Indicators of Environmental Quality : Proceedings of a Symposium Held During the AAAS Meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, December 26–31, 1971

Researchers and agencies collect reams of objective data and authors publish volumes of subjective prose in attempts to explain what is meant by environmental quality. Still, we have no universally recognized methods for combining our quantitative measures with our qualitative concepts of environ­ ment. Not all of our environmental goals should be reduced to mere numbers, but many of them can be; and without these quantitative terms, we have no way of defining our present position nor of selecting positions we wish to attain on any logically established scale of environmental values. Stated simply, in our zeal to measure our environment we often forget that masses of numbers describing a system are insufficient to understand it or to be used in selecting goals and priorities for expending our economic and human resources. Attempts at quantitatively describing environmental quality, rather than merely measuring different environmental variables, are relatively recent. This condensing of data into the optimum number of terms with maximum information content is a truly interdisciplinary challenge. When Oak Ridge National Laboratory initiated its Environmental Program in early 1970 under a grant from the National Science Foundation, the usefulness of environmental indicators in assessing the effects of technology was included as one of the initial areas for investigation. James L. Liverman, through his encouragement and firm belief that these indicators are indispensable if we are to resolve our complex environmental problems, deserves much of the credit for the publication of this book. Front Matter....Pages i-x Indicators of Environmental Quality: an Overview....Pages 1-5 Why environmental quality indices?....Pages 7-14 Uses of Environmental Indices in Policy Formulation....Pages 15-21 Urban-Environmental Indicators in Municipal and Neighborhood Policy Planning and Decision Making....Pages 23-30 The Uncommunicative Scientist: The Obligation of Scientists to Explain Environment to the Public....Pages 31-41 Evaluation of Natural Environments....Pages 43-53 Indicators of Environmental Quality of Urban Life: Economic, Spatial, Social, and Political Factors....Pages 55-69 Establishing Priorities Among Environmental Stresses....Pages 71-82 Pollutant Burdens in Humans: A Measure of Environmental Quality....Pages 83-91 Aquatic Communities As Indices of Pollution....Pages 93-100 Plants as Indicators of Air Quality....Pages 101-107 Biochemical Indicators of Environmental Pollution....Pages 109-131 Use of Sense of Smell in Determining Environmental Quality....Pages 133-146 Development of Environmental Indices: Outdoor Recreational Resources and Land Use Shift....Pages 147-172 A Water Quality Index — Crashing the Psychological Barrier....Pages 173-182 Indices of Air Quality....Pages 183-197 Statistically Based Air-Quality Indices....Pages 199-209 Indicators of Environmental Noise....Pages 211-241 Developing a Soil Quality Index....Pages 243-247 Environmental Indices for Radioactivity Releases....Pages 249-255 Plant Indicators in Ecology....Pages 257-267 Back Matter....Pages 269-275