Gardiner V., Matthews H. The changing geography of the United Kingdom
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DAVID JONES
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The average annual whole body dose from natural radiation in the UK is estimated to
be 2.2 millisieverts (mSv), above the International Commission for Radiological Protection’s
recommended limit of 1 mSv which has been accepted by the government (1995) and is
likely to become law in the near future. Radon gas is easily dispersed in the air but becomes
concentrated within houses, where it poses a direct threat to humans. A sample survey of
houses conducted in 1988 revealed an average indoor concentration of 20 Bq/m
3
(where
one becquerel (Bq) is equivalent to one atomic disintegration per second) indicative of an
average annual dose of 1.3 mSv. However, in certain areas recorded levels ranged to in
excess of 8,000 Bq/m
3
and the government recommended that an estimated 100,000
householders with levels above 200 Bq/m
3
should take remedial action to reduce
FIGURE 17.16 Distribution of the 8,835 reported landslides recorded in the DoE-commissioned National
Landslide Database
Source: From Jones et al. (1993b).
HUMAN OCCUPANCE AND THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
377
concentrations (improved ventilation, sealing floors and windows, etc.). The distribution of
radon-affected areas (Figure 17.18) reveals eleven distinct ‘hot spots’; two in Ulster, two
in Scotland and seven in England affecting the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Somerset,
Northamptonshire and Derbyshire, with especially widespread and acute problems in
Devon and Cornwall where an estimated 60,000 dwellings have concentrations above the
200 Bq/m
3
Action Level. Radon levels in nearly 300,000 dwellings have been measured
since 1987, most recently as part of a programme of free measurement of radon levels in
FIGURE 17.17 Distribution of ‘landslide-prone’ geological strata based on the number of reported
landslides on each exposed outcrop
Source: After Jones et al. (1993b).
Note: It should be noted that the actual distribution of landslides on these outcrops will reflect topographic
conditions, lithological variations and the extent to which the solid geology is obscured by surficial
deposits.
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378
the 200,000 dwellings most likely to have high concentrations, which was introduced in
February 1996.
Radon is an unusual ‘new’ hazard worthy of further study. Growth in awareness of
radon clearly illustrates the dynamic nature of hazard, while its undetectability using human
sense organs (sensory amodality) shows how society is becoming increasingly dependent
FIGURE 17.18 Radon-affected areas in Great Britain with percentage of homes with radon
concentrations above 200 Bq/m
3
HUMAN OCCUPANCE AND THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
379
on scientists and instrumentation for information on environmental threats. These features,
coupled with the carcinogenic (cancer-forming) effects of the gas and the known life-
shortening consequences, should combine in widespread expressions of public concern and
demands for action to protect threatened communities. The fact that none have arisen reflects
human perceptions of risk, blame and responsibility, combined with the realisation that this
elusive hazard is characteristic of areas and not an externality problem arising from market
failure.
Conclusion
As has been shown, the two-way interaction between human society and the physical
environment has become increasingly complex over the last half-century. Several
reasons have been advanced: population growth and redistribution, technological
development, increased mobility, and economic growth have led to major changes in
the urban, industrial, transportation and agricultural sectors, many of which have had
important consequences in terms of local climate, geomorphology and hydrology. In
addition, there has been increasing appreciation of the scale of the better-known
environmental hazard impacts (especially flooding and wind), partly due to better
accounting procedures revealing the vulnerability created by the growing
organisational complexity and interdependence of commercial activity, and partly
because of the visual impact achieved by post-war developments in television
reporting. This, in combination with the growth in environmentalism, has led to greater
awareness as to the possible ramifications of human—environment interactions and
increased sensitivity (both apparent and real) to a growing range of recognised
environmental hazards, thereby resulting in some concomitant development of
appraisal and monitoring programmes, including the increased use of environmental
impact and risk analysis as part of development projects.
The power of society to create change in the physical environment continues to
increase, both in scale and variety, as do the threats posed by environmental hazards.
While there continue to be advances in understanding regarding the nature of physical
environmental systems and their responses to changes, there remains a considerable need
for further research in order to provide an adequate information base, so that the potential
for adverse changes can be recognised at an early stage, and the necessary enforceable
environmental legislation formulated and enacted when and where required. This aspect
has attained particular significance in the last decade as the potential ramifications of
Global Environmental Change have become apparent. Local problems have become
merged with global concerns and the emphasis of geographical enquiries has begun to
switch from explaining present patterns and characteristics to predicting future changes
and consequences.
