State Of The Environment
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The term State of the Environment normally relates to an analysis of trends in the environment 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 presence of substances in the Atmosphere of Earth, air that are harmful to humans, other living beings or the environment. Pollutants can be Gas, gases like Ground-level ozone, ozone or nitrogen oxides or small particles li ...
,
land use Land use is an umbrella term to describe what happens on a parcel of land. It concerns the benefits derived from using the land, and also the land management actions that humans carry out there. The following categories are used for land use: fo ...
,
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 a ...
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 by fishermen or hunters.Box 1.2: The Pressure-State-Response framework
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 Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
(i.e.
global warming Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes ...
). 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 The European Environment Agency (EEA) is the agency of the European Union (EU) which provides independent information on the environment. Definition The European Environment Agency (EEA) is the agency of the European Union (EU) which provides ...
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 va ...
).


State of the Environment reporting

State of Environment reports have been prepared by countries such as
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
and
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
.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 disruptions in the usual function of ecosystems. Further, these issues can be caused by humans (human impact on the environment) or they can be natural. These issues are considered serious when the ecosystem cannot recov ...


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