Key Environmental Terms and Definitions
Environment
Environment: A complex system of abiotic elements (solar energy, soil, water, and air) and biotic elements (living organisms) that form the Earth’s biosphere, supporting life.
Pollution and Contamination
Pollution: The presence of substances, elements, or energy in the environment at concentrations exceeding legal limits, posing a risk to health and ecosystems.
Contaminant: Any element, compound, substance, or energy whose presence in the environment, at certain levels or durations, may pose a risk to human health, quality of life, or environmental preservation.
Environmental Damage and Impact
Environmental Damage: Any significant loss, reduction, harm, or impairment to the environment or its components.
Environmental Impact Assessment: A procedure used by environmental authorities to determine if a project’s environmental impact meets current standards, based on an impact study or statement.
Environmental Impact: The disruption to the environment caused directly or indirectly by a project or activity.
Baseline: A detailed description of the area influenced by a project or activity before its implementation.
Environmental Quality Standards
Primary Environmental Quality Standard: Sets the minimum or maximum allowable concentrations and durations of elements or substances in the environment to protect human health.
High Environmental Quality Standard: Sets the minimum or maximum allowable concentrations and durations of substances or elements in the environment to protect the environment and nature.
Latent Zone: An area where pollutant concentrations are between 80% and 100% of the relevant environmental quality standard.
Saturated Zone: An area where one or more environmental quality standards are exceeded.
Environmental Management and Sustainability
Environmental Aspect: An element of an organization’s activities, products, or services that can interact with the environment.
Biodiversity: The variety of living organisms from all sources, including terrestrial, marine, and other ecosystems.
Environmental Quality: Measurable attributes of a product or process indicating its contribution to health and ecological integrity. The state of an area’s physical, biological, and ecological conditions relative to human and ecosystem health.
Land Use Capacity: Considers both the current suitability of soil and its potential limitations and modifications.
Environmental Pollution: The addition of waste materials and energy to the environment, causing reversible or irreversible damage to ecosystems and impacting human health and the economy.
Sustainable Development: Economic growth that meets present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Environmental Management: The development and implementation of environmental policies and strategies within an organization.
Impact and Processes
Impact: An effect, either beneficial (positive) or adverse (negative), on environmental factors.
Positive Environmental Impact: A beneficial effect on the environment.
Negative Environmental Impact: A detrimental effect on the environment.
Leaching Process: The migration of soil materials carried by percolating fluids.
Flotation Process: The process where bodies with a specific gravity less than one float in water.
Acid Rain: Precipitation with high acidity (low pH) due to air pollution.
Suspended Matter: Particulate matter remaining in the atmosphere or flue gas due to its small size.
Particulate Matter: Accumulation of solid or liquid droplets in the atmosphere from natural or human activities.
Improvement and Mitigation
Continuous Improvement: Ongoing efforts to improve overall environmental performance.
Mitigation: The act of moderating, lessening, or reducing the severity of something.
Standard Issue: A legally specified emission flow, often defined as a limit.
Environmental Policy: A company’s goals and principles for environmental action.
Waste Management
Landfill: A designated area for waste disposal with proper management.
Waste: Material with no economic value that must be discarded. Includes byproducts of metabolism, decomposition, and energy transformations.
Resolution of Environmental Impact: A document issued by an authority approving or disapproving a project based on its environmental impact assessment.