| Title: |
England State of the Environment Reports (soil, air quality, water resources and water quality)
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| Resource Type: |
web links
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| Language(s): |
English
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| Producers or distributor |
Environment Agency
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| Author / Producer Type: |
Agency, regulator or other governmental or inter-governmental body
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| Producer or distributor web link (root): |
https://www.gov.uk
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EUGRIS Keyword(s): |
Contaminated land-->stats, registers, inventories etc
Groundwater protection-->Groundwater protection overview
Soil-->Soil Overview
Water and sanitation-->Water and sanitation Overview
Water resources and their management -->Water resources and their management Overview
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| Short description: |
Key findings
• Soil is an important natural capital resource, providing many essential services.
• There is insufficient data on the health of our soils and investment is needed in soil monitoring.
• Soil degradation was calculated in 2010 to cost £1.2 billion every year.
• Almost 4 million hectares of soil are at risk of compaction in England and Wales, affecting soil fertility and our water resources, and increasing the risk of flooding.
• Over 2 million hectares of soil are at risk of erosion in England and Wales.
• Soil biodiversity and the many biological processes and soil functions that it supports are thought to be under threat.
• Wasting food and growing crops for bioenergy are putting additional pressure on soils.
• UK soils currently store about 10 billion tonnes of carbon, roughly equal to 80 years of annual UK greenhouse gas emissions.
• Intensive agriculture has caused arable soils to lose about 40 to 60% of their organic carbon.
• Spreading of some materials can give rise to contamination. Some 300,000 hectares are contaminated in the UK.
• Microplastics are widespread in soil with unknown consequences.
• Reversing soil degradation and restoring fertility by 2030 is an aim of the government’s 25 Year Environment Plan.
• The proposed Environmental Land Management scheme provides an opportunity to reward farmers for protecting and regenerating soils.
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Submitted By:
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Professor Paul Bardos WhoDoesWhat?
Last update: 25/02/2021
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