Convention On Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution Research Articles

Examining indicators and methods for quantifying ozone exposure to vegetation

The U.S. National Park Service uses W126 to assess critical levels of ozone (O3) exposure to sensitive plant species, whereas the scientific community considers the stomatal flux-based metric, phytotoxic O3 dose (POD), more relevant in foliar risk evaluation. This study found a decreasing trend of 0.15 ppm-hrs/yr (p = 0.049) in W126 at a Yellowstone National Park monitoring site during 1997–2021 and no trend at a Grand Teton National Park site over 2012–2021 but no trends at both sites in POD calculated following the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP) (2017). To evaluate the CLRTAP (2017) method, 2019 summer POD was calculated for comparison using the Big-leaf model and was found 20%–100% less than the CLRTAP (2017)-calculated leaf-level one already, let alone compared to the latter scaled up to canopy-level, owing to the much smaller stomatal O3 flux (SOF) estimates under most conditions. Further analysis revealed exceptions where larger SOF values (>0.02 mmol/m2/hr), obtained from using the Big-leaf model with measured sensible heat and water vapor flux included in input, were not captured by the CLRTAP (2017) method and the Big-leaf model with input of regular meteorological variables only. Those large SOF values resulted under cooler, less windy, more humid, and cloudier conditions, when the approximate water vapor concentration difference between the ambient and leaf saturation level was found <1 mol/m3. A multivariate function was developed, through machine learning, by regressing SOF on air temperature, wind speed, relative humidity, phytosynthetically active radiation, and O3 concentration. Its testing and evaluation demonstrated improved estimates of the large variability in SOF. This new parameterization showed promising capability of assessing critical levels of O3 exposure in park management, and it could be further improved with long-term flux measurement data becoming available and evapotranspiration better represented.

Towards near-real-time air pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions: lessons learned from multiple estimates during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract. The 2020 COVID-19 crisis caused an unprecedented drop in anthropogenic emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases. Given that emissions estimates from official national inventories for the year 2020 were not reported until 2 years later, new and non-traditional datasets to estimate near-real-time emissions became particularly relevant and widely used in international monitoring and modelling activities during the pandemic. This study investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on 2020 European (the 27 EU member states and the UK) emissions by comparing a selection of such near-real-time emission estimates, with the official inventories that were subsequently reported in 2022 under the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Results indicate that annual changes in total 2020 emissions reported by official and near-real-time estimates are fairly in line for most of the chemical species, with NOx and fossil fuel CO2 being reported as the ones that experienced the largest reduction in Europe in all cases. However, large discrepancies arise between the official and non-official datasets when comparing annual results at the sector and country level, indicating that caution should be exercised when estimating changes in emissions using specific near-real-time activity datasets, such as time mobility data derived from smartphones. The main examples of these differences are observed for the manufacturing industry NOx (relative changes ranging between −21.4 % and −5.4 %) and road transport CO2 (relative changes ranging between −29.3 % and −5.6 %) total European emissions. Additionally, significant discrepancies are observed between the quarterly and monthly distribution of emissions drops reported by the various near-real-time inventories, with differences of up to a factor of 1.5 for total NOx during April 2020, when restrictions were at their maximum. For residential combustion, shipping and the public energy industry, results indicate that changes in emissions that occurred between 2019 and 2020 were mainly dominated by non-COVID-19 factors, including meteorology, the implementation of the Global Sulphur Cap and the shutdown of coal-fired power plants as part of national decarbonization efforts, respectively. The potential increase in NMVOC emissions from the intensive use of personal protective equipment such as hand sanitizer gels is considered in a heterogeneous way across countries in officially reported inventories, indicating the need for some countries to base their calculations on more advanced methods. The findings of this study can be used to better understand the uncertainties in near-real-time emissions and how such emissions could be used in the future to provide timely updates to emission datasets that are critical for modelling and monitoring applications.

Screening or constraining? The relationship between participation and target achievement in transboundary air pollution treaties

Enforcement and management scholars alike expect that countries participating in an international agreement will more likely achieve predetermined targets than nonparticipating countries will. The management school ascribes this expected association to a constraining effect of the treaty; the enforcement school ascribes it to a screening effect. If the latter conjecture is correct, the association between participation and target achievement should significantly weaken (or even vanish) when controlling for targets' ambition level and other confounding factors. We test this hypothesis on a new dataset comprising three protocols under the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP). Our results suggest that the positive association between participation and target achievement is robust to controlling for confounding factors; hence, our data suggests that these CLRTAP protocols have indeed constrained participating states.

