Detailed description of the chains of causalities of environmental impacts 6 / 25
COST 356: EST - Towards the definition of a measurable environmentally sustainable transport
WG 2: Environmental assessment (indicators as measurement tools)
Task 2.1: Analysis of the chain of causalities for each environmental impact
DRAFT working paper Detailed description of the chains of causalities of environmental impacts
Robert Joumard, Gerassimos Arapis & Tomasz Zacharz
8 October 2007
The main purpose of the task 2.1 is to analyse the chain of causalities for the full range of transport-related impacts on humans and ecosystems, from the driving parameters of the long-term dynamics of the transportation system to the final impacts, starting for instance from the 16 impact categories listed in the summary of WG3 of COST 350. In parallel to COST 350 or later, different lists of impacts categories have been designed, whose some are given in section 1.
What are the impacts on environment? What are their characteristics or typical features? The answer to these questions, i.e. the taking into account of all environmental impacts and the description of the chain of causalities from the source to each final impact allows us to define what we want to measure with indicators of environmental impacts. At the same time, it allows to define quite precisely the term 'environment'.
An exhaustive list of the impacts is necessary to present a full picture. The description of the chain of causalities for each impact, especially in terms of sources, intermediate and final targets, mechanisms between sources and final targets allow to express clearly what each potential indicator measures and does not measure and on which scientific mechanisms an indicator should be based (the indicators per impact are studied in task 2.3. 'indicators per impact').
It is the reason why, in a first step (section 1), we present different lists of impacts, as found in the literature or defined previously within the action, and some potential indicators per impact.
In a second step, we propose a new and detailed list of impacts (section 2), with the potential indicators for each of them (section 3). In a third step (section 4), we propose a more aggregated list of impacts.
1. Categories of impacts from the literature
The categories are given here as they appear in the literature, with overlaps and repetitions, but it is not yet based on a systematic literature review. A tentative of synthesis is made in section 2.
1.1. List of the initial impacts from the action
1. Climate change
2. Land take, landuse (to be merged with habitat fragmentation?)
3. Hydraulic risk / hydrological changes (to be integrated into Land take, landuse?)
4. Visual qualities of landscape/townscape, light pollution
5. Habitat fragmentation (biota and humans)
6. Air pollution (primary and secondary)
7. Soil and water pollution: drinking water, agriculture and outdoor recreation
8. Noise: short-term noise emission, vibration, quiet areas
9. Non-renewable resource use
10. Waste
11. Perceived pollution: Odour, soiling, visibility
12. Ecotoxicity
13. Human health
14. Traffic safety
Table 1: List of initial impacts from the action: before and at the Stockholm meeting on June 2007.
1.2. Second list of categories of impacts
Irreversible
Biodiversity and protected areas
Greenhouse effect
Reversible
Local air quality
Regional air quality (smog)
Water quality, uses and régime
Technological and natural hazards
Light and noise nuisances
Visual qualities of landscape/townscape, man-made heritage
Landuse
Non-renewable resource use, including energy
Traffic safety
Table 2: Categories of environmental impacts in Joumard & Nicolas (2007).
1.3. Main targets
Targets / Pseudo-targetN – Nature, ecosystems:
nature understood as ecosystems, i.e. the association between a physicochemical and abiotic (the biotope) environment and a living community characteristic of the latter (the biocenosis) / E - Earth:
covers all the targets: the three previous targets (ecosystems, humans and man made heritage) and physical environments such as the atmosphere and the oceans
H - Humans:
humankind which we extract from nature and focus on its health as defined by the World Health Organisation
M - Man-made heritage:
with a distinction is made between common buildings and historic ones
Table 3: Targets in Goger (2006) and Goger & Joumard (2007).
In addition the Eco-indicator approach (Brand et al., 1997; Goedkoop & Spriemsma, 2000) includes three types of endpoint damages: resources, ecosystem quality, and human health. The 2 first are subdivisions of the target 'nature, ecosystems' from Table 3.
1.4. OECD key impacts and indicators for Strategic Environmental Assessment
Impacts / IndicatorsClimate change / Emission of greenhouse gases
Acidification / Emission of SO2, NOX
Use of natural resources / Energy consumption, land take
Loss of biodiversity / Loss and damage of habitats and species
Air quality / Emission or concentration of pollution
Water quality / Number of water sources affected, concentration of pollutants
Visual impacts / Scale and key physical characteristics
Severance / Barriers, population size in affected areas
Noise / Noise levels, affected surface, population affected
Historical, archaeological, nature conservation / Recognised sites and areas of importance
Table 4: Key impacts and indicators for Strategic Environmental Assessment proposed by [OECD, 2002].
