1

Main Module 4

Socio-technology

Module 2 Environmental systems II

Course 2 Evaluation of Consequences

1

2

CONTENTS

ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS II 3. Evaluation of consequences 3.1. Human activities 3.2. Overxploitation 3.3. Irrigation and Fertilization 3.4. Toxins 3.5. Heavy metals, Toxic organic compounds and Radiation 3.6. European environment 3.7. Environmental effects of stress 3.8. Technologies and consequences of lead 3.9. Desertification 3.10. Limitation of species richness 3.11. Air pollution 3.12. Oil pollution 3.13. Evaluation of activities 3.14. Case study in Greece 4. Professional orientation 4.1. Vocational aspects

2

3

ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS II Author: Konstantinos Bliatsios, CVT Georgiki Anaptixi

3. Evaluation of consequences

3.1. Human activities

The impact of man on the landscape has always been a major emphasis in geography and anthropology. Two aspects are very important regarding the relationship of human culture to environment:

- The physical environment exerts a dominant influence on culture and civilization.

- The physical environment places only a minor limitation on the development of advanced human culture

There are many research in scientific world that clearly documented the significant impact that original peoples had on the environment and has shown that major ecological change, often to the detriment of man, is not to confided to industrial societies nor to the last years.

The use of fire and the domestication of plants and animals changed the face of the earth long before the industrial revolution. Domestication freed human from direct dependence on wild nature for food, bur failure to control his symbionts has resulted in widespread destruction of productive soil and vegetation.

However the recent years scientists have found that the decline in quality of the living space, not in the supply of energy or resources is the basic problem. On the other hand is how the materials and energy are used and how growth and use of space is planned and controlled that determines whether human values are preserved or lost.

In addition another research has shown that the decline of cities to replacement of creative architecture by noncreative innovation lacks organic order and correlation and a decline of public interest in town planning because of overemphasis on economic values.

The sociological problem can be considered as:

3

4

- It is the ultimate creation of human civilization where want and strife are unknown and life, leisure and culture can be enjoyed in comfort by men protected from the harsh elements of the physical environment.

- The town is a gross alteration of nature that provides a thousand ways to destroy and cheapen the basic conditions on which life and dignity depend.

The world energy consumption is estimated to rise by 2030 and the demand for energy across Europe is expected to rise by close to 20 %, a much slower rate than foreseen for gross domestic product (GDP). Cost-effective measures for improving energy efficiency remain underused. Being constantly reminded that traditional methods of energy production are contributing to serious environmental problems the governments of the Member States have seen the urgent need for pollution-free power generation. The energy sector was forced through a renovating process, which sees its opening towards renewable energy. More efficient combined heat and power stations could improve energy supply efficiencies. Carbon capture and storage could serve as a transition technology and efficiency measures for buildings, vehicles and consumer goods stimulated by market-based instruments and regulations would help reduce demand.

The average temperature of the planet has increased by 0.6οC since the end of the 19th century and there are clear indications of climate change in the previous century. The decade of ’90s were the hottest decade ever recorded, while according to the scenarios of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the estimated temperature increase until 2100 will fluctuate between 1.4 and 5.8οC.

Example: The average of temperature from 1961-1990 was 14oC. In the year 1999 was 0,30 oC, the 2001 0,40 oC and it is estimated for the year 2007 to be 0.52 oC above from the average.

3.2. Overexploitation

Fishing, hunting, grazing, fuel - wood gathering, lumbering, and the like are classic consumer – resource interactions. In most natural systems, these achieve steady states because as a resource becomes scarce, the efficiency of exploration plummets the consumer population then begin to decline or seek alternative resources until the consumer and the first resources are brought back into balance. The efficiency of

4

5

exploitation and the ability of resources to resist exploitation are characteristics of consumers and resources that have evolved over long periods of interaction.

In economic system, consumer – resource interactions may also come into balance, because as a resource becomes scarce and its price increases, demand for that resource drops, people either do without or find cheaper alternatives. However, because the human population’s ability to exploit natural systems has been escalated out of all proportion by its ability to use tools, renewable resources may not become scarce until they are nearly depleted and are unable to sustain even reduced exploitation. Technology abilities have advanced too rapidly for nature to keep pace, humans have gained the upper hand with weapons, chain saws, cultivated plants, and domesticated animals.

Where the fertility of the land itself has been exhausted, this leaves the prospect of a large human population without the resource base to support itself. Where the population can no longer move to other areas or shirt to new food sources, population control by starvation and associated diseases and social strife portend a grim future.

Many human populations in the some regions maintain themselves by a practice of ‘’shifting agriculture ‘’ in which small patches of frost are cut and burned to release nutrients into the soil, planted for 2 or 3 years, and then abandoned in favor of a new patch. This type of agriculture requires little input of labor, materials, or energy and takes advantage of the natural success ional processes of forests, but it supports only sparse human populations. When land is cultivated more intensively by tilling, fertilization, water society - a pattern typical of much of the earth. Thus the vast forests devoid of human impact that existed many years ago were a relatively recent development.

Second, patterns of food consumption have changed dramatically. Individuals are larger and require more food, and meat makes up a greater part of the diet. As a result, vast areas of forest have been converted to unproductive rangeland to feed cattle this practice was originally restricted to drier parts but nowadays are everywhere.

Example: In Greece, fishery participate in GNP only in 0,74%. The number of people that occupy in this sector is 35.000 – 50.000 persons a few years ago. Nowadays this number has decreased as the fishes in the see have decreases as well.

