Introduction to Environmental Issues

The area of land formally owned and managed by Indigenous Australians has continued to increase, to 42 per cent of Australia’s land area.

Indigenous people, their land, and their cultural and natural resource management activities are core contributors to managing Australia’s environment.

Indigenous lands contain significant levels of biodiversity, and long-term investment in Indigenous land management programs has delivered environmental, cultural and economic benefits (Altman et al. 2007, SVA Consulting 2014, van Bueren et al. 2015). Indigenous land, water and sea interests occur over 41.8 per cent (3,217,101 square kilometres) of Australia.

Indigenous people comprise 2.7 per cent of Australia’s population, and the proportion of the Indigenous population that is on Indigenous lands is just 25.1 per cent. More than 50 per cent of these Indigenous land interests lie in very remote areas of Australia and on some of the least commercially viable lands (Altman et al. 2007). Indigenous communities in these remote regions face key challenges for enterprise development, key services, and employment (Jackson et al. 2012, Altman & Markham 2014, Woinarski et al. 2014b).

Land management and, in places, the carbon economy, may bring potential benefits to Indigenous communities in terms of income, jobs, social welfare, links to community and reconnection with Country. However, land tenure will not necessarily bring economic benefits to Indigenous communities, and other legislative constraints may preclude economic development options for communities, keeping some indigenous communities as the most disadvantaged in Australia.

Since 2011, areas managed for conservation have continued to expand, to around 18 per cent of Australia’s land area. During the past decade, Australia’s terrestrial conservation estate (International Union for Conservation of Nature categories I–VI) expanded by more than 50 per cent to nearly 140 million hectares. However, calculations suggest that nearly 25 per cent of the continent of Australia needs to be protected to meet the strategic goals of the Convention on Biological Diversity (Polak et al. 2016).

Land under conservation management now includes a rapidly growing area dedicated to, and managed for, conservation by private owners (e.g. conservation trusts). The extent of private conservation lands is now more than 7 million hectares.

The sophistication of agricultural land management continues to increase. This is seen in ongoing reductions in the intensity of agricultural chemical use in the cotton industry for example, due largely to the adoption of genetically modified cotton (Acworth et al. 2008); more careful use of fertilisers in sensitive environments (e.g. catchments of the Great Barrier Reef); and more flexible approaches to grazing management to reduce soil erosion and increase productivity.

The role of farmers as caretakers and the part that they play in conserving their land is increasingly recognised.

Horticultural production supply, quality and profitability are threatened by introduced and native pests, diseases and weeds. Integrated pest and disease management uses a number of different integrated methods, rather than relying on a single approach. This is advantageous when managing native animals (e.g. parrots, fruit bats) as pests, insects and diseases (Horticulture Australia 2006). Integrated pest management practices aim to integrate all available pest control techniques to produce healthy crops with the least possible disruption to the agro-ecosystem, rather than relying on routine applications of chemical pesticides.

Native vegetation is increasingly recognised as valuable in this process as native vegetation remnants host a higher density of predatory insects and spiders than crops; crops usually host higher densities of pests (immature and mature) than native vegetation (Parry et al. 2015). Remnant vegetation also provides parasite habitat, which contributes to pest suppression in crops. Management and improvement of remnant vegetation can increase the predator to prey (pest) ratio, which can improve pest control in grain and cotton crops (Bianchi et al. 2013). Retention and management of remnant native vegetation can also maintain populations of native bees (agricultural crop pollinators), which are more abundant and diverse in agricultural landscapes with more remnant native vegetation (especially riparian vegetation) than in those with less native vegetation (Cunningham et al. 2013).

Agricultural practices also aim to protect the soil and prevent nutrient leaching, erosion, and sediment movement to protect water resources and oceans. For example, modelled estimates of the nutrient and sediment loads reaching the Great Barrier Reef lagoon suggest that changes to the landscape—grazing, bushfires, and vegetation clearing for agriculture and urban development—will increase sediment deposition to more than 3 times background (pre-European colonisation) levels (McCulloch et al. 2003, Kroon et al. 2012, Waters et al. 2014). Australia's waterways and ecosystems can not survive this.

Principles and guidelines for managing stocking rates, watering points and groundcover condition aim to improve water quality through best-practice livestock grazing (Bartley et al. 2010, Silburn et al. 2011, Hunt et al. 2014). Significant investment by the Australian Government, state and territory governments, and industry has led to a better understanding of the source and causes of nutrient and sediment increases, and engagement with natural resource management (NRM) bodies, industry and farmers is modelled to be potentially achieving significant (10–30 per cent) decreases in sediment loads.

