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
8
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
Bill:What’sthetime?Blanche:8o’clock,sowe’dbettergetamoveonifwe’re
[originaltext]W:Canyoudropbythelabforaminute?Ihavesomeexperiments
下列有关信息技术对内部控制影响的说法中,正确的有()A.信息技术对内部控制没影响
A临塑荷载是指基础边缘地基中刚要出现塑性区时基底单位面积上所承担的荷载,它相当于地基从压缩阶段过渡到剪切阶段时的界限荷载。使地基中塑性开展区达到一定深度或范围,
病人但卧不能坐,坐则晕眩属()A.哮病 B.肺胀 C.夺气失血
A.酚妥拉明 B.异丙肾上腺素 C.酚苄明 D.普萘洛尔 E.噻吗洛尔控
下边四个图形中,只有一个是由上边的四个图形拼合(只能通过上、下、左、右平移)而成
某工厂为企业改制进行资产重组,委托估价机构对其以划拨取得的土地上建成的两幢房屋进
A.泡利不相容原理 B.能量最低原理 C.洪特规则 D.洪特规则特例
急性细菌性痢疾病变最显著的部位是A.回肠末端 B.整个结肠 C.升结肠 D
最新回复
(
0
)