Climate Change and Natural Disasters - Essay Example

Environmental Impact Assessment Techniques application on climate change Name Professor Institution Course Date 4. Environmental Impact Assessment Techniques application on climate change Climate change and natural disasters have turned out to be some of the environmental impacts problematic human is currently facing. The leading climate and earth scientists are claiming that, “the detrimental impacts of the global warming on everyday life are presently emerging and as the 21st unfolds, several people in the world will not have sufficient water” - whilst other individuals will be forced out of their homes due to floods from increasing sea levels and high temperatures in other parts of the world (Good et al. 2010, p14). The impacts of such a disaster have even been narrated in the movie “The Day After Tomorrow”. This is confirmation that global warming is here with us and its effects are severe (Hunt & Watkiss 2011, p.15). Their severities have prompted consideration of its assessment on humans. Therefore, this essay will critically assess whether and how established Environmental Impact Assessment techniques may be applied in this context. To put this essay into perspective, the paper will look at the overview climate change and natural disasters and use Australia as the country in focus. Climate change is frequently depicted as one of the greatest problems the human race is facing today. According to Gleeson (2008, p.2654), this aspect is projected to have the potential to damage each human and natural system within the planet. It is obvious that critical action is required and that the scope and scale of such critical action should be massively varied. Due to its importance in 2014, UN Assistant Secretary-General Aisa Kirabo Kacyira claimed that the battle for climate change and sustainable development can mainly be won or lost in cities (ESDD 2014). Unluckily, few urban planning apparatus are being put into consideration in the re-allocation of resources in the climate change era by the local and national policymakers. It is the moment to propose a study and strategy paradigm to formulate improved urban planning mechanisms in reaction to climate change. Greenhouse gas emission is considered as the primary basis for climate change and the considerable rise in GHGs are from the human activities from the time of industrial revolution. Condon, Cavens & Miller (2009) claim that due to fact that most jobs are found in the urban areas, majority of the population of the world presently works and lives in the urban areas and this trend is going up. Several industries are also situated in the urban area where people work. The report by the United Nations suggest that by 2030, more than 60% of the population of the world will be living in the urban areas, a situation which could increase climate change unless proper planning is conducted (Betsill & Bulkeley 2007, p.451). While people go to work in the morning and leaving in the evening, they use cars which smoke and emit greenhouse gas into the air causing climate change. In urban areas, many industries have been built in the last decade, most of which let smoke into the atmosphere. High emissions of greenhouse gases have created urban heat island in Australia (Daniel et al 2004, p.128). The process has resulted to increase in temperature, hence precipitations and floods. Cities will undergo a rise in the intensity and frequency of storms, heavy rain, heat-waves, droughts and other severe weather events. However, in the recent years Environmental Impact Assessment has been put in place to carry out Cost-Benefit Analysis on the environment. Elliott & Thomas (2009) define Environmental impact assessment as a formal process applied to forecast the environmental effects of a plan, program or policy before making a decision to continue with a planned action. The result can either be positive or negative. This process is put in place as a fast evaluation technique for recognizing the present environmental status and also use in determining the effects of dangerous actions on the environmental aspects. Historically, Environmental Impact Assessment is a somewhat new tool of decision making that was first used in the US in 1969 after it incorporated in National Environmental Policy Act 1969 (Carroll & Turpin 2009). Australia adopted in 1974 after experiencing different effects of climate change on humans. From the time of industrial revolution, Australia has face numerous climate change contributed by human as stated earlier. According to Daniel et al (2004, p.131), various established Environmental Impact Assessment Techniques have been used to evaluate climate change and natural disasters on human including Industrial products, genetically modified plants and Fuzzy logic. These three techniques revolve around three forms of pollution which are known to cause climate change consisting of air, water and soil. Normally, when people analyze how industries result to climate change, they only focus on how greenhouse gases produced by the machines and chimneys. However, what they fail to understand is that, it is the products that the industries use that result to greenhouse gases. Some of these products are the raw materials such as coal and other forms of minerals. As an industrial product, Coal offers nearly 85 percent of electricity production in Australia (EIA 