The Global Environment: Science, Technology and Management

1303 Pages·1997·60.435 MB·English

The Global Environment
Edited by D. Brune, D.V. Chapman,
M. D. Gwynne, J. M. Pacyna
A Wiley company
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The Global Environment
Science, Technology and Management
Edited by D. Brune, D.V. Chapman,
M. D. Gwynne, J. M. Pacyna
Scandinavian Science Publisher A Wiley company
The support from h aan d Jobannes Bnme’s Memorial Foundation is gratefully acknowledged.
Dr. Dag Brune Dr. Michael D. Gwynne*
Scandinavian Science Publisher as I? 0. Box 24529
Bakkehaugveien 16 Nairobi
0873 Oslo Kenya
Norway Formerly Assistant Executive Director of UNEP
Dr. Deborah V. Chapman Prof. Jozef M. Pacyna
Environment Consultant Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU)
5 Fort View, Ardhrack PO. Box 100
Kinsale 2007 Kjeller
Co Cork Norway
Ireland
This hook was carefully produced. NeverthelesS authors, editors and publisher do not wanrrant the information con-
tained therein to be free of errors. Readers are advised to keep in mind that statement%d ata, illustrations, procedu-
ral details or other items may inadvertently he inaccurate
Editorial Director: Dr. Christina Dyllick,
Production Manager: Dip1.-Wirt.-Ing. (FH) Bernd Riedel
Cover illustration: Simulated hiome patterns at current climate (300 ppm Cq). The changes due to greenhouse gases
and climate change depicted in Figures 20-2 and 20-3 are shifts in these patterns (see Chapter 20, pages 358 and 360).
[Note the color classification of biomes has been labled A to Q in Chapter 20, page 3581
Library of Congress Card No. applied for.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Die Deutsche Bihliothek - CIP-Einheitsaufnahme
The global environment:s cience, technology and management I ed. by D. Brune ... - Oslos :
Scandinavian Science Publ.; Weinheim ;V CH, 1997
ISBN 3-527-28771-X
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Preface
The environmental problems facing our planet and its peoples are still very great. Hu-
man populations continue to climb worldwide. Larger and larger numbers of people
mean ever greater demands on the Earth’s natural resources. More land is taken for
agriculture and with it go the wilder spaces. As a consequence, planetary biological
diversity drops. As standards of living rise, consumer demand increases and so indus-
try spreads. Vast amounts of industrial wastes are voided into air and water and so
onto the land; as industry spreads so the wastes increase. People, their actions, and
their wastes are undermining the physical and chemical basis of global life support
systems. Never before in the long history of Earth has a single species ever threatened
the entire planet. Life on earth is in danger and humans are the main cause.
Modern scientific awareness of the world in which we live began in the 17th cen-
tury but comprehension of the true complexity of the interactions between
environmental forces that enable the planet to function as a home to life has only
emerged during the last five or six decades. Increasingly, it is realized that many of
these interacting systems must be looked at on a planetary scale. means that more
This
attention must be given to investigating how the planet functions a whole.
as
It is no longer sufficient to say simply “This is what happens”. The quest now is to
find out why and how it happens. Only when we have this knowledge will it be pos-
sible for us to put environmental and resource management on a sound long-term
footing. Only then will true sustainable development be possible. For this we need bet-
ter data and information. It is often said that we do not need more environmental data,
that we have enough, even too much. We now realize that this simply is not true. We
need many more data, not fewer -b ut data of the right kind and for specific purposes,
carefully chosen and carefully collected. In the meantime, we must press ahead re-
gardless using every scrap of existing knowledge and experience that we have;
development and people cannot wait for the results of lengthy research and analysis.
To this end scientists are increasingly considering the developmental applications
of their research, and have realized that sustainable development is actually both a de-
sirable and an attainable goal. The “Ivory Tower” approach is no longer the norm.