Relatively suddenly the state of the physical environment and the processes of change
have become important in the context of sustainable development, thereby achieving a
relevance in terms of politics and economics that would have been unthinkable thirty years
ago. However, the human transformation of the physical environment is merely one
component of the changing relationship between society and environment, the other
significant development being changing attitudes towards the physical environment as
testified by the growing emphasis devoted to environmental risk.
DAVID JONES
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References
Brookes, A. and Gregory, K.J. (1988) ‘Channelization, river engineering and geomorphology’, in
J.M.Hooke (ed.) Geomorphology in Environmental Planning, Chichester: Wiley and Sons.
Brookes, A., Gregory, K.J. and Dawson, F.H. (1983) ‘An assessment of river channelization in England
and Wales’, The Science of the Total Environment 27: 97–111.
Brunsden, D. (1995) ‘Learning to live with landslides: some British examples’, in T.Horlick-Jones,
A.Amendola and R.Casale (eds) Natural Risk and Civil Protection, London: E. & F.N.Spon.
Department of the Environment (1987) Review of Research on Landsliding, Geomorphological Services
Limited.
Department of the Environment (1991) Review of Mining Instability, Arup Geotechnics.
Department of the Environment (1993) Preliminary Assessment of Seismic Risk, Ove Arup and Partners.
Department of the Environment (1994a) Review of Natural Underground Cavities, Applied Geology
(Central) Limited.
Department of the Environment (1994b) Review of Foundation Conditions, Wimpey Environmental
Limited.
Department of the Environment (1995) The Occurrence and Significance of Erosion, Deposition and
Flooding in Great Britain, London: HMSO.
Doornkamp, J.C. (1995) ‘Perception and reality in the provision of insurance against natural perils in
the UK’, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers NS 20(1): 68–80.
Douglas, I. (1976) ‘Urban hydrology’, Geographical Journal 142(1): 65–72.
Jones, D.K.C. and Lee, E.M. (1994) Landsliding in Great Britain, London: HMSO.
Jones, D.K.C. et al. (1993a) ‘Environmental hazards: the challenge of change’, Collection of papers in
Geography 339(78): 161–98.
Jones, D.K.C. et al. (1993b) ‘Earth surface resources management in a warmer Britain’, Collection of
papers in the Geographical Journal 159(2): 124–208.
Lamb, H.H. (1991) Historic Storms of the North Sea, British Isles and Northwest Europe, Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Penning-Rowsell, E.C. and Handmer, J.W. (1988) ‘Flood hazard management in Britain: a changing
scene’, Geographical Journal 154(2): 209–20.
Perry, A.H. (1981) Environmental Hazards in the British Isles, London: Allen and Unwin.
Thornes, J.E. (1978) ‘London’s changing meteorology’, in H.Clout (ed.) Changing London, Slough:
University Tutorial Press.
Wigley, T.M.L. and Raper, S.C.B. (1992) ‘Implications for climate and sea-level of revised IPCC
emissions scenarios’, Nature 357: 293–300.
Further reading
This chapter has covered many and diverse topics which cannot be pursued without reference
to a range of published sources. For general reviews of human impacts on the physical
environment see A.S.Goudie (1993) The Human Impact on the Natural Environment, 4th
edition (Oxford: Blackwell) and J.G.Simmons (1996) Changing the Face of the Earth, 2nd
edition (Oxford: Blackwell), and for specific details regarding the landscape of the UK
reference must be made to the three classic texts by: W.G.Hoskins (1955/70) The Making of
the English Landscape (London: Hodder and Stoughton/ Penguin), L.D.Stamp (1964) Man
and the Land, 2nd edition (London: Collins) and O.Rackham (1986) The History of the
Countryside (London, J.M.Dent).
The nature of urban climates is examined in J.T.Chandler and S.Gregory (1976) The
Climate of the British Isles (London: Longman, 307–29), while urban influences on rainfall
are further discussed by B.W.Atkinson (1981) ‘Precipitation’, in K.J.Gregory and
D.E.Walling (eds) Man and Environmental Processes (London: Butterworths, 22–37). For
a historical review of urban atmospheric pollution see P.Brimblecombe (1987) The Big
HUMAN OCCUPANCE AND THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
381
Smoke (London: Methuen), and readers interested in the implementation of clean air policies
are recommended to A.Ashby and M.Anderson (1981) The Politics of Clean Air (Oxford:
Oxford University Press).
