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Epilogue: Is the Future of Pollution History?
Chapter 33
Epilogue: Is the Future of Pollution History? M.L. Brusseau
A pollution free sunrise. Photo courtesy K.L. Josephson.
33.1 HUMAN IMPACTS TO EARTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT Throughout the history of life on Earth, the nature, number, and very existence of living organisms has been shaped by Earth’s environment. We are clearly living in a time when a species, humans, is now causing significant change to Earth’s environment and systems. Many scientists are calling this current epoch the Anthropocene, to denote this fact. The Earth is often divided into four major spheres— atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere. Environmental systems have been defined by interactions within and among these four spheres. A fifth sphere, the technosphere, may now be added. The technosphere is defined by the Oxford dictionary as “The sphere or realm of human technological activity; the technologically modified environment.” The technosphere represents all of the buildings, structures, devices, and modifications that humans have created to support their existence on Earth—from houses, factories, and farms, to planes, trains, ships, and automobiles, to roads and airports, to reservoirs, aqueducts, and dams, to communication and power generation/ Environmental and Pollution Science. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-814719-1.00033-1 Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
transmission systems, to soccer and other sports stadia, to mines and oil and gas fields, to all of the devices and products humans use, to waste treatment and storage facilities. It also includes the human systems that exist within society—cultural, social, politcal, and economic interactions among human populations. A recent study estimated that the current aggregate mass of the technosphere is approximately 30 trillion tons. This represents a mass of more than 50 kilograms for every square meter of the Earth’s surface (Zalasiewicz et al., 2016). With a current world population of 7.6 billion, the mass of the technosphere represents almost 4000 tons per person. Perhaps it is time for the technosphere to be put on a diet? As we have seen throughout many chapters of this text, most human activities pollute or otherwise disturb the environment. While these impacts have been occurring since the dawn of humankind, the impacts are starting to have significant effects on the Earth in this period of the Anthropocene. In other words, the technosphere has a major impact on the health of the other four Earth spheres. Furthermore, we have learned that pollution and disruption of the environment can have severe direct and indirect consequences for human health and well-being. It should now be clear that it is in our own best interests to protect the environment.
33.2 DEMONSTRATING THE CONSEQUENCES OF POLLUTION Several chapters in the text highlighted the myriad impacts of pollution on the environment, in terms of degraded air, water, soil, and habitats. These impacts have significant, often severe, consequences for ecosystems and the plants and animals that live within them. Unfortunately, such impacts to “nature and wildlife” are not typically a priority concern for some individuals or nations. This has resulted in alternative approaches for characterizing and demonstrating the significance of environmental pollution. The first approach is the concept of ecosystem services, discussed in Chapter 6. This concept provides a means to directly illustrate the many ways in which the environment supports human life and well-being. The second approach is 605
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the determination of the impacts of pollution in terms of human health and mortality (Chapter 26). In the third approach, efforts are now being made to determine the monetary costs associated with the disruption of ecosystem service benefits and the impairment and loss of human life. Enhancing the visibility of environmental pollution and its effects through these and other efforts will hopefully strengthen our interest in protecting the environment. Air pollution can be used as an illustrative example of these approaches for characterizing the human-related impacts of pollution. Air pollution is pervasive throughout the world. Approximately 9 out of every 10 people breathe outdoor air polluted above World Health Organization guideline levels (WHO, 2016). Ambient (outdoor) air pollution originates from many human activities, as well as some natural sources (Chapter 17), and has numerous impacts on ecosystems, ecosystem services, and human health (Fig. 33.1). In addition, indoor air pollution, particularly from cooking and heating, is a major concern for many developing countries. As discussed in Chapter 26, studies have estimated that environmental pollution causes approximately 12 million
premature human deaths globally each year. This represents more than 20% of all deaths. Environmental factors in aggregate are the single greatest risk factor for human mortality. More than 7 million deaths are attributed to indoor and outdoor air pollution alone, by far the single largest source of environment-related deaths (GBD, 2016; Pr€uss-Ust€ un et al., 2016). This is greater than the number of deaths attributed to tobacco use, being overweight, alcohol use, and unsafe sex. In fact, it is greater than every other single risk factor except for high blood pressure. The number of premature deaths attributable to air pollution is projected to increase to between 9 and 12 million annually by 2060 in the absence of more stringent policies (OECD, 2016; Landrigan et al., 2017). The factors that contribute to the human welfare costs of pollution were presented in Chapter 26. It is estimated that the global human welfare costs due to air pollution total more than $5 trillion annually (WBG, 2016; UNEP, 2017). These costs represent significant fractions of gross domestic product worldwide (Fig. 33.2). The costs are projected to rise to more than $25 trillion annually by 2060 in the absence of more stringent control measures. Note that these costs do not include the economic impacts of damage
FIG. 33.1 Air pollution from sources to impacts. (Available from: https://environmentlive.unep.org/airpollution.)
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Percent of GDP equivalent
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FIG. 33.2 Human welfare losses due to air pollution in 2013 by region. (From WBG, World Bank Group and Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation: The cost of air pollution: strengthening the economic case for action. International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016.)
to ecosystems, wildlife, or crop production, or the impacts associated with interactions between air pollution and global climate change. By these measures of human mortality and economic costs accrued, air pollution may be considered to be the most critical current environmental human health issue. Hence, a major effort should be focused on improving air quality. The status across nations in implementing various approaches for improving air quality is presented in Fig. 33.3. We see that while progress is being made, we remain far from optimal action. The central question is, what is impeding our advancement in controlling and preventing air pollution, and more generally, all forms of pollution and environmental disturbance?
33.3 CONSTRAINTS TO MAKING POLLUTION HISTORY Several constraints exist that limit our ability to solve environmental issues. Major factors include the following. Failure to Enact and Enforce Regulations: Enactment of environmental laws and associated regulations is a primary means by which to control and reduce pollution. However, promulgation and enforcement of environmental regulations is often constrained by a number of factors. Select primary factors are briefly discussed. One primary factor is the opposition of vested interests, operating under flawed, outdated paradigms. These paradigms include: (1) the assumption that pollution and disease are the inevitable and unavoidable consequences of economic development, (2) that costs associated with environmental regulations are a drain on corporate profitability,
(3) that enactment of environmental regulations leads to unemployment, and (4) that costs accrued from pollution are negligible and cannot be quantified. Research has clearly demonstrated that the application of effective environmental laws and regulations produces significant economic benefits, in addition to reducing deleterious environmental and human health impacts. For example, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency analyzed the costs and monetized benefits of the Clean Air Act between 1970 and 1990 (EPA, 1997). They determined that the monetized benefits totaled more than $1 trillion annually. Essentially all costs savings accrued from human health-related benefits. In comparison, the costs of compliance averaged approximately $25 billion annually. Subtracting costs from benefits yields a net monetized benefit of approximately $1 trillion annually. The EPA estimated in a more recent prospective study covering the period between 1990 and 2020 that the net monetized benefits associated with the Clean Air Act average greater than $1 trillion annually, compared to estimated annual costs of compliance of approximately $50 billion (EPA, 2011). These results are consistent with those of the first study. Thus every dollar invested in air pollution control results in approximately $30 in benefits. The benefits also typically outweigh the costs for other environmental regulations as well. For example, an analysis of the costs and benefits of 39 major environmental regulations enforced by the U.S. EPA over the period of 2006– 2016 showed a benefit–cost ratio of approximately 9 to 1 (OMB, 2017), meaning that every dollar invested resulted in approximately $9 in benefits. These estimated monetized benefits do not include economic gains associated with the pollution control industry—employment and profit
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Where is the world in taking action to improve air quality?