A combination of good contextual understanding, participation across the range of stakeholders and adequate funding should thus result in better-quality water reaching the Great Barrier Reef. In the Fitzroy Basin in Queensland, adoption of best management practice is high in dryland cropping enterprises as a result of the Reef Water Quality Protection Plan, even though croppers have not received the same resources as graziers and cane growers (Darbas et al. 2013).

The area of public native forest managed for wood production has continued to decline since 2011, to around 7.5 million hectares. There has been a corresponding increase in the extent of public native forest in conservation reserves (Davidson et al. 2008).

Plantation forests funded by managed investment contracted significantly to around 400,000 hectares in 2012–13 from 730,000 hectares in 2008–09, which represents around 20 per cent of Australian plantations compared with 36 per cent in 2008–09 (ABARES 2014).

The extent and severity of wildfires in south-eastern Australia have rekindled debate about strategies for fire suppression, how best to balance protection of life and property with the protection of environmental assets, residential expansion in forested regions, and the future viability of some native forest-based industries (Teague et al. 2010).

Carbon Sequestration is the processes to remove carbon from the atmosphere, involving capturing and storing carbon in vegetation, soil, oceans, or another storage facility.

The recent expansion in the use of land and vegetation for carbon sequestration, carbon emissions avoidance and emissions reductions has become a mainstream interest for industries and governments. The advantages and risks of biosequestration compared with other forms of sequestration (e.g. geological capture and storage) may have a very large impact on future rural land use and management. Biosequestration is the storage and removal of carbon from the atmosphere by conversion of carbon dioxide into biomass, generally by photosynthetic plants or bacteria via land-use practices such as reforestation, sustainable forest management, and genetic engineering.

Models of carbon stocks and flows in native forests managed for timber production, of harvested wood products (including paper), and of long-term storage of harvested wood product wastes in landfill suggest broadly positive benefits when whole-of-system accounts are considered (Ximenes et al. 2016). These benefits include both sequestration—with carbon fixed for the long term in both timber products and timber wastes stored as landfill—and carbon emissions avoidance.

For example, the use of native timber products for paper pulp has significant greenhouse gas mitigation potential compared with the carbon emissions footprint of imported paper pulp from unsustainably managed forests in South-East Asia.

On balance, careful management of production forests was shown to have a better modelled carbon outcome than conservation management (Ximenes et al. 2016), although challenges remain to show that production management approaches are environmentally sustainable in the long term (Lindenmayer et al. 2015).

An example of a fire management practice - Savanna burning for reduced carbon emissions;
Fires in the savannas of northern Australia release the greenhouse gases methane and nitrous oxide as they burn. These emissions from Australia’s savanna fires comprise 2–4 per cent of the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory (Cook & Meyer 2009). Thus, there is potential to use fire management to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by increasing the incidence of early dry-season fires, to reduce the extent of large, high-intensity fires late in the dry season, and to reduce overall fire frequency and consequently the average emissions of greenhouse gases.

The approach has been developed as the ‘Emissions abatement through savanna fire management’ methodology to reduce accountable emissions under Australia’s Carbon Farming Initiative.

An example of the implementation of this initiative is the West Arnhem Land Fire Abatement Project, which involves multiple traditional land-owning groups in an area spanning 24,000 square kilometres in the Northern Territory (Cook et al. 2012). The primary goal of the project is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

During the first 7 years of implementation, the project has reduced emissions of accountable greenhouse gases (methane and nitrous oxide) by 37.7 per cent, relative to the pre-project 10-year emissions baseline (Russell-Smith et al. 2013).

Additionally, the project is providing the means to reconnect people to their Country, to keep alive traditions and to adapt them to new circumstances.

It is also reducing the impact on the biodiversity of decades of out-of-control fires, and providing an opportunity for traditional ecological knowledge and western scientific approaches to jointly inform future land management.

The CSIRO is currently working with the Australian Government Department of the Environment and Energy to quantify the increased carbon sequestration that can occur from changing fire management.

The recent downturn in the mining industry has put some proposed developments on hold and resulted in the cessation of activities at other sites.