Determination of Critical Loads for Eutrophying and Acidifying Air Pollutant Inputs for the Protection of Near-Natural Ecosystems in Germany

Under the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP) of the UN Economic Commission for Europe, UNECE, to which Germany acceded in 1982, the harmful effects of air pollutants on the environment are to be steadily reduced and ultimately limited to a level that is compatible with nature. The ICP Modelling &amp; Mapping (ICP M&amp;M) under the Working Group on Effects (WGE) of CLRTAP maps critical loads for the entire Convention area and calculates the exceedance risks and associated risks to vegetation and biodiversity. A current data request was made in November 2015 with the aim of submitting new or updated ecosystem-specific critical loads for protection against acidification and eutrophication. For this task, critical loads were determined by the authors for one third of the territory of Germany using the simple mass balance (SMB) method according to the ICP Mapping Manual. The permissible eutrophying nitrogen input into the ecosystem CLnut(N), as well as the acidifying sulphur input CLmaxS, can be described as the setting of the equilibrium between substance inputs and outputs, provided that specific critical limits are met. The BERN database—created by the authors—serves as the basis for modelling vegetation-specific critical limits as a complement to the SMB model. The BERN database contains near-natural plant communities with clearly definable site constancy. The 25,600 German and a further 24,600 European vegetation records dating back to before 1960 were evaluated to determine the good ecological status of the plant communities. The results of the critical load calculation show that about half of the receptor areas have critical loads for eutrophying nitrogen below 10 kg ha−1 a−1 and critical loads for acidifying sulphur were below 1500 eq ha−1 a−1. It could be demonstrated that the BERN–SMB-modelled critical loads for eutrophying nitrogen inputs show lower values on average throughout Germany than those calculated using only the previous critical limits according to the ICP Mapping Manual. These values are closer to the empirical critical loads than the critical loads without BERN data. For the goal of the German National Biodiversity Strategy by 2007 and 2020 to define ecosystem-related impact thresholds for pollutants that describe the effects on biodiversity, the BERN/SMB critical loads for the protection of ecosystems provide a precautionary scientific basis.

Transboundary air pollution and respiratory disease mortality: evidence from European countries

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to quantify the impact of transboundary air pollutants, particularly those related to urban traffic, on health outcomes. The importance of focusing on the health implications of transboundary pollution is due to the fact that these emissions originate from another jurisdiction, thus constituting international negative externalities. Thus, by isolating and quantifying the impact of these transboundary air pollutants on domestic health outcomes, the authors can understand more clearly the extent of these externalities, identify their ramifications for health and emphasise the importance of cross-country cooperation in the fight against air pollution.Design/methodology/approachThe authors employ panel data regression analysis to look at the relationship between emissions of transboundary air pollution and mortality rates from various respiratory diseases among a sample of 40 European countries, over the period 2003–2014. In turn, the authors use annual data on transboundary emissions of sulphur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5), together with detailed data on the per capita incidence of various respiratory diseases, including lung cancer, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The authors consider a number of different regression equation specifications and control for potential confounders like the quality of healthcare and economic prosperity within each country.FindingsThe results show that transboundary emissions of PM2.5 are positively and significantly related to mortality rates from asthma in our sample of countries. Quantitatively, a 10% increase in PM2.5 transboundary emissions per capita from neighbouring countries is associated with a 1.4% increase in the asthma mortality rate within the recipient country or roughly 200 deaths by asthma per year across our sample.Originality/valueThese findings have important policy implications for cross-country cooperation and regulation in the field of pollution abatement and control, particularly since all the countries under consideration form a part of the UN's Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP), a transnational cooperative agreement aimed at curtailing such pollutants on an international level.