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Countries that have implemented policies and activities Countries that are in the process of implementing policies and activities Countries that have yet to adopt or implement activities Data were not available
FIG. 33.3 Status of actions taken to improve air quality. (From UNEP, United Nations Environment Programme: Towards a pollution-free planet, 2017. Available from: http://web.unep.org/environmentassembly/report-executive-director-towards-pollution-free-planet.)
accruing from the design, manufacture, sales, and servicing of pollution control equipment. Research has also demonstrated that environmental regulation costs are a small percentage of industry revenues. According to 2005 data from U.S. manufacturers, their total pollution abatement spending represented less than 1% of the $4.74 trillion value of the goods they shipped (EPA, 2018). In addition, studies have shown that environmental regulations have not resulted in loss of employment (EPA, 2018). Finally, as
illustrated in the preceding section for air pollution, the monetary costs associated with environment pollution have now been determined and they are enormous. Another major factor limiting the implementation of environmental regulations is the different stages of development across nations, which leads to differences in critical issues of concern and the availability of supportive infrastructure and institutional capacity. Thus the degree of regulatory action varies from country to country. For example,
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some nations face severe issues of widespread food or water scarcity, poverty, or sociopolitical conflict. Such issues can limit the resources and capacity available to address environmental issues. Building environmental capacity in these cases would require development of critical institutional capacity, supportive infrastructure, and conflict resolution. Many current critical environmental issues are global in scale (Chapter 25). As discussed in Chapter 32, global-scale environmental issues require cooperation across nations. Ineffective multinational cooperation impedes implementation of effective policies and limits progress in resolving environmental issues. Fragmented Approaches: The fragmented approaches that are often used is another limitation to resolving pollution issues. As discussed in Chapter 32, sustainable solutions require a systems thinking as opposed to piecewise (fragmented) approach. When examining the environmental impacts caused by a particular activity, we tend to focus on a single medium or portion of the environment. This compartmentalization of systems and components is especially pervasive in the regulatory and policy arena. Numerous environmental laws exist for controlling pollution and other environmental impacts of human activity (Chapter 30). These laws and regulations have often been developed in isolation, which has resulted in sets of fractionated, and sometimes overlapping and/or contradictory rules that are less effective as a whole for protecting the environment. Alternatively, systems thinking is an integrated approach that considers each medium and component of the environment as part of a whole. This approach allows us to evaluate the synergistic and antagonistic interactions that can and do occur in real systems. In addition, it is critical to incorporate the social science aspects of environmental issues into policy considerations. Such an approach is fundamentally inter-, multi-, and transdisciplinary in nature, requiring the active collaboration of many individuals trained in such disparate disciplines as physical sciences, engineering, medicine, economics, sociology, and public policy. This type of approach is captured in the concept of convergence. As defined in a recent National Academy of Sciences report (NAS, 2014), “convergence is an approach to problem solving that cuts across disciplinary boundaries. It integrates knowledge, tools, and ways of thinking from life and health sciences, physical, mathematical, and computational sciences, engineering disciplines, and beyond to form a comprehensive synthetic framework for tackling scientific and societal challenges that exist at the interfaces of multiple fields.” This concept focuses not only on the convergence of expertise and knowledge, but also on the formation of the partnerships required to support the convergence. Although difficult to achieve, this approach will be important for solving complex pollution issues.
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Legacy Contamination, ECs, Analytical Methods, and Toxicology: The issues of legacy contamination, emerging contaminants (ECs), continued improvements in analytical methods, and advances in toxicity testing combine for another constraint to solving pollution issues. Some contaminants that entered the environment years ago prior to current environmental regulations are very persistent in the environment, meaning they remain present and toxic for decades (Chapter 12). The same contaminants are typically also difficult and costly to remove from the environment. In combination, these legacy contaminants continue to pose problems for long time frames. In addition, new contaminants continue to be discovered in the environment (Chapter 12). Thus this issue of emerging contaminants continues to pose new environmental problems to address. The continued development of new and improved analytical methods provides the means to detect ever lower concentrations of contaminants in environmental samples. Thus contaminants are now detected in samples that would have yielded no detection using the older, less-sensitive methods. Therefore samples that would previously have been deemed to be uncontaminated would now be found in fact to be contaminated. Examples of this phenomenon include the chlorinated solvents in the 1970s and 80s and more recently 1,4-dioxane (Chapter 15). This issue raises the question of what is an acceptable level of pollution and to what degree should we clean up pollution? These questions, in turn, are mediated in part by toxicological assessments. Advances in methods of toxicological assessment and in the number of contaminants assessed can lead to changes in hazard characterization profiles of polluted environmental media. An example of this was the reduction in the MCL for arsenic in U.S. drinking water from 50 to 10 μg/L. This has led to large volumes of surface and groundwater being reclassified as contaminated and needing treatment. Data Collection and Dissemination: Gathering and disseminating environmental data is another issue constraining investigation and resolution of pollution issues. Environmental data are the cornerstone that supports actions toward solving environmental issues. Such data are required to uncover the existence of an issue, to define the magnitude and importance of the issue, and to monitor changes as a function of natural perturbations or anthropogenic interventions. We have the scientific and technological means to characterize environmental systems for pollution and disturbance (see Chapter 10). However, there are several factors that constrain full-scale implementation. One is the desire and funding to implement effective monitoring programs across all environments in all regions of the world. Another is development of standardized procedures for collection, processing, and storing enormous volumes of data. A third is providing uniform, transparent access to all parties, including the public.
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Mixed Messaging: As we have learned, there are a plethora of environmental issues, most of which affect human health and well-being and environmental quality to some degree. In this digital age of communication, we typically have a multitude of news stories, reports, and postings for each and every issue, each one being touted as a dire, critical issue for humankind. This has resulted in a cacophony of mixed messaging. For example, climate change was stated to be the most pressing public health problem in a recent National Academy of Sciences report (NAS, 2018). Conversely, a recent report by the United Nations Environment Programme stated that air pollution is the world’s single greatest environmental risk to human health (UNEP, 2017). So, which one is correct? The recent advancements made in quantifying the risks and costs associated with environmental issues provide a tool that can help to clarify and delineate the most significant factors. Public Participation and Education: In the past, regulators, industry, and policy makers operated without much involvement of the communities affected by a particular environmental issue. It is now recognized that it is critical to engage the affected communities when working toward solutions to environmental issues (Chapter 31). More broadly, it is critical to involve the general public in decision-making on environmental issues. This includes supporting education programs to enhance environmental and environmental-health literacy, and promoting effective communication efforts among all parties. As recommended by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS, 2008), “Public participation should be fully incorporated into environmental assessment and decision-making processes, and it should be recognized by government agencies and other organizers of the processes as a requisite of effective action,
not merely a formal procedural requirement.” Ultimately, it falls to the government—and thus to the general public—to determine the level of effort expended on addressing environmental issues.
