Mapping environmental problems according to management and reversibility
DownloaD Graphic 2
Management difficulty
Solutions are
emerging
Atmosphere
sea-level rise climate
Land
change
Water
persistent air pollutants
tropospheric ozone
species extinction
acid rain land degradation
ocean acidification
landscape habitat large- invasive
fragmentation destruction scale alien
fishery species
destruction
ozone depletion
urban air harmful local contamination
pollution algal by hazardous
overexploitation of
blooms chemicals
water resources
microbiological
contamination
Proven
solutions
oil spills
available
Source: Based on
Reversible Irreversible
GEO-4 Chapters 2-5
Governance on a Global Scale
Environmental problems appear as impacts on
nature and human well-being, through the
atmosphere, in fresh and marine water, and on
land. Environmental problems vary in terms of the
difficulty of management, and the extent to which
the problems can be seen as having reversible or
irreversible consequences, making local, regional
or even global environments progressively unin-
habitable.
An overview of the landscape of environmental
governance over the last 20 years shows that
states have created a growing number of institu-
tions, authorities, treaties, laws and action plans
to conserve and safeguard the environment, and
more recently, to respond to new understanding of
the extent and implications of global environmental
change.
ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE 41