Long-term air pollution trend analysis in the South-eastern Baltic region, 1981–2017

European emissions data have been reported during the last 40 years under the Cooperative Programme for Monitoring and Evaluation of the Long-range Transmission of Air Pollutants in Europe (EMEP), launched by the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP). In this paper, long-term continuous data of gaseous and particulate air pollutants concentrations measured over a period of 36 years (1981–2017) from a coastal background EMEP air quality monitoring site in Preila, Lithuania, were analyzed. All the analyzed S- and N- species decreased during the 1981–2017 period except for nitrate concentration, which increased during the 1990s by 170%, and showed minor decreasing trend during the 2000–2017 period.The analysis has shown that despite the 95% and 79% decrease of sulfur dioxide and sulfate concentrations, respectively, sulfate comprised a considerable share of the ion balance. As the concentration of total sulfate decreased remarkably, the sea-related particles portion of the sulfate concentration increased up to 22%. The sulfur dioxide concentration at the Preila station has stabilized since 2015. Separation between the time series of sulfur dioxide and sulfate occurred in 2007–2008 with sulfate exceeding sulfur dioxide concentrations during the latest decade. This indicates the absence of local sulfur dioxide sources and relative increase in contributions by long-range transport of particulate forms of sulfur.

New Emission Factors for Calculation of Ammonia Volatilization From European Livestock Manure Management Systems

The largest source of ammonia (NH3) emissions to the atmosphere is NH3 from agriculture, the majority of which arise from livestock manure. The NH3 emitted is a threat to human health through the formation of fine particles, causes eutrophication of natural ecosystems and is a loss of fertiliser nitrogen (N). The Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTP) and the European Union National Emission Ceilings Directive (NECD) sets limits for national NH3 emissions and require the reporting of annual emission inventories to demonstrate compliance. The EMEP/EEA Air Pollutant Emission Inventory Guidebook provides emission factors (EFs) to support inventory compilation. Here we report the development of revised NH3 EFs for livestock housing, manure storage, field-applied manure and excreta deposited during grazing. Data from 276 studies were used with more than 70% of these data from peer reviewed journals, the remaining being from conference proceedings and scientific reports. For most sources, the new EFs are the weighted means of the emissions reported. The empirical ALFAM model was used to develop EFs for field-applied slurry. The standard deviation of the EFs were substantial, due to the breadth of the categories of livestock and management systems and because of variations in manure management and climate. The data collected will be available at http://www.alfam.dk

Trouble in the air: Recent developments under the 1979 Convention on Long‐Range Transboundary Air Pollution

The 1979 Geneva Convention on Long‐Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP) is a significant regional treaty under which eight protocols have been developed. The Convention offers a case study on the legal and political challenges that can occur when addressing air pollution. This article explores the recent history of the CLRTAP regime, drawing on the conceptual lens of regime effectiveness. First, the article considers how the legal framework has been modernized over the past decade to reflect changes in the sources and effects of air pollution. This has predominantly occurred through amendments to the 1999 Protocol to Abate Acidification, Eutrophication and Ground‐Level Ozone, the 1998 Protocol on Persistent Organic Pollutants and the 1998 Protocol on Heavy Metals, which were negotiated in 2009–2012. The amendments are an important point in the regime's history, as they set more stringent pollution limits. Particular attention is paid to their prospective entry into force and their broader impact on European law. Second, the geographic coverage of the legal instruments has long been an issue of concern, with a number of former Soviet Union States choosing to not participate in the pollution‐specific protocols. The article reviews efforts to boost participation through the creation in 2011 of a coordinating group to promote action in the countries of Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia. Third, the article explores recent developments in compliance and inventory adjustments under the Gothenburg Protocol, as a demonstration of how the system approaches changes in scientific knowledge on the sources and levels of air pollution, and how this affects compliance.

The Effectiveness of the Regulatory Regime for Black Carbon Mitigation in the Arctic

In addition to being a hazardous air pollutant, Black Carbon is the second-largest contributor to Arctic warming. Its mitigation is being addressed at the international regulatory level by the Arctic Council and the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP). Whilst the Convention and its protocols are binding documents, the Black Carbon regulation under their framework appears to have ‘soft law’ characteristics. At the same time, the voluntary Black Carbon and Methane Framework, adopted by the Arctic Council, demonstrates positive compliance and follow-up dynamics compared to earlier norm-creating attempts. This paper argues that the nature of the norm (binding or non-binding) is not the decisive factor regarding effective implementation in the Arctic region. Current efforts to mitigate Black Carbon by means of a non-binding Arctic Council Black Carbon and Methane Framework represent an improvement in the Council’s normative function and may have more effect on the behaviour of Arctic States than relevant provisions under the Gothenburg Protocol to the CLRTAP. To support this argument, the first section presents an overview of the Arctic Council as an actor in Arctic policy-making. It then provides an assessment of current efforts to combat Black Carbon carried out by the Arctic Council and the CLRTAP.(Published: November 2016)Citation: D. Shapovalova. ‘‘The Effectiveness of the Regulatory Regime for Black Carbon Mitigation in the Arctic.’’ Arctic Review on Law and Politics, Vol. 7, No. 2, 2016, pp. 136–151. http://dx.doi.org/10.17585/arctic.v7.427