33.4 SOLUTIONS TO MAKING POLLUTION HISTORY We have the scientific knowledge to address many of the current environmental issues, as presented in many chapters of this book. This knowledge has led to the development of numerous approaches available to resolve pollution issues. These include methods for reclamation, remediation, and restoration of polluted environments, covered in Chapters 19 and 20, and methods for waste management and reuse, covered in Chapters 21–24. Different types of engineered interventions to manage or reduce pollution effects are available or under development, as discussed in Chapter 32. Despite the availability of these various tools, environmental pollution problems continue to exist. Some of the primary reasons for this were discussed in the preceding section. The net result is that there is typically a significant time lag between the generation of scientific knowledge about a specific environmental issue and implementation of actions to address the issue, as illustrated in Fig. 33.4. Given the intractability of many environmental pollution problems, and the great costs required to solve them, it should be obvious that the most beneficial and costeffective approach to pollution management is to stop it before it starts. Thus pollution prevention is a widely accepted goal—a goal that is being implemented to an increasing degree. Science: Early warning to scientific confidence causality
Mercury Asbestos
Policy action: National
Acid rain Tobacco
Policy action: Regional
DDT Policy action: Global Climate change PCB Lead
Impact/harm reduction
Ozone layer 0
20
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80
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FIG. 33.4 Time lag in years between the generation of scientific knowledge about select environmental issues and the implementation of actions to address that issue. (From Global Sustainable Development Report 2015 © 2015 United Nations. Reprinted with the permission of the United Nations.)
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FIG. 33.5 How addressing environmental pollution supports achievement of the United Nations 17 sustainable development goals. (From UNEP, United Nations Environment Programme: Towards a pollution-free planet, 2017. Available from: http://web.unep.org/environmentassembly/report-executivedirector-towards-pollution-free-planet.)
Pollution prevention can take many forms. For example, best management practices have been developed to optimize the amount of water, fertilizers, and pesticides employed for crop production, that is, to use only the amounts necessary to support plant growth. Manufacturing industries are developing safer chemicals, optimizing chemical use, and minimizing waste generation—so-called green chemistry and green technology. Life cycle analysis is increasingly being used to optimize and reduce the use of nonrenewable resources. These are all manifestations of sustainable development, as discussed in Chapter 32. As noted in that chapter, the United Nations developed 17 sustainable development goals designed to promote environmental protection and human health and well-being. Fig. 33.5 illustrates how resolving environmental pollution issues can support achievement of each one of the 17 goals.
33.5 PRIORITIES AND MOVING FORWARD We have covered a myriad of environmental issues in this text. Considering that human and economic resources are
finite, it is necessary to prioritize the most critical issues upon which to focus our efforts over the next few decades. In this regard, it is instructive to examine the stated environmental priorities of the primary national and international environmental agencies. The priorities for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the African Union, the European Union, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Union of South American Nations, and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) are presented in Information Boxes 33.1–33.6. The first five information boxes represent priorities for individual major regions of the world, whereas the sixth, presented by UNEP, represents what they deem to be the priority issues globally. Several themes are common throughout the sets of priorities. Preservation of water resources is mentioned in some form in all five of the regional lists. Climate change is also mentioned in all five lists. Water and climate are the only two issues present in each of the five regional lists. These two are also present in the UNEP global list. Water pollution is estimated to be responsible for approximately 2 million human deaths annually (Chapter 26), the second largest source after air pollution
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INFORMATION BOX 33.1 Seven Priorities for EPA’s Future
INFORMATION BOX 33.3 Environmental Priorities of the European Union
Taking Action on Climate Change Improving Air Quality l Assuring the Safety of Chemicals l Cleaning Up Our Communities l Protecting America’s Waters l Expanding the Conversation on Environmentalism and Working for Environmental Justice l Building Strong State and Tribal Partnerships Available from: https://blog.epa.gov/blog/2010/01/sevenpriorities-for-epas-future-2/. Accessed July 2018.
Protect, conserve and enhance the Union’s natural capital: Natural capital refers to the biodiversity that provides goods and services we rely on, from fertile soil and productive land and seas to fresh water and clean air. It includes vital services such as pollination of plants, natural protection against flooding, and the regulation of our climate. l Turn the Union into a resource-efficient, green, and competitive low-carbon economy: This entails improving resource efficiency across the economy, including energy production and use, improvements to the environmental performance of products over their life cycle, and reductions in the environmental impact of consumption, including issues such as cutting food waste and using biomass in a sustainable way. l Safeguard the Union’s citizens from environment-related pressures and risks to health and wellbeing: This includes challenges such as air and water pollution, excessive noise, chemicals, and the impacts of climate change. l Improved implementation, integration, and investment: This comprises improved implementation of existing environmental legislation, enhanced integration of environmental concerns into other policy areas, adequate accounting of the costs of environmental impacts, and increased investment in products, services, and policies. l Increased information: Scientific research, monitoring and reporting environmental developments mean that our understanding of the environment is constantly increasing. This knowledge base should be made more accessible to citizens and policymakers to ensure policy continues to draw on a sound understanding of the state of the environment. l Sustainable cities: Europe is densely populated and 80% of its citizens are likely to live in or near a city by 2020. Cities often share a common set of problems such as poor air quality, high levels of noise, greenhouse gas emissions, water scarcity, and waste. Available from: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/actionprogramme/. Accessed July 2018.
l l
INFORMATION BOX 33.2 Environmental Priorities of the African Union Biodiversity, conservation and, sustainable natural resource management l Water security l Climate resilience and natural disasters preparedness and prevention l Renewable energy Available from: http://www.un.org/en/africa/osaa/pdf/au/ agenda2063-first10yearimplementation.pdf. Accessed July 2018. l
of environment-related deaths. In addition, water scarcity and the attendant consequences is a primary critical issue for many regions of the world. Clearly, the inclusion of water on all of the priority lists is well justified. Global climate change is anticipated to have a myriad of effects on the environment that are projected to cascade through a widespread range of impacts to human well-being. In particular, global climate change will likely exacerbate the severity of other issues present in the lists. In addition, some of the potential consequences may span multiple human generations. Biodiversity and conservation of natural resources is present in four of the five regional lists and is present in the UNEP list. Clearly, sustainable resource use is central for reducing and preventing scarcity issues and minimizing disturbances of ecosystems and the services they provide. Chemical safety is present in three of the five regional lists and also in the UNEP list. The three lists for which this issue is present are associated with regions that are the most economically developed and for which the legacy of poor chemical waste management practices is more established. It would be of great benefit to the countries whose economies are in the midst of expansion to employ pollution prevention strategies to reduce the future occurrence of chemical contamination issues suffered previously by other nations.
l
INFORMATION BOX 33.4 Environmental Priorities of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Nature conservation and biodiversity Coastal and marine environment l Water resources management l Environmentally sustainable cities l Climate change l Chemicals and waste l Environmental education and sustainable consumption and production Available from: http://asean.org/asean-socio-cultural/ asean-ministerial-meeting-on-environment-amme/overview/. Accessed July 2018. l l
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INFORMATION BOX 33.5 Environment-Related Goals of the Union of South American Nations Energy integration for the sustainable and fair use of the resources of our Region l Infrastructure development to guarantee the interconnection of the region and our peoples according to criteria of sustainable social and economic development l Protection of our biodiversity, water resources and ecosystems as well as cooperation among Member States in matters of disaster prevention and the fight against the causes and effects of climate change Available from: http://www.unasursg.org/en/node/180. Accessed July 2018. l
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Interestingly, air pollution is mentioned in only two of the regional lists. As discussed in Section 33.5 and in Chapter 26, air pollution is responsible for by far more environmental-related human deaths than any other factor. In addition, the global human welfare costs due to air pollution total more than $5 trillion annually and are a significant fraction of global GDP. Given the enormous costs of air pollution, it is apparent that it should be a critical priority for all regions. This is particularly true for developing nations, where the increase in industrial and energy production associated with continued economic development and population growth will increase air pollution and its impacts.