5

6

3.3. Irrigation and Fertilization

Water makes the desert bloom. The world has employed various irrigation schemes to increase the productivity of the land since the beginning of agriculture. Only recently, however, has irrigation been applied on immense scales to land that would otherwise be totally unsuitable for agriculture. The benefits are tremendously, but so are the costs, many of which surface only after years of profitable irrigation. The primary costs are the environmental effects of developing the dams, wells, canals, and dike work required to support irrigation, the lowering of water tables where wells are the source of irrigation water, the reduction of groundwater quality through the introduction of pesticides and fertilizers or the concentration of naturally occurring toxic elements, the salting of irrigated soils in arid zones, and the transmission of diseases by aquatic organisms. In most cases, the cost of delivering water to crops is underwritten by the population at large through taxes and other subsidies including the burden of future environmental problems rarely does irrigation pay its own way.

Picture 1: Irrigation channel of Namata- Larissa (Greece)

Any substance that enhances the productivity of a habitat may be considered a fertilizer. We apply fertilizers to agricultural lands to increase crop production, but a portion of these chemical make their way into groundwater and from there to rivers, lakes, and eventually the ocean. Nitrates, phosphates and other inorganic fertilizers have the same effect on the rivers and lakes as on agricultural lands they increase biological production. A consequence of this artificial fertilization, often called eutrophication, is to change the chemical and biological conditions, of a body of water. Although increased production is not necessarily bad, it may cause a change in the species composition of

6

7

rivers and lakes. Input of inorganic fertilizers may also turn clear, oligotrophic waters into turbid environments that are les attractive for recreation. Often, however, nutrient inputs upset seasonal cycles of nutrient use and regeneration in natural bodies of water, leading to the accumulation of organic material, high rates of bacterial decomposition and deoxygenation of the water. Under such conditions, fish may suffocate and contribute further to the load of organic material in the water.

Direct input of organic wastes into water, such as from sewage and runoff from feedlots, poses a greater problem for water quality. Suspended or dissolved organic materials in water create what is known as biological oxygen demand, meaning that the decomposition of these materials by bacteria uses oxygen present in the water. When organic materials are added from outside the system, rather than being produced within the system, they may completely alter the natural balance of oxygen production by photosynthesis and oxygen consumption by respiration, because the organic inputs are unrelated to the natural productivity of the system. Under these conditions, a stream or lake may become anoxic for long periods and unsuitable for many forms of life. Before water pollution came under strict controls in some countries, large section of the rivers became completely anoxic, killing off local fish populations and preventing the migration of other species, such as shad and salmon, between the ocean and their headwater spawning grounds.

The costs of such moribund rivers to fisheries and recreation, not to mention to aesthetic sensibility, were enormous. In general, natural conditions can be restored by cutting off the supply, of organic nutrients other by diverting inputs to larger bodies of water that can absorb organic inputs or by improving the treatment of sewage. The costs of these solutions have been more than repaid in the long run by the benefits of enhanced water quality for fisheries water treatment, public health and recreation.

3.4. Toxins

Toxins are poisons that kill animals and plants by interfering with their normal physiological functions. Plants have evolved chemical defenses that kill or sicken herbivores, and many animals use toxins to kill their prey. Human technology, however, has produced a stupefying array of chemical substances with adverse effects on life. Many are produced because of their toxic effects, among them a variety of insecticides, rodenticides, and herbicides. Some of these have had damaging effects far beyond their intended victims. These undesirable side effects have occurred because of difficulties in delivering pesticide to particulate targets without other species getting in the way,

7

8

because of the indiscriminate action of most pesticides that are designed to attack basic physiological functions, and because many of there substances persist in the environment and may be concentrated organisms feed on others that contain them.

Toxic substances may be divided into several classes: acids, heavy metals, organics, and radiation are the most common. Acids are very reactive substances that produce hydrogen ions (H+) and may be extremely toxic at high concentration (low pH). Acids affect organisms directly by interfering with physiological functions and indirectly through their influence on nutrient availability and regeneration. In particular, high acidity reduces the solubility of phosphorus in soils and waters, which tends to reduce productivity.

All environments contain natural acids, which are produced when carbon dioxide dissolves in water to form carbonic acid and when bacterial metabolism forms organic acids. Anthropogenic sources of acid are primarily of two kinds. The first occurs in coal mining areas where reduced sulfur compounds associated with coal are exposed to oxygen – rich environments. Sulfur bacteria oxidize pure sulfur and thiol (reduced) forms of sulfur to sulfates, which may then be conversed to sulfuric acid in streams that drain mining areas - hence the term acid mine drainage. In some places, the water becomes so acid as to sterilize the aquatic environment.

A more widespread problem is acid rain. Coal and oil are not pure hydrocarbons they contain sulfur and nitrogen compounds as well. After all, these fossil fuels are the remains of plants and animals that, when living contained nitrogen and sulfur in proteins and other organic molecules. The burning of coal and oil, in addition to producing carbon dioxide and water vapor, spews nitrous oxides and sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere. Where these gases dissolve in raindrops, they are converted to acid and cause acid rain. As a result, pH may drop to as low as 4, acid enough to stunt growth or even cause mortality of fish and other organisms. Acid rain may also lower the pH in soil, which increases the rate of leaching of soil nutrients and precipitates phosphorus compounds making them unavailable for uptake by plant roots. Acid directly affects the foliage of plants as well, making leaves more susceptible to disease and frost damage. The ecological scope of the acid rain problem includes adverse effects on productivity and wildlife in both aquatic and terrestrial habitats. The solutions are primarily technological and economic scrubbing the offending gases from the effluents of power plants and automobiles, finding alternatives to the burning of fossil fuels for energy, and reducing total demand for energy.

Examples: The coal in water can become very dangerous for the fishes and plants in

8

9

water if happens the following reaction

CaCO3 + 2HCl CaCl2 + H2CO3 and after H2CO3 H2O + CO2

The salt that is created by this reaction can kill them. It immediately impedes the nervous system of fishes.