A dramatic expansion in coal mining and the coal seam gas (CSG) industry in some prime agricultural regions has caused conflict because of competition for land and concerns about contamination of, and competition for, water resources.

The associated infrastructure and expansion of export facilities are also placing pressure on some coastal environments.

Most of the announced CSG reserves are already committed to the liquefied natural gas industry from 2015–16, with the potential for domestic gas shortages in eastern Australia and the prospect of large increases in gas prices. A consequence is that exploration for shale gas and tight gas has increased because shale gas is likely to be plentiful and has the potential to be an economically very important additional energy source (Cook et al. 2013). Increased use of shale gas (and other gas) for electricity generation could significantly decrease Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions, based on the replacement of coal with gas (Cook et al. 2013).

Shale gas, like CSG, has possible adverse impacts on the landscape, soils, flora and fauna, groundwater and surface water, the atmosphere, and human health, through hydraulic fracturing (fracking), habitat fragmentation, disruption of ecological processes, fugitive gas emissions and so on.

Changes to the Environmental Protection Board (EPBC) Act recognised that national environmental assets could be affected by changes to water quality, quantity and availability as a consequence of coal mining or CSG extraction. In response, the Australian Government has invested in a Bioregional Assessment Programme, which is compiling the scientific evidence necessary to support decisions taken by states and territories about the potential impacts of, controls for, and mitigations available for, any new developments (e.g. the New South Wales review by the Chief Scientist and Engineer; O’Kane 2014).

Relevant industries have also taken steps to maintain public confidence and obtain a social licence to operate through offsetting impacts of mining developments—for example, the Gas Industry Social and Environmental Research Alliance.

Australian cities and coastal settlements continue to sprawl, despite some successful attempts by local, state and territory governments to manage development to protect biodiversity, good-quality agricultural lands and areas prone to flooding.

For example, one of the stated purposes of the Planning and Development Act 2005 of Western Australia is to ‘promote the sustainable use and development of land in the state’. This includes protecting the land of agricultural significance from urban and peri-urban encroachment, maintaining appropriate buffers between development and coastal estuarine and water foreshores, and accounting for sea-level rise and increased storm surge arising from coastal development.

There is also a growing recognition of the value of green space in urban areas for recreation, biodiversity, visual amenity, flood mitigation and other ecosystem services.

In 2016-17 around 6.7 million tonnes of organic waste was sent to landfill and included food waste, biosolids, green waste and timber.

When organic waste decomposes in landfills, it produces landfill gas which consists of about 55% methane. Methane is a much more damaging greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide (CO2). It's also foul-smelling and highly flammable.

Organic material sent to landfill would be better composted at home or dropped at a local green waste recycler. Check with your local council to find out about organic waste facilities in your area.

When buying paper or cardboard products, look out for items that contain a high percentage of Australian recycled fibre or are made with fibre content from sustainably managed sources, such as plantations or sustainably managed native forests. Australian paper manufacturers have to meet environmental production standards which may not have to be met in other countries. Paper and cardboard can be collected for recycling.

More than 3.5 million tonnes of plastic were consumed in Australia in 2016-17. Less than 10% (293,000 tonnes) were recycled in 2016-17.

Plastics are man-made products that come from valuable non-renewable resources like oil, gas and coal. Plastic has been the most common item collected on Clean Up Australia Day for 20 years.

Hard plastics can generally be recycled through kerbside recycling programs, where they are then melted, stretched, cut and moulded into a recycled product.

Some supermarkets now offer a drop-off point for recycling soft plastics including shopping bags, cling and bubble wrap, pasta and rice bags, and biscuit packets.

Reducing consumption of plastics goods is the only way of controlling this waste.

Packaging makes up a significant part of the rubbish in landfill.

Buying in bulk can save you money, packaging and transport costs. If not, always try to choose products that use less packaging.

Remember to take reusable bags out with you to avoid the need for plastic bags.

Aluminium is a common metal and is used widely in cans (including aerosol) and for food-related products like foil and pie trays.

Producing aluminium uses so much energy that the metal is sometimes called 'frozen electricity'. However, aluminium can be easily recycled, and many times over. Even aluminium with food scraps stuck to it can be recycled.

When recycling steel cans, it's best to put the lid inside the can and then squash the top of the can before placing it in your recycling bin.

Electronic waste or e-waste includes products such as computers, televisions, home entertainment systems, printers, faxes and mobile phones.