INFORMATION BOX 33.6 Priority Areas of the United Nations Environment Programme 1. Chemicals and Waste Chemicals are integral to our life, but they also can have major impacts on the environment and human health. So too do the various types of wastes produced by human activities. It is critical to develop the science, policies, and legal, and institutional frameworks for sound chemical and waste management. 2. Climate Change Climate change is expected to have unprecedented implications on where people can settle, grow food, build cities, and rely on functioning ecosystems for the services they provide. Efforts to address these issues include pursuit of low carbon emission development and boosting the capacity of communities and nations to adapt and be resilient to climate change. 3. Disasters and Conflicts Since the beginning of the 21st century, the world has witnessed more than 2500 environmental disasters and 40 major conflicts. These events—which have affected more than two billion people—destroy infrastructure, displace populations, and fundamentally undermine human security. They also compound poverty and limit sustainable development. Work is needed to minimize the threats to human well-being from the environmental causes and consequences of disasters and conflicts while building resilience to future crises. 4. Ecosystem Management Humans depend on healthy and productive ecosystems to meet their basic needs, but many people’s needs are not being met sustainably—if at all. An estimated 795 million people suffer from hunger and 1.2 billion live in waterstressed areas. At the same time, biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation are expected to continue, or even accelerate. By 2030, the world will require 40% more water, 50% more food, 40% more energy and 40% more timber and fibre. The only way we can meet these demands is by managing our ecosystems smartly and sustainably. Integrated ecosystem management aims to sustain ecosystems to meet both ecological and human needs.
5. Environmental Governance “We may sometimes think of the law as something divorced from our day-to-day lives, but for many of us it is the reason we can still breathe fresh air, drink clean water, and sleep safely at night. Sadly, it is also the reason why so many cannot.” [Erik Solheim, UN Environment Executive Director]. In our globalized world, environmental threats require effective responses that promote peace, justice, development, and the fullfilment of environmental and human rights. 6. Environment Under Review With the latest advances in Big Data, Earth observation technologies, and citizen science, anyone with an internet connection can now access data on the environment in near real time. This is powerful information that can inform the development of robust environmental policies and help us achieve the goals of the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development. 7. Resource Efficiency The unsustainable use of resources has triggered critical scarcities and caused climate change and widespread environmental degradation—all of which have negative impacts on the well-being of the planet and its people. At the same time, more than 10% of the world population continues to live in extreme poverty, unable to meet even their most basic needs. Responding to this dual challenge will require innovative policies, redirected investment, environmentally sound technologies, international cooperation, and capacity development to support countries to transition to inclusive green economies. Producers will need to change how they design, source, manufacture, and market their products. Consumers will need to incorporate environmental and social concerns into their consumption decisions and adopt sustainable lifestyles. Source: Available from: http://web.unep.org/about/how-weoperate/priority-areas#. Accessed July 2018.
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Different metrics can be used to assess the impacts of environmental pollution and disturbances. Examples include economic costs due to infrastructure damage, economic loss due to reduced availability of natural resources and services, numbers of affected or displaced people, numbers of deaths, and the costs accrued from disability and death. Based on the measures of loss of human life and the associated human welfare costs that have been estimated for the various environmental factors (see Chapter 26), one might conclude that air pollution is the most critical environmental issue to address over the next few decades. Would we arrive at the same conclusion if a different set of metrics were used? In addition, this assessment is based on global-scale impacts. We need to also keep in mind the local-scale aspects of environmental health—for example, addressing air pollution does not solve the concerns of community members affected by chemical pollution of their drinking water. This illustrates the need for policies and interventions at both the community and global scales of environmental health. Determining a priority focus is just the first step in the process. Developing solutions requires determination of the causes of pollution and the various factors that affect those causes. For example, particulate matter is a primary contributor to air pollution. A major source of particulate matter is fossil fuel use for energy production and transportation. Thus solutions for reducing particulate matter in air would need to involve changes to the methods of energy production and transportation. We know that fossil fuel consumption is also a major cause of elevated CO2 levels in the atmosphere, which is contributing to global climate change. Another major source of particulate matter is dust from wind erosion of denuded land, which often occurs in arid environments experiencing drought. And, global climate change is likely going to increase the magnitudes and rates of drought. These examples illustrate the interconnectedness of environmental issues. This brings us back to the systems thinking approach necessary for the development of sustainable solutions. We need this convergence approach to identify the keystone factors at the heart of critical environmental issues, ones for which effective interventions can produce the greatest benefits for the health and welfare of humans and the environment. Scientific and technological advances over the past decades have provided us with the knowledge and means to address and solve many if not most of our critical environmental issues. However, the environment continues to be polluted and resources continue to be used unsustainably. What is it, then, that prevents us from making the future of pollution history? The answer is complex, of course, and depends on a number of different factors, including financial, political, and societal—in other words the human dimensions of pollution discussed before and in other chapters of this book. To be effective environmental
scientists in the 21st century, we need to not only understand the natural science of pollution, but also the human dimensions to pollution. We hope that the information, concepts, and ideas presented in this textbook will help support the development of effective environmental scientists who will contribute to turning the page on environmental pollution, thereby making it history.
QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 1. Discuss why air pollution is or is not the most critical environmental issue. 2. Discuss why global climate change is or is not the most critical environmental issue. 3. What factors should be considered when assessing the importance of an environmental issue?
REFERENCES Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, 1997. The benefits and costs of the clean air act, 1970 to 1990. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, 2011. The benefits and costs of the clean air act from 1990 to 2020. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Air and Radiation. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA (2018). The clean air act and the economy. Available from: https://www.epa.gov/clean-air-act-overview/ clean-air-act-and-economy#invest. Last accessed July 2018. GBD 2015 Risk Factors Collaborators, 2016. Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 79 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks, 1990–2015: a systematic analysis for the global burden of disease. Lancet 388, 1659–1724. Landrigan, P.J., et al., 2017. The Lancet commission on pollution and health. Lancet. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)32345-0. National Academies of Sciences, NAS, 2008. Public Participation in Environmental Assessment and Decision Making. The National Academies Press, Washington, DC. National Academies of Sciences, NAS, 2014. Convergence: Facilitating Transdisciplinary Integration of Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, Engineering, and Beyond. The National Academies Press, Washington, DC. National Academies of Sciences, NAS, 2018. Protecting the health and well-being of communities in a changing climate. In: Proceedings of a Workshop. The National Academies Press, Washington, DC. https://doi.org/10.17226/24846. OECD, 2016. The Economic Consequences of Outdoor Air Pollution. OECD Publishing, Paris, FR. Office of Management and Budget, OMB, 2017. Draft Report to Congress on the Benefits and Costs of Federal Regulations and Agency Compliance with the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. Office of Management and Budget, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. € un, A., Wolf, J., Corvalan, C., Bos, R., Neira, M., 2016. PrePr€uss-Ust€ venting Disease Through Healthy Environments. World Health Organization, Geneva. UNEP, United Nations Environment Programme, 2017. Towards a pollutionfree planet. Available from: http://web.unep.org/environmentassembly/ report-executive-director-towards-pollution-free-planet.
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WBG, World Bank Group and Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, 2016. The Cost of Air Pollution: Strengthening the Economic Case for Action. International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank, Washington, DC. WHO, World Health Organization (2016). Ambient air pollution: a global assessment of exposure and burden of disease. Available from: http:// apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/250141/1/9789241511353-eng.pdf. Zalasiewicz, J., et al., 2016. Scale and diversity of the physical technosphere: a geological perspective. Anthropocene Rev.. https://doi.org/ 10.1177/2053019616677743.
