ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION
Environmental impact & risk assessment
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Risk Assessment (RA) are important tools that are used to identify and manage the environmental risks associated with human activities. Both EIA and RA are conducted to help decision-makers and stakeholders understand the potential environmental impacts and risks associated with a proposed activity or project.
The EIA process typically involves a number of steps, including scoping, impact analysis, alternatives analysis, mitigation, and monitoring.
The first step in the process is scoping, which involves defining the boundaries of the assessment and identifying the potential environmental impacts of the project.
The next step is impact analysis, which involves assessing the potential impacts of the project on the environment. Alternatives analysis involves identifying and evaluating alternative project designs or locations that may have fewer environmental impacts. Mitigation involves identifying ways to minimize or eliminate the potential environmental impacts of the project, while monitoring involves tracking the project's environmental performance over time.
Ecosystem
The ecosystem includes both living and non-living elements, such as the earth, climate, soil, sun, weather, and atmosphere. Living elements include both animals, plants, and microorganisms. The environment is made up of all these elements, and they are necessary for it to work normally and naturally for all human activities on the globe. In a nutshell, they support the ecosphere and have an impact on the wellbeing of all the planet's systems.
Due to their interdependence, every action that throws off the ecosystem's natural equilibrium will have an impact.
Different Human Activities That Impact Ecosystems
1) Farming
The demand for enough food is rising in tandem with the world population's ever-increasing size. Thus, in order to make more space for agriculture, the globe is being forced by the rate of population growth to remove forests.
The outcome is disastrous, as shown below:
ii ) Wildlife destruction
Forests are important wildlife habitats and have been negatively impacted by agricultural practises because they are ecosystems that sustain the complex interactions between living and non-living objects. For instance, a bigger portion of Europe was heavily covered with temperate woods, but through time, this land was destroyed to create way for farms.
iii ) Climate Change and Global Warming
Three billion tonnes of CO2 are released into the atmosphere annually due to deforestation, which is driven by population expansion and results in the loss of 13 million hectares of land.
By increasing global temperatures and interfering with the cycle of condensation and evaporation, this rate of deforestation has an impact on the ecosystem.
iv) Degradation of Aquatic Resources
Due to the massive volumes of phosphorous and nitrogen nutrients introduced by fertiliser use into natural soils, lands, and water systems, ecosystems have been transformed, and aquatic dead zones have been fast expanding.
2. Forest loss
When a forest or tree stand is cleared, the land is said to have been deforested. Deforestation is a serious threat to the existence of millions of different species that live in forests and is a significant conservation issue because trees are one of the greatest oxygen generators.
It causes the atmosphere's concentration of greenhouse gases to grow, which causes greater global warming. Aridity and erosion may come from the ecosystem being altered by the loss of trees and biodiversity.
3. The deterioration of the ecosystem
Is one of the most severe consequences of overpopulation. Because of our large space requirements, ecosystems are gravely harmed. CO2 levels rise when there aren't enough trees to filter the air, which has the potential to harm every living thing on Earth.
4. Production of Plastic
Plastic pollution affects the delicate ecosystems and regulatory cycles for thousands of years once it enters the environment.
The chemicals found in plastics are released into the environment, affecting the endocrine systems of animals and altering their reproductive habits. They may also result in tumours since they can speed up cell division. especially considering how long the plastic waste stays in the oceans.
5. Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions
Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, such as methane and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), are caused by human activity, specifically the burning of fossil fuels and the consumption of manufactured goods.
Global temperatures are increasing as a result, which contributes to the rise in sea level and extreme weather phenomena like heatwaves, flooding, tsunamis, and droughts.
6. Reefs are destroyed
The world's richest oceanic ecosystems are oceanic reefs, but human activities have caused them to be destroyed by disrupting the normal flow of nutrients and energy that support marine plant and animal species. The effects of human activity that have led to the extinction of coral reefs include water pollution, climate change, overfishing, and acidification of marine waters.
7. Black carbon production
For countless centuries, black carbon particles have been produced by human activity. Black carbon particles are substances that are released into the atmosphere as smoke and are made by burning firewood, solid animal fuels for cooking, diesel car exhaust, and trees.
The existence of these particles in the atmosphere produces a layer that absorbs heat, raising global temperatures and amplifying the effects of global warming.
