Cumulative effects, also referred to as cumulative environmental effects and cumulative impacts, can be defined as changes to the environment caused by the combined impact of past, present and future human activities and natural processes. Cumulative effects to the environment are the result of multiple activities whose individual direct impacts may be relatively minor but in combination with others result are significant environmental effects. The multiple impacts of different activities may have an additive, synergistic or antagonistic effect on one another and with natural processes. Cumulative effects can be difficult to predict and manage due to inadequate environmental baseline data, complex ecological processes, and the large scale at which human development occurs. [1]
The emergence of cumulative effects in environmental regulations began in the 1970s and has since been increasingly seen as a consideration in environmental impact assessments and land management. [2] However, despite its growing relevance, there are no generally accepted methodologies for cumulative effects assessments and there remains debate surrounding the issue. [3]
Many human activities result in direct and indirect impacts that collectively impact the environment. The impacts of activities in combination with natural processes can result in cascading responses in ecosystems that can become unpredictable. Some activities known to have significant impacts on the environment and contribute highly to cumulative effects are marine resource development, energy production and consumption, and land use changes. The cumulative environmental effects of human activities ultimately intensify global warming and climate change. [4]
The emergence of cumulative effects considerations in environmental regulations began in the late 1970s when it was realized that proposed development projects should not be assessed in isolation from surrounding land uses. [2] In the United States, cumulative effects consideration were introduced into environmental assessment regulations by the Council on Environmental Quality in 1979. The European Union introduced requirements to consider cumulative effects in environmental assessments in their 1985 Environmental Impact Assessment Directive. In Canada, the analysis of cumulative effects in environmental assessments became required in 1995 by the first Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. Cumulative effects assessments are not legally required in Australia. [5]
Since its introduction into environmental regulations, some countries have worked on integrating cumulative effects considerations into broader scales, such as at the regional or sectoral scale. For example, in 2001 the European Union introduced the directive on Strategic Environmental Assessment which applies to programs and sectoral plans and examines the potential cumulative environmental effects at the early stages of decision-making. [5]
Human activities have a range of impacts on the environment, both positive and negative. Many activities have profound negative impacts on the environment that create direct and indirect stressors on ecosystems. These stressors have an additive, synergistic or antagonistic effect on one another, creating cumulative effects to the environment that are different from and more significant than the individual, direct impacts of activities. [1] [6] Although many development activities have individually minor impacts, collectively over time their impact on the environment can be substantial. Over time, indirect impacts of activities may have more severe impacts on ecosystems than direct ones, and can have impacts on larger temporal and spatial scales than that of individual activities. [7]
In some instances, multiple activities may cause a single, common stressor; for example, a factory and a nearby landfill may both release polluting run-off into a river. Other times, multiple activities overlap in time and space and produce multiple different environmental impacts that interact with each other, creating more complex environmental impacts. For example, increasing ocean acidification amplifies the sound of shipping and other marine activities, which then increases the exposure of marine organisms to noise. [6]
Below are some factors contributing to cumulative environmental change:
Marine ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to cumulative environmental impacts due to the spatial connectivity of aquatic species and the ecosystems themselves. Marine ecosystems experience environmental impacts from a range of marine-related activities, such as shipping, fishing, offshore oil and gas industries, and deep-sea mining. Some environmental impacts of marine activities are:
Marine ecosystems are also affected by the environmental impacts of terrestrial activities through pollution, waste disposal and run-off. As a result of the multitude of impacts and activities interacting in marine ecosystems, cumulative effects are particularly difficult to quantify and manage. [9]
The production and consumption of various energy sources have far reaching direct and indirect impacts on the environment. The construction of dams for hydroelectric energy, for example, represent one of the most major human interventions in the hydrological cycle. Dams directly impact the flow of rivers and their chemical characteristics, effecting river health many kilometres downstream. [10] Additionally, the inundation of surrounding ecosystems by water results in a loss in terrestrial habitat and wildlife in the area. [11] The energy production sector can result in many negative impacts on the environment, such as air pollution, acid rain, deforestation, emission of radioactive substances, and ozone depletion, all of which contribute to climate change. [12] Energy production is associated with large amounts of infrastructure, such as power plants, pipelines, wind and solar farms, and dams, which contribute to the environmental effects of land use change.
The consumption of energy by industrial and domestic activities, particularly fossil fuels, are known to have significant impacts on global warming by emitting large amounts of greenhouse gases. The particulate matter, carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases emitted through energy consumption trap heat in the atmosphere, perpetuating the greenhouse effect. [12]
When making decisions about energy-related activities, one must consider the long-term impacts of the use of energy as well as the direct impacts of the energy production. The cumulative effects of energy production and consumption exemplify the far reaching effects of individual activities and how individual, relatively minor impacts join to have significant impacts on the environment.