1.5. Categories of impact of emissions of atmospheric pollutants
We define 10 categories of impact of emissions of atmospheric pollutants (in the field of transport system):
Targets (see 1.3) / Impacts / descriptionN / H / M / E
E / Greenhouse effect / more exactly the increase of greenhouse gases (GIEC, 2001)
E / Ozone depletion / halogen compounds react with stratospheric ozone and lead to the depletion of the ozone layer. Although theoretically under control, this impact has not disappeared and is thus still of great interest (Académie des sciences, 1998)
N / H / Photochemical pollution / nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds react to form tropospheric ozone outside urban centres, toxic for humankind and nature (Derwent et al., 1998).
N / Acidification / nitrogen oxide and sulphur dioxide are transformed into acid compounds that acidify the natural environment up to 1,000 km away from the point of emission (Potting et al., 1998)
N / Eutrophication / nitrogen oxides contribute towards increasing plant biomass whose excessive development leads to anoxia in aquatic environments, then harms fauna and flora (Finnveden & Östlund, 1997)
H / Direct restricted health effects / effects on human health, which is restricted since it does not include harm to welfare and psychological aspects (integrated in sensitive pollution), and direct since it only considers effects due to exposure to primary pollutants. Health impacts due to secondary pollutants (acidification, photochemical pollution, etc.) are regulated by impact laws of different natures (Campagna et al., 2002)
N / Direct ecotoxicity / primary pollutants affecting human health can also affect nature (Huijbregts, 1999a)
H / Sensitive pollution / perceived by our senses, mainly sight and smell, it is composed of smoke, soiling and odours (Moch & Roussel, 2000)
M / Degradation of common man-made heritage / this is mainly due to the affects of particles and corrosive products. It incorporates the impacts of photochemical pollution and acidification on buildings (Diren et al., 2004).
M / Degradation of historic man-made heritage / this is separated from the previous category as the impact is not chiefly sensitive or economic, but cultural and irreversible insofar as each work is unique and impossible to recreate identically. There is also the factor of loss of know-how in certain cases (Diren et al., 2004)
Table 5: Categories of impact of emissions of atmospheric pollutants in Goger (2006) and Goger & Joumard (2007).
1.6. Main indicators of impacts of emissions of atmospheric pollutants
Impact category / Indicator / Operationalisation of the indicatorsGreenhouse effect / «global warming potential» / GWPglobe; 20,100 or 500 (GIEC, 2001); [Houghton & coll., 2001; Houghton & coll., 1996]
«health effects due to climatic change» / FIglobe; 20,100 or 500 or FI9 regions; 20,100 or 500 [Mayerhover & coll., 1997]
Ozone depletion / «Ozone depletion » / ODPglobe, infinite [Wmo, 1999] or ODPglobe; 5,10,15,20, 25, 30 or 40 [Solomon and Albritton, 1992]
«health effects due to ozone depletion» / FIglobe; mid term [Gedkoop and Spriemsma, 2000; Hofstetter, 1998]
Photochemical pollution / «formation of tropospheric ozone» / POCPeurope; 5 days or POCPNOx weak/strong; 5 days (Anderson-Skold & coll., 1992); [Derwent & coll., 1998]
« maximal reactivity» / MIRurban NOxStrong; 1 day or MOIRurban NOxStrong; 1 day or EBIRurban NOxmean ; 1 day [Carter W.P.L.]
«effects on human respiratory capacities due to organic compounds» / FIglobe, Europe, Holland; 5 days [Gedkoop and Spriemsma, 2000; Hofstetter, 1998]. Low validity of the factor for earth and Europe.
Acidification / «acidification potential» / APglobe; infinite [Hauschild and Wenzel, 1998; Huijbregts, 1999b] or APsensible area; infinite [Blau and Seneviratne, 1995; Hauschild and Wenzel, 1998; Hogan & coll., 1996] or APregion; infinite [Huijbregts & coll., 2000a; Potting & coll., 1998a; b] or APDenmark, infinite [Wenzel & coll., 1997] or APHolland; infinite [Blonk & coll., 1997b] in [Guinee & coll., 2001b]
(Huijbregts, 2000b)
Eutrophication / «eutrophication potential» / EPglobe; infinite [Heijung & coll., 1992] or EPEurope; infinite [Huijbregts, 1999b]; (Huijbregts, 2000b)
«damages to ecosystem quality due to combined effects of acidification and eutrophication» / FIglobe, Europe, Holland; infinite [Gedkoop and Spriemsma, 2000; Hofstetter, 1998]. Low validity of the factor for earth and Europe.
