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Environment report: State of the Environment in Denmark
Danish society has become better at caring for the environment. In a number of sectors, growth in production has been successfully increased without concomitantly increasing the pressure on the environment. Examples include emissions to the atmosphere from energy production and discharge of nutrients from industry and households. In other areas the pressure has been reduced, but the goals have not yet been achieved. These results are apparent from the latest Danish State of the Environment report by the National Environmental Research Institute.
Over the past 10 years, economic growth in Denmark has averaged around 20%. Agriculture has become more efficient and now consists of larger, more specialized holdings. The energy sector uses more natural gas and renewable energy. Road traffic has hitherto grown by around 3.5% annually. This trend is expected to continue.
The air has become cleaner. In the towns, the main environmental problem is now the ultrafine particles emitted by traffic. The aquatic environment receives much less nutrients than 15 years ago. Contamination of the groundwater is an increasing problem, while consumption of water has decreased by just over 30% since 1989.
The countryside is affected by intensive agriculture, although towns, roads and railroads also place constraints on nature. The decline is greatest for the open habitat types, e.g. heaths, meadows, dry grasslands, etc.
Further information: Hanne Bach, National Environmental Research Institute. Phone: +45 4630 1230. E-mail: hba@dmu.dk
The Danish State of the Environment Report will soon be available at: http://technical-reports.dmu.dk
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