Land use changes can have a range of direct and indirect impacts on the environment. Individual changes to land uses (e.g., clearing vegetation to build a home) may result in negligible impacts, but the accumulation of these changes across a region or landscape may result in major impacts. Land use changes can cause dramatic losses to high quality and intact wildlife habitat. Residential development and road construction, for example, directly result in fragmenting and reducing the quality of wildlife habitat. [13] Other direct impacts on the ecosystem include noise, light, and air pollution from increased human and vehicle traffic and construction. [14] During construction of new projects, native vegetation is often removed, which can result in changes to the composition of wildlife in the surrounding areas. Additionally, the amount of fencing typically increases with more development, which prevents many species from moving freely. Wildlife will change their behaviour as a result of changed land uses; for example, deer have been found to avoid developed areas as far as 1 kilometre. [13] Indirectly, changes to land uses can result in urban growth, increased deforestation as a result of more accessibility, and degradation of soil stability as a result of cleared vegetation, to name a few. [15]
While there is general consensus that cumulative effects are an important issue, there are many challenges facing their assessment and management. Additionally, much work has been done on integrating cumulative effects into environmental regulations, but the study of cumulative effects is inconsistent and at time insufficient. [16] Currently, most global approaches to development activities and their environmental impacts take on a project-specific lens. Environmental assessments function on a project-by-project basis, assessing the potential stressors and impacts produced by individual activities. Studies tend to focus on the direct impacts of activities and as a result there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding their indirect impacts on the environment. [6] Similarly, there is a lack of studies that examine the additive, synergistic and antagonistic impacts of multiple projects that interact across time and space. [17]
Because of the project-specific nature of most environmental assessment work, the data resulting from their studies are not in line with the needs of cumulative effects analyses. The approach scientists take to cumulative effects research and the information environmental assessment practitioners and land managers need to make decisions are disconnected: scientists typically focus cumulative effects research on the responses of ecological components to stressors, while decision-makers are interested in understanding the connection between human activities and stressors. [6] Additionally, there is a great need for improved baseline data and empirical evidence. Currently, many databases used to support environmental assessment work do not conform with quality control protocols and standard formats, and the data are obtained on a range of spatial and temporal scales, resulting in inconsistent data. [17]
Many tools and methods for cumulative effects studies have been developed, however, there is no approach that is universally accepted by land managers, scientists, and environmental assessment practitioners. [2] Some researchers have published methodologies for cumulative effects studies, but they have generally been developed in relation to individual projects and therefore cannot be applied to broader contexts. [17] Many of the debates surrounding the methodologies for cumulative effects analyses are associated with defining the appropriate geographic and temporal boundaries needed to adequately assess cumulative effects:
Below are some potential solutions to the previously mentioned challenges facing cumulative effects:
The United States uses a cumulative impact assessment (CIA), also referred to as cumulative effects assessment (CEA), which is a process that identifies additive or interactive environmental effects occurring from human activities over time in order to then avoid cumulative environmental effects. [20] This is an effective potential policy that can also help in productive environmental planning and management. Most development activities have individually minor impacts but collectively over time their impact on the environment is more substantial. In many countries, CIA is undertaken as part of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process. [20]
Landscape management, such as creating wildlife reserves, will help to ensure human development can not occur there and therefore reduce cumulative effects in that area. In many cases in the United States, the government will not fund these environmental assessments because it requires great funding over a long term.
The Cumulative Impact Paradox is a theory derived by Charles H. Eccleston wherein there is no scenario in which a proposed activity could be approved if regulations require their cumulative effects to be insignificant. Eccleston explains that if environmental regulations require decision-makers to consider the significance of proposed projects' contributions to cumulative effects, more rigorous environmental assessments will always be necessary. This paradox presents itself in the United States under the National Environmental Policy Act where it is required to assess cumulative effects in reaching a decision regarding proposed activities. The act allows certain categories of activities with insignificant environmental impacts to be excluded from environmental assessment (Categorical Exclusion) and also allows for activities to undergo minimal levels of environmental review if their predicted impacts are insignificant (Finding of No Significant Impact); otherwise, projects are subject to environmental assessment and an environmental impact statement must be prepared. Eccleston argues that a strict interpretation of the definition of cumulative effects would mean that projects taking place in ecosystems that have already sustained cumulative impacts could never be eligible for a Categorical Exclusion or Finding of No Significant Impact, however insignificant proposed activities' contributions to impacts are. Yet, these approaches are commonly employed in the even when proposed projects involve resources and ecosystems that already experience significant cumulative effects. [21]
Eccleston proposes a solution for resolving this paradox called the Significant Departure Principle. Under this principle, the significance of proposed activities' impacts are assessed in terms of the degree to which they would change the existing cumulative effect baseline. An environmental effect could be deemed insignificant if it does not cause the cumulative effect baseline to significantly change from its conditions without the activity taking place. [21]
Urban ecology is the scientific study of the relation of living organisms with each other and their surroundings in an urban environment. An urban environment refers to environments dominated by high-density residential and commercial buildings, paved surfaces, and other urban-related factors that create a unique landscape. The goal of urban ecology is to achieve a balance between human culture and the natural environment.