3.5. Heavy metals, Toxic organic compounds and Radiation

Heavy metals

Even in low concentrations mercury, arsenic, lead, copper, nickel, zinc, and other heavy metals are toxic to most forms of life. They are introduced to the environment in a variety of ways, principally as refuse from mining and mineral smelting as waste products of manufacturing processes, as fungicides, and through the burning of leaded fuel. Their effects are varied but include interference with neurological function in vertebrates. Ecological studies have revealed the movement and concentration of heavy metals through the food chain and the persistence and transformation of these elements in the ecosystem. Many toxic metals, including copper and nickel particulates released to that atmosphere by smelters, eventually accumulate in soil.

In the case of copper, concentrations in excess of 100 ppm adversely affect mosses, lichens and large fungi above 1000ppm, earthworm abundance drops of dramatically and most species of vascular plants cannot tolerate concentrations above 5000 ppm. As fungi die out, decomposition of organic matter and mineralization of nitrogen in the soil decrease. Concentrations exceeding 1000 ppm may extend for 10 to 20 km from sites of metal smelting, with predictable effects on the diversity and productivity of local communities. These effects are mitigated to some degree by taller smokestacks, which distribute the wastes over large areas at lower concentration, but ultimately, solving the problem will require a change in the technology of metal production to reduce toxic by – products.

Toxic organic compounds

Toxic organic compounds are widespread in nature as chemical defenses of plants against herbivores and as metabolic by – products of various microorganisms, such as the bacterium that cause botulism and the din flagellate that cause toxic red tides. Although agriculture pesticides include some natural compounds, such as nicotine and

9

10

pyrethrums, most are far more deadly conductions produced in the laboratory, to which pests have had no previous exposure and opportunity to evolve resistance. The latter include organomerqurials, chlorinated hydrocarbons, organophoshorus compounds. Although these compounds do their job for agriculture and pest management, many accumulate in other parts of the ecosystem where they adversely affect plant production and wildlife populations.

Overuse and misuse of pesticides can be addressed in part by applying them properly and in the smallest effective amounts. But because insects and other pests may evolve tolerances to pesticides just as many plants have evolved tolerances toxic elements in soil, applications of chemicals often produce only short term benefits, and their amounts must be increased to achieve continued results. Through ecological research, we can assess the vulnerability of natural systems to these pollutants, prescribe safe applications and - perhaps most important – determine suitable alternatives to humankind‘s chemical warfare with the environment.

Biological control of pests, which relies on the principles of predator prey interactions, often provides effective regulation of insect populations without the adverse effects of chemical pesticides.

Example: When the organic matterial is rejected in water, the micro-organisms that exist

in the waste, and more specific the bacteria, disintergrate it in simpler organic

and inorganic components. When this decomposition of organic matterial

takes place under aerobic conditions, that is to say presence of oxygen, the

products of degradation are not dangerous and stable as (CO2), (SO4) and

(ΝΟ3).

Organic material + Ο2 CO2 + H2O + new cells + stable products

Direct result is the final production of products that are harmful and

undesirable, as hydrogen sulfide (H2S), ammonia (NH3) and methane (CH4).

Radiation

10

11

Radiation comes in a board spectrum of energy intensities, ranging from generally harmless long – wavelength radio and infrared radiation through damaging ultraviolet radiation of shorter wavelength, to the extremely high energy levels of cosmic rays and subatomic particles released by the disintegration of atomic nuclei. Natural sources create an unavoidable background level of radiation. Under some circumstances, radioactive substances, such as the radon gas present in soils in regions having granitic bedrock, can become concentrated and pose public health hazards. Such dangers are minor compared to the possibility of the extreme radiation hazard resulting from accidents as nuclear power plants, such as those that occurred at

Examples: Microwaves and radiowaves transport energy, that when contact our body is absorbed in a percentage. If the dose is powerful, then it can be caused a excessive increase of temperature, that can involve damage in the tissues.

3.6. European environment

The European environment remains under problems and pressure, but now, to sustain our standards of living, we are exporting this pressure by importing more and more resources from elsewhere in the world to meet our needs. At around 5 'global hectares' per person, the ecological footprint of the 25 Member States of the European Union (EU-25) — the estimated area required to produce the resources we consume and absorb the wastes we generate — is approximately half that of USA, but is still bigger than other large economies, including Japan.

The average European's footprint is also more than double the counterpart in Brazil and India, as well as the global average. Already the total global use of ecological resources is some 20 % higher than what the planet's natural systems can renew each year. Growing appreciation of the links between economic performance and the environment are encouraging much greater 'eco-production' in our use of energy and resources.

Environmental priorities

In order to sustain the conservation and recovery of environment some priorities must be followed:

11

12

- Air pollution and regulation of chemicals so as to reduce impacts on health and on the environment.

- The preservation of land as a productive resource and as a material for biodiversity.

- Improvement of the quality and quantity of freshwater;

- Ensuring the health of the oceans.

The main solution for these tasks can be found by increasing the use of renewable energy resources as to replace some of the finite non-renewable resources that both developed and emerging economies are competing to exploit.

For more details visit the website of http://ec.europa.eu

3.7. Environmental effects of stress

Stress is the any environment influence that causes a measurable ecological change. We have the following categories of environmental stress.

- Physical stress: is an effect that is caused when an intense loading of kinetic energy disturbs an ecosystem, often for only a brief period of time.

- Wildfire is another stress, caused by the rapid combustion of much of the biomass of an ecosystem. This is very strong as the biomass burns in an uncontrolled way until the fire either runs out of fuel or it is quenched.

- Pollution occurs when some chemical products are present in the environment at a concentration that is sufficient to have a physiological effect on organisms, and thereby cause an ecological change. Chemicals that are commonly involved in toxic pollution include the gases sulfur dioxide and ozone, elements such as mercury and arsenic, and general pesticides. Pollution by nutrients can enhance ecological processes such as productivity.

- Thermal stress takes place when heat energy is released into an ecosystem, causing ecological change. Thermal pollution is usually associated with the dissipation of waste heat from power plants and other industrial facilities, but it is also naturally present in the vicinity of hot springs.

- Radiative stress occurs when there is an excessive load of ionizing energy. Examples include the effects of radiation flux from nuclear waste and the experimental exposure of ecosystems to ionizing gamma radiation.