2011). Mining and usage of this product in industries has become a subject of condemnation from the environmental movement organizations due to its effects on rural landscape and coal combustion releasing carbon II oxide that is largely known to result to climate change, rise in sea level and global warming in Australia. Coal mining itself produces greenhouse gases into the atmosphere resulting in accumulation of heat in the atmosphere resulting to frequent precipitation. Regular rainfall leads to disasters such floods and health risks. Steinbach & Wellmer (2010) posit that during mining people are exposed to risks like suffocation, gas poisoning, gas explosions and roof collapse. EIA (2011) stated that the reports released in 2008 by World Health Organization claims that pollution caused by coal is approximated to shorten nearly 1,000,000 lives yearly all over the world. Another in GHG inventory report of 2010 contends that Australian coal alone used in industries produces 42.2 percent of greenhouse gas emissions (Bevan 2006). Other industrial products that can affect human and environment are the chemicals manufactured by the companies. Such chemicals can cause toxication, suffocations and heath risks. To help understand the cause of climate, the government through environmental bodies uses life cycle analysis (LCA) of a product environmental to identify and measure the effects of the industrial products such as coal on the environment and humans (Horne et al. 2009). In this process, EIA analyzes activities connected to mining of raw materials, production, ancillary materials, usage, disposal and equipment used for extraction. Horne et al. (2009) claimed that LCA can be used in climate change mitigation context to measure up to the whole range of environmental impacts assigned to products by measuring the inputs and yields of the material flows and evaluating how such flows affects the human. The details received from such actions can be used to support policy, offer a sound and informed decisions, and enhance processes. Two major categories of LCA including Attributional LCAs and Consequential LCAs can be used for assessing the impact of industrial product on humans (Horne et al. 2009). Attributional LCAs establishes the practices related to production and the product used at a certain point. On the other hand, Consequential life cycle analysis identifies the environmental impacts of a planned change of decision within a system being studied, meaning that economic, market and human implications are taken into consideration in a decision. Other techniques that can be used are INOVA and GMP-RAM. These techniques are mainly applicable on genetically modified plants (Hitzschky & Silviera 2009, p.356). As 21st century unfolds, population has increased leading clearance of vegetation for settlement. Therefore, small parcels have been left for agricultural activities. Similarly, other factors have led to drought and barrenness of land. A recent study in Australia claims that clearing of vegetation in the past 20 years could have been a crucial aspect in droughts and changing climate of Melbourne (McAlpine et al. 2007). According to McAlpine et al. (2007), the results demonstrated that the duration and intensity of the droughts could have gone up in Melbourne because of extensive clearance of the vegetation, intensifying the impacts of El Nino-based droughts. The situation has led to food insecurity, hence making people look for other ways to do agriculture. People have settled for genetically modified plants which have faster growth rate and resistance to drought and diseases. However, there must be critical measures in the manufacture of products which contain genetically modified plants. The process ought to include evaluation of safety, potential effects of crops and their cultivation practices on the humans (Rychlak & Case 2010, p.117). Even though genetically modified plants have been criticized and banned by some countries, some scholars have made it a very important thing in the mitigation of climate change. The basis for the assessment is to match up genetically modified and non-genetically modified crops (Jay et al., 2007, p.131). Since the comparison is about the traditional grown crops and genetically modified, it can be argued that this process assesses the process and evaluates how agricultural activities environmentally affects human lives. Thus, it can involve chemical added in the seed to change its development process. On the other hand, it can be about tiling the land; how tiling the land can affect human lives. Nominally in GM plants, fertilizers are used in cultivation to improve the rate of growth. According to Good et al. (2010, p.13), certain agricultural practices where fertilizers are involved worsen the challenge of global warming by releasing gases such as nitrous oxide and methane. Methane gas is often discharged by genetically modified wheat and rice paddies into the atmosphere. Methane is generated when the organic matter is crashed by the bacteria in conditions where there is no excess oxygen. The organic matter is often entrapped under the crops. Several academic scholars have developed GM zebrafish, which they believe helps in detecting water pollution. Hitzschky & Silviera (2009, p.350 claims that a research conducted at University of Cincinnati laboratory led to the development of GM zebrafish which changes color