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FURTHER READING United Nations, 2015. Global Sustainable Development Report 2015. Available from: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/ documents/1758GSDR%202015%20Advance%20Unedited% 20Version.pdf.
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A pollution free sunrise. Photo courtesy K.L. Josephson.
33.1 HUMAN IMPACTS TO EARTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT Throughout the history of life on Earth, the nature, number, and very existence of living organisms has been shaped by Earth’s environment. We are clearly living in a time when a species, humans, is now causing significant change to Earth’s environment and systems. Many scientists are calling this current epoch the Anthropocene, to denote this fact. The Earth is often divided into four major spheres— atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere. Environmental systems have been defined by interactions within and among these four spheres. A fifth sphere, the technosphere, may now be added. The technosphere is defined by the Oxford dictionary as “The sphere or realm of human technological activity; the technologically modified environment.” The technosphere represents all of the buildings, structures, devices, and modifications that humans have created to support their existence on Earth—from houses, factories, and farms, to planes, trains, ships, and automobiles, to roads and airports, to reservoirs, aqueducts, and dams, to communication and power generation/ Environmental and Pollution Science. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-814719-1.00033-1 Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
transmission systems, to soccer and other sports stadia, to mines and oil and gas fields, to all of the devices and products humans use, to waste treatment and storage facilities. It also includes the human systems that exist within society—cultural, social, politcal, and economic interactions among human populations. A recent study estimated that the current aggregate mass of the technosphere is approximately 30 trillion tons. This represents a mass of more than 50 kilograms for every square meter of the Earth’s surface (Zalasiewicz et al., 2016). With a current world population of 7.6 billion, the mass of the technosphere represents almost 4000 tons per person. Perhaps it is time for the technosphere to be put on a diet? As we have seen throughout many chapters of this text, most human activities pollute or otherwise disturb the environment. While these impacts have been occurring since the dawn of humankind, the impacts are starting to have significant effects on the Earth in this period of the Anthropocene. In other words, the technosphere has a major impact on the health of the other four Earth spheres. Furthermore, we have learned that pollution and disruption of the environment can have severe direct and indirect consequences for human health and well-being. It should now be clear that it is in our own best interests to protect the environment.
33.2 DEMONSTRATING THE CONSEQUENCES OF POLLUTION Several chapters in the text highlighted the myriad impacts of pollution on the environment, in terms of degraded air, water, soil, and habitats. These impacts have significant, often severe, consequences for ecosystems and the plants and animals that live within them. Unfortunately, such impacts to “nature and wildlife” are not typically a priority concern for some individuals or nations. This has resulted in alternative approaches for characterizing and demonstrating the significance of environmental pollution. The first approach is the concept of ecosystem services, discussed in Chapter 6. This concept provides a means to directly illustrate the many ways in which the environment supports human life and well-being. The second approach is 605
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the determination of the impacts of pollution in terms of human health and mortality (Chapter 26). In the third approach, efforts are now being made to determine the monetary costs associated with the disruption of ecosystem service benefits and the impairment and loss of human life. Enhancing the visibility of environmental pollution and its effects through these and other efforts will hopefully strengthen our interest in protecting the environment. Air pollution can be used as an illustrative example of these approaches for characterizing the human-related impacts of pollution. Air pollution is pervasive throughout the world. Approximately 9 out of every 10 people breathe outdoor air polluted above World Health Organization guideline levels (WHO, 2016). Ambient (outdoor) air pollution originates from many human activities, as well as some natural sources (Chapter 17), and has numerous impacts on ecosystems, ecosystem services, and human health (Fig. 33.1). In addition, indoor air pollution, particularly from cooking and heating, is a major concern for many developing countries. As discussed in Chapter 26, studies have estimated that environmental pollution causes approximately 12 million
premature human deaths globally each year. This represents more than 20% of all deaths. Environmental factors in aggregate are the single greatest risk factor for human mortality. More than 7 million deaths are attributed to indoor and outdoor air pollution alone, by far the single largest source of environment-related deaths (GBD, 2016; Pr€uss-Ust€ un et al., 2016). This is greater than the number of deaths attributed to tobacco use, being overweight, alcohol use, and unsafe sex. In fact, it is greater than every other single risk factor except for high blood pressure. The number of premature deaths attributable to air pollution is projected to increase to between 9 and 12 million annually by 2060 in the absence of more stringent policies (OECD, 2016; Landrigan et al., 2017). The factors that contribute to the human welfare costs of pollution were presented in Chapter 26. It is estimated that the global human welfare costs due to air pollution total more than $5 trillion annually (WBG, 2016; UNEP, 2017). These costs represent significant fractions of gross domestic product worldwide (Fig. 33.2). The costs are projected to rise to more than $25 trillion annually by 2060 in the absence of more stringent control measures. Note that these costs do not include the economic impacts of damage
FIG. 33.1 Air pollution from sources to impacts. (Available from: https://environmentlive.unep.org/airpollution.)
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Percent of GDP equivalent
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FIG. 33.2 Human welfare losses due to air pollution in 2013 by region. (From WBG, World Bank Group and Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation: The cost of air pollution: strengthening the economic case for action. International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016.)
to ecosystems, wildlife, or crop production, or the impacts associated with interactions between air pollution and global climate change. By these measures of human mortality and economic costs accrued, air pollution may be considered to be the most critical current environmental human health issue. Hence, a major effort should be focused on improving air quality. The status across nations in implementing various approaches for improving air quality is presented in Fig. 33.3. We see that while progress is being made, we remain far from optimal action. The central question is, what is impeding our advancement in controlling and preventing air pollution, and more generally, all forms of pollution and environmental disturbance?
33.3 CONSTRAINTS TO MAKING POLLUTION HISTORY Several constraints exist that limit our ability to solve environmental issues. Major factors include the following. Failure to Enact and Enforce Regulations: Enactment of environmental laws and associated regulations is a primary means by which to control and reduce pollution. However, promulgation and enforcement of environmental regulations is often constrained by a number of factors. Select primary factors are briefly discussed. One primary factor is the opposition of vested interests, operating under flawed, outdated paradigms. These paradigms include: (1) the assumption that pollution and disease are the inevitable and unavoidable consequences of economic development, (2) that costs associated with environmental regulations are a drain on corporate profitability,
(3) that enactment of environmental regulations leads to unemployment, and (4) that costs accrued from pollution are negligible and cannot be quantified. Research has clearly demonstrated that the application of effective environmental laws and regulations produces significant economic benefits, in addition to reducing deleterious environmental and human health impacts. For example, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency analyzed the costs and monetized benefits of the Clean Air Act between 1970 and 1990 (EPA, 1997). They determined that the monetized benefits totaled more than $1 trillion annually. Essentially all costs savings accrued from human health-related benefits. In comparison, the costs of compliance averaged approximately $25 billion annually. Subtracting costs from benefits yields a net monetized benefit of approximately $1 trillion annually. The EPA estimated in a more recent prospective study covering the period between 1990 and 2020 that the net monetized benefits associated with the Clean Air Act average greater than $1 trillion annually, compared to estimated annual costs of compliance of approximately $50 billion (EPA, 2011). These results are consistent with those of the first study. Thus every dollar invested in air pollution control results in approximately $30 in benefits. The benefits also typically outweigh the costs for other environmental regulations as well. For example, an analysis of the costs and benefits of 39 major environmental regulations enforced by the U.S. EPA over the period of 2006– 2016 showed a benefit–cost ratio of approximately 9 to 1 (OMB, 2017), meaning that every dollar invested resulted in approximately $9 in benefits. These estimated monetized benefits do not include economic gains associated with the pollution control industry—employment and profit
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Countries that have implemented policies and activities Countries that are in the process of implementing policies and activities Countries that have yet to adopt or implement activities Data were not available
FIG. 33.3 Status of actions taken to improve air quality. (From UNEP, United Nations Environment Programme: Towards a pollution-free planet, 2017. Available from: http://web.unep.org/environmentassembly/report-executive-director-towards-pollution-free-planet.)
