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phosphorus

Umwelt-Indikator

Indicator: River eutrophication by phosphorus

A graph shows the measuring points that do not comply with the orientation values for phosphorus for the years 1982 to 2023. These are divided into quality classes depending on the level of exceedance. The proportion without exceedances has increased. The proportion of medium and severe exceedances (QC IV) has fallen sharply.

Too high phosphorus concentrations are measured at more than half of all river measurement stations in Germany.The share has declined by around one third since the beginning of the 1980s. Extreme levels of pollution are very rare nowadays.Aim of the Sustainability Strategy is to meet the requirements for good status for phosphorous in all water bodies by 2030 at the latest.This requires a change i... read more

Water

Nutrients in watercourses

Nitrogen and phosphorus are nutrients for aquatic plants (algae, macrophytes). Their high concentration causes excessive growth especially of algae (Eutrophication). Rivers transport nitrogen and phosphorus into lakes and North sea and Baltic sea and influence its nutrient concentration. read more

The Umweltbundesamt

For our environment

The UBA’s motto, For our environment (“Für Mensch und Umwelt”), sums up our mission pretty well, we feel. In this video we give an insight into our work.

The UBA

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