The Environment in your Pocket includes more than 50 key data series
covering: the global atmosphere, air quality, inland water quality and use,
coastal and marine waters, radioactivity, noise, waste and recycling, land
use and land cover, and wildlife. Also contained are some general background
series including analyses of linkages between indicators on the economy,
transport, energy use, and emissions of pollutants.
Included among the key
series are all the environmental headline indicators of sustainable
development. Also included are some key results from the survey of public
attitudes to quality of life and to the environment, conducted in 2001.
Among the results are:
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An average of over half a tonne of waste per person was collected by
local authorities from households during 2000/1;
52% of people also thought that traffic (congestion, noise
and fumes) would be the environmental issue that would cause the most
concern in 20 years time;
2001 was the third warmest year since global records began in 1860;
UK emissions of all the main air pollutants have fallen since 1980;
The climate of England and Wales in the last quarter century shows a
tendency for warmer, wetter winters and hotter, drier summers;
24% of fish stocks around the UK were within safe biological
limits, to allow a good probability of stock replenishment, in 2001;
Radioactive emissions to the air in the UK fell by around 56% between 1985 and 2000 and emissions to water fell by 84%;
30% of respondents to a national survey of attitudes to
noise were affected by road traffic noise and 27% were affected by
noise from neighbours or people nearby, compared to 1 per cent who were
affected by noise from farming or agriculture;
61% of new homes were built on previously developed
“brownfield” sites in 2001; in London 90% had been built on
“brownfield” sites in the period 1997-2000;
Between 1970 and 1999, the index of farmland wild birds for England
fell by 44%; 6 of the 19 species assessed showed an increase in
numbers, 12 showed a decline;
An estimated 4.2 billion was spent by UK industry to reduce
environmental pollution in 2000.
The Environment in your Pocket 2002 is also
published on the Department's website at:
www.defra.gov.uk
where it is linked to more detailed information on the topics it covers. This detailed information is in the Department's main compendium reference web publication for environmental statistics, the Digest of Environmental Statistics.
The Digest website is updated periodically as new data become available throughout the year.
Copies from:
The booklet is available free of charge from: Defra Publications, Admail 6000, London, SW1A 2XX, tel: 08459 556000, fax: 020 8957 5012, email: defra@iforcegroup.com
defra@iforcegroup.com , quoting product code PB7702.
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