The environment in your pocket 2008 – useful resource for teachers

Posted: 15 January 2009

The twelfth edition of ‘The environment in your pocket’ is now available, published by Defra. This is an annual publication containing material on various environmental themes including climate change, air quality, waste and recycling, land, coastal and marine waters, radioactivity, wildlife and inland water.

The main theme of this year’s publication is climate change and a larger section has been devoted to topics relating to climate change. It covers almost 60 key data series and focuses on providing trends over time, including performance against quantified targets and commitments set at the national and international level. It includes several environmental indicators of sustainable development.

Examples of facts and figures reported in the booklet include:

	2007 was one of the warmest years on record with a mean Central England temperature 1.05°C above the1961-1990 average.
	In 2007 an average of 1,029 mm of rain fell across the UK, making it 12 per cent wetter than the 1961-1990 average.
	In 2007, 72 per cent of river lengths in England were of good biological quality and 76 per cent were of good chemical quality.

The Environment in your Pocket 2008 is not just for the pocket but is also available in a larger version and published online, linked to more detailed information on the topics it covers: www.defra.gov.uk/environment/statistics/eiyp/index.htm