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
2024-09-23
9
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 word "breached" in Paragraph Four probably means______.
选项
A、restricted
B、neglected
C、observed
D、overstepped
答案
D
解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3770743.html
相关试题推荐
Upto600stationsformonitoringairpollutionacrossEnglandcouldbeshut
Upto600stationsformonitoringairpollutionacrossEnglandcouldbeshut
Upto600stationsformonitoringairpollutionacrossEnglandcouldbeshut
Don’tgoacrosstheroadnow,______?A、doyouB、don’tweC、willyouD、shallweC反
"WhenEnglanddiscardsRoastBeef,"wroteDr.HunterofYorkin1806,"wem
"WhenEnglanddiscardsRoastBeef,"wroteDr.HunterofYorkin1806,"wem
EveryFebruary,acrossthecountry,candy,flowers,andgiftsareexchanged
EveryFebruary,acrossthecountry,candy,flowers,andgiftsareexchanged
EveryFebruary,acrossthecountry,candy,flowers,andgiftsareexchanged
Bonfirescancauselocalizedairpollutionandannoyneighbours.Followthe
随机试题
HowtoBuildYourVocabularyEffectivelyVocabularyist
[originaltext]M:Hello,Amy.Areyoucomingtomybirthdayparty?W:Yes,lam.
Allthetrees(plant)______lastsummer.wereplanted本题考查被动语态。根据句意应该是“树被种”,而且其中含
在著作权贸易中引进选题时,主要应考虑的因素包括( )等。A.原作品在原市场的反
劳务纠纷发生后,双方当事人都可以自知道或应当知道其权利被侵害之日起的()日内,
以下哪一种先天性畸形用B超检查难以显示A.先天性肾缺如 B.腹壁缺损 C.小
男性,37岁。间断性腹泻10余年,加重1个月,大便每日近10次,不成形,近日食欲
变压器的哪些保护装置应投信号()本体轻瓦斯$;$突发压力继电器$;$压力释放阀$
=5.6X10-12,则Mg(OH)2在0.01mol*L-1NaOH溶
引起药源性疾病的因素包括A.遗传因素 B.药物因素 C.性别因素 D.年龄
最新回复
(
0
)