Critical Loads for terrestrial ecosystems | Umweltbundesamt

The exceedance of critical loads is a measure to determine whether current political regulations and actions are sufficient to protect the environment from harmful effects of air pollutants. The pollution of ecosystems was one of the reasons for updating the legally-binding regulations on air pollution control in Europe, e.g. the Directive 2016/2284 on national emission ceilings for certain atmospheric pollutants (NEC Directive) adopted in 2016.