Still only one Earth : progress in the 40 years since the first UN Conference on the Environment

304 Pages·2015·8.347 MB·English

by  R M Harrison, R M Harrison, R E Hester, Martyn Chipperfield, Mark Broomfield, Robert Mason, Mohammed Abdallah, Tamara Galloway, Shane Snyder, Ian Williams, David Taylor

Still Only One Earth
Progressinthe40YearsSincetheFirstUNConferenceontheEnvironment
ISSUES IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
SERIESEDITORS:
ProfessorR.E.Hester,UniversityofYork,UK
ProfessorR.M.Harrison,UniversityofBirmingham,UK
EDITORIALADVISORYBOARD:
Professor P. Crutzen, Max-Planck-Institut fu¨r Chemie, Germany, Professor S. J. de Mora, Ply-
mouth Marine Laboratory, UK, Dr G. Eduljee, SITA, UK, Professor L. Heathwaite, Lancaster
University, UK, Professor S. Holgate, University of Southampton, UK, Professor P. K. Hopke,
ClarksonUniversity,USA,SirJohnHoughton,MeteorologicalOffice,UK,ProfessorP.Leinster,
Environment Agency, UK, Professor J. Lester, Imperial College of Science, Technology and
Medicine,UK,ProfessorP.S.Liss,SchoolofEnvironmentalSciences,UniversityofEastAnglia,
UK, Professor D. Mackay, Trent University, Canada, Professor A. Proctor, Food Science De-
partment,UniversityofArkansas,USA,DrD.Taylor,AstraZenecaplc,UK.
TITLESINTHESERIES:
1:MininganditsEnvironmentalImpact 20:TransportandtheEnvironment
2:WasteIncinerationandtheEnvironment 21:SustainabilityinAgriculture
3:WasteTreatmentandDisposal 22:ChemicalsintheEnvironment:Assessing
4:VolatileOrganicCompoundsinthe andManagingRisk
Atmosphere 23:AlternativestoAnimalTesting
5:AgriculturalChemicalsandthe 24:Nanotechnology
Environment 25:BiodiversityUnderThreat
6:ChlorinatedOrganicMicropollutants 26:EnvironmentalForensics
7:ContaminatedLandanditsReclamation 27:ElectronicWasteManagement
8:AirQualityManagement 28:AirQualityinUrbanEnvironments
9:RiskAssessmentandRiskManagement 29:CarbonCapture
10:AirPollutionandHealth 30:EcosystemServices
11:EnvironmentalImpactofPowerGeneration 31:SustainableWater
12:EndocrineDisruptingChemicals 32:NuclearPowerandtheEnvironment
13:ChemistryintheMarineEnvironment 33:MarinePollutionandHumanHealth
14:CausesandEnvironmentalImplications 34:EnvironmentalImpactsofModern
ofIncreasedUV-BRadiation Agriculture
15:FoodSafetyandFoodQuality 35:SoilsandFoodSecurity
16:AssessmentandReclamationof 36:ChemicalAlternativesAssessments
ContaminatedLand 37:WasteasaResource
17:GlobalEnvironmentalChange 38:GeoengineeringoftheClimateSystem
18:EnvironmentalandHealthImpactof 39:Fracking
SolidWasteManagementActivities 40:StillOnlyOneEarth:Progressinthe
19:SustainabilityandEnvironmentalImpact 40YearsSincetheFirstUNConference
ofRenewableEnergySources ontheEnvironment
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ISSUES IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
EDITORS:R.E.HESTERANDR.M.HARRISON
40
Still Only One Earth
Progress in the 40 Years Since the First UN
Conference on the Environment
IssuesinEnvironmentalScienceandTechnologyNo.40
PrintISBN:978-1-78262-076-1
PDFeISBN:978-1-78262-217-8
ISSN1350-7583
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Preface
ThefirstUnitedNationsConferenceontheHumanEnvironmenttookplace
inStockholmfrom5–16June1972.Itreceivedhugeattentioninternationally
and produced a final declaration which ‘‘having considered the need for a
common outlook and for common principles to inspire and guide the peo-
ples of the world in the preservation and enhancement of the human
environment’’ proclaimed 26 principles. These were carefully considered
high-level objectives which have undoubtedly influenced policy on the en-
vironmentinternationally,but–insomeaspectsandbysomeUNmembers
– have been substantially ignored. Noting that this is the 40th volume of
IssuesinEnvironmentalScienceandTechnology,weconsidereditappropriate
to look back over the past 40 years to evaluate progress in environmental
management in the context of the bold vision set out by the proclamation
from the 1972 conference.
