Environmental problems – An overview - Environmental Deterioration and Contamination: Problems and their Management - page 3

Figure 1.2 Managing environment through regulation and monitoring.
may emerge very differently. However, if the components of the model are known,
the risk can be quantified. Comparing the size of the risk to the acceptable value, the
managerial tasks of risk reduction can be planned.
Figure 1.2 shows the simplified managerial steps and their relations to each other
and the environment. Management of the environment is supported by the legal back-
ground and environmental monitoring. Monitoring provides actual information on
the environment; the time series of environmental data are evaluated and compared
with regulatory requirements or individual site-specific quality criteria. If the monitor-
ing data indicate a good environmental state, the small cycle is maintained until new
scientific knowledge or legal requirement emerges and necessitates a higher level of
protection.
If monitoring data or existing trends indicate unacceptable quality, reduction of
the risk or remediation of the environment already deteriorated is necessary. After car-
rying out risk reduction or environmental remediation, a new assessment, evaluation,
and decision are taken to implement risk reduction measures for mitigating the still
existing risk.
To be able to find the best possible managerial and technological methodology, we
have to learn the nature and fate of the main risks we are living with.
The main hazards associated with degraded and contaminated land and envi-
ronmental compartments are discussed in detail in this chapter, without attempting
to be comprehensive. After giving a short overview on some basic issues such as ele-
ment cycles, environmental compartments and phases, and global ecological trends, we
touch upon hazardous chemical substances and their management in Europe and glob-
ally, the exploitation of minerals, renewable and nonrenewable energy and material