12

13

- Exploitative stress is the selective removal or particular species or size classes of organisms from an ecosystem. The primary effect of exploitative stress is the removal of individuals, but there may also be secondary consequences if harvested organisms were somehow critically important in the structure and function of their ecosystem.

- Climatic stress is caused by and insufficient or excessive regime or temperature, moisture, and /or solar radiation.

When an ecosystem is disturbed by an event of physical stress or wildfire, it quickly suffers a great deal of mortality of its component species, structural disruption and other ecological damage.

Stress by pollution, thermal energy or other causes environmental change by exerting physiological effects on organisms. Depending on the intensity of the stress, organisms may suffer chronic or acute toxicity and some may die.

There is another point of view that stress can be caused by natural agencies, with great ecological effects. Because many cases of natural pollution and other stresses are ancient, consideration of their ecological impacts can allow a measure of insight into the potential longer-term effects of modern human stresses.

Table 1: Ecological consequences after the beginning of stress.

1 Community respiration increases.

2 Production becomes unbalanced.

3 Auxiliary energy increases.

4 Nutrient loss increases.

5 Size of organisms decreases.

6 Food chain changes.

7 Species diversity decreases.

8 Ecosystem becomes more sensitive.

9 Natural resources decreases.

13

14

3.8. Technologies and consequences of lead

Leaded gasoline is the major source of dispersing lead into the human environment. The discovery of the anti-knock effect of tetraethyl lead in gasoline is among the most celebrated achievements of automotive engineering in the 20th century. It is often portrayed as the result of genius, luck and a great deal of hard work. Leaded gasoline allowed an increase in engine power and efficiency by raising fuel anti-knock quality.

When leaded gasoline is burned, it emits small particles of lead into the air, where they remain for extended periods of time. These has as a result particles will eventually fall out into soil and dust, creating a large amount of lead to continue to poison generations unless covered or removed. This disperse of leaded gasoline and its period effects, the ease with which lead enters the body after it is emitted by motor vehicles, and the vulnerability of at-risk urban populations, especially young children and other persons.

A side effect of the lead additives was protection of the valve seats from erosion. Many classic cars' engines have needed modification to use lead-free fuels since leaded fuels became unavailable. Gasoline, as delivered at the pump, also contains additives to reduce internal engine carbon buildups, improve combustion, and to allow easier starting in cold climates.

Due to the health consequences of lead exposure, as well as to the introduction of catalytic converters, many countries have reduced or eliminated use of lead additives in motor gasoline. But in many other countries, leaded gasoline remains the norm. In these countries there is often confusion about the health significance of gasoline lead, the ability of cars to use unleaded gasoline, and the costs of unleaded gasoline.

There are some jobs that can cause lead to contaminate the body. For example a type pf work and hobby environments expose people to lead and may result in lead exposures to others (family). Some protective measures must be taken if the work is about construction, demolition, painting etc. Moreover lead can be also brought into the house from outside soil. Other places to be aware of lead exposure are: clothes from other workers, drapery and window weights, pottery and others.

Example: How ground is polluted: It is polluted by the combustion of petrol, with the rainfalls, from mines, foundries and factories of lead and also from the use of painting, which contain lead. Other reason at which the ground is polluted is the species of plants which absorb from the ground the lead and bring it in the surface.

14

15

3.9. Desertification

On a global scale, there is increasing evidence that climate is changing and of a discernible human influence. The high natural variability of the Mediterranean climate make both the detection of climate change and attribution of its cause very difficult.

According to reliable resources the world's great deserts were formed by natural processes interacting over long intervals of time. During most of these times, deserts have grown and shrunk independent of human activities. Desertification is a concept used to grasp the more acute forms of the degradation of land-based ecosystems and the consequences of the loss of their services. Drought is the main reason of the natural catastrophic consequence. In some regions, deserts are separated sharply from surrounding, less unfertile areas by mountains and other contrasting landforms that reflect basic structural differences in the regional geology. In other areas, desert cause a gradual transition from a dry to a more humid environment.

These transition zones have consequences to the balanced ecosystems. Creation of microclimates, small desert and hot winds are some examples. It is noticed from scientists that after a rainfall the vegetated areas are distinctly cooler than the surroundings. In these marginal areas, human activity may cause problems and stress to ecosystem beyond its tolerance limit, resulting in degradation of the land.

Desertification is a result of a long period failure to balance demand for and supply of ecosystem services in drylands. The pressure is increasing on dryland ecosystems for providing services such as food, forage, fuel, building materials, and water for humans and livestock, for irrigation, and for sanitation. This increase is attributed to a combination of human factors and climatic factors.

Desertification reduces the ability of land to support life, affecting wild species, domestic animals, agricultural crops and people. The reduction in plant cover that accompanies desertification leads to accelerated soil erosion by wind and water. Diverse views exist on the complex relationship between climatic and anthropogenic causal factors of desertification. Land records for the western Mediterranean show slight trends towards warmer and drier conditions over the last century. However, parts of the eastern Mediterranean have experienced cooler, wetter conditions in recent times than earlier this century. Surface water temperature records for the last 120 years show little overall trend but deep water records for the western Mediterranean show a continuous

Desertification occurs mainly in semi-arid areas (average annual rainfall less than 600 mm) bordering on deserts. It occurs on all continents except Antarctica and affects the livelihoods of millions of people, including a large proportion of the poor in drylands.

15

16

Desertification takes place worldwide in drylands, and its effects are experienced locally, nationally, regionally, and globally. However researches have shown the persistent, substantial reduction in the provision of ecosystem services as a result of water scarcity, intensive use of services and climate change is a much greater threat in drylands than in non-dryland systems.

Picture 2: First symptoms of desertification. In this case after a long time it is impossible the ground to be cultivated.