Setting ozone critical levels for annual Mediterranean pasture species: Combined analysis of open-top chamber experiments

Annual Dehesa-type pastures comprise semi-natural vegetation communities dominated by annual species characteristic of the Mediterranean basin areas of Southern Europe. This study analyses all the datasets available on the effects of ozone (O3) on annual pasture species in order to review and propose new exposure- and flux-based O3 critical levels (CLes) following the methodology of the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP). Based on the potential effect on pastures main ecosystem services, the availability of data and the statistical significance of the regressions, three variables have been selected for establishing CLes: total above-ground biomass, consumable food value (CFV), as a nutritional quality index, and reproductive capacity based on flower and seed production. New CLes proposed for a 10% loss (with 95% confidence intervals between brackets) of above-ground biomass and reproductive capacity were, respectively, AOT40=3.1 (2.6, 3.8) and 2.0 (1.5, 2.8) ppmh and POD1=12.2 (8.9, 15.5) and 7.2 (1.1, 13.3) mmolm−2. The provisional AOT40- and POD1-based CLes for CFV were 2.3 (1.6, 4.0) ppmh and 4.6 (2.7, 6.5) mmolm−2 respectively. By using only O3-sensitive species for the exposure and dose-response functions, the proposed CLes should be used for risk assessments. Their use for quantifying O3 damage may lead to an overestimation of the effects.

HTAP_v2.2: a mosaic of regional and global emission grid maps for 2008 and 2010 to study hemispheric transport of air pollution

Abstract. The mandate of the Task Force Hemispheric Transport of Air Pollution (TF HTAP) under the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP) is to improve the scientific understanding of the intercontinental air pollution transport, to quantify impacts on human health, vegetation and climate, to identify emission mitigation options across the regions of the Northern Hemisphere, and to guide future policies on these aspects. The harmonization and improvement of regional emission inventories is imperative to obtain consolidated estimates on the formation of global-scale air pollution. An emissions data set has been constructed using regional emission grid maps (annual and monthly) for SO2, NOx, CO, NMVOC, NH3, PM10, PM2.5, BC and OC for the years 2008 and 2010, with the purpose of providing consistent information to global and regional scale modelling efforts. This compilation of different regional gridded inventories – including that of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for USA, the EPA and Environment Canada (for Canada), the European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP) and Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) for Europe, and the Model Inter-comparison Study for Asia (MICS-Asia III) for China, India and other Asian countries – was gap-filled with the emission grid maps of the Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGARv4.3) for the rest of the world (mainly South America, Africa, Russia and Oceania). Emissions from seven main categories of human activities (power, industry, residential, agriculture, ground transport, aviation and shipping) were estimated and spatially distributed on a common grid of 0.1° × 0.1° longitude-latitude, to yield monthly, global, sector-specific grid maps for each substance and year. The HTAP_v2.2 air pollutant grid maps are considered to combine latest available regional information within a complete global data set. The disaggregation by sectors, high spatial and temporal resolution and detailed information on the data sources and references used will provide the user the required transparency. Because HTAP_v2.2 contains primarily official and/or widely used regional emission grid maps, it can be recommended as a global baseline emission inventory, which is regionally accepted as a reference and from which different scenarios assessing emission reduction policies at a global scale could start. An analysis of country-specific implied emission factors shows a large difference between industrialised countries and developing countries for acidifying gaseous air pollutant emissions (SO2 and NOx) from the energy and industry sectors. This is not observed for the particulate matter emissions (PM10, PM2.5), which show large differences between countries in the residential sector instead. The per capita emissions of all world countries, classified from low to high income, reveal an increase in level and in variation for gaseous acidifying pollutants, but not for aerosols. For aerosols, an opposite trend is apparent with higher per capita emissions of particulate matter for low income countries.

