Ecological Risks Perspectives from Poland and the United States (1990) / Chapter Skim
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Evaluating Ecological Impacts: A Conceptual Framework
Evaluating Ecological Impacts: A Conceptual Framework
Pages 31-40
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From page 31... ...
Then, armed with greater understanding of these effects, decision makers can adjust behavior accordingly. They can seek to ameliorate or mitigate harmful effects or augment desirable ones.
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From page 32... ...
For example, it could be to relieve existing stress on an ecological system by decreasing the amount of pollution that is affecting negatively some of its components. It could be to change relative species abundance through, for example, cultivating grasslands or logging forests.
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From page 33... ...
Indirect economic effects are also the consequence of changes affecting the ecological system. Change in cultivation patterns or amount or type of forest cover affect water flows with possible consequences of flooding, for example.
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From page 34... ...
The ecological havoc wrought by introduced plant and animal species are well known: rabbits in Australia; deer in New Zealand; the African bee in Latin America; the gypsy moth, English sparrow, and kudzu in the United States, to name a few. The harmful downstream effects of the Aswan Dam have been widely reported; some desertification in Africa and elsewhere has been traced to initially beneficial changes in agriculture practices.
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From page 35... ...
In yet other circumstances, however, significant effects cross national boundaries. The harmful effects of acid rain are one example; the beneficial effects of actions to preserve tropical forests or to protect symbolically important animals such as the wild elephant are others.
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From page 36... ...
With regard to the second question of identifying the interests of future generations, the human-centered view suggests that they will be something like those of present generations, i.e., there will be concern both for narrow economic output and for the broader values of natural systems as described above. Consequently, one objective should be to endow subsequent generations with a combination of the undifferentiated ability to satisfy economic wants with actions taken to limit the diminution of the diversity of ecological systems.
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From page 37... ...
For example, aquaculture may make natural fisheries unnecessary, but regrowth of a future civilization may be seriously handicapped if natural fisheries have been destroyed by pollution. Or, domestic hybrid animals and plants that are highly productive with intensive care may be unable to survive altered circumstances, and if native species are not available, there will be nothing on which people then living can depend.
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From page 38... ...
Acid water is pumped from coal mines to free deeper seams for exploitation, but it changes the character of streams. Effluents from factories producing goods desired by people introduce chemicals into water bodies which can destroy living organisms or change their relative abundance.
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From page 39... ...
This discussion has proceeded along only two dimensions—ecological impacts and the sum of direct and indirect economic benefits, including such matters as existence values. However, the total decision matrix is far richer and other elements, including but not limited to distributional concerns, must be factored into any decision.
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From page 40... ...
Some of the ways in which such knowledge could be used, and in fact is essential, have been outlined here. It is the premise of this essay that the task of malting ecological insights available to decision makers is of service whatever the value system used for final decisions.
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