Sources of desertification

Desertification is taking place due to indirect factors driving unsustainable use of scarce natural resources by local land users. This situation may be worsen by global climate change. Desertification is considered to be the result of management approaches adopted by land users, who are unable to respond adequately to indirect factors like population pressure and globalization and who increase the pressure on the land in unsustainable ways. This has as a result a decrease of land productivity and a downward spiral of worsening degradation and poverty. The main factors for these are the following:

Social, economic and policy factors. Policies leading to unsustainable resource use and lack of supportive infrastructure are major contributors to land degradation. The encouragement to land users in order to overexploit land resources is an important factor to desertification.

16

17

Globalization: Trade liberalization, macroeconomic reforms, and a focus on raising production for exports can lead to desertification.

Overgrazing: Permition to animals to graze excessively, to the detriment of the vegetation. The regular stock movement prevented overgrazing of the fragile plant cover. In the new world, the use of fences has prevented domestic and wild animals from moving in response to food availability, and overgrazing has often resulted.

Cultivation of marginal lands: It is about lands on which there is a high risk of crop failure and a very low economic return.

Destruction of vegetation in arid regions.

Incorrect irrigation practices which can prevent plant growth.

Affections

Many important ecosystems would stop to exist. This would be happen as species fail to keep up with the shift in climate boundaries and/or find their migration paths blocked by human activities. Wetland sites will face the dual threats of drying out and sea level rise. Up to 85% of wetland sites in southern Europe could disappear with a 3 to 4°C rise in temperatures.

Poverty: Dryland populations, at least 90% of whom live in developing countries, on average lag far behind the rest of the world in human well-being and development indicators. Researchers have shown that that the relatively low rate of water provisioning in drylands limits access to clean drinking water and adequate sanitation, leading to poor health.

Increase of ill health (fever, coughing, and sore eyes) during the dry season. Reduction of vegetation cover in earth leads to destructive floods downstream and excessive clay and silt loads in water reservoirs, wells, river deltas, river mouths, and coastal areas.

Droughts and loss of land productivity. The movement of people also has the potential of adversely affecting local, regional, and even global political and economic stability, which may encourage foreign intervention.

Desertification must be fought at all levels, but this battle must ultimately be won at the local level. There is evidence that success is possible. All the while, this report makes it now clearer that this phenomenon is embedded in a global chain of causality and that its

17

18

impact is felt far beyond the boundaries of affected areas. Desertification contributes significantly to climate change and biodiversity loss.

3.10. Limitation of species richness

The extension of a species represents an irrevocable and regrettable loss of a portion of the biological richness of the earth. Extinction can be a natural process, being caused by random catastrophic events, by biological interactions such as competition, disease and predation, chronic physical stresses and by frequent disturbance. But nowadays, with the recent ascendance of human being as the dominant large animal on earth and the perpetrator of global environmental changes, there has been a dramatic increase in the rate of extinction of species.

About 1.7 million organisms have been identified and designated with a binomial name. About 6% of the identified species live in a boreal or polar latitudes, 59% in the temperate zones, and the remaining 35% in the tropic. Most of the species that have ever lived on earth, they could not successfully cope with changes that took place in their inorganic or biotic environment. The rate of extinction has not been uniform over geological time.

Many species have been brought to, or beyond the brink of extinction by the direct and indirect consequences of human activities. The most important anthropogenic influences that have caused the extinction or endangerment of organisms are overhunting, the effects of introduced predators/competitors/diseases and habitat destruction.

Explanation for the maintenance of species

There are three reasons why the extinction of a species, or a more general loss of species richness, is regrettable.

- Ideological reason. The main questions are a) whether humans have the right to act as the exterminator of unique and irrevocable species of wild biota and b) whether the human existence is somehow impoverished by the tragedy of anthropogenic extinction.

- Practical reason. Humans are not isolated from the earth. They take advantage of other organisms in myriad ways for sustenance, shelter and other purposes, including the functions that they may play in regulating or carrying out ecological processes. In this case if species become extinct then the unique biological,

18

19

chemical, ecological and other details are no longer available for actual or potential exploitation by humans.

- Ecological reason. This reason includes the possible essential roles of species in maintaining the stability and integrity of ecosystems, and their responsibilities in nutrient cycling, productivity, trophic dynamic and in other important aspects of ecological structure and function.

The conservation activities for wild species and plants (and not only) is regarded by almost all human societies as an important objective. So there are some measures from the governments in this field, from universities for better research and training, from other organizations and educational institutions, and from other nongovernment organization that have develop such activities for the protection of environment. All of these contribute to such important maintenance activities as a) the identification, acquisition and management of site where rare organisms live, b) increasing the awareness of the general public about important conservation issues and c) research into the biology and autecology of rare species and of the ecosystem of which they are a part. The intensity of theses maintenance activities is greatest in relatively industrialized countries, but awareness and activity are also beginning to emerge in less developed countries in the whole world.

3.11. Air pollution

There are many natural sources gaseous air pollution. These include volcanoes, forest fires and outgassings from anaerobic sediment and soil. In some cases the magnitude of natural sources can rival or exceed the emissions by human activity. With the industrialization an increasingly dominant aspect of human culture, air pollution became much more extensive. More specific, the burning of coal for energy caused severe air pollution by sulfur dioxide and soot in the cities of the whole Europe.

Gaseus sulfur is largely emitted as SO2 and H2S. SO2 is a colourless but pungent gas that can be tasted at 0.3 – 1 ppm. H2S is a gas with the foul smell of rotten eggs, which can detected by smell at <1 ppb. In the atmosphere H2S has a residence time of <1 day, as it is rapidly oxidized to SO2. The rate of oxidation of SO2 ranges from <1% to 5% per hour during the day, and it is influenced by the intensity of sunlight, humidity and by the presence of nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons, strong oxidants and catalytic metal-containing particulates.