when it comes into contact with pollutants. The new development can be to sense things which pollute water then they can be removed. Hitzschky & Silviera (2009, p.351) asserts that another similar research has been conducted at Tulane University laboratory using Glofish. Another strategic Environmental Assessment Technique used in Australia is Fuzzy logic. In Fuzzy logic process, department of valued logic and reasoning to derive their answer to the whether various forms of pollution can cause harm to human. Different components of water, soil and air are calculated to understand their rate of pollution. Peche & Rodriguez (2009) claims that fuzzy logic variables usually contain the truth value which ranges between 0 and 1. The fuzzy logic is an effective approach in assessing environmental impact in human and carried out through software tool called TDEIA (Peche & Rodriguez 2009, P.277). The assessment focuses on water, air and soil because they are the most recognized modules of environmental sustainability and the relationship support human life (Charles & Peyton 2012). The result obtained here can be used for environmental planning in towns and cities are Australia. For example, if a certain component of air pollution, let say coal used to produce electricity is high concentrated, it will show a true value of 1. This means coal is a high level of air pollution hence more GHG are discharged unto the atmosphere. The experts can then advice the company to invest in technology which can reduce concentration of coal when generation of electricity is being conducted. The same applies to other indicators of pollution including water and soil. In conclusion, the 21st unfolds; Australia is growing day by day, population, residential, industries are increasing. In the process, more green house gases are being emitted into the atmosphere while less planning on mitigating the same has been done. The city is sitting on a time bomb, and the effects of climate change are real. Climate change offers a considerable challenge for human beings and level of effort being put to curb the situation. Its impacts are likely to deepen in the coming years. Therefore, more techniques on top of Industrial products, genetically modified plants and Fuzzy logic must be devised to mitigate climate change and disasters. References Bevan, S 2006, Climate concerns fuel coal mine opposition campaign, The 7.30 Report, Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Betsill, M. M & Bulkeley, H 2007, Looking Back and Thinking Ahead: A Decade of Cities and Climate Change Research, Local Environment, Vol. 12, No.5, pp.447-456. Carroll, B & Turpin T 2009, Environmental impact assessment handbook, 2nd ed, Thomas Telford Ltd. Charles, E & Peyton, D.J 2012, Preparing NEPA Environmental Assessments: A User's Guide to Best Professional Practices, CRC Press. Condon, P. M, Cavens, D & Miller, N 2009, Urban Planning Tools for Climate Change, Cambridge, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. Daniel, S, Tsoulfas, G, Pappis, C, & Rachaniotis, N 2004, Aggregating and evaluating the results of different Environmental Impact Assessment methods, Ecological indicators Vol.4, pp.125-138. EIA 2011, Australia world's largest coal exporter, fourth-largest liquefied natural gas exporter: Today in Energy, U.S. Energy Information Administration. Elliott, M. & Thomas, I 2009, Environment Impact Assessment in Australia: Theory and Practice, 5th Edn, Federation Press, Sydney. Environment and Sustainable Development Directorate (ESDD) 2014, Climate Change Council, Viewed on 23rd June 2014 from http://www.environment.act.gov.au/cc/climate_change_council Gleeson, B 2008, Waking from the Dream: An Australian Perspective on Urban Resilience, Urban Studies, Vol. 45, pp. 2653-2668. Glasson, J, Therivel, R & Chadwick A 2005, Introduction to Environmental Impact Assessment, London, Routledge. Good et al. 2010, An updated review of developments in climate science research since IPCC AR4. A report by the AVOID consortium, London, UK, Committee on Climate Change, p. 14. Hitzschky, K & Silviera, J 2009, A proposed impact assessment method for genetically modified plants (As-GMP method), Environmental Impact Assessment review, Vol.29, pp 348-368. Horne et al. 2009, LCA: Principles, Practice and Prospects, CSIRO Publishing, Victoria, Australia. Hunt, A. & Watkiss, P 2011, Climate change impacts and adaptation in cities: a review of the literature, Climatic Change, Vol. 104, pp.13-49. Jay, S., Jones, C., Slinn, P & Wood, C 2007, Environmental Impact Assessment: Retrospect and Prospect. Environmental Impact Assessment Review (Elsevier), Vol.27, No.4, p.289–300. McAlpine, CA et al. 2007, Modelling the impact of historical land cover change on Australia’s regional climate, Geophysical Research Letters 34, Viewed on 23rd June 2014 from http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2007GL031524 Peche, R & Rodriguez, E 2009, Environmental impact Assessment procedure: A new approach based on Fuzzy logic, Environmental Impact Assessment review, Vol. 29, pp.275-283. Rychlak, R.J & Case, D.W 2010, Environmental Law: Oceana's Legal Almanac Series, New York, Oxford University Press. Steinbach, V & Wellmer, F 2010, Review: Consumption and Use of Non-Renewable Mineral and Energy Raw Materials from an Economic Geology Point of View, Sustainability, Vol. 2, No.5, pp. 1408-1430, doi:10.3390/su2051408. Read More

