Environmental Impact

Brazil and U.S. Ranked Worst for Environmental Impact

By LiveScience Staff

posted: 06 May 2010 02:14 pm ETB

Proportional environmental impact (179 countries; top panel) and absolute environmental impact rank (171 countries; bottom panel) (darker grey = higher impact) out of 228 countries considered are shown. Credit: PLoS ONE, Bradshaw et al.

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Brazil and the United States rank as the two worst countries in terms of their environmental impact, a new study finds.

The researchers, led by the University of Adelaide's Environment Institute in Australia, used seven indicators of environmental degradation to create two rankings — one in which impact was measured against the total resources available to a country, and another measuring absolute environmental degradation at a global scale.

The indicators included: natural forest loss, habitat conversion (when natural areas are converted into shopping centers or farmland), fisheries and other marine captures, fertilizer use, water pollution, carbon emissions from land use, and species threat.

Overall, the richer a country, the greater its environmental impact./.../