19

20

The largest natural sources of SO2 are volcanic emission and forest fires. The average of volcanic of sulfur estimated as 2-5 million metric tons per year, but a single large eruption has been estimated to emit more than 1 million metric tons. In addition the largest source of SO2 is the burning of fossil fuels, accounting for 54% of the total anthropogenic emission. These fuels contain sulfur in both mineral and organic forms and during combustion more than 90% of the sulfur is oxidized to gaseous sulfur dioxide.

Changes in the nature and scale of industrialization and urbanization over the last century have also increased the area of terrain that is impacted by SO2 pollution. This is partly due to the use of increasingly taller smokestacks as a means of SO2 dispersal, a practice that causes a more regionalized pollution as a consequence of the long-distance transport of emissions. The emission of SO2 and other pollutants varies greatly between and within countries, because of differences in the population density, degree and type of industrialization, quantity and type of fuel used. This difference is large in any comparison between relatively developed and underdeveloped countries.

Table 2: Comparison of emission of SO2.

Emissions of SO2-S (106 MT/year) Year

Coal Oil Other Total 1900 12.6 0.2 1.3 14.1 1960 30.4 8.3 10.7 48.6 1970 32.4 17.6 12.0 62.0 1977 37.2 24.0 13.7 74.9 1985 48 25 17 90 2000 55 23 22 100

With the combination of information for SO2 and H2S and other sulfur gases the global emission of sulfur to the atmosphere can be calculated. The natural emissions were approximately equally devided between the northen and southern hemispheres, and the biogenic emission was evenly split between oceanic and terrestrial sources.

Due to these increase there are incidents in which anthropogenic air pollution has caused a marked increase in human mortality, particularly within high risk groups of people with chronic respiratory of heart disease. Theses toxic pollution events took place during periods of prolonged atmospheric stability, which prevented the dispersion of emissions. This resulted in a buildup of a large concentration of SO2 and particulates often accompanied by fog.

20

21

3.12. Oil pollution

Petroleum is a critically important but nonrewable natural resource. In its refined forms it is used for the production of energy and for the manufacture of synthetic materials such as plastics, while its asphaltic residues are used in heating and in construction. Energy production in by far the largest of the uses of petroleum in global level. Because most petroleum is extracted in locations that are remote from places where consumption occurs, it is commodity that must be transported in a very large quantity. The most important methods of transportation are by oceanic tanker and overland pipeline. These specific methods can pollute the environment by accidental oil and by operational discharges. There have been happened accidental spills, involving the loss of very large quantities of crude oil from disabled supertankers and offshore platforms. Moreover the large stationary facilities that are used for the refining of petroleum have the potential to cause chronic pollution by the discharge of hydrocarbon-laden waste waters, and by frequent small spills.

This material (petroleum) is a complex, naturally occurring mixture of organic compounds that is produced by the incomplete decomposition of biomass over a geologically long period of time. Petroleum compounds can occur in a gaseous form that is often called natural gas, as a liquid called crude oil, and as a solid or semisolid asphalt or tar associated with oil sand and shales. The molecules of this material range in complexity form the gaseous hydrocarbon methane with a molecular weight of only 16 g/mole, to substances having a molecular weight greater than 20.000 g/mole.

Crude oils from different locations vary greatly in their hydrocarbon composition. The three most important groups of hydrocarbons in petroleum are paraffin molecules, ranging from one carbon to >78 carbons, saturated and unsaturated five and six carbon alicyclics or naphthenes and a great variety of aromatics. Other elements that are present in crude oil include sulfur at a concentration of from <0.1% to 5-6% by weight and nitrogen at 0.1 to 0.9%. Oxygen is also present at up to 2%. The most important trace elements in petroleum are vanadium and nicket, both are concentrations of up to 300 ppm.

A spill on land can occur in many ways but the largest events generally involve a pipeline or a blowout. The causes of pipeline rupture are diverse. They include faulty pumping equipment and pipe seam welds, earthquakes, sabotage and other reasons.

After oil is spread in the environment, it is partitioned as the following.

- Spreading: Is the process by which spilled oil physically diluted itself over the surface of the water or the land.

21

22

- Evaporation: Is initially important in reducing the volume of spillage that remains in the hydro environment.

- Solubilization: Is the process of dissolution of oil into the water column. This causes a contamination of water in the vicinity of the oil spread.

- Residual material: This remains most of the evaporation and solubilisation of lighter fractions has taken place forms a rather stable and gelatinous water-in-oil emulsion.

A chronic exposure to a diverse array of hydrocarbons and other pollutants can occur in many situations where effluents form industrial and municipal sources impact water.

Table 3: World Petroleum Consumption and production, 1980-2004

Year Production (Thousands barrels per

day)

Consumption

1980 59.557,56 63.113,60 1981 56.049,87 60.943,79 1982 53.453,60 59.543,24 1983 53.256,60 58.778,20 1984 54.498,94 59.817,17 1985 53.966,19 60.085,12 1986 56.198,61 61.808,95 1987 56.626,75 63.095,12 1988 58.691,85 64.965,32 1989 59.791,25 66.077,79 1990 60.491,68 66.545,88 1991 60.187,63 67.131,81 1992 60.115,09 67.359,45 1993 60.167,93 67.454,63 1994 61.039,56 68.766,99 1995 62.332,88 69.912,34 1996 63.697,73 71.522,58 1997 65.688,64 73.330,72 1998 66.915,55 73.994,34 1999 65.848,39 75.668,41 2000 68.368,57 76.687,79 2001 67.983,53 77.455,70 2002 66.966,97 78.153,73 2003 69.234,73 79.794,23 2004 72.223,92 82.594,66

Source: Energy Information Association, (http://www.eia.doe.gov)

22

23

3.13. Evaluation of activities

Evaluation of activities is very difficult and controversial task. However, organizations or stakeholders in charge of protecting and managing natural resources must often make difficult spending decisions that involve tradeoffs in allocating resources. These types of decisions are very critical economic decisions, and thus are based, either explicitly or implicitly, on society’s values. Therefore, this evaluation is very useful, by providing a way to justify and set priorities for projects, policies, or activities that protect or restore environment.