The best general introduction to the subject of environmental hazards is K.Smith
(1996) Environmental Hazards, 2nd edition (London: Routledge), but the only text focused
on the UK remains A.H.Perry (1981) Environmental Hazards in the British Isles (London:
Allen and Unwin). Details on river flooding are available in K.Smith and G.A.Tobin (1979)
Flooding and the Flood Hazard in the United Kingdom (London: Longman) and
E.C.Penning-Rowsell and J.W.Handmer (1988) ‘Flood hazard management in Britain: a
changing scene’, Geographical Journal 154: 209–20. Flooding along the east coast and the
nature of adopted defence measures are discussed in J.A.Steers (1953) ‘The east coast floods,
January 31 to February 1 1953’, Geographical Journal 119: 280–95 and in R.W.Horner
(1979) ‘The Thames Barrier project’, Geographical Journal 145: 242–53. For discussions
of the October 1987 storm see special issues of Weather (March 1988) and The Meterological
Magazine (April 1988). Full information on ground hazards is to be found in the reference
list, with the exception of radon where the following are recommended: L.A.Owen (1993)
‘Radon—a new environmental hazard’, Geography 339(78): 194–8; T.K.Ball, D.G.Cameron,
T.B.Colman and P.D.Roberts (1991) ‘Behaviour of radon in the geological environment; a
review’, Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology 24: 169–82, and J.Peto (1990) ‘Radon
and the risk of cancer’, Nature 345: 389–90.
The best general scientific introduction to risk is Royal Society (1992) Risk: Analysis,
Perception and Management. J.Adams (1995) Risk (London: UCL Press) is a readable partial
review, while the best sociological discussion is U.Beck (1992) Risk Society (London: Sage).
The subject of environmental risk is examined in S.Gerrard (1995) ‘Environmental risk
management’, in T. O’Riordan (ed.) Environmental Science for Environmental Management
(Harlow: Longman 296–316) and in Department of the Environment (1995) A Guide to
Risk Assessment and Risk Management for Environmental Protection (London: HMSO).
382
Chapter 18
Atmospheric, terrestrial and aquatic
pollution
Jonathan Horner
Great progress has been made over recent years in improving air quality in the UK. However,
air quality varies between regions and localities. In some areas it fails to achieve national and
international guidelines, particularly in certain towns and cities.
(Environment Agency 1997:44)
Since 1990, water quality has improved in 25.8% of the total length of rivers across England
and Wales. The poorest classes have reduced from 14.3% of the total to 9.8%.
(Environment Agency 1997:20)
When a pollutant is attacked at the point of origin—in the production process that generates
it—the pollutant can be eliminated; once it is produced, it is too late. This is the simple but
powerful lesson of the two decades of intense but largely futile effort to improve the quality of
the environment.
(Commoner 1990:38)
Introduction
Environmental pollution is an important aspect of the changing geography of the
United Kingdom and one which has seen considerable temporal and spatial change in
recent years. Its importance can be demonstrated by summarising some of the effects
which pollutants can have on the environment. One of the more obvious effects is on
human health. Accidental and routine discharges of pollutants can cause fatalities
and human health problems which may reduce life expectancy. For example, cases of
asthma reported by doctors, which appear to be linked with air pollution, have been
increasing in the UK in recent years. Animals and plants are also affected by pollution;
for example, various estimates have suggested that crop damage caused by air pollution
is costing UK farmers well in excess of £100 million annually. Buildings and materials
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383
are also damaged by pollutants, for example damage to UK materials caused by
ozone(O
3
) has been estimated to be in the range from £100–£345 million (PORG
1997). The quotations at the beginning of this chapter suggest that UK pollution is
still a serious problem in the 1990s but that improvements have been made in recent
years. The objective of this chapter is to examine this suggestion in the context of the
changing geography of the UK.
It is important to clarify the meaning of the term ‘environmental pollution’, for which
various definitions exist. One of the most widely recognised is that
pollution is the introduction by man into the environment of substances or energy
liable to cause hazards to human health, harm to living resources and ecological
systems, damage to structures or amenity, or interference with legitimate uses of the
environment.
(Holdgate 1979:17)
In the 1990s it would be more politically correct to omit ‘by man’. This would have the
added advantage of encompassing so-called natural pollutants which are emitted by natural
sources. For example, radon gas, which is covered in more detail in Chapter 17, is naturally
emitted from rocks and soil. It occurs in potentially dangerous concentrations in some
areas, notably parts of south-west England and the south Midlands. Structural modifications
to buildings have been made to facilitate dispersion of this carcinogenic gas. Naturally
elevated concentrations of some toxic heavy metals in soils occur in some areas reflecting
underlying mineralisation, for example lead in parts of Derbyshire and Yorkshire.
