Environmental Issues

Europeans are increasingly aware of just how dramatically they have transformed their environments over the past several thousand years, and are now taking action on environmental issues at the local and global scales. Nevertheless, Europe’s air, seas, and rivers remain some of the most polluted in the world, and the European Union still has a long way to go to meet its stated environmental goals of clean air and water; sustainable development in agriculture, industry, and energy use; and maintenance of biodiversity (Figure 4.5).

FIGURE 4.5 Photo Essay: Human Impacts on the Biosphere in Europe Most of Europe has been transformed by human activity. Western Europe has some of the most heavily impacted landscapes and ecosystems, but the formerly communist countries of Central Europe also have severe environmental problems. Meanwhile, agricultural intensification is creating new problems in South Europe. The map shows some of the impacts on Europe’s land, sea, and air. 4.5a Courtesy Hans-Guenther Oed/STOCK4B/Getty Images, 4.5b Courtesy Ross McRoss/Flickr/Getty Images, 4.5c Courtesy Quim Llenas/Cover/Getty Images, 4.5d Courtesy NASA

Europe’s Impact on the Biosphere

There is a geographic pattern to the ways in which human activities over time have transformed Europe’s landscapes. Western Europe shows the effects of dense population and heavy industrialization, and Central Europe reveals the results of long decades of willful disregard for the environment. Central Europe continues to have a major impact on the biosphere through the air and water pollution it generates (see Figure 4.5B). Furthermore, all of Europe is especially vulnerable to a number of the potential effects of climate change: changes in the North Atlantic Drift, which may lead to both cooler climates and drier, hotter climates in various parts of Europe and more climate variability from year to year.

Europe’s Energy ResourcesEurope’s main energy sources have shifted over the years from wood to coal and more recently to petroleum and natural gas, and in some countries to nuclear power. However, Europe is leading the move to alternative energy sources in response to rising energy costs and in an effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

The 28 members of the European Union (the EU-28) get a large portion of their fuel supplies from Russia—30 percent of their crude oil and 34 percent of their natural gas, as of 2011. Most of the gas now comes via pipelines through Belarus and Ukraine, but Turkey supplies Russian gas to Europe via the Black Sea and hosts a pipeline that carries gas from the Caspian Sea to Europe. Russia is negotiating for another trans-Turkey pipeline to carry oil and gas to the Mediterranean. While Europeans fear that this dependency will be used against them by Russia, which periodically withholds and releases flows to Europe through Ukraine and Belarus, Russia is actually also dependent on the EU fuel trade because 80 percent of Russia’s oil exports and 70 percent of its natural gas exports go to the European Union. Another 30 percent of the gas and oil the European Union consumes comes from various Middle Eastern producers. Large oil and gas deposits in the North Sea, most controlled by Norway (not an EU member), have alleviated Europe’s dependence on “foreign” sources of energy, but the production of oil from the North Sea has already peaked and is expected to run out by 2018.

The use of nuclear power to generate electricity has been more common in Europe than in North America. The EU-28 depends on nuclear power for 30 percent of its total needs. In France, 78 percent of the electricity is generated by nuclear power (compared with only 20 percent in the United States). However, support for nuclear power has declined, partly in response to the disastrous nuclear accidents in 1986 in Chernobyl, Ukraine, and in 2011 in Fukushima, Japan. The safe disposal of nuclear waste products is also a concern.

Air Pollution

At present, there is significant air pollution in much of Europe, but it is particularly heavy over the North European Plain. This is a region of heavy industry, dense transportation routes, and large and affluent populations. The intense fossil fuel use associated with such lifestyles results not only in the usual air pollution but also in acid rain, which can fall far from where it was generated (see the Figure 4.5 map).

There are also high levels of air pollution in the former communist states of Central and North Europe. Mines in Central Europe produce highly polluting soft coal (see Figure 4.5B) that is burned in out-of-date factories. Central Europe produces high per capita emissions from inefficient burning of oil and gas; it also receives air pollution blown eastward from western Europe. In Upper Silesia, Poland’s leading coal-producing area, acid rain has destroyed forests, contaminated soils and the crops grown on them, and raised water pollution to deadly levels. Residents have higher rates of birth defects, high rates of cancer, and lowered life expectancies than comparable populations in Europe. Industrial pollution was one of Poland’s greatest obstacles to entry into the European Union; Poland barely met the EU’s requirements.