Environment functions and activities

Environment functions are the physical, chemical, and biological processes or attributes that contribute to the self-maintenance of an environment. Some examples of environment functions are provision of wildlife population, carbon cycling, or the trapping of nutrients. Thus, environment can be characterized by the processes, or functions, that occur inside it.

Environment activities are the beneficial outcomes, for the natural environment or people that result from environment functions. Some examples of environment activities are support of the food chain, harvesting of animals or plants, and the provision of clean water or healthy conditions. In order for an environment to provide services to humans, some interaction with, or at least some appreciation by, humans is required. Thus, functions of environment are value-neutral, while their activities have value to society.

Factors that affect stakeholders to take decisions

Decisions about environment management are very complex for the reason that various types of market failure are connected with natural resources. This occurs when markets do not reflect the full social costs or benefits of a good. For example, the price of gasoline does not fully reflect the costs, in terms of pollution, that are imposed on society by burning this liquid. Market failures related to environment include the facts that:

- Environment provides services good to humans.

- Environment is affected by external activities.

- The rights related to environment encroached by humans activities (mainly with the use of new technology).

23

24

Environment offers well to humans, which means that a very good sense of good quality provide a better quality of life. In addition environment activities may be affected by external actions of human actions. For example, if a river is polluted by runoff from agricultural land, the people act negative to this situation. The problem with negative consequences is that the humans they are imposed upon are generally not compensated for the damages they suffer.

Environment evaluation can help resource managers deal with the effects of market failures, by measuring their costs to society, in terms of lost advantages. The costs to society can then be imposed, in various ways, on those who are responsible, or can be used to determine the value of activities to reduce or eliminate environmental impacts. For example, in the case of the crowded public recreation area, benefits to the public could be increased by reducing the crowding development. The costs of implementing different options can be compared to the increased advantages of reduced crowding.

In the case of a river polluted by agricultural runoff, the benefits from eliminating the pollution can be compared to costs of actions to reduce the runoff, or can be used to determine the appropriate fines or taxes to be levied on those who are responsible.

Environment Values

Environment values are measures of how important environment services are to humans. Scientists measure the value of environment services to humane by estimating the amount people are willing to pay to preserve or enhance the services. However, this is very difficult to be accomplished.

Very interesting, while some services of environment, like agriculture or animal husbandry, are bought and sold in markets, many environment services, like a day of wildlife viewing or a view of the farm, are not traded in markets. Thus, people do not pay directly for many environment services. Additionally, because human are not familiar with purchasing such goods, their willingness to pay may not be clearly defined. However, this does not mean that environment or their services have no value, or cannot be valued in economic terms.

It is not necessary for environment services to be bought and sold in markets in order to measure their value (in price). What is required is a measure of how much purchasing power persons are willing to give up to get the service of the environment, or how much people would need to be paid in order to give it up, if they were asked to make a choice similar to one they would make in a market place.

24

25

Types of Values

Scientists classify environment values into several types. The main categories are use values and non-use values. Whereas use values are based on actual use of the environment, non-use values are values that are not associated with actual use, or even an option to use, an ecosystem or its services.

Thus, use value is defined as the value derived from the actual use of a good or service, such as cultivating, hunting, etc. Use values may also include indirect utilites. For example, a park provides direct use values to the people who visit the area. Other people might enjoy watching a television show about the area and so they receive indirect use values. People may also receive indirect use values from an input that helps to create something else that people use directly.

Non-use values are values that are not associated with actual use, or even the option to use a good or service. Existence value is the non-use value that a person place on simply knowing that something exists, even if they will never see it or use it. For example, a person might be willing to pay to protect a protected area “natural park”, even though he or she never expects or even wants to go there, but simply because he or she values the fact that it exists.

25

3.14. Case study in Greece

26

26

The specific subjects are taken into consideration and their importance counted in, but they are not measurable elements of control of cultivation. The environmental subjects of Consortium are the following:

The environmental elements and the elements that are relevant to quality of produced products, of the total cultivations of consortium that refer to wider area of district, resulted after the collection and process of elements.

The Consortium decided to record and to concrete the total amount of natural factors and factors that are not belong to environment and these factors are being in interaction with the agricultural activity and with the consequences that occurred to the environment for each one of these environmental subjects as well. This is very essential in order to be countable and to be continuous during the productive process.

Environment is not only the nature, but for the farmers is the environment that they work for and for the consumers are the foods, and they have to be absolutely sure.

The Integrated System of Cultivation Management is the balanced concern for the environment and for the quality of products.

From the beginning of 2003 the Consortium applies Integrated Systems of Cultivation Management according to norm Agro 2.1 – 2.2. The norm Agro 2.1 – 2.2 is absolutely an environmental norm. The respect to the environment, the quality and the competitiveness of agricultural products constitute three from the values that the Consortium are called to use and for this reason was decided the application of Integrated System of Cultivation Management.

The CONSORTIUM of AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVES MELIKIS AND OUTSKIRTS: it has its central offices in Meliki of Imathia. It was founded by farmers of wider region of Municipality of Meliki and Vergina with main activity the concentration, maintainance and standardisation of fresh vegetables with main products: peaches nectarines, apples, kiwis and some quantities of other fruits. It is constituted by 416 producers.

