Sustainability And Decision Making Flashcards
What are the 3 types of environmental monitoring?
- Air quality monitoring
- Soil monitoring
- Water quality monitoring
What is air quality monitoring?
The concentration of air pollutants is measured
What does soil monitoring look at? (9 possible answers)
Soil structure Density Water holding capacity Drainage capacity PH Organic particles Organisms Enzyme activity Respiration rate
What are the 3 ways that water quality is monitored?
Chemical
Biological
Microbiological
Why is the chemical aspect of water monitored?
Acid rain and greenhouse gases have potential to do harm
Increases ‘environmental oestrogen’s’ due to birth control and materials used in industry.
What are the effect of environmental oestrogen’s?
They have a feminising effect on aquatic organisms
They are suspected to effect embryo development and the timing of puberty
How is the biological aspect of water monitored?
Indicator species:
Brown trout = high quality water
Declining salmon population = expecting acid rain
Mosses = heavy metal concentrations
How/why is the microbiological aspect of water monitored?
Bacteria and viruses are monitored mainly in drinking water and water used for sports.
Many sewage treatment plants don’t sterilise water so look clean but could be full of bacteria like E. Coli or high coliform counts.
What is an environmental impact assessment?
Documents that aim to predict environmental effects of a proposed project which activities risk the environment.
What are the 5 topics covered in an environmental impacts assessment?
- A description of the project and site
- Alternatives considered
- A description of the environment
- A description of significant effects on the environment
- Mitigation - evidence is required to show the impact of harmful activities has been considered
What might be included in the description of the environment in an environmental impacts assessment? (9 possible answers)
Populations Flora Fauna Air Soil Water Human activity Landscape Cultural heritage
What are some examples of countermeasures for mitigation?
Wind farms being built when birds aren’t nesting
Proposed roads to avoid breaking ponds of endangered amphibians.