accruing from the design, manufacture, sales, and servicing of pollution control equipment. Research has also demonstrated that environmental regulation costs are a small percentage of industry revenues. According to 2005 data from U.S. manufacturers, their total pollution abatement spending represented less than 1% of the $4.74 trillion value of the goods they shipped (EPA, 2018). In addition, studies have shown that environmental regulations have not resulted in loss of employment (EPA, 2018). Finally, as
illustrated in the preceding section for air pollution, the monetary costs associated with environment pollution have now been determined and they are enormous. Another major factor limiting the implementation of environmental regulations is the different stages of development across nations, which leads to differences in critical issues of concern and the availability of supportive infrastructure and institutional capacity. Thus the degree of regulatory action varies from country to country. For example,
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some nations face severe issues of widespread food or water scarcity, poverty, or sociopolitical conflict. Such issues can limit the resources and capacity available to address environmental issues. Building environmental capacity in these cases would require development of critical institutional capacity, supportive infrastructure, and conflict resolution. Many current critical environmental issues are global in scale (Chapter 25). As discussed in Chapter 32, global-scale environmental issues require cooperation across nations. Ineffective multinational cooperation impedes implementation of effective policies and limits progress in resolving environmental issues. Fragmented Approaches: The fragmented approaches that are often used is another limitation to resolving pollution issues. As discussed in Chapter 32, sustainable solutions require a systems thinking as opposed to piecewise (fragmented) approach. When examining the environmental impacts caused by a particular activity, we tend to focus on a single medium or portion of the environment. This compartmentalization of systems and components is especially pervasive in the regulatory and policy arena. Numerous environmental laws exist for controlling pollution and other environmental impacts of human activity (Chapter 30). These laws and regulations have often been developed in isolation, which has resulted in sets of fractionated, and sometimes overlapping and/or contradictory rules that are less effective as a whole for protecting the environment. Alternatively, systems thinking is an integrated approach that considers each medium and component of the environment as part of a whole. This approach allows us to evaluate the synergistic and antagonistic interactions that can and do occur in real systems. In addition, it is critical to incorporate the social science aspects of environmental issues into policy considerations. Such an approach is fundamentally inter-, multi-, and transdisciplinary in nature, requiring the active collaboration of many individuals trained in such disparate disciplines as physical sciences, engineering, medicine, economics, sociology, and public policy. This type of approach is captured in the concept of convergence. As defined in a recent National Academy of Sciences report (NAS, 2014), “convergence is an approach to problem solving that cuts across disciplinary boundaries. It integrates knowledge, tools, and ways of thinking from life and health sciences, physical, mathematical, and computational sciences, engineering disciplines, and beyond to form a comprehensive synthetic framework for tackling scientific and societal challenges that exist at the interfaces of multiple fields.” This concept focuses not only on the convergence of expertise and knowledge, but also on the formation of the partnerships required to support the convergence. Although difficult to achieve, this approach will be important for solving complex pollution issues.
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Legacy Contamination, ECs, Analytical Methods, and Toxicology: The issues of legacy contamination, emerging contaminants (ECs), continued improvements in analytical methods, and advances in toxicity testing combine for another constraint to solving pollution issues. Some contaminants that entered the environment years ago prior to current environmental regulations are very persistent in the environment, meaning they remain present and toxic for decades (Chapter 12). The same contaminants are typically also difficult and costly to remove from the environment. In combination, these legacy contaminants continue to pose problems for long time frames. In addition, new contaminants continue to be discovered in the environment (Chapter 12). Thus this issue of emerging contaminants continues to pose new environmental problems to address. The continued development of new and improved analytical methods provides the means to detect ever lower concentrations of contaminants in environmental samples. Thus contaminants are now detected in samples that would have yielded no detection using the older, less-sensitive methods. Therefore samples that would previously have been deemed to be uncontaminated would now be found in fact to be contaminated. Examples of this phenomenon include the chlorinated solvents in the 1970s and 80s and more recently 1,4-dioxane (Chapter 15). This issue raises the question of what is an acceptable level of pollution and to what degree should we clean up pollution? These questions, in turn, are mediated in part by toxicological assessments. Advances in methods of toxicological assessment and in the number of contaminants assessed can lead to changes in hazard characterization profiles of polluted environmental media. An example of this was the reduction in the MCL for arsenic in U.S. drinking water from 50 to 10 μg/L. This has led to large volumes of surface and groundwater being reclassified as contaminated and needing treatment. Data Collection and Dissemination: Gathering and disseminating environmental data is another issue constraining investigation and resolution of pollution issues. Environmental data are the cornerstone that supports actions toward solving environmental issues. Such data are required to uncover the existence of an issue, to define the magnitude and importance of the issue, and to monitor changes as a function of natural perturbations or anthropogenic interventions. We have the scientific and technological means to characterize environmental systems for pollution and disturbance (see Chapter 10). However, there are several factors that constrain full-scale implementation. One is the desire and funding to implement effective monitoring programs across all environments in all regions of the world. Another is development of standardized procedures for collection, processing, and storing enormous volumes of data. A third is providing uniform, transparent access to all parties, including the public.
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Mixed Messaging: As we have learned, there are a plethora of environmental issues, most of which affect human health and well-being and environmental quality to some degree. In this digital age of communication, we typically have a multitude of news stories, reports, and postings for each and every issue, each one being touted as a dire, critical issue for humankind. This has resulted in a cacophony of mixed messaging. For example, climate change was stated to be the most pressing public health problem in a recent National Academy of Sciences report (NAS, 2018). Conversely, a recent report by the United Nations Environment Programme stated that air pollution is the world’s single greatest environmental risk to human health (UNEP, 2017). So, which one is correct? The recent advancements made in quantifying the risks and costs associated with environmental issues provide a tool that can help to clarify and delineate the most significant factors. Public Participation and Education: In the past, regulators, industry, and policy makers operated without much involvement of the communities affected by a particular environmental issue. It is now recognized that it is critical to engage the affected communities when working toward solutions to environmental issues (Chapter 31). More broadly, it is critical to involve the general public in decision-making on environmental issues. This includes supporting education programs to enhance environmental and environmental-health literacy, and promoting effective communication efforts among all parties. As recommended by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS, 2008), “Public participation should be fully incorporated into environmental assessment and decision-making processes, and it should be recognized by government agencies and other organizers of the processes as a requisite of effective action,
not merely a formal procedural requirement.” Ultimately, it falls to the government—and thus to the general public—to determine the level of effort expended on addressing environmental issues.