27

27

Environmental subject Activity Repercussion

Health of Plantation

Sustainable Management of Soil

Water

Biodiversity

Environment of work

Natural seeds

Climatic Conditions – Atmospheric Pollution

Multiplicative material

Management use of Soil

Fertilization

Irrigation

Plantprotection

Training

Equipment and energy

Management of dirts

Sensitivity in parasitizes and no parasitic deseases

Erosion, compaction, reduction of organic substance, lack of air, reclamation,

over-ageing

Chemical pollution of aquatic, surface and underground environment

Exhaustion, salt, pollution, nurishment

Elation of parasitises, resistance, reduction of beneficial: organisms, change of composition

of flora and wild fauna

Health and safety of workers

Pollution of air, waste of energy

Quality of Produced Products

Degradation of landscape and protected regions, increase of pollutants

Degradation of quality and quantity

Fig 1: Recording of Environmental and other subjects

28

Figure 2: Certification of Agro 2-1 & Agro 2-2

28

29

4. PROFESSIONAL ORIENTATION

4.1. Vocational aspects

The modern technology has impact to culture and our social lives. It has generated a new kind of culture, oriented toward the entertainment of mass audiences and based upon a major industry. The products of this technology compete with, and are often thought to threaten, other social and cultural activities. Culture had its roots in the community and emphasized the special themes and distinctive styles of local traditions. By contrast, popular culture is highly uniform, because it is produced to appeal to the average taste of large undifferentiated persons. As it competes with traditional social and cultural activities it undermines participation in the local society.

To some extent, contemporary concern over the destructive society effects of the technology reflects a lack of experience and a failure to understand and use the potentials of the new technology. For example the printing press enabled large numbers to achieve higher level of education, and made it possible for modern electronic society to be developed.

New technological advances, new policies, rules, regulations and conditions may help overcome some of the risks the new technology systems have created. For instance, the cable television has the possibility to reduce the impact of standardized programming. In this period, when our central nervous system is technologically extended to involve us in the whole of mankind and to incorporate the whole of mankind in us, we necessarily participate in depth in the differences and consequences of our every activity. The aspiration of our time of everything and depth of awareness is a natural factor of new technology.

As technology is at the heart of many of the critical issues facing today's society, people need to develop an understanding of both the benefits and the risks inherent in any given technological innovation. In order to make intelligent decisions on technological issues, it is important for people to understand how technology and society influence each other and then be able to use this knowledge to influence public policy.

29

30

Technology as a strategy allows the society and the persons as entities to become more organic, flexible and adaptable, coincident with this change, which is in culture and a shift toward the technology development. Not only does technology drive these changes but it also facilitates them by opening much more opportunities for new situations and opportunities for better and comfortable human conditions. The role of human beings must be seen as a strategic parameter in the quest for technology driven life as the society claims. The symbiotic relationship between technology as strategy and society increases the importance of the human achievements.

In order to be improved the competitiveness of societies, is necessary ‘a better organisation of society, based on high skills and a high quality so as to compete in the new economy. However, the above detailed tasks shows that such a relationship between society and technology is somewhat more complex than this swift statement. It is not always the case that innovative technology gives higher quality of work, a decrease of human work, and a qualitive product. Several new conditions, evidents and situations have been appeared (sociotechnology) that characterize the new socioeconomic societies.

Meanwhile in order everyone to compromise to new conditions it is necessary the existence of risk that the working person or organization must take into consideration in order to achieve the new goals. Our analysis has shown that technology not always alleviate a possible negative impact of humans but also vice versa. The impact of technology on human remains dominant. There are few studies that examine the relationship between forms of society and technology.

On the basis of this conceptualisation, which distinguishes between the knowledge of society and technology and their independent reality of being, knowledge is inevitably seen as the endless social activity of understanding. This implies that knowledge is never created out of nothing. Rather, it can only be a produced means of cognition, where revised understandings are achieved via the update or transformation of existing conceptions, hypotheses and insights on the basis of ‘practical’ adequacy, internal intelligibility and consistency, as well as coherence to the overall existing conceptual framework. Communication plays an important role as well.

It is believed that technology is intrinsically harmful and a reason given for this is that planning people's lives is intrinsically authoritarian, which is very bad. This option is not a really representative for the new conditions and reality. More

30

31

specific ignores the quite reasonable view that ethics itself is sociotechnological in character and then.

According to above presentation we can conclude the following:

Sociotechnology is very important as aspect in the sense that there can be no advance in technical areas without considering the social impacts an innovation has. As has been reported above, not all developments will be received with pleasure by all people, but they are a force to be reckoned with when releasing new technologies. New ideas and persons have to try and make technology fit as seamlessly as possible into the lives of humans. Moreover technology should be seen as useful tool and not as a necessary evil tool that cause negative consequences to human lives.

People simply didn’t see the benefit form technology. This is a huge mistake of people, but it is foreseeable that technologies will fail in the future because they are not accepted by the population for social reasons. The main idea of this task is the necessity of additional training which focuses on the impact of (sociotechnological) innovation. This is very important as it can be focused to the social consequences.

Mobility will be, contrary to popular belief, less important in the new world, mainly due to the fact that most people contacts can be handled via virtual reality, without the need to travel constantly around the world. Also, depending on how far the virtual travelling possibility grows, leisure time traffic may also be reduced. This raises the necessity of communication and its different types that are quite available nowadays.

It is very important in our new world the recognition of the need for new types of thought as well as new perceptions and new values. Today the worth of the computer depends on the accuracy of the information supplied and on the validity of assumptions regarding continuing rates of growth, pollution and resource consumption. From this, it is very clear that we have to follow some rules in order to have a balance between Technology and environment. Among the most important tasks that we have to take into consideration are the following:

- “Limitation” of development. Although new scientific and technological difficulties are always present at everywhere, the society can no longer rely on their occurrence to forestall environmental problem.

31

32

- Creation of environmental criteria into legal policies. A well organized system is dependent on popular support, and ecology-oriented policies will be weak and superficial if the public is not willing to pay the costs of environmental protection. Existing economic policies encourage the use of virgin rather than recycled materials, and these obstacles must be overcome before recycling can become environmentally and economically significant. Many countries give motivations, as tax policies or funds. These motives reflect an important commitment to maximizing the exploitation of natural resources.

- Establishing new forms for technology systems. New technology systems must be used in order to help the society and environment. Efficient recycling on a massive scale awaits new technologies of waste disposal, alternative energy sources with low ecological impact.

32