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Volatile organic compounds
2016 Report Content2016 Ambient air quality State and trends VOCs are a group of carbon-based chemicals that easily evaporate at room temperature. Many common household materials and products, such as paints and cleaning products, give...
Figure ATM37 Sources of volatile organic compounds, 2013–14
2016 GraphSources of volatile organic compounds (excluding biogenics), 2013–14 Sources of volatile organic compounds (excluding biogenics), 2013–14 Proportion of total volatile organic compounds (%) Motor vehicles30 Burning (fuel reduction/regeneration, agriculture,...
Figure ATM30 Proportion of annual anthropogenic emissions by source type in the Sydney region
2016 GraphProportion of annual anthropogenic emissions in the Sydney region, by source Proportion of annual anthropogenic emissions in the Sydney region, by source Domestic-commercialCommercialIndustrialOff-road mobileOn-road mobile Particulate matter (less than 2.5...
Introduction 2016
2016 At a glanceGood air quality is essential for human health and the environment. Air quality is an important contributor to quality of life, and plays a role in the livability of our towns, cities and environment. Ambient air quality is determined by the types and amounts of pollutants emitted into the...
Box ATM9 Research into emissions from coal-seam gas extraction activities
2016 Case StudyRisks to Australia’s air quality 2016
2016 At a glanceAt a glanceDuring the past 50 years or so since the first clean air Acts were introduced in Australian jurisdictions, state and territory environment protection agencies (often working together with local government) have successfully employed regulatory and nonregulatory measures to greatly...
Figure ATM41 Historical and projected trends in road transport emissions, 1970–2030
2016 GraphHistorical and projected trends in road transport emissions, 1970–2030 Historical and projected trends in road transport emissions, 1970–2030 Nitrogen oxideParticulate matter (PM10) from exhaustTotal particulate matter (PM10)Carbon monoxide Volatile organic...
Pollution sources
2016 Report Content2016 Ambient air quality Pressures Greater Melbourne Greater Sydney Pollution sources are often characterised as anthropogenic (i.e. human-made), biogenic (i.e. natural...
Air toxics
2016 Report ContentBox ATM12 Persistent organic pollutants in Australian air
2016 Case StudyToxins, pesticides and herbicides
2016 Report ContentManagement framework
2016 Report Content2016 Ambient air quality Effectiveness of management Greater Sydney Each level of government—Australian, state and territory, and local—plays a role in managing the impacts of air pollution by...
Pressures affecting ambient air quality
2016, 2011 Assessment summaryAmbient air quality Pressures Prescribed burning and bushfiresIncreasing populationNonregulated diesel engines, including shipping and nonroad transportCommercial and other domestic sourcesDomestic wood heatersIndustryMotor...
Pollution types
2016 Report Content2016 Ambient air quality Pressures Pollutants occur as gases (e.g. carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, ozone, VOCs such as benzene and formaldehyde) and PM. In air pollution, PM refers to solid and...
Figure LAN17 Rating and condition for soil organic carbon
2016 MapDownload as pngDownload dataset Note: Numbers on the map correspond to the regions listed in assessment summary: State and trends of soil carbon Figure LAN17 Rating and condition for soil organic carbon Soil: Understanding
Australian Antarctic Program’s station environment: Contaminated sites and pollution
2016 Report Content2016 Antarctic environment State and trends Antarctica Contaminated sites and pollution Contaminated waste disposal is a product of past practices of Antarctic expeditions, and is referred to...
State and trends of soil carbon
2016, 2011 Assessment summaryLand State and trends Soil: Carbon dynamics Year...
Resilience
2016 At a glanceResilience is the ability of the environment to withstand or recover from a shock or disturbance. Although the concept of resilience was developed and is mainly used in relation to ecosystems, it is a valuable concept across the environment and in environmental management. Effective...
Decoupling population change and economic activity from environmental harm
2016 Report Content2016 Introduction If managed well, drivers such as population change and economic activity can benefit sustainable development, particularly through technological and institutional innovation, and changes in human behaviour. Successive SoE reports...
Figure ATM3 Radiative forcing in 2011 relative to 1750, and aggregated uncertainties for the main drivers of climate change
2016 GraphRadiative forcing for the main drivers of climate change, and total radiative forcing in 2011 relative to 1750 Radiative forcing for the main drivers of climate change, and total radiative forcing in 2011 relative to 1750 Radiative forcingaerosols positive upper...
Increasing population
2016 Report Content2016 Ambient air quality Pressures Greater Melbourne Greater Sydney Globally, just over 50 per cent of the world’s population lives in cities; in Australia, it is 90 per...
Understanding and research
2016 Report Content2016 Climate Effectiveness of management Tasmania Greater Melbourne In the 5 years since SoE 2011, international climate science has advanced significantly. The IPCC,...
Box ATM5 Cape Grim: monitoring the health of the global atmosphere for 40 years
2016 Case StudyBox BIO10 Ongoing declines of Christmas Island reptiles
2016 Case StudyBox LAN13 HCAS—a new way to assess continuous variation in the condition of natural habitats for terrestrial biodiversity across whole regions using remote sensing data
2016 Case StudyIn a recent article in Methods in Ecology and Evolution by Harwood et al. (2016), CSIRO reports on a novel approach to the difficulty in obtaining consistent and repeatable measurement of habitat condition for biodiversity across large areas, using remote sensing with limited...
Soil: Carbon dynamics
2016 Report Content2016 Land State and trends South Australian Gulf Tasmania Carbon dynamics In light of international agreements such as the Paris Agreement—which emerged from the 21st...
Resilience of biodiversity 2016
2016 At a glanceAt a glanceResilience is a key underpinning principle of Australia’s Biodiversity Conservation Strategy 2010–2030, as well as state and territory, and regional biodiversity strategies. The definition of resilience in biodiversity strategies and policies is still relatively ambiguous, and...
Interactions among pressures
2016 Report Content2016 Biodiversity Pressures Few of the pressures documented in this section occur in isolation. Rather, pressures interact in complex ways, often compounding the threat to biodiversity. For example, land clearing...