In more recent years, high-level United Nations activity on the environ-
ment has focussed very much on theatmosphere. Topics affecting the glo-
balatmosphere, and therefore requiring major international agreements,
have been depletion of stratospheric ozone (the ozone hole) and global
warming.Inthefirstchapter,MartynChipperfieldoftheUniversityofLeeds
outlinesprogressinrelationtotheformertopic,explainingtheevidencefor
depletion of ozone in the Antarctic and at other latitudes, reviewing the
international actions on regulation and control, and considering the future
outlookforstratosphericozone.Regardinggreenhousegases,JohnSottong,
Mark Broomfield, Joanna MacCarthy, Anne Misra, Glen Thistlethwaite and
John Watterson of Ricardo-AEA in the second chapter providea perspective
on climate change, emissions andatmospheric concentrations of major
greenhouse gases, and the related international policy actions and chal-
lenges. These two chapters provide a distinct contrast in that on the one
hand the Montreal Protocol and subsequent international agreements have
led to major action which is already showing benefits for the stratosphere,
while on the other hand progress has been much slower in relation to the
IssuesinEnvironmentalScienceandTechnologyNo.40
StillOnlyOneEarth:Progressinthe40YearsSincetheFirstUNConferenceontheEnvironment
EditedbyR.E.HesterandR.M.Harrison
rTheRoyalSocietyofChemistry2015
PublishedbytheRoyalSocietyofChemistry,www.rsc.org
v
vi Preface
mitigation of global warming through reductions in greenhouse gas
emissions.
Local air quality has been a major issue throughout the past 40 years. In
developedcountries,hugeprogresshadbeenmadeinimprovingairquality
prior to 1972 but subsequent improvements in epidemiological methods
showed clearly that there were still major adverse effects on human health.
In the third chapter, on Trends in Local Air Quality, Roy Harrison, Francis
PopeandZongboShioftheUniversityofBirminghamreviewprogresssince
1970, both in developed countries and in less-developed parts of the world,
suchasIndiaandChina,whereairqualityremainsverypoorandimpactson
humanhealtharesubstantial.Oneoftheverycontroversialpollutionissues
in 1972 was that of the use of lead as a motor fuel additive which led to
substantiallocalairpollutionissues,whichhavenowbeenresolvedinmost
parts of the world through the cessation of use of lead additives. In the
fourthchapter,RobertMasonoftheUniversityofConnecticutexaminesthe
environmental presence and behaviour of two toxic metals: lead and mer-
cury. Mercury was a major source of concern as early as the 1950s through
contaminationofthemarineenvironmentandthetoxicityofcontaminated
fish.Mercurypollutionremainsaconcern,althoughnowmoreinrelationto
emissions to theatmosphere from sources such as coal combustion. The
chapter makes it clear how regulation has tightened substantially over the
period considered.
Some of the most recognised environmental problems at the time of the
1972 Stockholm Conference related to the presence of persistent organic
pollutants, such as the organochlorine pesticides, as residues in the en-
vironment. The phenomenon of eggshell thinning and chick mortality
in raptors and oceanic birds was brought to public attention by Rachel
Carson’s classic book Silent Spring published in 1962. In the fifth chapter,
MohamedAbdallahoftheUniversitiesofBirminghamandAssiutdescribes
the most important persistent organic pollutants, their behaviour in the
environment,temporaltrendsandfuturescenarios.Thisisclearlyanareain
which international action has been quite effective, but because of the very
long environmental lifetimes of the compounds, many problems still re-
main. In the sixth chapter, Shane Snyder and Tarun Anumol of the Uni-
versity of Arizona consider emerging chemical contaminants. This
classificationincludesbothnewindustrialchemicalsandsubstanceswhich
have been in use for many years but for which problems have only recently
been recognised. The chapter considers, in particular, pharmaceutical and
personal care products, perfluorinated compounds and endocrine dis-
rupting chemicals. The importance of ever-improving analytical techniques
is highlighted and consideration given to the implications for water
sustainability.
