首页
登录
职称英语
Up to 600 stations for monitoring air pollution across England could be shut
Up to 600 stations for monitoring air pollution across England could be shut
游客
2023-11-04
53
管理
问题
Up to 600 stations for monitoring air pollution across England could be shut down under new government plans to save money by cutting regulations.
Ministers want to remove obligations on local authorities to assess air quality in their areas, resulting in less monitoring. But environmental campaigners are accusing them of trying to hide one of the country’s biggest public health problems.
Government advisers have estimated that one type of pollutant—miniscule(微小的)particles from diesel engines, fossil fuel power stations and other sources—is killing 29,000 people a year in the UK, and costing health services about £ 16 billion.
But European air pollution limits meant to protect health are being breached in urban areas across the country, with the highest levels in London. According to the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs(Defra), the limits for the toxic exhaust gas, nitrogen dioxide, were exceeded in 40 of the UK’s 43 air quality zones in 2010.
But now Defra has launched a six-week consultation, due to close on 30 August, proposing a radical overhaul of the local air quality management regime that has been in place since 1997. The proposals are aimed at helping meet ministers’ "red tape challenge" to roll back legislation in order to help businesses(choice).
The favoured option is to drop existing requirements for councils to make detailed assessments of air pollution. Defra’s analysis shows that this could lead to the closure of 600 monitoring sites, all of which measure nitrogen dioxide and a quarter of which also test for pollution from tiny particles.
The closures could save councils nearly £ 50m over 10 years, Defra suggests. The proposals only apply to England, and have been rejected by the Scottish government on the grounds that they "would deliver no obvious benefit".
"The UK government wants to hide air pollution and cares nothing for public health," said Simon Birkett, director of the campaign group, Clean Air in London. He points out that the consultation is taking place in the summer holidays and describes the financial saving as illusory.
He added: "Worse, the changes would mean the loss of key protections in the planning system and the very monitors and expertise needed now to improve air quality. "
Prof. Duncan Laxert, the managing director of Air Quality Consultants in Bristol, said that much of our understanding of air pollution has come from local authority monitoring: "It will be a retrograde step if the government’s preferred option is to lose this local knowledge. "
Defra insisted that the aim is to "reinvigorate and refocus" local air quality management. It said that the current regime was " diagnosis driven" and that " the level of local reporting can distract resources from air quality improvement". [br] The best title for the passage is______.
选项
A、Many People Killed by Miniscule Particles in UK
B、A Six-week Consultation Launched by Defra
C、Air Pollution Monitoring Stations Face Closure
D、Giant Changes Made to Improve Air Quality in UK
答案
C
解析
主旨题。文章第一段和第二段均开门见山地点出了文章的主题,即多达600家空气污染监控站将被撤除,随后各段落对这一主题展开描述,包括对这一提案的具体描述以及反对者的观点态度等,[C]最能概括全文大意,故为文章标题。
转载请注明原文地址:http://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3158983.html
相关试题推荐
Upto600stationsformonitoringairpollutionacrossEnglandcouldbeshut
Upto600stationsformonitoringairpollutionacrossEnglandcouldbeshut
Upto600stationsformonitoringairpollutionacrossEnglandcouldbeshut
Upto600stationsformonitoringairpollutionacrossEnglandcouldbeshut
"WhenEnglanddiscardsRoastBeef,"wroteDr.HunterofYorkin1806,"wem
Icameacrossthesethingswhichwereprovedtobeantiques.Theunderlinedpart
Thenewsismainlyabout[br][originaltext][28C]Politicalleadersacross
Thenewsismainlyabout[originaltext][28C]PoliticalleadersacrosstheEu
Janehasjust______aletterfromafriendofhersinEngland.A、returnedB、answer
EducationalTVstationsofferteachinginvarious______rangingfromhomenursin
随机试题
MINUTESOFTHEMEETING
Asquareisinscribedinacircle.Iftheareaoftheinscribedsquareis50,wh
ABritishstudyhasfoundthatBvitaminscanreducebrainshrinkageinolde
35岁女性,体健,3个女儿分别为13、9、7岁,第4胎怀孕8个月产下一体重低于正
A.脂肪酶 B.激肽酶 C.弹力蛋白酶 D.胰蛋白酶 E.磷酰酶A导致血
走进某校园,我们看到学生的艺术作品挂在走廊的墙壁上,制作的手工作品放置在展览区,
关于β系数,以下表述错误的是()。A.反映证券或组合的收益水平对市场平均收益水
时间定额为()工日/m2。A.0.04 B.0.14
行于脊柱内的经脉有A.督脉 B.冲脉 C.足少阴肾经 D.足太阳膀胱经
2018年7月5日,王某到甲公司上班,但甲公司未与其签订书面合同。甲公
最新回复
(
0
)