Sensitive pollution / «odor potential» / OPglobe; infinite [Heijung & coll., 1992]; (Guinee & coll., 2002)
Direct restricted health effects / «toxicity» / HTPglobe; 20,100,500 or infinite [Hauschild and Wenzel, 1998; Huijbregts & coll., 2000b] or TEPglobe; infinite [Hertwich, 1999]. Factor for Europe in fact.
HTPregion; 20,100,500 or infinite [Huijbregts, 2000a]
«carcinogenic effects on humans» / FIglobe, Europe, Holland; infinite [Gedkoop and Spriemsma, 2000; Hofstetter, 1998]. Low validity of the factor for earth and Europe.
Direct ecotoxicity / «ecotoxicity potential» / ETPglobe; 20,100,500 or infinite [Huijbregts, 1999a; Huijbregts & coll., 2000b] . Factor for Europe in fact.
ETPregion; 20,100,500 or infinite [Huijbregts, 2000]
«damages to ecosystem quality due to ecotoxic emissions» / FIglobe, Europe, Holland; infinite [Gedkoop and Spriemsma, 2000; Hofstetter, 1998]. Low validity of the factor for earth and Europe.
Degradation of common man-made heritage / - / -
Degradation of historic man-made heritage / - / -
Table 6: Main indicators of impacts of emissions of atmospheric pollutants in Goger (2006). Indicators and related references in red are those chosen by Goger & Joumard (2007) as the best indicators.
1.7. National use of impacts and indicators
Between the above mentioned kinds of impacts, the best known in Poland are: greenhouse effect (with Global Warming Potential indicator), ozone depletion (Ozone Depletion Potential), photochemical pollution (Photochemical Ozone Creation Potential) and impact on humans health (lack of indicator for health effects).
Indicators such as Acidification Potential (AP) and Eutrophication Potential (EP) are described are not well described in Polish literature. Phenomena such as acidification and eutrophication are known, but indicators for that impacts don’t exist.
In the case of odours, works on legal protection of odour air quality are currently conducted in Poland. For Odour Potential, odour unit per m3 is in the use, but the indicator has no application for the environmental assessments in Poland.
For health effects (on human), lethal dose and toxic dose are used as an indicator.
2. Proposed list of impact categories with their chain of causalities or effects
As stated in Wäger (2006), the impact categories shall together enable an encompassing assessment of relevant impacts, which are known today (completeness), but at the same time should have the least overlap as possible (independence). In a first step (analysis step), we propose here to design the categories to be independent and to cover all the impacts. We analyse in detail the impact chains (from the source to the final impacts) in order to show the differences. The impacts differentiation is made by using the following parameters: type of source, main scientific disciplines involved in the chain of impact, time and distance scales between the source and the final impacts, type of final target (see Table 9). Other parameters could be added.
In a second step, we try to find or to design impact indicator(s) per impact category: Potential indicators are given in Table 10.
The aggregation of impacts is possible when the knowledge necessary to build impact indicators is similar and if the main characteristics of the chain are similar. As, to be practical, the number of categories should amount to a not too high number, and considering the importance of each impact and the availability of indicators, some impacts could be merged. The correspondences between initial impact categories of Table 1 and the categories proposed in Table 9 are given in Table 10 and in Table 11.
The importance of each sources is indicated by * to *** and coloured when important (***) as shown Table 7. The proposed typology of targets is given Table 8.
SourcesIB / infrastructure building
VP / vehicle production
EPD / energy production and distribution
T / traffic
VID / vehicle and infrastructure destruction
Table 7: Description of the sources.
Targets / Pseudo-targetN – Nature / R – Resources / E - Earth:
covers all the targets: the three previous targets (ecosystems, humans and man made heritage) and physical environments such as the atmosphere and the oceans
ES - Ecosystems:
nature understood as ecosystems, i.e. the association between a physicochemical and abiotic (the biotope) environment and a living community characteristic of the latter (the biocenosis)
H - Humans:
humankind which we extract from nature and focus on its health as defined by the World Health Organisation / HH- Human health:
In a restricted meaning
HWB – Human well-being
M - Man-made heritage:
with a distinction is made between common and historic buildings
Table 8: Description of the types of targets of the impacts on the environment.
Detailed description of the chains of causalities of environmental impacts 20 / 25
N / Sources(see Table 7 / Targets
(see Table 8)) / Impacts / reversibility, distance and time unit from the source / Chain of causalities
(P: Physics; C: Chemistry: B: Biology; PS: Psychology / Sociology) / close to