Most scientistsk now that they will have to work more and more closely with national plan-
ners and managers to translate their findings into practical actions. This is a major and
important change in philosophy that will certainly have far reaching benefits for all. .
us
Growing world concern for the future of the global environment, as most elo-
quently exemplified by Rachael Carson in Silent Spring, was given focus at the United
Nations Conference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm 1972. This created
the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) to act as a catalyst to the Nations of the
world in their efforts to correct the increasingly visible degradation of the environ-
ment. To begin with there was enthusiasm and progress. Various environmental
assessments were made, and several environmental conventions and other binding
vi Preface
legal instruments were painstakingly developed and agreed. In some sectors the resul-
tant environment improvement could be measured.
Nevertheless, in others it continued to get worse. Deforestation and land degrada-
tion spread and their rates increased. Poverty was identified as one of the major causes
of environmental deterioration as people struggled just to survive in a world where it
was becoming increasingly obvious that most natural resources were used, squan-
dered some would say, by a fortunate few at the expense of the unfortunate majority.
Scientists identified whole new categories of global environmental threats whose im-
plications were enormous, devastating - and expensive. More and more
non-governmental organizations were founded all over the world and began to act as
the voice of human consciousness alerting people everywhere to what was happening.
The larger of these, such as Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, and the World Watch
Institute attracted global followings. However, to many, it began to seem that every-
thing done by society was being shown to have adverse and expensive consequences
for the environment. Those in power in rich countries were appalled at the implied
costs and time scales of suggested remedies. Most in poor countries were already too
devastated to notice; their long-term concern being, as always, to keep their families
alive. Non-governmental organizations trying to pressure governments shouted con-
stantly and ever louder about what was happening and what was needed.
Not surprisingly, in the rich countries reaction set and people began to turn away
from the environment. Their local environment looked much the same as it always did
so the scientists and environmental prophets of doom were probably wrong. In the
poor countries reaction also set in, but reaction of a different kind. Here remedial
measures to control environmental degradation proposed by aid donor countries were
often viewed as attempts to hold back national development. Aid programs to help as-
sess natural resources were seen by some governments as attempts by the rich to get
specialist knowledge for their own economic gain. Remote sensing of these resources
from satellites was viewed with particular suspicion. This attitude, coupled with the
constant accounts of how huge amounts of aid money and supplies were being si-
phoned off by some developing country leaders for personal benefit, added in the
industrialized nations to the growing sense of disillusionment with environment and
development concerns.
This disillusionment reached its peak just after the United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992. The main out-
come of the Conference was a carefully thought out and well structured program for
the future which would take environment and development safely through the 21st
century. Agenda 21 as it is called, idealistic though it may be, is a worthy and genuine
blue print for world action setting out what needs to be done to ensure that humanity
has a long term future. The postulated cost outlay of Agenda 21 is staggering, al-
thmgh in the long run the returns and benefits will be many time that outlay. What it
immediately resulted in, however, is that at the conclusion of the Conference devel-
oping countries called upon the rich nations for billions of dollars of additional aid for
Preface vii
national development, stressing Agenda 2 1 and the need to alleviate poverty. There is
no doubt that this money is needed, but the size of the demand, coming when it did,
coupled with a growing dissatisfaction with the overly-bureaucratica nd costly United
Nations system made most developed country governments back away from womes
about the world environment.
In the five years since UNCED, the environment has lost ground. It is now difficult
to fund new studies to elucidate environmental changes and their consequences.
Symptomatic of this is that 25 years after the Stockholm Conference that set it up,
UNEP struggles to make financial ends meet -v ictim of poor guidance, UN bureauc-
racy and lack of environmental commitment by governments. In the very
1997
existence of UNEP may be called into question.
However, people think, learn and, above all, can reason. These are features that
make them unique among Earth’s life forms. Because of this there has to be hope.
There are signs that people everywhere are starting to take a fresh look at the world.
This time it is a quieter, more restrained, less belligerent and more realistic view.
