Global cultivation intensity as a proxy for POPs

Description

Strict regulation has reduced the concentration of some POPs. However, new chemical contaminants reaching the Arctic is a matter of great concern. There are around 150,000 chemical substances but less than 1,000 are regularly monitored. This lack of monitoring means we often do not know enough about the effects of these chemicals on ecosystems and humans. This highlights the need to strengthen existing international mechanisms for regulating POPs. These include an improved global approval system for new chemicals.

Source:
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, FAOSTATS; S. Siebert, et al., Global Patterns of Cropland Use Intensity, Remote Sensing, 2010, 2(7): 1625–1643; W. Wenbin, et al., Global Cropping Intensity Gaps: Increasing Food Production without Cropland Expansion, Land use Policy, 2018, 76(July): 515–525; Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Global Land Cover Datasets; E. Matthews, Global Vegetation and Land Use: New High-resolution Data Bases for Climate Studies, Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, 1983, 22: 474–487.