The term State of the Environment normally relates to an analysis of trends in the
environment
Environment most often refers to:
__NOTOC__
* Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally
* Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...
of a particular place. This analysis can encompass aspects such as
water quality
Water quality refers to the chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of water based on the standards of its usage. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which compliance, generally achieved through tr ...
,
air quality
Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different types ...
,
land use
Land use involves the management and modification of natural environment or wilderness into built environment such as settlements and semi-natural habitats such as arable fields, pastures, and managed woods. Land use by humans has a long ...
,
ecosystem health
Ecosystem health is a metaphor used to describe the condition of an ecosystem.Rapport, David (1998). "Defining ecosystem health." Pages 18-33 in Rapport, D.J. (ed.) (1998). ''Ecosystem Health.'' Blackwell Scientific. Ecosystem condition can vary ...
and function, along with social and cultural matters.
Pressure-State-Response Framework
Human activity places pressure on many aspects of the environment. For instance, deforestation results in the invasion of weed species,
habitat displacement, and, when undertaken on a large scale, adversely affects air quality and
carbon dioxide sequestration.
Examples of pressures under the Pressure-State-Response ("PSR") framework include: pollutants discharged from factories, or draining into a river from the land; it could be the removal of forest from the land or
over-harvesting
Overexploitation, also called overharvesting, refers to harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns. Continued overexploitation can lead to the destruction of the resource, as it will be unable to replenish. The term ap ...
by fishermen or hunters.
[Box 1.2: The Pressure-State-Response framework](_blank)
Chapter One: Introduction, The State of New Zealand’s Environment 1997, Report Ref. ME612, Ministry for the Environment, Wellington, New Zealand.
In this framework, only pressures introduced by human interaction with the environment are considered. Natural pressures such as extreme weather are only considered in the context of human-induced
climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...
(i.e.
global warming
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
).
A "state" is the condition of the environment at a particular time. This is assessed by measuring various aspects of the atmosphere, air, water, land and organisms.
The
European Environment Agency has extended the pressure-state-response framework to include driving forces and impacts (see
DPSIR DPSIR (drivers, pressures, state, impact, and response model of intervention) 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 var ...
).
State of the Environment reporting
State of Environment reports have been prepared by countries such as
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
and
Australia.
[State of the Environment 2006 (SoE 2006)]
On line web pagePortable document format
Australian Government Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, Canberra, Australia. State of the Environment reporting is also undertaken fairly extensively throughout New Zealand by territorial and regional authorities.
See also
*''
State of the World '', a series of books published by the World Watch Institute
*
Environmental issue
Environmental issues are effects of human activity on the biophysical environment, most often of which are harmful effects that cause environmental degradation. Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment on t ...
References
External links
The State of the Environment Gateway GRID-Arendal/United Nations Environment Programme, Arendel, Norway, retrieved 2 February 2008.
Environmental reports
{{environment-stub