Environmental issues

by Keith Smith

The year covered by this report (October 1982 to September, 1983) has been
characterized by concern for, and development of, existing themes rather than the
emergence of totally new issues. This in no way is meant to suggest a static scene.
With changing emphases and the achievement of definite progress in certain areas,
there is a great deal of significance to report.

I Some general trends

Following the seminal UN Conference on the Human Environment, held in Stock-

holm in 1972, the UN General Assembly has required the preparation of regular
reviews of the world environmental situation. The first of these updating reports
was presented in 1982 by Holdgate et al. (1982a) with a useful summary contained
in Holdgate et al. (1982b). This important report provides an invaluably compre-
hensive and sober — even hopeful — digest of trends over the past decade. Inevit-
ably, attention is focused on the increasing proportionate influence of society in
relation to natural environmental processes but it is concluded that the short-term
productivity of the biosphere has not yet been seriously reduced by human activities
and that there is no evidence of imminent collapse. On the other hand, it is recog-
nized that the resilience of some systems is threatened and the excessive release of
sulphur in many developed regions is identified as a target for prompt action in the
1980s. As far as practical action is concerned, approval is given to the way in which
scientific and popular interests in the environment have fused together to form a
more realistic conservation movement but the report warns of the limited contri-
bution which even rapidly growing and more predictive scientific insights alone can
provide. No real solutions to the world's environmental problems can occur in the
absence of an appropriate social organization and political will. Above all, the
report recommends that priority should be given to education, training and other
strategies to facilitate the rapid application of the currently available knowledge
which is necessary to improve the quality of life for millions in the developing
regions.

The UN report highlights environmental issues, like energy, acid rain and tropical

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140 Environmental issues

deforestation, which were hardly heard of a decade ago. Indeed, Myers (1983)
reporting on a meeting convened by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in
November 1982 to examine developments since the original Stockholm conference,
noted that over 40 separate environmental issues were considered. Of the items
eventually selected for priority treatment, only half had been adequately con-
sidered in 1972. Many of these relatively new concerns are now widespread. For
example, according to Kovda (1982), desertification exists in more than 70
countries and about 60 per cent of the global human population is affected by arid-
ization or periodic drought. Moreover, the area of the world subject to desertifi-
cation, soil degradation and drought is growing by five to seven million ha. per year.
Atmospheric changes can take place even more quickly. Arctic haze (discussed
below) was not observed before 1950 and was first described by Mitchell (1957).
Similarly, photochemical smog, now recognized as a serious problem in Australia,
was not observed in Sydney until 1971 (Nelson et al., 1983). Ironically the pace of
change in some atmospheric problems may be such that improvements occur almost
before the issue has been properly identified. For example, using surrogate evidence
of visibility, Lee (1983) has suggested that the concentration of secondary aerosols
resulting from photochemical reactions in southeast England has probably declined
since the 1973 oil crisis.

In fact, one of the greatest difficulties with all environmental issues is deriving
a suitable timescale for determining cause, effect and management response. This
applies whether one is considering the consequences of the intensified use of the
earth for pleasure in the developed world (Webb, 1982) or profit in the developing
world (Ikporukpo, 1983). Thus, the threatened global warming trend dependent on
the atmospheric accumulation of CO 2 is quite different from the acid rain con-
troversy in that nothing really adverse has happened yet, the predicted trends may
actually benefit some countries and the long timescale provides more options for
prevention or adaptation. In the same way the concern about the possible effect
of chlorofluorocarbons in the ozone layer hinges on their predicted long -term
accumulation in the atmosphere. Recent analysis of one of the longest time series
of measurements of CC1 3F and CC14 in the northern hemisphere by Brice et al.
(1982) indicates that, although the background concentration has increased, the
rate of increase has recently slowed down in accordance with a levelling off in
global emissions of CC13F.

Obvious excuses can be made for ignorance about very recent environmental
pressures, such as those associated with chlorofluorocarbons, but it is less easy to
explain away our imperfect understanding of the environmental consequences of
some traditional land-use patterns. For example, sheep have been grazed on the
English Pennines for centuries but we are only just learning what the effects on
vegetation have been. According to Rawes (1983), climate has previously been
considered a main control on vegetation in this area but, after the exclusion of
sheep for a 15-year period, major changes in the species composition of two peat
moorland areas were recorded. Calluna vulgaris, formerly scarce due to direct
grazing, grew to dominate part of the enclosed area, while the cover of Empetrum

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 Keith Smith 141

nigrum, formerly lost by trampling, trebled during the experiment. In a similar

experiment involving the exclusion of sheep over a 26-year period from an area in
which no regeneration of oak has occurred for at least 50 years, with only limited
regeneration of birch, Pigott (1983) found that the removal of the sheep enabled
all species of tree originally present to regenerate from seed.