FOCUS: A pilot study for national-scale critical loads development in the United States

Abstract The development and use of critical loads of air pollutant deposition in the U.S. is gaining momentum, and recent research efforts in the U.S. have produced valuable data for calculating critical loads. Critical loads are used to quantify the levels of air pollutants that are expected to impact forest health, soil fertility, aquatic biota condition, and other ecosystem responses. In addition, model refinements for improving critical loads estimates, and maps for illustrating critical loads for acidification and nitrogen saturation and eutrophication resulting from excess nutrient nitrogen, have been developed at various scales. However, prior to the effort described here, no cohesive process existed to provide a national-scale critical loads database and maps as a unified product representing all U.S. ecosystems. The FOCUS (Focal Center Utility Study) Project was initiated to coordinate the development and implementation of a clear, consistent, repeatable process for calculating and mapping critical loads within the U.S. In the FOCUS Phase I Pilot Study, empirical and calculated critical loads data for the U.S. were synthesized from dozens of regional and national-scale monitoring networks, research projects and publically available databases following an approach similar to that used in Europe. The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), through its International Cooperative Programme on Modelling and Mapping of Critical Levels & Loads and Air Pollution Effects, Risks and Trends (ICP-M&M) collects, analyzes and maps critical loads data. Countries participating in the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP) use a Critical Loads “Focal Center” in each country to serve as the point of contact for submitting regional and national-scale critical loads data to the ICP-M&M. One of the purposes of this study was to develop a foundation for interacting with other Focal Centers by assembling critical loads data, creating a database, establishing modeling protocols, and developing infrastructure within the U.S to report and update critical loads on a national scale. Because the U.S. does not currently have an officially designated Focal Center, critical loads data were provided as an informal, unofficial submission to the Coordination Center for Effects (CCE) of the ICP-M&M in March 2011, in the interest of international cooperation and exchange of information on the effects of atmospheric deposition of pollutants on ecosystems. We envision that these data will enable U.S. scientists, land managers, and environmental policymakers to enter into a productive and meaningful dialogue within the US, and also with the international scientific community on methods for estimating, calculating, mapping, interpreting, and refining critical loads for the effects of acidification and excess nutrient nitrogen on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. This paper describes the process used to develop national-scale critical loads in the U.S., summarizes the FOCUS Phase I approach and database development effort, and presents some initial national-scale critical loads mapping products.

Forest Condition in Europe: 2013 technical report of ICP Forests. Report under the UNECE Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP)

Of the 42 countries that have participated in ICP Forests since 1986, 27 countries reported largescale monitoring data from Level I plots and more detailed forest ecosystem related monitoring data from Level II plots for the year 2012. In total, the participating countries provided information on more than 15,000 plots and more than 220,000 trees. Data analyses for this 2013 Technical Report focused on the impact of air pollution on tree crown condition and on sulphate and nitrogen deposition to forests. In addition, the impact on individual trees of factors other than air pollution, e.g., biotic agents, was assessed. Crown condition is the most widely applied indicator for forest health and vitality of European forests. One of its primary parameters is the rate of defoliation, which is assessed as the percentage of needle/leaf loss in the crown compared to a reference tree with full foliage. The mean defoliation of 114,361 sample trees on 6,168 transnational Level I plots in 2012 was 19.7%. Of all trees assessed in 2012 every fourth to fifth tree (22.9%) was scored as damaged, i.e., had a defoliation rate of more than 25%. In general, broadleaved trees showed a higher mean defoliation rate than conifer species (23.6% and 20.2%, respectively). Oak species still seem to be the most vulnerable of all the investigated species. Of the main species groups, deciduous temperate oak species had the highest mean defoliation (26.5%), closely followed by Mediterranean evergreen oak species (25.2%), and deciduous (sub-) temperate oak species (24.6%). A mean defoliation rate of 19.6% was assessed for European beech (Fagus sylvatica). Coniferous species expressed lower defoliation rates on average, with European spruce (Picea abies) reaching 19.2%, followed by Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) with 19.3%, and Mediterranean lowland pine species with 20.7%. These figures are, however, not directly comparable to those of previous reports because of fluctuations in the plot sample that are primarily due to changes in the annual participation of countries. Therefore, the temporal development of crown condition was calculated separately from the monitoring results for those countries which have submitted data every year without interruption since 1993, 1998, and 2002, respectively. In addition, maps were drawn that depict temporal species trends in defoliation. The presented results suggest that there was no overall improvement of crown condition for the longest analyzed time period from 1993 to 2012. Over the last 20 years the percentage of plots with clearly increasing mean defoliation (17.2%) even exceeded the share of plots with decreasing defoliation (12.5%) but most of the investigated plots showed no statistically significant change in crown condition (70.3%). Compared to the previous year only, the investigated trees showed on average similar rates of defoliation in 2012. More than three out of four plots (78.7%) showed no statistically significant difference in mean defoliation between those two years. Defoliation increased on 13.8% and decreased on only 7.5% of the plots.

