There are a total of 16 environmental impact indicators, and we have collected all the information about the remaining 11 for you to explore.
Acidification
Acidification has contributed to a decline of coniferous forests and an increase in fish mortality. Acidification can be caused by emissions getting into the air, water and soil. The most significant sources are combustion processes in electricity, heating production, and transport. The contribution to acidification is greatest when the fuels contain high levels of sulfur.
Energy
Nonrenewable resources are finite, such as fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas. Extracting resources today will force future generations to extract less or different resources. For instance, as fossil fuels are depleted, they may become unavailable for future generations.
Eutrophication, marine
Eutrophication impacts ecosystems due to substances containing nitrogen (N) or phosphorus (P). As a rule, the availability of one of these nutrients will be a limiting factor for growth in the ecosystem, and if this nutrient is added, the growth of algae or specific plants will be increased. For the marine environment this will be mainly due to an increase of nitrogen(N). Nitrogen emissions are caused largely by the agricultural use of fertilizers, but also by combustion processes.
Eutrophication, terrestrial
Eutrophication impacts ecosystems due to substances containing nitrogen (N) or phosphorus (P). These nutrients cause a growth of algae or specific plants and limit growth in the original ecosystem.
Human toxicity, cancer
Potential impacts on human health caused by absorbing substances through the air, water and soil that are cancer related. Direct effects of products on humans are currently not measured.
Human toxicity, non cancer
Potential impacts on human health caused by absorbing substances through the air, water and soil that are not cancer related. Direct effects of products on humans are currently not measured.
Ionizing radiation, human health
The exposure to ionizing radiation (radioactivity) can have impacts on human health. The environmental footprint only considers emissions under normal operating conditions (no accidents in nuclear plants are considered).
Ozone depletion
The stratospheric ozone (O3) layer protects us from hazardous ultraviolet radiation (UV-B). Its depletion increases skin cancer cases in humans and damage to plants.
Particulate matter
Measuring the adverse impacts on human health caused by emissions of Particulate Matter (PM) and its precursors (e.g. NOx, SO2). Usually, the smaller the particles, the more dangerous they are, as they can go deeper into the lungs.
Photochemical ozone formation, human health
Ozone (O3) on the ground (in the troposphere) is harmful: it attacks organic compounds in animals and plants, it increases the frequency of respiratory problems when photochemical smog (“summer smog”) is present in cities.
Resource use, minerals and metals
Minerals and metals are a finite resource, extracting an excess of these resources will lead to non-availability to future generations.
Single score
A single score is a composite measure that combines all 16 environmental impacts which have multiple units of measurements and converts them into one unit - like converting different money currencies to one common currency. This method was developed by LCA experts, using weighting and normalization factors. The method prioritizes the different environmental impact categories according to their significance and ability to measure, and then sums it across all 16 indicators to derive the single score.
If you are interested in data for all 16 impact indicators, they are available upon request. Contact us at [email protected].