33.4 SOLUTIONS TO MAKING POLLUTION HISTORY We have the scientific knowledge to address many of the current environmental issues, as presented in many chapters of this book. This knowledge has led to the development of numerous approaches available to resolve pollution issues. These include methods for reclamation, remediation, and restoration of polluted environments, covered in Chapters 19 and 20, and methods for waste management and reuse, covered in Chapters 21–24. Different types of engineered interventions to manage or reduce pollution effects are available or under development, as discussed in Chapter 32. Despite the availability of these various tools, environmental pollution problems continue to exist. Some of the primary reasons for this were discussed in the preceding section. The net result is that there is typically a significant time lag between the generation of scientific knowledge about a specific environmental issue and implementation of actions to address the issue, as illustrated in Fig. 33.4. Given the intractability of many environmental pollution problems, and the great costs required to solve them, it should be obvious that the most beneficial and costeffective approach to pollution management is to stop it before it starts. Thus pollution prevention is a widely accepted goal—a goal that is being implemented to an increasing degree. Science: Early warning to scientific confidence causality
Mercury Asbestos
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Acid rain Tobacco
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FIG. 33.4 Time lag in years between the generation of scientific knowledge about select environmental issues and the implementation of actions to address that issue. (From Global Sustainable Development Report 2015 © 2015 United Nations. Reprinted with the permission of the United Nations.)
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FIG. 33.5 How addressing environmental pollution supports achievement of the United Nations 17 sustainable development goals. (From UNEP, United Nations Environment Programme: Towards a pollution-free planet, 2017. Available from: http://web.unep.org/environmentassembly/report-executivedirector-towards-pollution-free-planet.)
Pollution prevention can take many forms. For example, best management practices have been developed to optimize the amount of water, fertilizers, and pesticides employed for crop production, that is, to use only the amounts necessary to support plant growth. Manufacturing industries are developing safer chemicals, optimizing chemical use, and minimizing waste generation—so-called green chemistry and green technology. Life cycle analysis is increasingly being used to optimize and reduce the use of nonrenewable resources. These are all manifestations of sustainable development, as discussed in Chapter 32. As noted in that chapter, the United Nations developed 17 sustainable development goals designed to promote environmental protection and human health and well-being. Fig. 33.5 illustrates how resolving environmental pollution issues can support achievement of each one of the 17 goals.
33.5 PRIORITIES AND MOVING FORWARD We have covered a myriad of environmental issues in this text. Considering that human and economic resources are
finite, it is necessary to prioritize the most critical issues upon which to focus our efforts over the next few decades. In this regard, it is instructive to examine the stated environmental priorities of the primary national and international environmental agencies. The priorities for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the African Union, the European Union, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Union of South American Nations, and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) are presented in Information Boxes 33.1–33.6. The first five information boxes represent priorities for individual major regions of the world, whereas the sixth, presented by UNEP, represents what they deem to be the priority issues globally. Several themes are common throughout the sets of priorities. Preservation of water resources is mentioned in some form in all five of the regional lists. Climate change is also mentioned in all five lists. Water and climate are the only two issues present in each of the five regional lists. These two are also present in the UNEP global list. Water pollution is estimated to be responsible for approximately 2 million human deaths annually (Chapter 26), the second largest source after air pollution
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INFORMATION BOX 33.1 Seven Priorities for EPA’s Future
INFORMATION BOX 33.3 Environmental Priorities of the European Union
Taking Action on Climate Change Improving Air Quality l Assuring the Safety of Chemicals l Cleaning Up Our Communities l Protecting America’s Waters l Expanding the Conversation on Environmentalism and Working for Environmental Justice l Building Strong State and Tribal Partnerships Available from: https://blog.epa.gov/blog/2010/01/sevenpriorities-for-epas-future-2/. Accessed July 2018.
Protect, conserve and enhance the Union’s natural capital: Natural capital refers to the biodiversity that provides goods and services we rely on, from fertile soil and productive land and seas to fresh water and clean air. It includes vital services such as pollination of plants, natural protection against flooding, and the regulation of our climate. l Turn the Union into a resource-efficient, green, and competitive low-carbon economy: This entails improving resource efficiency across the economy, including energy production and use, improvements to the environmental performance of products over their life cycle, and reductions in the environmental impact of consumption, including issues such as cutting food waste and using biomass in a sustainable way. l Safeguard the Union’s citizens from environment-related pressures and risks to health and wellbeing: This includes challenges such as air and water pollution, excessive noise, chemicals, and the impacts of climate change. l Improved implementation, integration, and investment: This comprises improved implementation of existing environmental legislation, enhanced integration of environmental concerns into other policy areas, adequate accounting of the costs of environmental impacts, and increased investment in products, services, and policies. l Increased information: Scientific research, monitoring and reporting environmental developments mean that our understanding of the environment is constantly increasing. This knowledge base should be made more accessible to citizens and policymakers to ensure policy continues to draw on a sound understanding of the state of the environment. l Sustainable cities: Europe is densely populated and 80% of its citizens are likely to live in or near a city by 2020. Cities often share a common set of problems such as poor air quality, high levels of noise, greenhouse gas emissions, water scarcity, and waste. Available from: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/actionprogramme/. Accessed July 2018.
l l
INFORMATION BOX 33.2 Environmental Priorities of the African Union Biodiversity, conservation and, sustainable natural resource management l Water security l Climate resilience and natural disasters preparedness and prevention l Renewable energy Available from: http://www.un.org/en/africa/osaa/pdf/au/ agenda2063-first10yearimplementation.pdf. Accessed July 2018. l
of environment-related deaths. In addition, water scarcity and the attendant consequences is a primary critical issue for many regions of the world. Clearly, the inclusion of water on all of the priority lists is well justified. Global climate change is anticipated to have a myriad of effects on the environment that are projected to cascade through a widespread range of impacts to human well-being. In particular, global climate change will likely exacerbate the severity of other issues present in the lists. In addition, some of the potential consequences may span multiple human generations. Biodiversity and conservation of natural resources is present in four of the five regional lists and is present in the UNEP list. Clearly, sustainable resource use is central for reducing and preventing scarcity issues and minimizing disturbances of ecosystems and the services they provide. Chemical safety is present in three of the five regional lists and also in the UNEP list. The three lists for which this issue is present are associated with regions that are the most economically developed and for which the legacy of poor chemical waste management practices is more established. It would be of great benefit to the countries whose economies are in the midst of expansion to employ pollution prevention strategies to reduce the future occurrence of chemical contamination issues suffered previously by other nations.
l
INFORMATION BOX 33.4 Environmental Priorities of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Nature conservation and biodiversity Coastal and marine environment l Water resources management l Environmentally sustainable cities l Climate change l Chemicals and waste l Environmental education and sustainable consumption and production Available from: http://asean.org/asean-socio-cultural/ asean-ministerial-meeting-on-environment-amme/overview/. Accessed July 2018. l l
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INFORMATION BOX 33.5 Environment-Related Goals of the Union of South American Nations Energy integration for the sustainable and fair use of the resources of our Region l Infrastructure development to guarantee the interconnection of the region and our peoples according to criteria of sustainable social and economic development l Protection of our biodiversity, water resources and ecosystems as well as cooperation among Member States in matters of disaster prevention and the fight against the causes and effects of climate change Available from: http://www.unasursg.org/en/node/180. Accessed July 2018. l
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Interestingly, air pollution is mentioned in only two of the regional lists. As discussed in Section 33.5 and in Chapter 26, air pollution is responsible for by far more environmental-related human deaths than any other factor. In addition, the global human welfare costs due to air pollution total more than $5 trillion annually and are a significant fraction of global GDP. Given the enormous costs of air pollution, it is apparent that it should be a critical priority for all regions. This is particularly true for developing nations, where the increase in industrial and energy production associated with continued economic development and population growth will increase air pollution and its impacts.
