State of the environment

Photo: Anders Geidemark/NThe Swedish Environmental Protection Agency monitors the environment and this provides knowledge of the situation in Sweden. Another source of knowledge is drawing up inventories of locations and species. Development is positive in several areas. Emissions of acidifying substances and substances that deplete the ozone layer, for example, have decreased.

Environmental quality criteria

Environmental quality criteria are a classification system intended to facilitate the interpretation of environmental data. They enable us to determine whether measured values are low or high in relation to either the national average or original levels.

Environmental monitoring

Generally speaking, environmental monitoring can be defined as checking the state of the environment and studying trends and effects.

Habitats and species

The white-tailed eagle, our three seal species, small watercourses, farmland – those are some species and habitats that we monitor in order to establish the state of the environment.

Acidification

The decreasing acidification of Swedish lakes, streams and forest soils is a good example of the benefits of international agreements and focused environmental efforts.

Eutrophication

Nitrogen and phosphorus discharged from sewers and leaching from farmland cause severe environmental problems in water and forest areas. Eutrophying substances are also transported by winds and deposited with rain and snow.

Air quality

Atmospheric pollutants can cause illness and reduce human life expectancy.

The ozone layer

As a result of measures taken in Sweden and other countries, the negative effects of ozone-depleting substances have already begun to decline.

Environmental pollutants

Persistent organic pollutants and certain heavy metals tend to accumulate in living organisms and can reach harmful levels, particularly in species at the top of food chains.

Emission data

The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency publishes and processes statistics and in this way contributes to providing information about the environment on which to base knowledge and planning, both for Swedish and for international needs.

Official statistics

The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency is responsible for Swedish official statistics within the field of environmental protection with respect to waste, load, the current situation, emissions, and the application of the Environmental Code.

Research

The new knowledge generated by the research programmes that we fund helps us achieve our mission and environmental quality objectives.

Updated: 9 December 2011
Content editor: Eva Thörnelöf
Web editor: Editorial office