Land development is the alteration of landscape in any number of ways such as:
Habitat destruction is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby reducing biodiversity and species abundance. Habitat destruction is the leading cause of biodiversity loss. Fragmentation and loss of habitat have become one of the most important topics of research in ecology as they are major threats to the survival of endangered species.
Human impact on the environment refers to changes to biophysical environments and to ecosystems, biodiversity, and natural resources caused directly or indirectly by humans. Modifying the environment to fit the needs of society is causing severe effects including global warming, environmental degradation, mass extinction and biodiversity loss, ecological crisis, and ecological collapse. Some human activities that cause damage to the environment on a global scale include population growth, neoliberal economic policies and rapid economic growth, overconsumption, overexploitation, pollution, and deforestation. Some of the problems, including global warming and biodiversity loss, have been proposed as representing catastrophic risks to the survival of the human species.
Ecosystem services are the many and varied benefits to humans provided by the natural environment and healthy ecosystems. Such ecosystems include, for example, agroecosystems, forest ecosystem, grassland ecosystems, and aquatic ecosystems. These ecosystems, functioning in healthy relationships, offer such things as natural pollination of crops, clean air, extreme weather mitigation, and human mental and physical well-being. Collectively, these benefits are becoming known as ecosystem services, and are often integral to the provision of food, the provisioning of clean drinking water, the decomposition of wastes, and the resilience and productivity of food ecosystems.
Environmental Impact assessment (EIA) is the assessment of the environmental consequences of a plan, policy, program, or actual projects prior to the decision to move forward with the proposed action. In this context, the term "environmental impact assessment" is usually used when applied to actual projects by individuals or companies and the term "strategic environmental assessment" (SEA) applies to policies, plans and programmes most often proposed by organs of state. It is a tool of environmental management forming a part of project approval and decision-making. Environmental assessments may be governed by rules of administrative procedure regarding public participation and documentation of decision making, and may be subject to judicial review.
Aquatic biomonitoring is the science of inferring the ecological condition of rivers, lakes, streams, and wetlands by examining the organisms that live there. While aquatic biomonitoring is the most common form of biomonitoring, any ecosystem can be studied in this manner.
Environmental planning is the process of facilitating decision making to carry out land development with the consideration given to the natural environment, social, political, economic and governance factors and provides a holistic framework to achieve sustainable outcomes. A major goal of environmental planning is to create sustainable communities, which aim to conserve and protect undeveloped land.
Marine ecosystems are the largest of Earth's aquatic ecosystems and exist in waters that have a high salt content. These systems contrast with freshwater ecosystems, which have a lower salt content. Marine waters cover more than 70% of the surface of the Earth and account for more than 97% of Earth's water supply and 90% of habitable space on Earth. Seawater has an average salinity of 35 parts per thousand of water. Actual salinity varies among different marine ecosystems. Marine ecosystems can be divided into many zones depending upon water depth and shoreline features. The oceanic zone is the vast open part of the ocean where animals such as whales, sharks, and tuna live. The benthic zone consists of substrates below water where many invertebrates live. The intertidal zone is the area between high and low tides. Other near-shore (neritic) zones can include mudflats, seagrass meadows, mangroves, rocky intertidal systems, salt marshes, coral reefs, lagoons. In the deep water, hydrothermal vents may occur where chemosynthetic sulfur bacteria form the base of the food web.
In ecology, resilience is the capacity of an ecosystem to respond to a perturbation or disturbance by resisting damage and recovering. Such perturbations and disturbances can include stochastic events such as fires, flooding, windstorms, insect population explosions, and human activities such as deforestation, fracking of the ground for oil extraction, pesticide sprayed in soil, and the introduction of exotic plant or animal species. Disturbances of sufficient magnitude or duration can profoundly affect an ecosystem and may force an ecosystem to reach a threshold beyond which a different regime of processes and structures predominates. When such thresholds are associated with a critical or bifurcation point, these regime shifts may also be referred to as critical transitions.