8. Stream draining and water pollution
Freshwater resources like rivers, streams, and aquifers have been severely degraded as a result of several human activities. Due to the massive quantities of chemical fertilisers, herbicides, and other agrochemicals that end up in waterways, intensive agriculture is a major contributor.
Additionally water-intense, intensive agriculture overdrains rivers and destroys vital freshwater aquifer recharge sites. The efficient natural flow of water in rivers and streams has also been hampered by the installation of man-made dams and water-diversion for irrigation or during infrastructure construction.
Some fish species are struggling to live due to the increased salt content in lakes. Additionally, due to excessive river drainage and the depletion of freshwater aquifers, the majority of the world's lakes, which once hosted a broad variety of unique animal and plant species, have decreased by more than half of their original sizes.
9. Overfishing and Overhunting
The number of different plant and animal species has decreased as a result of overhunting and overexploitation of natural resources through activities like overfishing and mining.
In other words, overfishing and overhunting have had a significant negative impact on the diversity of animal and plant species that occur in various environments.
Overhunting can disrupt food systems, ruin natural habitats, and lead to extinction.
Additionally, when people turn woods into farms or river basins into mining sites, the environments become too hostile for certain animal and plant species to survive.
10. Genetic Alterations
Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are now being used by scientists to boost agricultural yields in response to the growing demand for food goods around the world. Additionally, GMOs have the benefit of having a higher tolerance for harsh temperatures, the capacity to thrive with less water, and a higher level of disease and parasite resistance.
However, according to several environmental organisations, GMOs also contain novel biological components that have the potential to have a variety of negative effects on natural ecosystems. One is modifying predatory or competitive natural processes. Second, the microbial communities in the soil that control the flow of key elements like phosphorus and nitrogen may also be affected. Thirdly, native populations can receive genetic elements from other populations.
11. Alien Species
Transporting organisms from other parts of the world—either knowingly or unknowingly—leads to the emergence of invasive species. As invasive species are introduced on a timetable much faster than would generally happen with evolution over longer time periods, this can be disastrous to existing species. This can involve invasive species outcompeting local species in the ecosystem, which can cause local species to become extinct or decline, as well as overcrowding since these invasive species might not have any natural predators in this new ecosystem. They may also have significant financial costs.
Risk Assessment (RA)
Risk Assessment (RA) is a process of evaluating the potential risks associated with a particular activity or project. The goal of a risk assessment is to identify, assess, and manage the potential risks to human health and the environment associated with the activity or project. A risk assessment typically involves a multidisciplinary team of experts who conduct research, gather data, and assess the potential risks associated with the activity or project.
The RA process typically involves a number of steps, including hazard identification, exposure assessment, risk characterization, risk management, and communication. The first step in the process is hazard identification, which involves identifying the potential hazards associated with the activity or project. Exposure assessment involves evaluating the likelihood and extent of exposure to the hazard, while risk characterization involves evaluating the severity and magnitude of the potential risks. Risk management involves identifying ways to mitigate or manage the potential risks, while communication involves sharing the results of the risk assessment with stakeholders and decision-makers.
IMPORTANCE of EIA & RA
EIA and RA are important tools for decision-makers and stakeholders because they help to identify and manage the potential environmental risks associated with human activities. The EIA process helps to identify and evaluate the potential environmental impacts of a proposed project, while the RA process helps to identify and evaluate the potential risks associated with a particular activity or project.
Both EIA and RA are important because they help decision-makers and stakeholders to make informed decisions about proposed activities or projects. By identifying and evaluating the potential environmental impacts and risks associated with a project, decision-makers can weigh the potential benefits of the project against the potential environmental costs and risks.
In addition, EIA and RA help to promote sustainable development by identifying and evaluating alternative project designs or locations that may have fewer environmental impacts or risks. By considering alternative designs or locations, decision-makers can choose projects that are more environmentally sustainable and that have a lower environmental impact.
limitations of EIA and RA
Although EIA and RA are important tools for managing environmental risks, they have some limitations. One limitation is that they are based on predictive models, which means that they can only predict the potential environmental impacts and risks associated with a project or activity. Predictive models are based on assumptions and data inputs that may not accurately reflect the actual conditions or outcomes of the project or activity.
Another limitation of EIA and RA is that they can be expensive and time-consuming to conduct. EIA and RA typically involve a multidisciplinary team
“The Earth has enough resources for our need but not for our greed.”
– M.K. Gandhi
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