Central Europe’s severe environmental problems developed in part because the Marxist theories and policies promoted by the Soviet Union portrayed nature as existing only to serve human needs. During the Soviet era, little pollution data was collected and public protest against pollution was prohibited, but the recent shift toward democracy has enabled greater action in places like Hungary and Bulgaria, where popular protest has resulted in reductions in air pollution.

The new market economies in the former Soviet bloc countries are improving energy efficiency and reducing emissions. Power plants, factories, and agriculture are polluting less, and the countries with the worst emissions records, such as Poland, have been making the most progress.

Freshwater and Seawater Pollution

Sources of water pollution in Europe include insufficiently treated sewage, chemicals and silt in the runoff from agricultural plots and residential units, consumer packaging litter, petroleum residues, and industrial effluent. Most inland waters contain a variety of such pollutants. Any pollutants that enter Europe’s inland wetlands, rivers, streams, and canals eventually reach Europe’s surrounding coastal waters. Thus far, the Atlantic Ocean, the Arctic Ocean, and the northern reaches of the North Sea are able to disperse most chemical pollutants dumped into them because they are part of, or closely connected to, the circulating flow of the world ocean. In contrast, the Baltic Sea, southern North Sea, Mediterranean Sea, and Black Sea are nearly landlocked bodies of water that do not have the capacity to flush themselves out quickly; thus, all are prone to accumulating chemical pollution such as chlorophyll (see the red areas in Figure 4.6) and plastic litter.

FIGURE 4.6 Pollution of the seas. Chlorophyll concentration is one measure of pollution levels in large bodies of water. Europe’s exceptionally long and convoluted coast affords easy access to the world’s oceans. However, pollution of the nearly landlocked Baltic, Black, and Mediterranean seas (red and yellow dots) is causing increasing concern. Lesser concentrations of chlorophyll are significant in the Atlantic and Arctic oceans and in the Mediterranean and Black seas. For this map, chlorophyll was used to measure the amount of algae in bodies of water. Excessive algae growth is an indicator of pollution from fertilizers and sewage that fuel the growth of those organisms.

In the Mediterranean, the effect of the pollution that pours in from rivers, adjacent cities, industries, hotel resorts, and farms is exacerbated by the fact that there is just one tiny opening to the world ocean (see Figure 4.6). At the surface, seawater flows in from the Atlantic through the narrow Strait of Gibraltar and moves eastward. At the bottom of the sea, water exits through the same narrow opening, but only after it has been in the Mediterranean for 80 years! The natural ecology of the Mediterranean is attuned to this lengthy cycle, but the nearly 460 million people now living in the countries surrounding the sea have upset the balance. Their pollution stays in the Mediterranean for decades. As a result, fish catches have declined, beloved seaside resorts have become unsafe for swimmers, and agricultural workers have become sick.

There are 34 countries with coastlines on Europe’s many seas, all with different economies, politics, and cultural traditions. Such diversity makes it difficult to cooperate to minimize pollution or even reduce the risk of severe pollution. Although most of the Mediterranean’s pollution is generated by Europe and the European Union has been working since 1995 to lessen pollution in the Mediterranean Basin, rapidly growing populations and development on the North African and eastern Mediterranean coasts of the sea also pose environmental threats because these countries still lack adequate urban sewage treatment and environmental regulations to control agricultural and industrial wastes. Modernizing the ports along the southern and eastern Mediterranean shores—several large containership ports are planned or under construction—could make conforming to pollution standards more attractive.

The Wide Reach of Europe’s Environmental ImpactThe term virtual water, introduced in Chapter 1 as the volume of water used to produce all that a person consumes in a year, has come into use lately largely because water is now recognized as being in short supply globally, and not endlessly renewable, as previously thought. In Chapter 1 we discussed average per capita water needs per year (the average amount is 18.25 cubic meters) and noted that to arrive at a person’s annual total water footprint, one must add the water required for basic needs to a person’s virtual water footprint (see Table 1.2). Although Europeans do not import as much of their consumer goods as do Americans, they still consume one-fifth of the world’s imports; many of these goods have a high virtual water component (meaning the water consumed in the production process). Nearly all EU countries import more virtual water than they export, which means that the countries that produce Europe’s imported goods are losing in the water exchange. Many of these are countries that have very little water to begin with. As yet, the costs of the loss of the virtual water are not being adequately figured into the price of the products exported to Europe. In all fairness then, the environmental impacts of Europe’s virtual water consumption globally should be counted against Europe’s total impact on the biosphere.

