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Perspective on environmental impact assessment
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sensing. It gives a detailed discussion on which method to use in practice and what accuracy can be expected in the estimations. The four chapters of this section have headings which clearly indicate the subjects covered in the section: 'Remote sensing to measure the distribution and structure of vegetation'. 'Remote sensing for monitoring vegetation: an emphasis on satellites', 'Coupling remotely sensed data to ground observations' and 'The LACIE experiment in satellite-aided monitoring of global crop production'. The last section is the conclusion of the report, with a chapter called 'Measurement of changes in the vegetation of the earth by satellite imagery'. The conclusions are quite clear: satellite imagery can be used effectively to measure current rates of change in the areas of forests globally. The basis of such use, however, must lie in direct measurement of changes, not in indirect analysis based on a comparison of inventories. The book gives a sober coverage of the problem raised in the title and can be recommended to everyone interested in the global cycles and the estimation of their importance for future changes of the life conditions on earth. SVEN E R I K J ~ R G E N S E N
Langkaer Vaenge 9 DK-3500 Vaerlose, Copenhagen, Denmark
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT
Perspectives on Environmental Impact Assessment. Brian D. Clark and Alexander Gilad, Ronald Bisset and Paul Tomlinson (Editors), Reidel, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, 1984. 520 pp., Dfl. 180.00. ISBN 90-2771753-2. This book is a collection of papers on a wide range of environmental impact assessment (EIA) topics produced by a group of experts drawn from developed and developing countries. It covers the proceedings of the annual training courses on EIA sponsored by WHO, Regional Office of Europe, Copenhagen, Denmark at the Centre for Environmental Management and Planning, University of Aberdeen, Scotland 1980-1983. The book consists of four parts. Part A covers objectives and procedures, part B the role of environmental health assessment, part C assessment methods and techniques, and part D case studies. Part A presents the various EIA considerations made in different regions of the world: U.S.A., U.S.A. and Europe, Canada, France, The Netherlands, Scotland and in developing countries.
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Part B discusses the health component in EIA, medical effects of air pollution and noise, health impacts of the Volta Dam, Ghana and assessment of hazard and risk. Part C covers almost half of the book and reviews methods and techniques in two ways: by a coverage of available methods and by a discussion of the application of EIA in relation to water pollution, physical environments, solid and liquid wastes and economy. This part gives a rather comprehensive treatment of present-day methods, their advantages and shortcomings. For an ecological modeller, however, it is depressing to see how little coverage the book gives to the use of ecological models. EIA in general cannot be considered an alternative to the use of models and system analysis. As EIA is presented today it is a list of information needed to give a first estimation of the impact of human activities on the environment and health. EIA in this form is very useful as it puts the wide spectrum of information into general frameworks and attempts to integrate the information to an overall picture of the impacts. This synthesis, however, can only be qualitative or at the most semi-quantitative; ecological modelling and other forms of the application of systems analysis then become the next natural step in the development, provided that sufficient data and knowledge on the problem are available. Geoffrey A. Norton's chapter on this subject gives a fair treatment of the possibilities to apply modelling and system analysis, but only eight pages are devoted to this important topic. He agrees completely with the above mentioned distinction between EIA and modelling, but an overview of how models have and can be applied as a progression from EIA is missing. Part D covers six case studies: EIA within British Petroleum, EIA of an oil terminal, environmental aspects of gas development in UK, EIA in a coal extraction project, assessment of water resource developments and EIA of tourism. They are all good examples of the application of EIA and how important it has been to include EIA as a significant component of the project. But all six examples clearly demonstrate that a more quantitative assessment of the impact would have been possible by the use of models. The book is an excellent introduction to a very interesting and important topic, and can strongly be recommended to all who are in contact with the subject. When a modeller reads the book he comes to the following conclusion: EIA methods give an excellent checklist of environmental problems and is indispensable in finding solutions to the problems. EIA methods are now sufficiently advanced to give acceptable results at first hand, but let us progress by further development of modelling. SVEN E R I K J O R G E N S E N
