MY ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT

UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA

FACULTY OF ARTS

DEPARTMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGY AND TOURISM

TOPIC:

Explanation/in-depth interpretation of impact tables two – five in “humanizing environmental impact assessment practice in Nigeria: a cultural anthropological excursion” by prof. p. u okpoko’s 108^th inaugural lecture on Thursday, May 12, 2016.

AN ASSIGNMENT

WRITTEN IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE COURSE: TRM 306

 (ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT)

BY

NAME: ONWUCHEKWA, SAMSON C.

REG NO: 2013/186600

  

LECTURERS: PROF. P. U OKPOKO

              MR. A. P EYISI & MRS. I. O ANYANWU

JULY 13, 2016

INTRODUCTION

Environmental Impact Assessment E.I.A represents attempt to predict or anticipate the consequences, negative or positive, of development activities on environmental items, including the human environment; the ultimate aim being to enhance the positive consequences, while eliminating or reducing the negative impacts. 

Furthermore, Environmental Impact Assessment is a systematic process that examines the possible environmental consequences of a developmental action in advance before the project begins.

IMPACT ASSESSMENT RATING

This is a five stage sequential process that is followed in other to ascribe the final significance rating of each identified impact. Under this we have the impact description, impact qualification, development of impact assessment matrix, construction of impact assessment matrix, production of impacts framework and impact text.

The impact qualification is divided into two which is the likelihood of occurrence and the potential consequences.

High probability	Avery likely impact	Very frequent impacts
Medium high probability	A likely impact	Frequent impacts
Medium probability	A possible impact	Occasional impacts
Medium low probability	An unlikely impact	Rare impacts
	As far as one-time events or slowly developing effects are concerned (e.g. impacts on lifestyle).	As far as possibly recurring impacts are concerned, such as road accidents.

Table I; Impact rating or terms used to explain the likelihood of occurrence in Table 2

This table has five rows and three columns in which the first line describes that if a project is proposed and the probability of its effect occurring is rated high, then its impact is very likely to occur and at a very frequent pace. In the second line, the probability of its effect occurring is rated on a medium high scale thereby tipping the scale of its impact to a likely level and its occurrence at a frequent pace. The third line describes that the probability of the effect occurring is on a medium scale and there are possible impacts which will occur occasionally. The fourth line is hinging on the fact that the probability is medium low with an unlikely impact which will occur at a rare pace. The last line describes that the effect of a proposed project action is positive and will occur as far as possible recurring impacts are concerned, such as road accidents.

Extreme consequences	Massive effect
Great consequences	Big effect
Considerable consequences	Substantial effect
Little consequences	Slight effect
Hardly consequences	Trivial effect

         

Table II; Impact rating or terms used to explain potential consequences in table 3

This table has five rows and two columns in which the potential consequence of a proposed project action is rated on a degree to know how immense its consequences will be. The first line predicts that the consequences will be extreme and its effect massive, the second line predicts that the consequences will be great and its effect big. In the third line the consequences is considerable and its effect is of a substantial range, the fourth line predicts that the consequences is little with a slight effect while the last line expects that the consequences will hardly occur and its effect trifling.

	Intrinsic magnitude of the hazard
Receptor sensitivity	Low	Medium	High
Low receptor sensitivity	Trivial effect	Slight effect	Substantial effect
Medium receptor sensitivity	Slight effect	Substantial effect	Big effect
High receptor sensitivity	Substantial effect	Big effect	Massive effect

           

Table III; Matrix for classifying potential consequences in table 4

This classification is based on two main factors which are the hazard magnitude and the receptor sensitivity. The hazard magnitude relates to the size, scale intensity and duration of the consequences of a proposed project action while the receptor sensitivity relates to the stability and flexibility of the environment to the changes that will be caused by the project.