There is a growing awareness that environment and development really are linked -
in all countries. Environmentalists (and even conservationists) are increasingly recog-
nizing that life without industry is very difficult in the modern world; at the same time
industrialists have become aware that environmental care by them may have long-
term cash benefits, as well as being good for customer relations. Several developing
countries have successfully become industrialized nation states and starting to re-
are
alize that environmental regulations and controls really are needed and that they do
bring practical benefits to their peoples. Other less developed countries are looking
for leadership to these newly industrialized nations and are starting to emulate their
growing environmental awareness and concern.
In recent years there has also come about among ordinary folk a growing realiza-
tion that all the peoples of the Earth are but slightly different genetic and cultural
variants of the same basic human model. These variants originally arose in response
to local geographical and climatic constraints. Now, particularly in the last decade,
modern transport and communication systems are very rapidly breaking down these
local barriers and a new common global culture has arisen and is spreading. This
global culture may not to be to everyone’s liking, but it is here, it is unstoppable, and
it will have a dominant influence on the world’s long-term future. The rise of this com-
mon culture was inevitable once post World War global economics brought about
I1
the development of multi-national, market driven, commercial organizations. These
new economic colossi transcend national boundaries and many now have more world-
wide political and economic influence than most of the world’s national governments.
Today multi-national company staff consider themselves belonging to a particular
as
company rather than coming from a particular country.
National pride is becoming significantly less sensitive resulting in a growing reali-
zation and acceptance that environmental actions by one nation can affect all peoples,
especially neighbors. In other words, nations are increasingly becoming aware that
viii Preface
they now have global and regional environmental responsibilities. At the same time,
the new commonality of approach being fostered globally through the common cul-
ture is starting to make people less suspicious and more inclined to listen to, and profit
from, the experience of others.
This book is a response to these fresh and welcome attitudes for it brings together
valuable ideas and experiences that can be shared with audiences throughout the
world. It is a collection of thoughtful personal views on some topics of environmental
concern, written by people who have extensive first hand knowledge and practical re-
sponsibilities in the environmental fields about which they write, Each of the chapters
that follow has been subject to extensive international peer review, but the ideas and
opinions expressed remain very much those of the authors.
The Scandinavian nations have long been at the forefront of modem environmental
thought - which was the main reason why the 1972 United Nations Conference on
the Human Environment was held in Stockholm. It was their increasing realization
that the regional environment and natural resources of Scandinavia were being dra-
matically affected by airborne pollutants from other countries that served as a focus
for the international environmental concern of the time. In recent years, however, this
rich Scandinavian experience is less widely appreciated. These books, therefore, are
unusual in another respect, in that they bring into the internationalp ress a considerable
body of Scandinavian views and expertise, thus making them more readily available
to the world community. Many valuable lessons already learned in Scandinavia are
readily applicable to other parts of the world.
Some issues, such as poverty and the environment, freshwater quality and environ-
mental accounting, are of major importance but do not have specific chapters devoted
to them in these books, although they are touched upon in several chapters in both vol-
umes. Their omission is not because they were not thought relevant (far from it) but
because they are simply too big to be discussed here adequately. Each is worthy of a
volume on its own; hopefully this may come to pass.
Biology and evolution teach us that the ultimate fate of all species is extinction.
Hopefully, this book may contribute in some small way towards delaying this fate for
ourselves by stimulating better understanding of the environmental complexities of
this planet and the consequences of their thoughtless or inadvertent disturbance.
Dag Brune Deborah Chapman
Michael Gwynne Jozef Pacyna
March 1997
Acknowledgments
The editors would like to thank the reviewers and scientific advisers listed on the following
page and all those who helped with the editing and production of these two volumes, particu-
larly Leonard Chapman, Stephanie Dagg, Helen Fair, Alan Steel, Ann Willcocks and
Lis Willcocks.