One of the other major changes over the past 40 years has related to the
managementofsolidwaste.Fromasituationinwhichsolidwastewasseen
asmaterialtodisposeof(andforget), the emphasis hasnow changedto re-
use, recycling and waste-derived products. In the seventh chapter, Ian
Preface vii
Williams of the University of Southampton explains the trends in waste
managementandexaminessomeofthecurrentpracticesdesignedtomake
optimaluseofmaterialspreviouslyconsideredsimplyaswastefordisposal.
InthefinalchapterbyDavidTaylorofWCA,progressinthemanagementof
effluent discharges to the aquatic environment is considered. In the 1970s,
the quantities of effluents discharged to water courses frequently far ex-
ceeded the natural purification capacity of the waters; this chapter explores
someoftheassociatedproblemsandthesolutionsthathavebeenarrivedat
through improved effluent management.
In its totality, this volume tracks much of the progress in management
and enhancement of the human environment over the past 40 years. It is a
verymixedstory,withmanysuccessesbutalsosomenotablefailures.There
areundoubtedlylessonsforthefuture.Wearegratefultoourdistinguished
group of authors for their contributions and commend the volume to both
studentsandpractitionersinenvironmentalscience,engineeringandpolicy
as a valuable record of the progress made in many of the most important
areas of environmental pollution, and as a key reference on environmental
management.
Ronald E. Hester
Roy M. Harrison

Contents
Editors xv
List of Contributors xvii
Global Atmosphere – The Antarctic Ozone Hole 1
Martyn P. Chipperfield
1 Introduction 1
2 Observations of Antarctic Ozone 3
3 Causes of Antarctic Ozone Depletion 5
3.1 Dynamical Preconditioning 7
3.2 Polar Stratospheric Clouds 8
3.3 Catalytic Ozone Loss Cycles 10
3.4 Modelling of Polar Ozone Depletion 13
4 Ozone Depletion at Other Latitudes 16
4.1 Arctic 16
4.2 Mid-latitudes 16
4.3 Tropics 16
5 Regulation and Control: The Montreal Protocol 17
5.1 Chlorine and Bromine Source Gases 17
5.2 The Montreal Protocol 19
5.3 Reasons for Success of the Montreal Protocol 23
5.4 Climate Benefit of the Montreal Protocol 23
6 Outlook 24
6.1 Very Short-lived Species 24
6.2 Recovery of the Ozone Layer 25
6.3 Impact of Ozone Depletion on Surface Climate 28
7 Summary 30
References 30
IssuesinEnvironmentalScienceandTechnologyNo.40
StillOnlyOneEarth:Progressinthe40YearsSincetheFirstUNConferenceontheEnvironment
EditedbyR.E.HesterandR.M.Harrison
rTheRoyalSocietyofChemistry2015
PublishedbytheRoyalSocietyofChemistry,www.rsc.org
ix
x Contents
Global Atmosphere – Greenhouse Gases 34
John Sottong, Mark Broomfield, Joanna MacCarthy, Anne Misra,
Glen Thistlethwaite and John Watterson
1 The Greenhouse Effect 35
1.1 What is the Greenhouse Effect? 35
1.2 Radiative Forcing 35
1.3 Uncertainty 36
1.4 Greenhouse Gas Emissions 37
1.5 Atmospheric CO Concentrations 37
2
1.6 The Consequences of Climate Forcing 38
2 The International Response to Climate Change 40
2.1 TheUnitedNationsFrameworkConventiononClimateChange 40
2.2 Industrialised and Developing Countries 41
2.3 The Kyoto Protocol 41
2.4 Post-Kyoto Protocol 42
2.5 Unilateral and Bilateral Initiatives 42
2.6 Mobilizing Climate Finance 44
3 GHG Emissions Data: Measurement, Reporting and Verification 45
3.1 Role of Emissions Inventories 45
3.2 Policy and Inventories 46
3.3 Sub-national and City Inventories 46
3.4 Inventory Verification 47
4 Science and Policy Challenges 47
4.1 Benchmarks 47
4.2 Growth 48
4.3 Short-lived Climate Forcing Agents 48
4.4 Credibility 49
4.5 Political Economy 49
4.6 Outsourcing Emissions 49
5 The Energy Sector and Technology 49
5.1 Technology Types 50
5.2 Market Potential and Challenges 50
6 What does the Future Hold? 51
6.1 GHG Emissions 51
6.2 The Global Environment 51
6.3 Overcoming the Barriers to Effective Action 52
References 54
Trends in Local Air Quality 1970–2014 58
Roy M. Harrison, Francis D. Pope and Zongbo Shi
1 Introduction 58