Europe’s Vulnerability to Climate Change

Europe’s wealth, technological sophistication, and well-developed emergency response systems make it more resilient to the consequences of climate change than most regions of the world. Nevertheless, some areas are much more vulnerable than others, due to their location, dwindling water resources (Figure 4.7A), rising sea levels (see Figure 4.7B), and the effects of poverty. Figure 4.7 illustrates some of the consequences that have been predicted.

FIGURE 4.7 Photo Essay: Vulnerability to Climate Change in Europe Despite Europe’s wealth, technological sophistication, and well-developed emergency response systems, parts of this region are particularly vulnerable to climate change effects due to their location and social conditions. There may be too much or too little fresh water, sea levels may be rising, or people may be too poor to afford appropriate precautions. 4.7a Courtesy Jasper Juinen/Getty Images, 4.7b Courtesy Asahi Shimbun via Getty Images, 4.7c Courtesy Ermal Meta/AFP/Getty Images

European Leadership in Response to Global Climate ChangeEurope leads the world in responsiveness to global climate change, with EU governments having agreed to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by 2020. Europe has been more willing than any other region to address climate change, largely because it calculates that there are economic advantages to doing so. Recent research suggests that investments in energy conservation, alternative energy, and other measures would cost EU governments 1 percent of their GDP. By contrast, doing nothing about climate change could shrink GDP by 20 percent.

83. GERMAN INVESTMENTS IN CLEAN ENERGY PAY OFF

Europe’s increasing concern about global warming may also be influenced by public alarm at recent abnormal weather. The summers of 2003 and 2012 broke high-temperature records across Europe. Crops failed, freshwater levels sank, forests burned, and deaths soared. In 2003 in France alone, 3000 people died. On the other hand, in 2002, 2006, and 2012, rainfall and snowfall in Central Europe reached record levels. In the spring of 2006, the rivers of Central Europe—the Elbe, the Danube, and the Morava—flooded for weeks. Unusual vacillations continue.

Progress in Green BehaviorBy global standards, Europeans use large amounts of resources and contribute about one-quarter of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. However, one European resident averages only one-half the energy consumption of the average North American resident. Europeans live in smaller dwellings, which need less energy to heat; and air conditioning is rare. They drive smaller, more fuel-efficient cars and often use public transportation. Because communities are denser, many people walk or bicycle wherever they need to go.

These energy-saving practices are related in part to the high population densities and social customs of the region, and also to widespread explicit popular support for ecological principles. Green political parties influence national policies in all European countries, and Green policies are central to the agenda of the European Union. Results include strong regional advocacy for emission controls, well-entrenched community recycling programs, and grassroots work on local environmental concerns.

84. ICELAND: ENERGY TO SPARE

86. MCD’S GARBAGE HEATS AND LIGHTS BRITISH CITY

87. LONDON LEADS BY EXAMPLE TO CURB POLLUTION, CLIMATE CHANGE

Changes in TransportationAlthough Europeans have for many years favored fast rail networks for both passengers and cargo (see Figure 4.20D) rather than private cars, trucks, and multilane highways, they have recently been drifting closer to the American model of private cars and trucks driven on sweeping freeways. This change is now happening in even the poorest parts of Europe where cars have been scarce (see Figure 4.7C). In response to rising fuel costs and CO₂ emissions, though, the European Union has developed long-term plans that reduce the emphasis on cars and trucks and involve designing multimodal transport to link high-speed rail to road, air, and water transportation (Figure 4.8). There are issues to overcome; for instance, not all EU railways use rails of a similar gauge, thus requiring cumbersome transfers of loads; and too many critical airports and ocean ports lack rail connections. Since 1 kilogram of gasoline can move 50 tons of cargo a distance of 1 kilometer by truck, but the same amount of gasoline can move 90 tons of cargo 1 kilometer by rail and 127 tons by waterway, highway transport is far from energy efficient. An EU report shows that private cars used for passenger transportation produce three times more CO₂ emissions than does rail-based public transportation.

FIGURE 4.8 The Trans-European transport network.

Europe’s long irregular coastline and the low cost of water transportation have been a boon for the development of links to global trade. Europe has numerous modern ocean ports that cater to container ships: Helsinki, Riga, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Antwerp, Rotterdam, Plymouth, Southampton, Le Havre, Marseille, Barcelona, and Koper. Soon, newly built Mediterranean ports in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Malta, and Egypt, all catering at least in part to European markets, will join these ports. One-third of the world’s container traffic now goes through the Mediterranean. The container ship industry is keenly attuned to the concerns about CO₂ and climate change, and is now using optimal (often slower) speeds that are carefully calculated to minimize fuel consumption and emissions while maximizing profits.