Concentrations have often been further elevated by mining. In coastal areas, sea salt
deposition can cause crop damage. It is important to be aware of such natural pollutants
so that damaging effects can be avoided or minimised. However, unlike anthropogenic
emissions, which will be the main focus of this chapter, it is not usually possible to reduce
emissions of these pollutants and so they are usually permanent features of UK geography
rather than changing ones.
There have been many reported examples of pollution incidents of different types,
and occurring in different parts of the United Kingdom, during the 1990s. Some major ones
are referred to in Figure 18.1, as are some examples of introduced pollution control measures.
Together these emphasise the impacts and costs of pollution and demonstrate the wide
geographical spread of pollution incidents and problems. Despite improvements in pollution
control, occasional accidental discharges are inevitable. It is important that risk assessments
of such potentially polluting activities are conducted. This enables controls to be employed,
or emergency action plans to be in place, to eliminate or reduce risks to acceptable levels,
taking into account financial, social and technological factors. Likewise it is vital that
pollutants which are more routinely emitted are reduced to the lowest possible levels. All
too often in the past, concentrations of pollutants considered to be safe have been revised
downwards as more knowledge about their effects has been gained. A classic example of
this is radiation, for which exposure limits set by the International Commission on
Radiological Protection have been reduced on several occasions.
Legislation is particularly important for reducing emissions, and hence environmental
levels, of pollutants. The next section of this chapter deals with recent changes in pollution
control legislation as it has affected the UK. Coverage extends to both European and
JONATHAN HORNER
384
FIGURE 18.1 Examples of UK pollution incidents and control measures in the 1990s (See key opposite)
POLLUTION
385
international laws because they are increasingly influencing national legislation. The
remaining sections of the chapter will consider how and why changes have occurred in the
recent distribution and concentrations of atmospheric, terrestrial and aquatic pollutants in
the United Kingdom. Atmospheric pollutants often return to the earth’s surface, sometimes
transformed into secondary pollutants. They may be deposited in areas remote from the
source of primary pollutant emissions, leading to terrestrial and aquatic pollution. For these
reasons, atmospheric pollutants often have more serious and wider-reaching consequences
than do terrestrial and aquatic pollutants and so they will be examined first and in more
depth. Furthermore, aspects of terrestrial and aquatic pollution have also been considered in
Chapters 2 and 17.
Pollution control legislation
Pollution, particularly of the atmosphere, does not recognise political or geographical barriers.
Pollutants emitted from one country often have impacts in other countries. Local and national
emissions of air pollutants, and to a lesser extent aquatic pollutants, may have both regional
and global effects. For example, it is well known that atmospheric pollutants emitted from
UK power stations have contributed to acid deposition damage in Scandinavian countries.
1 1998: Announced that the UK’s fast breeder reactor at Douneray will be run down,
shortly after controversial acceptance of waste for reprocessing from Georgia.
2 1993: Tanker Braer ran aground at Garth’s Ness spilling 80,000 tones of crude oil
which caused c. £35 million damage to local salmon farms.
3 1995: Deep-water disposal of Shell’s Brent Spar oil loading buoy in the North Feni
Ridge abandoned after a European consumer boycott.
4 1996: c. 1,500, drums of liquid toxic waste illegally dumped in Consett—c. 120 tonnes
of contaminated soil removed.
5 1996: c. £200 million spent at Dupont, Wilton to reduce emissions from the UK’s
biggest ‘greenhouse gas’ emitter.
6 1996: Sulphur trioxide released from a chemical plant in Staveley caused breathing
difficulties in local workers.
7 1996: Road tanker crash on A19 spilt nitrobenzene, polluting a drain feeding Stainsby
Beck— c. 2,000 tonnes of polluted soil removed costing over half a million pounds.
8 1995: ‘Brumcan’, a professionally run volunteer-based recycling operation, established
to recycle a range of materials in Birmingham.
9 1996: A record high ozone concentration at nearly double the national health limit was
recorded in Leamington Spa.
10 1995: Ferric sulphate escaped from a water treatment works, polluting the River Elan
near Rhyader and killing c. 35,000 fish.
11 1996: Sea Empress ran aground in Milford Haven, discharging over 100,000 tonnes of
crude oil and threatening the local ecology and tourist industry.
12 1998:£62 million sewage works for Swansea Bay opened.
13 1996: Fire at a paint manufacturer in South London polluted a tributary of the River
Wandle—fish stocks saved by prompt action by firemen.