The process has resulted to increase in temperature, hence precipitations and floods. Cities will undergo a rise in the intensity and frequency of storms, heavy rain, heat-waves, droughts and other severe weather events. However, in the recent years Environmental Impact Assessment has been put in place to carry out Cost-Benefit Analysis on the environment. Elliott & Thomas (2009) define Environmental impact assessment as a formal process applied to forecast the environmental effects of a plan, program or policy before making a decision to continue with a planned action.

The result can either be positive or negative. This process is put in place as a fast evaluation technique for recognizing the present environmental status and also use in determining the effects of dangerous actions on the environmental aspects. Historically, Environmental Impact Assessment is a somewhat new tool of decision making that was first used in the US in 1969 after it incorporated in National Environmental Policy Act 1969 (Carroll & Turpin 2009). Australia adopted in 1974 after experiencing different effects of climate change on humans.

From the time of industrial revolution, Australia has face numerous climate change contributed by human as stated earlier. According to Daniel et al (2004, p.131), various established Environmental Impact Assessment Techniques have been used to evaluate climate change and natural disasters on human including Industrial products, genetically modified plants and Fuzzy logic. These three techniques revolve around three forms of pollution which are known to cause climate change consisting of air, water and soil.

Normally, when people analyze how industries result to climate change, they only focus on how greenhouse gases produced by the machines and chimneys. However, what they fail to understand is that, it is the products that the industries use that result to greenhouse gases. Some of these products are the raw materials such as coal and other forms of minerals. As an industrial product, Coal offers nearly 85 percent of electricity production in Australia (EIA 2011). Mining and usage of this product in industries has become a subject of condemnation from the environmental movement organizations due to its effects on rural landscape and coal combustion releasing carbon II oxide that is largely known to result to climate change, rise in sea level and global warming in Australia.

Coal mining itself produces greenhouse gases into the atmosphere resulting in accumulation of heat in the atmosphere resulting to frequent precipitation. Regular rainfall leads to disasters such floods and health risks. Steinbach & Wellmer (2010) posit that during mining people are exposed to risks like suffocation, gas poisoning, gas explosions and roof collapse. EIA (2011) stated that the reports released in 2008 by World Health Organization claims that pollution caused by coal is approximated to shorten nearly 1,000,000 lives yearly all over the world.

Another in GHG inventory report of 2010 contends that Australian coal alone used in industries produces 42.2 percent of greenhouse gas emissions (Bevan 2006). Other industrial products that can affect human and environment are the chemicals manufactured by the companies. Such chemicals can cause toxication, suffocations and heath risks. To help understand the cause of climate, the government through environmental bodies uses life cycle analysis (LCA) of a product environmental to identify and measure the effects of the industrial products such as coal on the environment and humans (Horne et al. 2009). In this process, EIA analyzes activities connected to mining of raw materials, production, ancillary materials, usage, disposal and equipment used for extraction.

Horne et al. (2009) claimed that LCA can be used in climate change mitigation context to measure up to the whole range of environmental impacts assigned to products by measuring the inputs and yields of the material flows and evaluating how such flows affects the human.

Read More