Information flows and social capital through linkages: the effectiveness of the CLRTAP network

This paper examines the effectiveness of the convention on long-range transboundary air pollution (CLRTAP) from a network perspective. The authors claim, contrary to most existing research, that we must consider all links and connections that a regime creates among its members for determining whether and how it influences states toward ‘greener’ environmental behavior. To this extent, the paper advances two arguments. First, parties more central to the CLRTAP network can rely on and signal mutual interests, shared preferences, and decreased uncertainty with all actors involved. In turn, a central position embodies social capital, which facilitates that a well-connected state is ceteris paribus more likely to cooperate with the regime. Second, if other countries in the network do not cooperate, however, it is likely that the positive effect stemming from social capital disappears and that a state will defect even if it has a central position in the network. The authors’ empirical analysis provides support for the theory and may have important implications for studies on regime effectiveness and on networks in general.

Global ecopolitics: crisis, governance, and justice

List of Acronyms Preface Acknowledgments 1. Planetary Anxiety and Collective Dilemmas Sovereignty, Global Governance, and Public Goods Shades of Green The Crosscutting Dilemma: Our Growing Numbers Delving Deeper into Global Ecopolitics 2. International Arrangements: Actors and Effectiveness Multi-scaled Adaptive Governance Individuals and Communities Governments and Governance International Law and Institutions Wicked Problems: Measuring Effectiveness in International Arrangements 3. Conserving Biodiversity and Wildlife Rising Concerns: The Historical Context The Convention on Biological Diversity The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna Redefining the Wealth 4. Deforestation and Land Degradation Deforestation The International Tropical Timber Agreement Desertification The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification Taking Root 5. Air Pollution and Climate Change Atmospheric Pollution The Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP) The Ozone Layer Arrangement The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Deep Breaths 6. Blue Peril: Oceans and Rivers The Poles The Oceans Crises UNCLOS Freshwater Scarcity The Veins of Life: Shared River Arrangements Surviving the Tides 7. Trade and the Global Environment Toxic Trade The Basel Convention on Trade in Hazardous Substances The WTO and the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) Toward Ethical Investments 8. War and Peace and Justice Ecocide: The Circle of Death The Atmospheric Test Ban Treaty The Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques (ENMOD) Toward Environmental Justice and Human Security 9. Another Convention Needed? Invasive Alien Species Invasive Alien Species: The Problem(s) Regional Efforts Toward an International Convention on IAS? 10. Governance Gaps and Green Goals Nanotechnology Global Tourism Food Security A Global Energy Strategy? From Angst to Resolve Afterword: What Can You Do? References Index

Intercontinental transport of persistent organic pollutants: a review of key findings and recommendations of the task force on hemispheric transport of air pollutants and directions for future research

The Task Force on Hemispheric Transport of Air Pollution (TF HTAP) was established under the Convention on Long–range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP) to improve scientific understanding of the intercontinental transport of air pollutants and to deliver policy–relevant information on this issue. The first comprehensive assessment of POP intercontinental transport made by the TF HTAP was compiled in 2010 and published in 2011. The HTAP assessment was made possible by the contributions of a large network of experts in various national and international organizations and is intended to support further development of international policy and regulation of POPs under the frameworks of the UN ECE CLRTAP and the Stockholm Convention on POPs. By summarizing the outcome of past studies on POPs, the assessment highlights the evidence of POP intercontinental transport and the associated threat to human health and the environment. It presents the current state of knowledge on levels of POPs in the environment, emission inventories and projections, modeling of long–range transport and fate in various compartments, interactions with climate change, as well as harmful effects on human health and ecosystems. Two important outcomes of the HTAP 2010 assessment are the summary of key scientific and policy–relevant findings, and the recommendations for further work which include the need to a more fully developed integrated approach to the pollution assessment. In its next phase, which extends to 2015, the Task Force is planning to cooperate across different thematic areas of scientific activity on intercontinental transport of pollution, and exploit synergies of effort in cases where particulate matter (PM), ozone, mercury, and POPs share common sources. It is recognized that a fully “integrated approach” for building a scientific understanding of POPs in the environment should encompass measurements, modeling results, and emission estimates, and in addition it should more explicitly include assessment of ecosystem effects.

