The amended National Emissions Ceilings Directive (NECD; Directive (EU) 2016/2284, amendment of Directive 2003/35/EC) of the EU is aligning emission reduction commitments with those for the UN Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP), with the long-term objective to reduce air pollution to at or below the Convention’s critical levels and loads for ecosystems.With respect to mon...

This briefing is part of the Air quality in Europe 2024 package and examines how vegetation is exposed to key air pollutants. It is based on data reported by the EEA’s member countries in 2022 and complemented with interpolated maps. The briefing supports the EU’s Ambient Air Quality Directive and the zero-pollution action plan (ZPAP).Key messages:Atmospheric nitrogen increases nutrient loads on h...

The 1999 Regional Haze Rule provides a context for this review of visibility, the science that describes it, and the use of that science in regulatory guidance. The scientific basis for the 1999 regulation is adequate. The deciview metric that tracks progress is an imperfect but objective measure of what people see near the prevailing visual range. The definition of natural visibility conditions i...

Risks associated with exposure of individual plant species to ozone (O3) are well documented, but implications for terrestrial biodiversity and ecosystem processes have received insufficient attention. This is an important gap because feedbacks to the atmosphere may change as future O3 levels increase or decrease, depending on air quality and climate policies. Global simulation of O3 using the Com...

Crop-response data from over 700 published papers and conference proceedings have been analysed with the aim of establishing ozone dose-response functions for a wide range of European agricultural and horticultural crops. Data that met rigorous selection criteria (e.g. field-based, ozone concentrations within European range, full season exposure period) were used to derive AOT40-yield response fun...

Global reactive nitrogen (N) deposition has more than tripled since 1860 and is expected to remain high due to food production and fossil fuel consumption. Global sulfur emissions have been decreasing worldwide over the last 30 years, but many r gions are still experiencing unhealthily high levels of deposition. Authors update the 2010 global deposition budget for reactive nitrogen and sulfur comp...

A global strategy to conserve biodiversity must aim to protect representative examples of all of the world's ecosystems, as well as those areas that contain exceptional concentrations of species and endemics. Although lacking the richness of tropical forests, deserts, tropical lakes, and subpolar seas all contain distinct species, communities, and ecological phenomena. Authors analyzed global patt...

Crop and livestock statistics are recorded for 278 products, covering the following categories: 1) CROPS PRIMARY: Cereals, Citrus Fruit, Fibre Crops, Fruit, Oil Crops, Oil Crops and Cakes in Oil Equivalent, Pulses, Roots and Tubers, Sugar Crops, Treenuts and Vegetables. Data are expressed in terms of area harvested, production quantity and yield. Cereals: Area and production data on cereals relate...

The FAOSTAT Land Use domain contains data on twenty-one land use categories and twenty-three categories of irrigation and agricultural practices. Data are available yearly and by country, regional and global levels. The domain includes Land Use Indicators providing information on the percentage share of agricultural and forest land, and their sub-components, including irrigated areas and areas und...

The damage and injury that ground level ozone (O3) causes vegetation has become increasingly evident over the past half century with a large body of observational and experimental evidence demonstrating a variety of effects at ambient concentrations on crop, forest and grassland species and ecosystems. This paper explores the use of experimental data to develop exposure-response relationships for ...