Air quality in Europe – recent assessments. Cristina Guerreiro & Frank de Leeuw (ETC/ACM) Valentin Foltescu et al (EEA). Why should we care about air pollution?.

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Air quality in Europe – recent assessments

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  1. 18th EIONET Air Quality Management and Assessment Workshop Dublin, October 25th 2013 Air quality in Europe – recent assessments Cristina Guerreiro & Frank de Leeuw (ETC/ACM) Valentin Foltescu et al (EEA)

  2. Why should we care about air pollution? Air pollution impacts human health, contributes to climate change and damages ecosystems. Here are some of the pollutants the ‘Air quality in Europe – 2013 report’ investigates and their potential impacts.

  3. % of the EU’s urban population exposed to AP conc. above the EU and WHO reference levels (2009 to 2011) The reference levels in brackets are in mg/m3except for BaP in ng/m3 and CO in mg/m3

  4. Headline messages • PM and O3 are Europe's most problematic pollutants in terms of harm to human health, despite emission reductions in precursors and prim PM. • Almost one third of Europe's city dwellers are exposed to excessive PM conc. • Emissions of the main air pollutants in Europe declined in the period 2002–2011, resulting in some improvements in air quality. • Many European countries still do not comply with one or more emission ceilings set under EU and UN agreements. • Road transport, households, power plants, agricultural activities and certain industry sectors continue to emit significant amounts of air pollutants. • Several air pollutants also have a potential impact on the planet's climate and global warming in the short term.

  5. Particulate matter: PM2.5 EU target value = 25 µg/m3 WHO AQGL = 10 µg/m3

  6. Particulate matter: PM10 Percentage of the EU’s urban population exposed to PM10 exceeding PM10 annual mean concentration 2011 EU air quality daily standard 33 % 88 % WHO air quality guideline (annual mean 20 µg/m3) In orange and red: above EU limit values to be met by 2005

  7. Annual changes in PM10 concentrations 2002-2011 Particulate matter mg/m3

  8. Average annual changes in PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations 2002-2011

  9. Ground level ozone Ground-level ozone % of the EU’s urban population exposed to O3 exceeding standards EU air quality standard 8 h> 120 µg/m3 >25 d/yr (3 yrs) 14 % 98 % In red and dark red: above EU target value to be met by 2010 WHO air quality guideline 8 h > 100 µg/m3

  10. Ground level ozone Changes in annual mean of the max. daily 8-hr ozone conc. 2002-2011

  11. Ground level ozone Average annual changes in ozone concentrations 2002-2011

  12. Nitrogen dioxide Percentage of the EU’s urban population exposed to NO2 exceeding NO2annual mean 2011 EU air quality standards 5 % WHO air quality guidelines 5 % In red and dark red: above EU limit value to be met by 2010

  13. Nitrogen dioxide Changes in annual mean NO2concentrations 2002-2011

  14. Nitrogen dioxide Average annual changes in NO2 concentrations 2002-2011

  15. Sulphur dioxide SO2annual mean 2011 Percentage of EU’s urban population exposed to SO2 exceeding EU air quality standards < 1% 46 % WHO air quality guidelines In red and dark red: above EU limit value (vegetation) to be met by 2005

  16. Benzene Annual mean of benzene 2011 EU target value = 5 µg/m3 WHO ref. lev. = 1.7 µg/m3

  17. Heavy metals cadmium arsenic lead nickel

  18. Heavy metals: key messages • Human exposure to Pb, As, Cd and Ni ambient air concentrations above the target values is a local problem • Atmospheric deposition of heavy metals contributes to the exposure of ecosystems and organisms to HM and their bioaccumulation • Most countries have exceedance of critical loads for Cd in <1 % of their national ecosystem area • Atmospheric deposition of Pb exceeds the critical loads in over 12 % of the EU ecosystem area • More than half of all EEA‑32 countries have exceedances of critical loads for Hg across nearly 90 % or more of their ecosystem area • In total, atmospheric deposition of Hg exceeds the critical loads across 54 % of the EU ecosystem area

  19. Benzo(a)Pyrene BaP emissions increased by 11% 2002-2011 in EU Main sector: Commercial, institutional and household fuel combustion-84% Increased by 24% in 2002-2011 In red: above EU target value to be met by 2013 (1 ng/m3 ) WHO : 0.12 ng/m3

  20. Member States are exceeding emissions targets 2011 nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions compared to NEC emission ceilings: Member States that exceeded their emission ceilings In 2011, seven EU Member States exceeded their National Emissions Ceilings (NEC) Directiveemissions ceiling limit for NOx. In total, eight EU Member States were not in compliance with one or more NEC emission ceilings in 2011. These ceilings should have been reached in all Member States by 2010. Data on NEC compliance are available here.

  21. Emissions have been reduced EU emissions of primary particulate matter (PM) and PM precursor gases: EU Member States have made progress in cutting emissions of several air pollutants.

  22. Air quality in Europe - 2013 report • The ‘Air Quality in Europe – 2013 report’ is available in full here. • Other EEA publications on air quality and air pollution can be found here. • eea.europa.eu/air

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