Editorial Advisory Board
Dr Mark Collins, World Conservation Monitoring Centre, Cambridge, UK
Professor Bo Doos, Global Environmental Management, Vienna, Austria
Professor Charles Hall, State University of New York, USA
Dr Eric I. Hamilton, Environmental Consultant, Tavistock, UK
Dr Richard Helmer, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
Dr Ted Hollis, University College London, UK
Dr Karl G. Hsyer, Western Norway Research Institute, Sogndal, Norway
Professor Sven Erik Jrargensen, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Professor Alasdair D. McIntyre, University of Aberdeen, UK
Professor Gay1 D. Ness, University of Michigan, USA
Professor Jerome Nriagu, University of Michigan, USA
Dedication
This book is dedicated to five outstanding people who, in their very different ways,
have probably done more than all others to promote global environmental
understanding and well being. Earth and its peoples owe them a great debt:
Gro Harlem Brundtland
Thomas Rosswall
Maurice Strong
Mustafa K. Tolba
Gilbert White
Contributors
Dr Husamuddin Ahmadzai, Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (SNV), Industri-och
Kretsloppsavdelingen, Blekholmsterassen 36, S- 10648 Stockholm, Sweden Chapter 43
Professor Harry Albinsson, Federation of Swedish Industries, Box 5501, S-114 85 Stockholm,
Sweden Chapter 70
Dr John Bailey, Department of Environmental Science, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Perth,
Western Australia 6150 Chapter 73
Roland Bakker, Laboratory of Waste Materials and Emissions, National Institute of Public
Dr o,
Health and Environment P.O. Box 1, NL3720, Bilthoven, The Netherlands Chapter 53
Dr Jon Barikmo, Head of Division, Directorate for Nature Management, Tungasletta 2, N 7005
Trondheim, Norway Chapter 67
Professor Dr Lennart Bengtsson, Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Bundesstrasse 55,20146
Hamburg, Germany Chapter 4
Dr Bo Bergback, Department of Water and Environmental Studies, University of Linkoping, 581
83 Linkoping Sweden Chapter 16
Tor Bemhardsen, Asplan Viak As, P.O. Box 1699 Myme, N-4801 Arendal, Norway Chapter 62
Sm
Professor R. Berry, Department of Biology, University College London, Gower Street., London
J.
WC 1 E 6BT, UK Chapter 42
Neil Brown, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, University of California, Livemore CA
94551-9900, USA Chapter 50
Dr Deborah V. Chapman, Environment Consultant, 5 Fort View, pirdtjrack, fisak, La. ~312,
Ireland Chapter 30
Professor Bo R. Ws,G lobal Environmental Management, Jordangasse 7/13, A-1010, Vienna,
Austria Chapter I9
Michael Edbn, Associate Professor,Department of Architectural Design, Chalmers Institute of
Technology, S-412 96, Goteborg, Sweden Chapter 76
Dr Lars Ericsson, Benarp 561,242 95 Horby, Sweden Chapter 68
Professor Fakenmark, Swedish Natural Science Research Council, P.O. Box 7142,10387
h4alin
Stockholm, Sweden Chapters 3 and 9
Dr Fedra, Environmental Services, P.O. Box 17, A-2340 Madling, Austria
Kurt Software and
Chapters 59 and 63
Dr Lawrence Fishbein, Environmental Health Sciences Consultant, 4320 Ashford Lane, Fairfax,
Va 22032, USA Chapters 27 and 54
Dr Fqn, Institute of Marine Research, P.O. Box 1870; 5tE433ergen, flbrway Ghprt?r LY
Lars
H&ne Genot, UNEP Industry and Environment, Tour Mirabeau, 39-43 quai An& CiWn,
h4rs
75739 Paris Cedex 15, France Chapter I5
Truls Gjestland, SINTEF Telecom and Informatics, 7034 Trondheim, Norway Chapter 35
Dr
Professor Andrew S. Goudie, School of Geography, University of Oxford, Mansfield Road,
Oxford 3TB, UK Chapter 8
OX1
Dr Brian Groombridge, Animals Programme, Species Unit, World Conservation Monitoring
Centre, 219 Huntingdon Road, Cambridge CB3 ODL, UK Chapter 31
B j hG uterstam, Stensund Ecological Center, Stensund Folk College, S-619 91 Trosa, Sweden
Dr
Chapter 75
Dr Daniel Hackett, Wildlife Consultant, 3 Bryanstone Road, London N8 UK Chapter 55
S. BTN,