Langkaer Vaenge 9 DK-3500 Vaerlose, Copenhagen, Denmark
sensing. It gives a detailed discussion on which method to use in practice and what accuracy can be expected in the estimations. The four chapters of this section have headings which clearly indicate the subjects covered in the section: 'Remote sensing to measure the distribution and structure of vegetation'. 'Remote sensing for monitoring vegetation: an emphasis on satellites', 'Coupling remotely sensed data to ground observations' and 'The LACIE experiment in satellite-aided monitoring of global crop production'. The last section is the conclusion of the report, with a chapter called 'Measurement of changes in the vegetation of the earth by satellite imagery'. The conclusions are quite clear: satellite imagery can be used effectively to measure current rates of change in the areas of forests globally. The basis of such use, however, must lie in direct measurement of changes, not in indirect analysis based on a comparison of inventories. The book gives a sober coverage of the problem raised in the title and can be recommended to everyone interested in the global cycles and the estimation of their importance for future changes of the life conditions on earth. SVEN E R I K J ~ R G E N S E N
Langkaer Vaenge 9 DK-3500 Vaerlose, Copenhagen, Denmark
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT
Perspectives on Environmental Impact Assessment. Brian D. Clark and Alexander Gilad, Ronald Bisset and Paul Tomlinson (Editors), Reidel, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, 1984. 520 pp., Dfl. 180.00. ISBN 90-2771753-2. This book is a collection of papers on a wide range of environmental impact assessment (EIA) topics produced by a group of experts drawn from developed and developing countries. It covers the proceedings of the annual training courses on EIA sponsored by WHO, Regional Office of Europe, Copenhagen, Denmark at the Centre for Environmental Management and Planning, University of Aberdeen, Scotland 1980-1983. The book consists of four parts. Part A covers objectives and procedures, part B the role of environmental health assessment, part C assessment methods and techniques, and part D case studies. Part A presents the various EIA considerations made in different regions of the world: U.S.A., U.S.A. and Europe, Canada, France, The Netherlands, Scotland and in developing countries.
135
Part B discusses the health component in EIA, medical effects of air pollution and noise, health impacts of the Volta Dam, Ghana and assessment of hazard and risk. Part C covers almost half of the book and reviews methods and techniques in two ways: by a coverage of available methods and by a discussion of the application of EIA in relation to water pollution, physical environments, solid and liquid wastes and economy. This part gives a rather comprehensive treatment of present-day methods, their advantages and shortcomings. For an ecological modeller, however, it is depressing to see how little coverage the book gives to the use of ecological models. EIA in general cannot be considered an alternative to the use of models and system analysis. As EIA is presented today it is a list of information needed to give a first estimation of the impact of human activities on the environment and health. EIA in this form is very useful as it puts the wide spectrum of information into general frameworks and attempts to integrate the information to an overall picture of the impacts. This synthesis, however, can only be qualitative or at the most semi-quantitative; ecological modelling and other forms of the application of systems analysis then become the next natural step in the development, provided that sufficient data and knowledge on the problem are available. Geoffrey A. Norton's chapter on this subject gives a fair treatment of the possibilities to apply modelling and system analysis, but only eight pages are devoted to this important topic. He agrees completely with the above mentioned distinction between EIA and modelling, but an overview of how models have and can be applied as a progression from EIA is missing. Part D covers six case studies: EIA within British Petroleum, EIA of an oil terminal, environmental aspects of gas development in UK, EIA in a coal extraction project, assessment of water resource developments and EIA of tourism. They are all good examples of the application of EIA and how important it has been to include EIA as a significant component of the project. But all six examples clearly demonstrate that a more quantitative assessment of the impact would have been possible by the use of models. The book is an excellent introduction to a very interesting and important topic, and can strongly be recommended to all who are in contact with the subject. When a modeller reads the book he comes to the following conclusion: EIA methods give an excellent checklist of environmental problems and is indispensable in finding solutions to the problems. EIA methods are now sufficiently advanced to give acceptable results at first hand, but let us progress by further development of modelling. SVEN E R I K J O R G E N S E N
Langkaer Vaenge 9 DK-3500 Vaerlose, Copenhagen, Denmark