Explanatory notes Scope
Environmental Statistics cover areas in relation to the environment including weather, air, waste, water, waste water treatment, etc.
Sources of data
Data were derived from statistical projects of the Statistics and Census Service, as well as information provided by other government departments and institutions.
Weather observations, air quality, concentration of air pollutants
－ Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau
Tropical cyclone － Security Forces Coordination Office Air related complaints － Environmental Protection Bureau Potable water statistics － Marine and Water Bureau Water quality of distribution
network, potable water and swimming pools
－ Laboratory of the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau
Water quality of beaches － Laboratory of the Health Bureau
Waste － Environmental Protection Bureau, Macao Waste Systems Company Limited, Marine and Water Bureau, Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau
Recyclables, activities on environmental
protection/education
－ Environmental Protection Bureau, Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau
Noise Complaints － Environmental Protection Bureau, Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau, Public Security Police Force, Macau Government Tourist Office
Flora, fauna － Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau Total land area, lane length
of public roads, length of coastline
－ Cartography and Cadastre Bureau
Glossary
Acid rain － Acid rain is defined as rain with the pH below 5.6. It is mainly caused by burning of fossil fuels (e.g. coal, petroleum, etc.), which releases sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. Acid rain lowers the pH of lake water and soil, posing threat to animals and plants; it is also corrosive to buildings and other substances, damaging ancient monuments and human civilizations.
The pH table of rain
Air quality index － A reference indicator of air quality. The air quality index is based on the concentrations of air pollutants (including carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, ozone and respirable suspended particulates) measured every 24 hours by the monitoring stations;
concentration is then converted to a value between 0 and 500 to indicate the pollution condition of the air.
Good Moderate Poor Very
Poor Severe Harmful 0-50 51-100 101-200 201-300 301-400 401-500
Carbon monoxide (CO) － Carbon monoxide is a colourless, tasteless and odourless gas produced by incomplete combustion of carbon. Carbon monoxide prevents oxygen from binding to the haemoglobin, reducing the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood, and affecting the health of human.
Fine suspended － Particles of less than 2.5 micrometres in diameter suspended in air, particulates (PM2.5) which occur in nature or are generated by human activities. Inhaled
particles penetrate deep into the lungs and cause symptoms like discomfort, short of breath, cough, etc. to the respiratory system.
The maximum standard value is 75 μg/m3 per day.
Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) － Nitrogen dioxide is a gas with a pungent and irritating odour, which comes mainly from vehicle exhausts and burning of industrial fuel.
Under sunlight, nitrogen dioxide forms ozone, which is the major cause of photochemical smog and main source of acid rain.
Ozone － Ozone is a pungent gas formed by a chemical reaction of ultraviolet ray of the sun and compounds of nitrogen oxides. It is a major component of photochemical smog, which affects human respiratory system.
Estatísticas do Ambiente 2015 環境統計二零一五年
Environmental Statistics 2015
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Respirable suspended － Particles of less than 10 micrometres in diameter suspended in air, particulates (PM10) which occur in nature or are generated by human activities. Inhaled particles penetrate deep into the lungs and cause symptoms like discomfort, short of breath, cough, etc. to the respiratory system.
The maximum standard value is 150 μg/m3 per day.
Recyclable waste － The reuse of waste materials or the transformation of potentially polluted wastes to usable resources.
Sulphur dioxide (SO2) － Sulphur dioxide is a colourless gas. It is mainly produced by combustion of mineral fuels and comes from vehicle exhausts. SO2
reacts with water to form sulphurous acid, a main substance that causes acid rain.
Tropical cyclones － Massive hot and humid air formed in low latitude areas, which often moves in spiral directions and affects the weather of the surrounding area. Internationally, severity of cyclones is classified by the maximum wind speed near its center, as follows.
Tropical cyclones Wind speed (km/hour) 1. Tropical depression 62
2. Tropical storm 63-88 3. Severe tropical storm 89-117
4. Typhoon ≧118
Symbols and others
- Absolute value equals zero
.. Not applicable
~ No figure provided
r Revised figures
% Percentage
‰ Per mille
‘000 Thousand
‘000 MOP Thousand Macao Pataca
ºC Degree Celsius
h Hour kg Kilogram km Kilometre
km2 Square kilometre
mm Milimetre
m2 Square metre
m3 Cubic metre
mg/l Milligram/litre μg/l Microgram/litre
μg/m3 Microgram/cubic metre
μS/cm Micro Siemen/centimetre
Nº/No. Number NTU Nephelometric turbidity unit Pt/Co scale Platinum-cobalt scale mgN/l Milligrams nitrogen per litre E East S South W West N North
p.p. Precentage point
Rounding of figures
Due to rounding, total may not correspond to the sum of partial figures.
Estatísticas do Ambiente 2015 環境統計二零一五年
Environmental Statistics 2015
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統計表 Quadros Tables 1 氣象資料
... 37Elementos climatológicos
Weather observations
2 熱帶氣旋
... 38 Tempestades tropicaisTropical cyclone
3 空氣質量
... 39 Qualidade do arAir quality
4 空氣污染物濃度
... 40 Concentração de poluentes do arConcentration of air pollutants
5 有關空氣的投訴
... 41 Reclamações sobre a poluição do arAir pollution complaints
6 食水統計
... 42 Estatísticas da água potável captadaPotable water
7 水質
... 43 Qualidade da água potávelQuality of potable water
8 污水處理
... 44 Resíduos líquidos tratadosWaste water treated
9 廢料收集及處理
... 46 Resíduos recolhidos e tratadosWaste collected and treated
10 資源回收
... 48 Recolha de materiais recicláveisRecyclables
11 環境保護/教育活動
... 48 Actividades de protecção/educação ambientalActivities on environmental protection/education
12 噪音投訴
... 49 Reclamações sobre poluição sonoraNoise complaints
13 其他環境資料
... 50 Outras informações do ambienteOther environmental information