Only about 10% of e-waste is recycled compared to 52% of general waste. E-waste contains many parts that can and should be recycled so that the resources can be used again. E-waste also contains a range of hazardous elements such as lead and mercury which can be released into the environment if not disposed of properly.

E-waste can’t be recycled in your kerbside bin, but it can be recycled or safely disposed of through other services. Check Planet Ark's Recycling Near You or TechCollect.

The Australian Government has also introduced an industry-funded National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme, which also accepts used computer accessories such as keyboards, mice and hard-drives.

E-waste you may be able to recycle includes: mobile phones and components, and telephone systems stereo components, DVD and video players TVs computers and accessories printers, faxes and scanners batteries cartridges

The bathroom, toilet and laundry can be high use areas for chemicals. Try to limit the chemicals and waste that you put down the sink and toilet.

It’s possible to clean effectively without chemicals, for example using bicarbonate of soda or white vinegar applied with water and a soft cloth.

You could also; reuse existing containers and buy refills, buy toothbrushes and shavers with replaceable heads, refill your liquid soap containers, buy toilet paper made from recycled paper or plantation timber, recycle paper and cardboard products.

In Australia, we waste more than 30% of the food we purchase. Australian consumers throw away around 3.1 million tonnes of food each year. Of this, 2.54 million tonnes of food waste was from our homes. When rotting food ends up in landfill it turns into methane, a greenhouse gas that is particularly damaging to the environment. Food waste costs Australian households between $2200 to $3800 a year.

Much of the food waste in our kitchens comes from inadequate planning or simply buying too much food. To work out how much you and your family really eat, check portion guides. For detailed information on how to choose and store different foods visit the Food Safety Information Council website.

Vegetable and fruit scraps can be composted.

Hot beverage pods, capsules and discs are not recyclable through kerbside recycling. Putting these items in the recycling bin can make the sorting process more difficult and may contaminate the recycling stream.

However, there are other ways to recycle these items. You can recycle any pre-packaged disc or capsule used in capsule-specific machines to make hot beverages, recycling boxes can be purchased from TerraCycle.

Or choose not to use these products, make your own or carry your own travel mug to buy a hot drink from a local cafe.

About 35% (7 million tonnes) of building waste goes to landfill each year in Australia, so minimising and recycling building waste can have a big impact.

Work with your designer and builder to plan how to minimise waste during the project and recycle leftover building materials.

Use recycled materials and materials with high recycled content where it's fit for purpose—this helps to lower waste volumes and increase the viability of recycling which in turn will develop the market for recycled resources.

In 2016-17 Australia produced about 6.3 million tonnes of hazardous waste, and this is increasing at a rate of approximately 9% a year.

Hazardous waste includes products such as motor oil, brake fluid, kerosene, paints, mineral turpentine, pesticides, herbicides, rat poison, batteries, compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), oven cleaners, pool chemicals, and asbestos.

Some of the chemical products can ignite at relatively low temperatures, or react with air, water or other substances, and explode or produce toxic vapours.

These products cannot be disposed of in your regular garbage collection, and for many hazardous wastes, it can be illegal to do so as they can leak into the environment and waterways and cause serious health risks.

It's important to manage hazardous waste and dispose of leftover chemicals correctly at a hazardous waste centre. Check with your local council for disposal or collection services available in your area.

This includes energy generation and consumption. The supply of and demand for stationary and transport energy, and the key implications of the extraction, processing, distribution and use of energy for the environment, such as greenhouse gas emissions, land disturbance, water extraction and emission of air pollutants. Key issues also include the range of fuels used, the efficiency of conversion and processing of fossil fuels into a useable form; the efficiency of distribution; as well as the level of demand for energy, including the influence of population growth and diversity, economic activity, and consumer choices.

This includes the trends in water storages, consumption across different industry sectors and the community. As well as key pressures on the natural environment resulting from the water extraction, storage, supply and consumption system. Governance, demand management, and the structure of the water industry.

This includes the use and flow of natural resources in the production of goods and services, which can ultimately become waste released to the environment.

A biophysical environment is both biotic (biological) and abiotic (physical rather than biological) surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale from microscopic to global in extent. All ecosystems are a direct result of the biophysical elements of a given locality and they all interact with each other at any given place. The biophysical environment includes living things such as plants and animals, and non-living things such as rocks, soils and water.