INFORMATION BOX 33.6 Priority Areas of the United Nations Environment Programme 1. Chemicals and Waste Chemicals are integral to our life, but they also can have major impacts on the environment and human health. So too do the various types of wastes produced by human activities. It is critical to develop the science, policies, and legal, and institutional frameworks for sound chemical and waste management. 2. Climate Change Climate change is expected to have unprecedented implications on where people can settle, grow food, build cities, and rely on functioning ecosystems for the services they provide. Efforts to address these issues include pursuit of low carbon emission development and boosting the capacity of communities and nations to adapt and be resilient to climate change. 3. Disasters and Conflicts Since the beginning of the 21st century, the world has witnessed more than 2500 environmental disasters and 40 major conflicts. These events—which have affected more than two billion people—destroy infrastructure, displace populations, and fundamentally undermine human security. They also compound poverty and limit sustainable development. Work is needed to minimize the threats to human well-being from the environmental causes and consequences of disasters and conflicts while building resilience to future crises. 4. Ecosystem Management Humans depend on healthy and productive ecosystems to meet their basic needs, but many people’s needs are not being met sustainably—if at all. An estimated 795 million people suffer from hunger and 1.2 billion live in waterstressed areas. At the same time, biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation are expected to continue, or even accelerate. By 2030, the world will require 40% more water, 50% more food, 40% more energy and 40% more timber and fibre. The only way we can meet these demands is by managing our ecosystems smartly and sustainably. Integrated ecosystem management aims to sustain ecosystems to meet both ecological and human needs.
5. Environmental Governance “We may sometimes think of the law as something divorced from our day-to-day lives, but for many of us it is the reason we can still breathe fresh air, drink clean water, and sleep safely at night. Sadly, it is also the reason why so many cannot.” [Erik Solheim, UN Environment Executive Director]. In our globalized world, environmental threats require effective responses that promote peace, justice, development, and the fullfilment of environmental and human rights. 6. Environment Under Review With the latest advances in Big Data, Earth observation technologies, and citizen science, anyone with an internet connection can now access data on the environment in near real time. This is powerful information that can inform the development of robust environmental policies and help us achieve the goals of the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development. 7. Resource Efficiency The unsustainable use of resources has triggered critical scarcities and caused climate change and widespread environmental degradation—all of which have negative impacts on the well-being of the planet and its people. At the same time, more than 10% of the world population continues to live in extreme poverty, unable to meet even their most basic needs. Responding to this dual challenge will require innovative policies, redirected investment, environmentally sound technologies, international cooperation, and capacity development to support countries to transition to inclusive green economies. Producers will need to change how they design, source, manufacture, and market their products. Consumers will need to incorporate environmental and social concerns into their consumption decisions and adopt sustainable lifestyles. Source: Available from: http://web.unep.org/about/how-weoperate/priority-areas#. Accessed July 2018.
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IV Global Systems and the Human Dimensions to Environmental Pollution
Different metrics can be used to assess the impacts of environmental pollution and disturbances. Examples include economic costs due to infrastructure damage, economic loss due to reduced availability of natural resources and services, numbers of affected or displaced people, numbers of deaths, and the costs accrued from disability and death. Based on the measures of loss of human life and the associated human welfare costs that have been estimated for the various environmental factors (see Chapter 26), one might conclude that air pollution is the most critical environmental issue to address over the next few decades. Would we arrive at the same conclusion if a different set of metrics were used? In addition, this assessment is based on global-scale impacts. We need to also keep in mind the local-scale aspects of environmental health—for example, addressing air pollution does not solve the concerns of community members affected by chemical pollution of their drinking water. This illustrates the need for policies and interventions at both the community and global scales of environmental health. Determining a priority focus is just the first step in the process. Developing solutions requires determination of the causes of pollution and the various factors that affect those causes. For example, particulate matter is a primary contributor to air pollution. A major source of particulate matter is fossil fuel use for energy production and transportation. Thus solutions for reducing particulate matter in air would need to involve changes to the methods of energy production and transportation. We know that fossil fuel consumption is also a major cause of elevated CO2 levels in the atmosphere, which is contributing to global climate change. Another major source of particulate matter is dust from wind erosion of denuded land, which often occurs in arid environments experiencing drought. And, global climate change is likely going to increase the magnitudes and rates of drought. These examples illustrate the interconnectedness of environmental issues. This brings us back to the systems thinking approach necessary for the development of sustainable solutions. We need this convergence approach to identify the keystone factors at the heart of critical environmental issues, ones for which effective interventions can produce the greatest benefits for the health and welfare of humans and the environment. Scientific and technological advances over the past decades have provided us with the knowledge and means to address and solve many if not most of our critical environmental issues. However, the environment continues to be polluted and resources continue to be used unsustainably. What is it, then, that prevents us from making the future of pollution history? The answer is complex, of course, and depends on a number of different factors, including financial, political, and societal—in other words the human dimensions of pollution discussed before and in other chapters of this book. To be effective environmental
scientists in the 21st century, we need to not only understand the natural science of pollution, but also the human dimensions to pollution. We hope that the information, concepts, and ideas presented in this textbook will help support the development of effective environmental scientists who will contribute to turning the page on environmental pollution, thereby making it history.
QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 1. Discuss why air pollution is or is not the most critical environmental issue. 2. Discuss why global climate change is or is not the most critical environmental issue. 3. What factors should be considered when assessing the importance of an environmental issue?
REFERENCES Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, 1997. The benefits and costs of the clean air act, 1970 to 1990. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, 2011. The benefits and costs of the clean air act from 1990 to 2020. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Air and Radiation. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA (2018). The clean air act and the economy. Available from: https://www.epa.gov/clean-air-act-overview/ clean-air-act-and-economy#invest. Last accessed July 2018. GBD 2015 Risk Factors Collaborators, 2016. Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 79 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks, 1990–2015: a systematic analysis for the global burden of disease. Lancet 388, 1659–1724. Landrigan, P.J., et al., 2017. The Lancet commission on pollution and health. Lancet. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)32345-0. National Academies of Sciences, NAS, 2008. Public Participation in Environmental Assessment and Decision Making. The National Academies Press, Washington, DC. National Academies of Sciences, NAS, 2014. Convergence: Facilitating Transdisciplinary Integration of Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, Engineering, and Beyond. The National Academies Press, Washington, DC. National Academies of Sciences, NAS, 2018. Protecting the health and well-being of communities in a changing climate. In: Proceedings of a Workshop. The National Academies Press, Washington, DC. https://doi.org/10.17226/24846. OECD, 2016. The Economic Consequences of Outdoor Air Pollution. OECD Publishing, Paris, FR. Office of Management and Budget, OMB, 2017. Draft Report to Congress on the Benefits and Costs of Federal Regulations and Agency Compliance with the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. Office of Management and Budget, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. € un, A., Wolf, J., Corvalan, C., Bos, R., Neira, M., 2016. PrePr€uss-Ust€ venting Disease Through Healthy Environments. World Health Organization, Geneva. UNEP, United Nations Environment Programme, 2017. Towards a pollutionfree planet. Available from: http://web.unep.org/environmentassembly/ report-executive-director-towards-pollution-free-planet.
Epilogue: Is the Future of Pollution History? Chapter
WBG, World Bank Group and Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, 2016. The Cost of Air Pollution: Strengthening the Economic Case for Action. International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank, Washington, DC. WHO, World Health Organization (2016). Ambient air pollution: a global assessment of exposure and burden of disease. Available from: http:// apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/250141/1/9789241511353-eng.pdf. Zalasiewicz, J., et al., 2016. Scale and diversity of the physical technosphere: a geological perspective. Anthropocene Rev.. https://doi.org/ 10.1177/2053019616677743.
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FURTHER READING United Nations, 2015. Global Sustainable Development Report 2015. Available from: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/ documents/1758GSDR%202015%20Advance%20Unedited% 20Version.pdf.