II The moral dimension

A special issue (Number 21 (1) 1983) of the International Journal of Environ-

mental Studies was dedicated to ethics and the environment. The main aim was to
provide an overview of the rapidly growing field of environmental ethics which
stresses the fact that, because most environmental assessments are anthropocentric,
there is a need to argue the 'rights' of other species. This view has been gaining
ground since Myers (1980) estimated that as many as one million species may have
disappeared for ever by the turn of the century. The 'right to exist' ar gument has
been strongly put by Ehrlich and Ehrlich (1982) who emphasize the breakdown of
the chain of ecological dependence which is following from the loss of the tropical
rain forest. Lutzenberger (1982) puts the present rate of destruction in Amazonia
at 100 000 km2 per year, which is equivalent to the deforestation of an area the
size of France every five years. Other major biomes — such as the Brazilian savan-
nah or cerrado — may be suffering damage at an even faster rate. On the world
scale, Rubinoff (1982) believes that 11 ha. of tropical moist forest is disappearing
every minute and, despite widely varying estimates, it is evident that most of the
rain forest will be gone before we have a reliable knowledge of the various environ-
mental implications, e.g. for flooding (Nordin and Meade, 1982).

To counteract this massive erosion of natural habitat some 2600 protected areas
now exist throughout the world covering nearly 4 million km 2 in 124 separate
countries (Harrison et al., 1982). This coverage reflects a large increase during the
1970s when the number of protected areas grew by 46 per cent and the total area
protected increased by more than 80 per cent. Nevertheless, the provision still
falls short of the need to preserve a full range of species and natural ecosystems for
posterity. Some hope for the future was provided by the World National Parks
Congress held in Bali, Indonesia, during October 1982. Indeed, according to
McNeely and Miller (1983) the 10 point 'Action plan' agreed at the congress
marked a turning point in promoting protected areas as part of the social and econ-
omic development process. Under this plan arrangements were made to establish
by 1992 a global network of national parks and protected areas exemplifying all
ecosystem types with the specific promotion of linkage between protected area
management and sustainable development.
It is increasingly necessary to view such protected areas as more than just wildlife
refuges since there can be little doubt that any demonstration of firm economic value
would be helpful to conservation. In the past the main obstacle to applying economic
principles to the evaluation of ecosystems has been that ecological values

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142 Environmental issues

represent non-marketable public property which is not included in normal economic

assessments of goods and services. Now attempts are being made to blend
ecological and economic approaches to the appraisal of natural systems, as illu-
strated by the work of Farnworth et al. (1983) on the tropical rain forest. This
interesting paper contains some direct economic assessments, such as that pharma-
ceutical drugs originating in the forest contribute 1.468 billion dollars annually
to medical prescriptions made out in the US alone, but even greater value lies in
the 'free' or unpriced services. For example, the canopy of the tropical rain forest
performs a general public service by scrubbing sulphur and other nutrients from the
atmosphere in rainfall. The technological cost of removing sulphur can be calcu-
lated and, on this basis, it is estimated that the present value of the Amazonian
forest for sulphur scrubbing amounts to some 9 billion dollars per year.

III Air quality in remote areas

As our knowledge of the concentration of trace elements in developed regions

becomes more detailed (Harrison and Williams, 1982) increased attention is given
to the chemical composition of atmospheric aerosols in remote areas. Such studies,
and especially those of the anomalously enriched elements such as Pb, Cd, Cu, Zn,
Ag, Hg, etc. can provide important information on the natural background con-
centrations as well as the long range transport of atmospheric pollutants. Encourag-
ingly, a survey in the Amazon conducted by Orsini et al. (1982) failed to detect
some key trace elements normally associated with urban aerosols whilst a 50-year
study of Antarctic snow layers by Boutron (1982) showed concentrations in recent
layers to be comparable with the oldest samples, with the one exception of lead.
In the case of Pb a four-fold increase in concentration was observed after about
1960. This rise could be linked to global pollution or could be explained by con-
tamination from the local Amundsen Scott station, which is 5 km distant and has
been occupied since 1957.

In comparison with these areas, the Arctic atmosphere is unequivocably polluted.

For several decades a thick winter haze has been visible and in the spring of 1983
the first airborne measurements were taken. According to Hileman (1983a) the
flights showed that the haze covered the polar ice cap — an area almost as large as
the North American continent — and was usually continuous up to 10 000 feet.
Ground-based measurements by Khalil and Rasmussan (1983) have proved the
major components of the submicron-sized haze aerosol to be sulphate, soot and
organics, thus confirming its anthropogenic origin. Arctic haze is highly seasonal
in occurrence and the summer atmosphere is clear. However, during late October
and November the north polar region is isolated from water vapour sources and this
allows dry air mass systems to carry combustion products from the midlatitudes.
Some limited, local contribution is possible since Eaton and Wendler (1983) state
that approximately 2000 km 2 of Alaskan forest is consumed by forest fire every
year. Wet deposition is hampered by the general lack of low -level cloud or

