CHANGING PUBLIC-INTEREST IN, AND AWARENESS OF, ACID DEPOSITION - SOMEEVIDENCE FROM THE UK

It is fundamental that the general public have access to usable enviro nmental information on which they can base their decisions. Since 1984 the Atmospheric Research and Information centre (ARIC) has operated a public information programme for the UK on the subject of acid deposi tion. The objective of the programme is to disseminate information on acid deposition without advocacy. ARIC provides enquirers with a broad range of authoritative and accurate facts and opinions from a wide ra nge of parties from all sides of the debate. These sources include pre ssure groups, governmental bodies and industrialists from the UK and o verseas. By deconstructing complex technical material and reassembling it for dissemination in a user friendly form, ARIC assists those rece iving information to obtain a balanced perspective. This enables perso nal decision making within the context of the fullest information reso urce ARIC is able to provide.