The biophysical environment is made up of four parts: the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere and biosphere;

• The atmosphere includes gases that are around the earth and everything that happens in them, such as heat from the sun, weather, smog and haze, climate and acid rain.

• The hydrosphere is the portion of the earth that is composed of water in all forms – running water, ice and water vapour.

• The lithosphere refers to the rocks and soils on the crust of the earth and how our continents form and wear away.

• The biosphere is the zone of the earth and adjoining parts of the atmosphere in which plants and animals exist.

Interactions occur between the four spheres.

The social environment is the environment developed by humans as contrasted with the natural environment. It is society as a whole, especially in its relation to the individual.

It consists of three kinds of environments:

• Cultural - Behaviors, norms, and values that people use to understand and explain their physical and social environment.

• Economic - Concerned with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. All the comforts and conveniences which man has made.

• Psycho-social - Relating to the interrelation of social factors and individual thought and behaviour.

Socio-cultural factors are the larger scale forces within cultures and societies that affect the thoughts, feelings and behaviours of the population. Such factors include; attitudes, child-rearing practices, cross-cultural differences, ethnic identity and values, kinship structure, power and wealth, regional differences, religious beliefs and practices, rituals and taboos.

An example of the impact of the environment on society in terms of population:

The physical conditions of a country profoundly influence the distribution, size and density of its population.

For instance, the plains are the most densely populated and the mountains sparsely populated. The influence of plains on population can be seen from the fact that a greater number of people live in the plains than elsewhere. In the plains, there is a greater number of towns and densely populated cities.

The population in the hilly areas is thinner. The distribution of population in the hills is also uneven. The people live scattered due to the unevenness of the terrain.

Likewise, the density of population is small in desert areas and in those places which suffer from lack of rainfall. Temperature, rainfall and humidity are the factors which determine the density of population.

An example of the impact of the human population on the environment:

The ways in which populations are spread across Earth has an effect on the environment. Developing countries tend to have higher birth rates due to poverty and lower access to family planning and education, while developed countries have lower birth rates. In 2015, 80 per cent of the world’s population live in less-developed nations. These faster-growing populations can add pressure to local environments.

Globally, in almost every country, humans are also becoming more urbanised. The pressure placed on growing cities and their resources such as water, energy and food due to continuing growth includes pollution from additional cars, heaters and other modern luxuries, which can cause a range of localised environmental problems. 

Some examples of the impact of the environment on physical necessities:

The topography of a country affects the human habitation, diet, dress and animal husbandry. For example;

Historically, the northern (American and Scandinavian) tribes lived in snow houses, use animal skins for garments and utilise the fish and seal for food.

Houses in the mountains are made of wood and stone while those in the plains are built of brick and cement.

The dietary habits also are affected by topography. Thus rice is the diet of Bengalese while wheat is the diet of Punjabese in South Asia.

People living in the mountainous regions wear thick and woollen clothes while those living in the plains wear cotton clothes.

Particular animals can be reared only in particular geographical environments. Camels are found in desert areas, goats and sheep in the hills, cows and buffaloes in the plains.

Some impacts of physical needs on the environment:

For many, particularly in industrialised countries, the consumption of goods and resources is just a part of our lives and culture, promoted not only by advertisers but also by governments wanting to continually grow their economy.

Culturally, it is considered a normal part of life to shop, buy and consume, to continually strive to own a bigger home or a faster car, all frequently promoted as signs of success. The mass production of goods, many of them unnecessary for a comfortable life, is using large amounts of energy, creating excess pollution, and generating huge amounts of waste.

It may be fine to participate in consumer culture and to value material possessions, but in excess, it is harming both the planet and our emotional wellbeing.

Examples of the impact of the environment on occupations

Human occupations also are largely influenced by geographical factors. For example:

• In coastal areas fishing is the main occupation.

• Oil wells are to be found in other regions.

• The main occupation of fertile plains is agriculture.

• The mountainous people rear grazing animals.

Examples of impactful occupations and related practices: 

• Oil production, distribution, and consumption.

• Energy production, distribution, and consumption.

• Transport.

• Timber industries.

• Housing development.

• Infrastructure.

• Consumer products.

• Food production.

• Sport and recreation.

• Tourism.

• Health.

Daily habits and involvement in occupations can bring impacts to the environment, both in a micro and macro context.

Educational practices related to environmental issues have an important role in building sustainable habits. Sustainable practices at an individual and national level, change daily habits and increase the involvement in occupations that are sustainable.

