Environmental Impact Assessment
An environmental impact assessment predicts the effects of a project on the environment before it begins so that harm can be avoided or reduced.
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An environmental impact assessment predicts the effects of a project on the environment before it begins so that harm can be avoided or reduced.
- Survey the site
- Predict impacts on air, water and wildlife
- Propose ways to reduce harm
🧠 Quick quiz
Three questions. Score 2 or more to complete the topic.
What is Environmental Impact Assessment?
Within Earth & Environmental Science, which covers our planet, its resources and ecosystems, and how people can protect the environment, this topic explains Environmental Impact Assessment. Earth and environment topics show how the planet’s systems shape landscapes, climate and life, with models that make these processes visible.
Check that you can explain Environmental Impact Assessment in your own words and give one example from everyday life. If you can do that, you have understood the core idea.
Understanding Environmental Impact Assessment helps you explain the environment around you and weigh up how people can protect it.
Environmental Impact Assessment in detail
An environmental impact assessment (EIA) is a process to identify and evaluate the likely environmental effects of a proposed project, such as a road, dam, mine or housing development, before decisions are made. It is often a legal requirement for major projects.
Steps include screening (is an EIA needed), scoping (what to study), baseline surveys, predicting and assessing impacts on air, water, soil, wildlife, landscape and communities, proposing ways to avoid or reduce harm (mitigation), consulting the public, reporting and monitoring. EIAs support informed decisions and sustainable development, though they can be criticised for being slow, costly or ignoring cumulative effects.
How the interactive helps you understand Environmental Impact Assessment
Click a step, or use the Previous and Next buttons, to move through the sequence one stage at a time. Auto-play moves on for you.
Before you change anything, predict the result. Then change one value at a time and check whether your prediction was right. This is a quick way to build a correct mental model of Environmental Impact Assessment.
Real-life uses and examples
- Use a diagram of Environmental Impact Assessment to describe the steps of a process in order.
- Discuss how human activity changes Environmental Impact Assessment, using a named example.
- Explain how Environmental Impact Assessment affects the landscape or climate near you.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Describing a process without the timescale it works over.
- Presenting one cause as the only cause of an environmental change.
- Learning the definition without testing it. Use the quiz and the interactive to check that you can apply the idea.
Frequently asked questions about Environmental Impact Assessment
What is Environmental Impact Assessment?
An environmental impact assessment predicts the effects of a project on the environment before it begins so that harm can be avoided or reduced.
What are the most important points about Environmental Impact Assessment?
The main points are: Survey the site; Predict impacts on air, water and wildlife; Propose ways to reduce harm.
Why is Environmental Impact Assessment useful?
Understanding Environmental Impact Assessment helps you explain the environment around you and weigh up how people can protect it.
How can I practise Environmental Impact Assessment?
Open the interactive at the top of this page and change the controls one at a time. Predict the result before each change, then take the three-question quiz. A score of two or more marks the topic as complete on this device.
Which topics are related to Environmental Impact Assessment?
Related topics in Earth & Environmental Science include The Moon and Its Phases, Day, Night and Earth's Rotation, Space Exploration.