Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
have chosennot to cover this topicwithin this volume. Climate change is linked to
many different causes (not just industry) and the discussions surrounding this
area are sufficiently complex to merit their own substantial volume. However, it
may be said that many of the key processes that result in impacts on ecological
systems and the limits to restoration ecology could be extremely important in
predicting responses and adaptation to climate change.
Impacts of industry
It is interesting to note the changing attitudes to industrial activity over the
years as nations develop. A good example of this is the activities associated with
the Parys Mountain copper mine on Anglesey, UK. In letters written in the late
eighteenth century by a professor studying the mining around the area, it is
reported that the copper is sent to factories in Flintshire where '. . .the view of
the valley. . .is particularly charming because the cotton spinning mills are
lit up from top to bottom and reflected in the ponds. . .' and '. . . I think this is
the prettiest valley that I have ever seen. . .. Poverty and misery are not to be
found' (Rothwell
2007
). In contrast, Greenly (
1919
), when commenting on the
mining area itself reports that the '. . .higher and central portions are of
the most utter desolation imaginable'. It is easy to forget that the industrial
revolution led to great improvements in the wealth of many nations and did
indeed have positive impacts on human health (as well as the more widely
reported negative impacts). However, over the last decades the negative view of
industry as a major source of contamination to the environment has increased
in volume, particularly in recent years with the issue of climate change. If we
examine the effects of industry upon the ecological environment, then typi-
cally reports are of reduced biodiversity either through the direct toxic effects
of pollutants or through indirect effects on habitat quality and food webs. In
this volume, Purvis et al. (
Chapter 3
) and Batty et al. (
Chapter 4
) provide
examples of this as a result of air and water pollution, respectively.
It is the recognition of these negative impacts of industrial pollutants on the
environment that led to significant advances in the protection of both human
health and environmental health from the effects of pollution since the indus-
trial revolution. If we take air pollution as an example, then we can see that
over time changes in legislation and critically the Clean Air Act of 1956 have
acted to both reduce the incidences of respiratory illness and to significantly
reduce the concentrations of sulphur in the air, resulting in re-establishment
of clean air ecology (particularly lichens) in many previously affected areas
(
Chapter 3
). Equivalent legislative changes for freshwaters and soils have also
been implemented with the focus mainly on the protection of human health.
However, in recent years there has been a change in emphasis within developed
countries to also consider ecological health, as the importance of the function
of ecosystems in the health of the human environment has been recognised.
The EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) is a key example where it is not