Examples of the impact of the environment on physiology:

Historically it was thought that the topography affects the colour of the skin, stature, shape and colour of the hair, shape of the nose, head etc. For example, people of regions with predominantly hot climates have got darker skin than those living in colder climates.

Diets differ in areas and this provides some evidence for stature and shape differences of people. However, with globalisation, people of different bodily characteristics may be found in the same environment and people of same characteristics may be found in different environments. Thus climate and diet is not the only factor determining physiology.

People living in areas that have poor access to regular transport will be required to walk long distances and physically will be in contrast to people living in areas that are hardly ever required to walk distances.

Impact of physiology on the environment:

It is evident that human dietary changes and overconsumption of goods and services relating to beauty, body image, health etc. has a direct and indirect impact on the environment in terms of waste, pollution, resource depletion.

Impact of environment on individual energy and skill:

An individual’s energy and health are not determined by climate alone as they are the results of many factors of diet, hygienic conditions, living standards, attitudes and values.

But there is a theory about the condition of our environment, such air quality, temperature, weather, terrain etc., does affect energy levels and skill levels (learning and skill in overcoming our challenges).

Some are of the opinion that geographical environment has a great deal to do with human activity. Extremes of heat or cold have a deterrent effect on human activity. It seems clear that a certain moderate temperature is best calculated to evoke human activity.

According to a sociologist (Huttington), “When the temperature falls greatly, mental work seems to suffer more than physical, and declines as much as when there is no change.”

Impact of energy and skill on the environment:

We have access to vast amounts of knowledge that sustains our economic progress, sometimes at the cost of our natural resources, but it is with skills that we are able to innovate and ultimately find solutions to the environmental challenges we face.

We may be exhausted and apathetic to the condition of the environment, the effect our behaviours have on our planet. Our interest in change seems to wane, depending on how we feel on any given day and with our lack of comprehension or education on the importance of sustainability.

Examples of the impact of the environment on civilisation and culture:

Civilisations are influenced by the geographical environment.

The Euphrates, the Ganges, the Nile, the Yangtzekiang nurtured the earlier civilizations. The civilization of Europe would have been very different had there been no Danube or Rhine.

“Barrier and threshold” these are the roles which the sea coasts have always played in history. The seas are both a barrier and an opportunity for the people.

The power of Spain, Holland and England have arisen not only by historical circumstances but also by improvements in the techniques of navigation. Historically, the Britishers were able to extend their empire in such an extent that the sun would never set on it because she was the mistress of the seas.

Culture also is influenced by the geographical environment. The art, literature and modes of living of a country bear the impression of its natural environment. The natural conditions affect the outlook on life, traditions, folk’s lore, marriage, institutions, a form of government etc. People’s ideas and motives are influenced by the way in which they earn their livelihood.

A nation’s military power is greatly restricted if resources such as iron and oil deposits are absent.

Examples of the impact of civilisation on the environment:

The growth of civilization has changed and minimised the influence of geographical conditions.

In the history of civilization, the countries which once were at the summit are now at the bottom and those which were backward are today the most advanced.

The distribution of agricultural resources is less determinative as civilization progresses with the distribution of the population. For example, historically the most populous parts of a region would be centred around the greatest fertility of the soil but now populations are greatest where there are industrial opportunities. Similarly, natural routes of migration and trade matter less, than of old, as men have learnt to build railways through mountains and over swamps and to use the unbounded highway of the air.

Examples of the impact of the environment on economies:

The economic organisation of a country is to a large extent determined by geographic conditions. The products of a place are governed by the raw material available. Sufficient natural resources are necessary for the economic prosperity of a country.

As there is a greater density of population in cities, we find major industries there. The economic life of the people living there is  to an extent more prosperous if not more active.

Agriculture and animal husbandry is the main occupation of rural areas.

On the plains, there is a wide network of roads and railway lines. Transport is easier here than in hilly communities.

Examples of the impact of economic development on the environment:

In regions where people are generally poor. There are fewer means of transport and communication which make industrial growth difficult. In these areas, income comes predominantly from the extensive use and misuse of local natural resources.

Examples of the impact of the environment on politics:

Poorer communities may not have a well organised political life. The scattered nature of some populations and fewer means, make it difficult to give an organised shape to the administration. Poverty and lack of education do not allow democratic notions to develop.