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 Keith Smith 143

precipitation to scavenge the particles whilst dry deposition processes are slowed
by the formation of a strong temperature inversion. Thus, the haze tends to persist
into the spring.
The environmental effects of Arctic haze are presently unknown but several
potential issues exist. An important characteristic of the haze is the presence of
black graphitic carbon particles. In fact the average concentration of black carbon is
several orders of magnitude higher than the levels found over the Pacific. The radia-
tive properties of this aerosol have now been investigated through the Arctic Air
Sampling Network (Patterson et al., 1982) and it has been shown to be highly
absorbing. Hileman (1983a) maintains that at least 10 per cent of the incident
energy over the ice cap is absorbed by the haze with possible consequences for the
Arctic climate. Arctic haze may also have ecological effects since tundra biosystems
are sensitive to chemical perturbations. As sulphate is the most concentrated haze
component and there are few alkaline ions in the Arctic atmosphere to neutralize
the acidity, this is another cause for concern and further study.

IV Acid rain

The issue of acid rain has continued to dominate the headlines and has also been a
major focus of research activity. An important catalyst was the 1982 Stockholm
Conference on the Acidification of the Environment and copies of the subsequent
report may be obtained by writing to: Swedish Ministry of Agriculture and
Environment, S-103 33, Stockholm, Sweden. This meeting was expected to
concentrate on the well-known acidification of Scandinavian lakes but, instead,
the spotlight was turned on the damage caused to central European forests,
especially the more indirect effects resulting from changes in soil chemistry over
many years. The political ripples continue to be felt. West Germany immediately
announced a new policy of reducing SO 2 emissions by 50 per cent and Switzerland
rapidly aligned with the countries pressing for short-term emission control. More
predictably, there has been little shift in official attitudes in the US and the UK
whilst the USSR, probably the largest European source of acidity, was not even
represented at the conference. Optimists will perhaps believe that the announcement
in September 1983 of a £5 million research project, funded by the CEGB and the
NCB under the auspices of the Royal Society, is a prelude to positive action in
Britain.

Acid precipitation can now be monitored well away from the industrial source
regions. In more remote areas, many investigators are helping to locate sources,
elucidate global transport patterns and gain insight into background levels of
acidity, e.g. Harte (1983) in China and Parungo et al. (1982) in Hawaii. A co-
ordinating thrust is being supplied to this work through the Global Precipitation
Chemistry Project outlined by Galloway et al. (1982). Back in the developed source
regions, there is considerable debate about the direction of current trends — if any
— in acidity. After taking a long historical look at one of the early centres of

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144 Environmental issues

industrial activity in Britain, Ferguson and Lee (1983) concluded that the acidity of
rainwater today is substantially greater than it was a couple of decades ago. How-
ever, Kallend et al. (1983) made a detailed statistical analysis of monthly precipita-
tion data collected from the European Atmospheric Chemistry Network over the
period 1956-76 and found that only 29 out of 120 sampling sites with 5 or more
years of data revealed a significant trend of increasing mean annual acidity. A
similar exercise conducted on a 15-year data set for New York State by Bilonick
and Nichols (1983) also showed `... no evidence for a long -term change in the
mean level of acidity . .
Probably the greatest research advance during the past 12 months has emerged
through a new awareness of the role of fog in acid deposition. Theoretical contri-
bution (Wisniewski, 1982), noted in last year's report, has now been confirmed by
recent fog measurements in southern California by Waldman et al. (1982). These
measurements have shown that the fog is frequently 100 times more acidic than the
average rainfall in the region and have shattered the belief that Californian fogs
are a relatively clean respite from the more obvious pollution on smog days. Hile-
man (1983b) has summarized the reasons for high fog acidity as due to the fogs
forming near the ground where pollution is greatest, to fog water droplets coalescing
around preexisting aerosols and to the fact that fog droplets contain less water than
rain drops and therefore are less efficient at diluting the acidity. Since the southern
Californian fogs are most acidic after smoggy days, some investigators believe that
it forms on aerosols associated with the previous smog and have hypothesized a
smog-fog-smog cycle. More significantly, parallel research into acid deposition from
wind-driven cloud in upland England by Dollard et al (1983) has shed new light on
fog deposition processes. Indeed, the researchers suggest that the two classic
depositional pathways from the atmosphere to vegetated surfaces (dry and wet
deposition) should now be supplemented by the inclusion of the so-called occult
pathway. Since this pathway supplies water droplets to the surface which are not
collected efficiently in standard rain gauges, it is claimed that, in areas prone to
low cloud, current measurements may well be underestimating wet deposition rates
by up to 20 per cent.

Department of Geography, University of Strathclyde, UK

V References

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1981 and the atmospheric lifetime of CC1 3 F. Atmospheric Environment 16,
2543-54.

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 Keith Smith 145

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