This book provides a unique overview of research methods over the past 25 years assessing critical loads and temporal effects of the deposition of air pollutants. It includes critical load methods and applications addressing acidification, eutrophication and heavy metal pollution of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Applications include examples for each air pollution threat, both at local and regional scale, including Europe, Asia, Canada and the US. The book starts with background information on the effects of the deposition of sulphur, nitrogen and heavy metals and geochemical and biological indicators for risk assessments. The use of those indicators is then illustrated in the assessment of critical loads and their exceedances and in the temporal assessment of air pollution risks. It also includes the most recent developments of assessing critical loads and current and future risks of soil and water chemistry and biodiversity under climate change, with a special focus on nitrogen. The book thus provides a complete overview of the knowledge that is currently used for the scientific support of policies in the field of air pollution control to protect ecosystem services.

The Acid Rain 2000 Conference in Tsukuba, Japan, held 10-16 December 2000, was the sixth such conference in the series, starting with Columbus, Ohio, USA, in 1975, and including Sandefjord, Norway, in 1980, Muskoka, Canada, in 1985, Glasgow, UK, in 1990, and Göteborg, Sweden, in 1995. This series of International Conferences on the acid rain problem has made a very important contribution to the process of summarising the state of current understanding and making this information available. In the 6th Conference, approximately 600 papers were presented, including talks and posters. About 300 peer-reviewed papers from the presentation appear in this volume, and will provide readers with a comprehensive review of the history and scientific aspects of the acid rain problem. The papers appear in three volumes: the first containing the plenary and keynote papers and the other two the remaining scientific papers. (Volume 1: ISBN 0-7923-7132-1; Volume 2: ISBN 0-7923-7133-X; Volume 3: ISBN 0-7923-7134-8). The Conference was arranged under the joint auspices of The Science Council of Japan, The Japanese Society of Limnology (representative academic society), Japan Association of Aerosol Science and Technology, The Japan Society for Analytical Chemistry, Japan Society for Atmospheric Environment, Chemical Society of Japan, The Ecological Society of Japan, The Japanese Society of Environmental Education, Society of Environmental Science, Japan, The Japanese Forestry Society, Japanese Society of Snow and Ice, Japanese Society of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, and Japan Society on Water Environment, with the cooperation of Ibaraki Prefecture and Japan Environment Agency.