DPSIR is a causal framework used to describe the interactions between society and the environment. It seeks to analyze and assess environmental problems by bringing together various scientific disciplines, environmental managers, and stakeholders, and solve them by incorporating sustainable development. First, the indicators are categorized into "drivers" which put "pressures" in the "state" of the system, which in turn results in certain "impacts" that will lead to various "responses" to maintain or recover the system under consideration. It is followed by the organization of available data, and suggestion of procedures to collect missing data for future analysis. Since its formulation in the late 1990s, it has been widely adopted by international organizations for ecosystem-based study in various fields like biodiversity, soil erosion, and groundwater depletion and contamination. In recent times, the framework has been used in combination with other analytical methods and models, to compensate for its shortcomings. It is employed to evaluate environmental changes in ecosystems, identify the social and economic pressures on a system, predict potential challenges and improve management practices. The flexibility and general applicability of the framework make it a resilient tool that can be applied in social, economic, and institutional domains as well.
Marine spatial planning (MSP) is a process that brings together multiple users of the ocean – including energy, industry, government, conservation and recreation – to make informed and coordinated decisions about how to use marine resources sustainably. MSP generally uses maps to create a more comprehensive picture of a marine area – identifying where and how an ocean area is being used and what natural resources and habitat exist. It is similar to land-use planning, but for marine waters.
Earthwatch Institute is an international environmental charity. It was founded in 1971 as Educational Expeditions International by Bob Citron and Clarence Truesdale. Earthwatch Institute supports Ph.D. researchers internationally and conducts over 100,000 hours of research annually. Using the Citizen Science methodology, Earthwatch's mission statement is "to engage people worldwide in scientific field research and education to promote the understanding and action necessary for a sustainable environment." As such, it is one of the global underwriters of scientific field research in archaeology, paleontology, marine life, biodiversity, ecosystems and wildlife. For over forty years, Earthwatch has raised funds to recruit individuals, students, teachers, and corporate fellows to participate in critical field research to understand nature's response to accelerating global change.
Ecosystem-based management is an environmental management approach that recognizes the full array of interactions within an ecosystem, including humans, rather than considering single issues, species, or ecosystem services in isolation. It can be applied to studies in the terrestrial and aquatic environments with challenges being attributed to both. In the marine realm, they are highly challenging to quantify due to highly migratory species as well as rapidly changing environmental and anthropogenic factors that can alter the habitat rather quickly. To be able to manage fisheries efficiently and effectively it has become increasingly more pertinent to understand not only the biological aspects of the species being studied, but also the environmental variables they are experiencing. Population abundance and structure, life history traits, competition with other species, where the stock is in the local food web, tidal fluctuations, salinity patterns and anthropogenic influences are among the variables that must be taken into account to fully understand the implementation of a "ecosystem-based management" approach. Interest in ecosystem-based management in the marine realm has developed more recently, in response to increasing recognition of the declining state of fisheries and ocean ecosystems. However, due to a lack of a clear definition and the diversity involved with the environment, the implementation has been lagging. In freshwater lake ecosystems, it has been shown that ecosystem-based habitat management is more effective for enhancing fish populations than management alternatives.
Study of the environmental impact of war focuses on the modernization of warfare and its increasing effects on the environment. Scorched earth methods have been used for much of recorded history. However, the methods of modern warfare cause far greater devastation on the environment. The progression of warfare from chemical weapons to nuclear weapons has increasingly created stress on ecosystems and the environment. Specific examples of the environmental impact of war include World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War, the Rwandan Civil War, the Kosovo War and the Gulf War.
Environmental issues are disruptions in the usual function of ecosystems. Further, these issues can be caused by humans or they can be natural. These issues are considered serious when the ecosystem cannot recover in the present situation, and catastrophic if the ecosystem is projected to certainly collapse.
Environmental effects of mining can occur at local, regional, and global scales through direct and indirect mining practices. Mining can cause erosion, sinkholes, loss of biodiversity, or the contamination of soil, groundwater, and surface water by chemicals emitted from mining processes. These processes also affect the atmosphere through carbon emissions which contributes to climate change. Some mining methods may have such significant environmental and public health effects that mining companies in some countries are required to follow strict environmental and rehabilitation codes to ensure that the mined area returns to its original state.
The biocapacity or biological capacity of an ecosystem is an estimate of its production of certain biological materials such as natural resources, and its absorption and filtering of other materials such as carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Biodiversity loss includes the worldwide extinction of different species, as well as the local reduction or loss of species in a certain habitat, resulting in a loss of biological diversity. The latter phenomenon can be temporary or permanent, depending on whether the environmental degradation that leads to the loss is reversible through ecological restoration/ecological resilience or effectively permanent. The current global extinction, has resulted in a biodiversity crisis being driven by human activities which push beyond the planetary boundaries and so far has proven irreversible.
Human activities affect marine life and marine habitats through overfishing, habitat loss, the introduction of invasive species, ocean pollution, ocean acidification and ocean warming. These impact marine ecosystems and food webs and may result in consequences as yet unrecognised for the biodiversity and continuation of marine life forms.