The EMEP MSC-W chemical transport model – technical description

Abstract. The Meteorological Synthesizing Centre-West (MSC-W) of the European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP) has been performing model calculations in support of the Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP) for more than 30 years. The EMEP MSC-W chemical transport model is still one of the key tools within European air pollution policy assessments. Traditionally, the model has covered all of Europe with a resolution of about 50 km × 50 km, and extending vertically from ground level to the tropopause (100 hPa). The model has changed extensively over the last ten years, however, with flexible processing of chemical schemes, meteorological inputs, and with nesting capability: the code is now applied on scales ranging from local (ca. 5 km grid size) to global (with 1 degree resolution). The model is used to simulate photo-oxidants and both inorganic and organic aerosols. In 2008 the EMEP model was released for the first time as public domain code, along with all required input data for model runs for one year. The second release of the EMEP MSC-W model became available in mid 2011, and a new release is targeted for summer 2012. This publication is intended to document this third release of the EMEP MSC-W model. The model formulations are given, along with details of input data-sets which are used, and a brief background on some of the choices made in the formulation is presented. The model code itself is available at www.emep.int, along with the data required to run for a full year over Europe.

Towards harmonization of forest deposition collectors - case study of comparing collector designs

In recent years the harmonization of methods in the frame of the International Co-operative Programme on Assessment and Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects on Forests (ICP Forests) operating under the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP) has been intensified. Among the C-actions of the FutMon project (LIFE07 ENV/D/000218; 2009-2010) the C1-Dep-22(SI) action was established with the goal to harmonize and develop the deposition monitoring procedures and sampling methods. The sampling equipment, spatial design of sampling plots and sampling frequency throughout Europe vary considerably. Therefore a step-by-step approach was made where the harmonized sampling equipment was developed and tested first. The selected collectors were installed at one observation plot of each participating country where measurements of throughfall and bulk deposition were run in parallel with the national collectors for a period of one year. To evaluate the agreement between methods, different statistical analyses were used including Altman-Bland plots, model II regression, and repeated measures ANOVA. Preliminary results from the “Intensive forest ecosystem monitoring plot” plot Brdo in NW Slovenia show a good agreement between national and harmonized bulk (both funnel-type) collectors, while comparison of throughfall measurements indicates systematic bias between harmonized (funnel-type) and national (gutter-type) collectors.

Effect of operating condition on the particulate matter emission factor for a domestic biomass boiler

The effect of operating condition on the particulate matter emission factor for a domestic biomass boiler has been examined, with a view to improving emission inventories compiled under the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP). It was found that the emission factor depended strongly on the boiler load, and that there were significant differences between the value used in current emission inventories and actual values found in a combustion installation from a typical domestic dwelling.

First Europe-wide correlation analysis identifying factors best explaining the total nitrogen concentration in mosses

In this study, the indicative value of mosses as biomonitors of atmospheric nitrogen (N) depositions and air concentrations on the one hand and site-specific and regional factors which explain best the total N concentration in mosses on the other hand were investigated for the first time at a European scale using correlation analyses. The analyses included data from mosses collected from 2781 sites across Europe within the framework of the European moss survey 2005/6, which was coordinated by the International Cooperative Programme on Effects of Air Pollution on Natural Vegetation and Crops (ICP Vegetation). Modelled atmospheric N deposition and air concentration data were calculated using the Unified EMEP Model of the European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP) of the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP). The modelled deposition and concentration data encompass various N compounds. In order to assess the correlations between moss tissue total N concentrations and the chosen predictors, Spearman rank correlation analysis and Classification and Regression Trees (CART) were applied. The Spearman rank correlation analysis showed that the total N concentration in mosses and modelled N depositions and air concentrations are significantly correlated (0.53 ≤ r s ≤ 0.68, p < 0.001). Correlations with other predictors were lower than 0.55. The CART analysis indicated that the variation in the total N concentration in mosses was best explained by the variation in NH 4 + concentrations in air, followed by NO 2 concentrations in air, sampled moss species and total dry N deposition. The total N concentrations in mosses mirror land use-related atmospheric concentrations and depositions of N across Europe. In addition to already proven associations to measured N deposition on a local scale the study at hand gives a scientific prove on the association of N concentration in mosses and modelled deposition at the European scale.