The establishment of a permanent government is a problem in some regions. These governments experience much difficulty in maintaining peace and order. Due to poverty governments cannot tax their people very much and not in a position to provide them with good education, sustainability programs, and other social welfare activities.

Impact of politics on the environment:

Politics can dictate land usage, pollution, regulations, trade, bans, and allowances for individuals and corporations.

Endangered species can be protected in national parks and reserves if desired, or purposefully hunted down, if desired.

Politics determine the laws citizens passively act by, and politics can create active action too. Thus varying impacts on the environment.

According to Huttington, “The geographical distribution of minerals is one of the greatest causes of international troubles and wars.”

Examples of the impact of the environment on social life:

The standard of living is higher in resource-rich regions. The progress of culture is ensured through the progress of civilization. Art, literature and music progress. Education also develops easily. The social organisation is strengthened. The sense of group cooperation is awakened.

In regions where the environment dictates the lack of availability of essential services, the following may be observed:

Absence of education keeps them conservative.

People in labour-intensive occupations, such as agriculture, busy in earning a livelihood may not get ample leisure to develop art and literature. They have got a tough life.

The people do not benefit by modern scientific inventions because of the lack of developed means of transport and communication.

There may be fewer doctors, teachers and engineers due to lack of education or employment opportunities.

There is much religious superstition and dogmatism.

Examples of the impact of social life on the environment:

The practices that we value as a society, such as, social get-togethers, time outdoors, recreational activities, festivals, hobbies, fitness etc., have an impact on the environment.

It can be direct impacts such as visiting a national park, boating on a river, fishing etc., or indirectly such as purchasing a product or utilising a service.

1. The theory that climatic conditions matter less in determining the trajectory of civilisation, providing humans are able to modify their environments to sustain growth.

• Climatic conditions matter less in so far as men gain control over the natural disadvantages of certain climates. For instance, even the extremes of heat and of cold grow less deterrent as the arts of warming and cooling dwelling places improve.

• Man cannot be regarded as nature’s slave. The innumerable scientific inventions have made man 'the lord of Nature'. Humans modify their physical environment rather than the environment modifying them. We can live anywhere if we so will.

• Geography by and in itself never absolutely determines the course of human events. As scientific technology advances, man’s ability to modify his environment increases.

• Man is not a passive factor, but an active agent. Nature but offers the materials, man’s need, his genius and ability compel him to utilise them for his own purpose.

Thus, our physical environment cannot determine the progress of our civilisation. It can, of course, define and decide some of its limits.

As Isaiah Bourmann (geographer) said, “Earth facts do not determine the form and nature of human society in development. They condition it. New earth facts are continually being discovered and old earth facts given new significance as human knowledge, thought and social action develops. The relations are reciprocal. It may be, therefore, said that the physical environment without playing a determinant role provides an external set of conditions under which the life of man in society proceeds. These conditions can hardly be ignored in the study of social behaviour. The sociologists should show their relation to the direct determinants of social phenomenon, the attitudes and interests of men. The physical environment is more of limiting than of a determining nature.”

2. The theory that civilisation is doomed because of human activity creating conditions that make life on earth unsustainable.

• Human society is in jeopardy from the accelerating decline of the Earth’s natural life-support systems.

• The knock-on impacts on humankind, including freshwater shortages and climate instability, are already “ominous” and will worsen without drastic remedial action.

• Population growth is noted as a factor, along with inequality. 

• Agriculture and fishing are the primary causes of the deterioration of biodiversity.

To learn more about modern theories, read this interesting in-depth article on culture and sustainability in the current 'Anthropocene' age.

Anthropocene - is the current unofficial geological age, viewed as the period during which human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment (The current official age is called the Holocene.)

"The health of the ecosystems on which we and other species depend is deteriorating more rapidly than ever. We are eroding the very foundations of economies, livelihoods, food security, health and quality of life worldwide," said Robert Watson, the chair of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (Ibpes). "We have lost time. We must act now".

A simple method based on a subjective environment impacts on broad aspects.

The Ad hoc method is useful when time constraints and lack of information requires that the ESIA must rely exclusively on expert opinion.

It provides minimal guidance for total impact assessment while suggesting the broad areas of possible impacts and the general nature of these possible impacts.

When more scientific methods are available, this method is not recommended.

Types of Ad-hoc methods:

• Opinion polls

• Experts opinion

• Delphi methods

Advantages:

• Specialists in a particular area will provide guidance.

