What is environmental risk and examples

The environmental risk can be defined as harm or potential environmental catastrophe due to both a natural phenomenon as the anthropic action.

As we can see, it is a somewhat ambiguous definition, because it depends largely on what we consider “potential” or not. Depending on the observer, a factor will constitute an environmental risk or not, as well as its influence.

In risk, two parameters can be distinguished that help us both to classify them and to give them a priority order to attend to them. On the one hand, we find the “frequency”, that is, the effective probability of their occurrence. For example, a floodplain or boardwalk has a flood frequency x (typically every several decades). On the other hand, we find the “seriousness” of the risk, that is, what is the outcome of that situation occurring. Abundant in the example, the boulevards and the flood plains are extremely dangerous, because they have a great gravity associated with them. As they are also infrequent, they tend to forget the dangerous consequences that they imply.

As we have mentioned in the definition, environmental risks can be classified as natural and man-made .

• Natural environmental risks are caused by natural phenomena that are beyond our control, but which also cause great damage to the ecosystem. It would be, for example, the floods of which we have spoken.
• The environmental risks anthropogenic are those caused by the action of the human being as wastewater discharges or chemicals, explosions, fires …

In some cases it is difficult to define how far the anthropic risks are and how far they are natural. Take for example the well-known accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant (Japan) in 2011: there was an environmental risk due to high seismic activity, something very frequent in the area where the Japanese islands are located (they are located between the Pacific plate and the Eurasian, which makes them a high-risk area), which was also aggravated by the presence of the plant. In this case, the risk turned into a serious impact with notable consequences.

In general, man-made environmental risks are usually more serious than natural ones. For example, in nature there can be fires, which devastate ecosystems for a period of time; however, in those areas where natural fires are more frequent, vegetation has developed strategies to improve their reproductive capacity when they occur. They are the so-called “pyrophilic” plants. However, when faced with a chemical spill, the severity may be greater, since it is not a situation that ecosystems have faced before, and therefore they do not have as many adaptations to mitigate its effects.

Thus, environmental risks must take into account not only the dangerousness of the risk as well, but also the ability to adapt to change or resilience of the ecosystem in question.

Likewise, an environmental impact should not be confused with an environmental risk. An environmental impact is a change produced by anthropic action on ecosystems, which can be harmful or beneficial and which is associated with an evaluation process to reduce its consequences. It is not the same that a company generates a discharge of wastewater with a Discharge Authorization than that a discharge occurs due to the rupture of the facilities. In this other AgroCorrn article we tell you what is negative and positive environmental impact .

Here are some examples of environmental risks that are easy to understand:

Natural hazards: examples

• Natural fires. Learn in this other article what are forest fires and how they occur .
• Earthquakes In this other post we explain why earthquakes occur .
• Tidal waves and tsunamis. Learn here How tsunamis form and more information about them.
• Fractures and mud spills.

Anthropogenic risks: examples

• Wastewater discharges.
• Chemical spills.
• Oil spills.
• Chemical clouds.
• Emission of radiation.

In this article you will discover everything about what are industrial discharges in water and its treatment .

Environmental risks must always be taken into account when drawing up plans for caring for the environment . In fact, all organizations, whether public or private, should take into account the possible environmental repercussions that the activities they carry out may have, for which there are specific regulations and guides for evaluation and taking actions to reduce the frequency or the severity of risks.

Some of the most serious consequences of not taking environmental risks into account are:

• Soil degradation: for example with poor infrastructure management.
• Water quality degradation: especially during spills, which also affect the soil.
• Damage to ecosystems and loss of biodiversity : all environmental damage has negative impacts on ecosystems and their biodiversity.
• Degradation of air quality: mainly due to the accidental emission of various pollutants. Possibly, this affects our health more directly and visibly than the rest of the damages.

If you want to read more articles similar to What is environmental risk and examples , we recommend that you enter our category of Other environment .