Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
French Environmental Charter, which has had Government backing since 2004
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Geographical information is a domain in which the physical measurements, which
are created by very technical cognitive methods, can have an effect on society as far
as developments and social responses are concerned. This method of investigation
adds to the problem of atmospheric pollution, which is measured in terms of its
damaging effects or its harmful impacts.
With this in mind, geographical information depends on the world of metrology
and the world of politics. A few years ago the aim of the information that was to be
published was to forecast pollution levels that would damage the quality of air. For
a long time, the word alert was the key word that was used to provide information
on atmospheric pollution in an avoidance strategy. As years went by the relationship
between climate and pollution became much more complex both in spatial and
temporal terms. The pollutants emitted, even if they had dispersed into the air, were
able to change their chemical make-up and remain in the atmosphere, which was no
longer seen as a container of chemically neutral elements but as a laboratory in
which a real alchemy was taking place. The pollutants in the atmosphere no longer
only made people cough but were beginning to weaken the entire equilibrium of the
planet's climate. Geographical information no longer only dealt with short-term
periods of peak pollution, but could also be applied to longer time periods, in other
words climate change.
Furthermore, information that was available on pollution levels no longer only
provided information relating to the measurement site, but started to provide
information relating to the region in which the measurement site was located. It is
these successive changes in scale that are also responsible for the changes that have
been made to the geographical information available. By definition, geographical
information alters scales and connects one scale to another. The different types of
information available have evolved according to metrology: from analyzers, which
provided information on global acidity levels on a daily or weekly basis, to the
current systems of ion chromatography, which are used to detect the nanograms or
picograms present in polluting gases. Specific measurements are discretized and
different models make it possible to plot these measurements on a map thanks to the
use of digital applications or deterministic simulations. Periods of local peak
pollution and local alerts are forecast on a regional level meaning that at the moment
there is a transition from the local level to a more global level. LAURE
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, with the
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Article 7 from the French Environment Charter, “Everyone has the right, under conditions
and limits that are defined by the law, to access information concerning the environment
which is held by public authorities. Everyone also has the right to participate in the decision
making process when it comes to developing ideas which have an impact on the
environment”.
2 LAURE French law, created in December 1996, on air and the rational use of energy.