Disadvantages:

• It requires an expert.

• Short/long term impact is merely examined on guess basis.

• Identification, prediction, and interpretation of impacts are quite poor.

There are many methods by which we can assess the impact of a developmental project on our site and its various components. The simplest of these methods are checklists.

Checklists were too primitive to be used for large-scale projects. A step higher from the checklists is the matrices form of impact assessment in ESIA. It is a listing of potential Environmental Impacts. This method is done to assess the nature of the impacts i.e. its type such as adverse /beneficial, short term or long term, no effect or significant impact, reversible or irreversible, etc.

Types of Checklist methods:

• Simple Lists.

• Descriptive Checklists.

• Scaling Checklists.

• Questionnaire Checklists.

Advantages

• Simple to understand and use.

• Good for site selection and priority setting.

Disadvantages

• Does not distinguish between direct and indirect impacts.

• Does not link action and impact.

• Sometimes it is a cumbersome task.

A matrix is considered to be a more systematic approach to assessing and monitoring all the aspects of the project in hand as compared to the checklist method.

In a matrix, the activities linked to the project are listed on one axis: for example, building construction, water supply, energy supply, gaseous emissions, liquid effluents, cooling water discharges, noise, solid wastes treatment and disposal, transportation etc.

Leopold Matrix

The Leopold matrix is the best-known matrix methodology available for predicting the impact of a project on the environment.

It is a two-dimensional matrix cross-referencing, which means that:

1. The activities linked to the project that is supposed to have an impact on man and the environment.

2. The existing environmental and social conditions that could possibly be affected by the project.

The Leopold matrix is a very effective tool for monitoring the “Direct” impacts of various aspects or risk elements of the project on the Environment.

However, it fails to analyse indirect aspects that are considered significant for a complete assessment of the project.

Interaction Matrix

The inability to detect indirect impacts systematically and understand them easily was a big drawback of the Leopold matrix. To overcome this, Environment Canada proposed a different form of a matrix in 1974. This was called the component interaction matrix.

Here, instead of taking activities on the horizontal axis and environmental components on the vertical axis, both axes listed environmental components. So, if two components were seen to be linked by secondary or tertiary interactions, they would be marked by 1, 2, etc. And if they are not impacted by multiple levels of interactions, they would be marked zero.

Why the matrix method is better than the checklist method?

There are a set of valuable reasons as to why the matrix method is considered to be better.

Checklists tend to be long and also requires a lot of work in describing an impact or writing it out in words. In matrices, this ambiguity and extra work are removed by introducing a quantitative aspect in the assessment of an impact.

Checklist tends to get confusing when you assess multiple levels of impacts descriptively. This is resolved in matrices, to an extent, with the help of customized matrices.

Matrices are also versatile, as they can be used for small and large-scale projects alike.

Matrices can be applied in medium to large scale projects where the number of developmental activities is many (up to 100). This will obviously result in effects on many environmental aspects. All of these cannot be covered easily in checklists.

Matrices are flexible, which is why they have been accepted and used the world over.

It is perfectly acceptable to customise the matrix according to the project at hand.

Advantages

• Links action to impact.

• A good method for displaying ESIA results.

Disadvantages

• Difficult to distinguish direct and indirect impacts.

• Significant potential for double-counting of impacts.

• Qualitative - Qualitative research methods explain how and why something happens and do not answer what and how much happens.

It uses the matrix approach by extending its take to account primary as well secondary impacts.

Data is shown in the form of a tree called Relevance/Impact tree/Sequence diagram. Helps in the identification of direct and indirect, short and long term environmental impact, a crucial and intact basic step of making Impact tree. The method is widely used to identify cause-effect linkages.

Advantages

• Links action to impact.

• Useful in simplified form in checking for second-order impacts.

• Handles direct and indirect impacts.

Disadvantages

• Can become overly complex if used beyond simplified version.

• Qualitative.

This relies on a set of maps of a project area’s environmental characteristics covering physical, social, ecological, aesthetic aspects.

Separate mapping of critical environmental features at the same scale as the project’s site plan.

The Older Technique: environmental features were mapped on transparent plastic in different colours.

Newer Technique: Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are used.

Advantages

• Easy to understand and use.

• Good display method.

• Good for site selection setting.

Disadvantages

• Addresses only direct impacts.

• Does not address impact duration or probability.