          This table has two segments; on the right hand side is the receptor sensitivity with two rows while on the left hand side is the intrinsic magnitude of the hazard with four rows and three columns. If both the receptor sensitivity and the intrinsic magnitude are low, the effect is effect is rated trivial. But low receptor sensitivity with correspondent medium intrinsic magnitude produces a slight effect, while low receptor sensitivity and high intrinsic magnitude produces substantial effect. On the other hand, high receptor sensitivity with a low intrinsic magnitude produces slight effect, if it corresponds with medium and high magnitudes; the resultant effects are rated big and massive respectively.

	Potential     Consequences
Likelihood	Positive	Little	Considerable	Great
High	Positive	Moderate	Major	Major
Medium high	Positive	Moderate	Moderate	Major
Medium	Positive	Minor	Moderate	Moderate
Medium low	Positive	Minor	Minor	Moderate
Low	Positive	Negligible	Minor	Minor

Table IV; Development of impact matrix in table 5

          In this stage the degree of significance of the identified impact is compared to its likelihood of occurrence and its impending consequences. The result would help determine the degree of significance of the effect and if mitigation measures is needed or not.

          This table has two segments; on the right hand side is the likelihood of occurrence with five rows, while on the left hand side is the potential consequences with six rows and four columns. If the likelihood of occurrence is high or medium high or medium or medium low or low then its potential consequences might be major or moderate or minor or positive or negligible.

          Impacts assessed to be major or moderate often require mitigation to get rid of or reduce them to minor, whereas the minor or negligible impacts do not call for any mitigation measures rather they are handled through normal management protocols.

N.B: all works and tables were extracted from Prof. Pat Uche Okpoko

          (Professor of Cultural Tourism and Social Impact Assessment)

          University of Nigeria

          108^th Inaugural lecturer

          On Thursday, May 12, 2016

All I have Learnt in Information Technology

        This semester has been so so interesting, I have learnt a lot of things in this course I am offering called information technology. One of which is this my awesome blog I had to open as a requirement for this course TRM 308.

Information technology makes the world go round, as we all know that the whole world is a computer village and for one to survive one must be computer literate. This course is being handled by DR. E. E OKONKOWO and below are the things I have learnt this semester;

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Information technology is the study of design, development, implementation, support or management of computer based system especially hardware and software.

HISTORY OF ICT

The term IT came about in the year 1970s. its basic concept however can be traced back even further throughout the 20th century. its alliance wit military and various industries has resulted to the development of electronic computers and informatin theories. the military has historically driven such research by providing motivation and funding for innovation in the field of mechanization and computing. the first commercial computer was the UNNAC. it was designed by J. prespor Eikert and JOhn Macaily for the U.S census bureau. the later 70s saw to the rise of micro computers followed by IBM personal computer in 1981. since then, four generation represented a step that was characterized by hardware of decreased size and capacity increase the first vacuum tubes, the second transitors, and the third in integrated circuit. the fourth and current uses more complex systems such as very large scale integration.

ICT TODAY

Today, the term IT has balloned to encompass many aspect of computing and technology and it is more recognisable than ever before the IT umbrella can be quite large, covering many fields. IT professional reform a variety of duties that range from installing Apps to designing complex computer networka and information data log profession perform include:

i. Data Management

ii. Computer Networking

iii. Database System Design

iv. Software Design

v. Management Information System

vi. Systems Management

COMPUTER

It is a machine for manipulating data according to a list of functions. it takes many physical forms, early electronic computers were the size of a large room consuming as much power as a severely hundred modern PC. Today, computers can be made small enough to fit into a wrist watch and be powered from a watch battery.

TYPES OF COMPUTER

i. Analogue Computer

ii. Digital Computer

iii. Hybrid Computer

CLASSIFICATION OF DIGITAL COMPUTER ACCORDING TO THEIR SIZES

i. Mainframe Computer

ii. Mini Computer

iii. Micro Computer

iv. Super Micro Computer

v. Hybrid Computer

OPERATING SYSTEM (OS)

        Fortunately for me, I was grouped to present an assignment and a presentation on this topic. Operating system is a set of computer programmes that manage the hardware, firmware and software resources of a computer. It controls and allocates memory, prioritizes system request, controls input ans output devices, facilitates networking and manages file systems.

        An Operating system has no user interface. the user of an Operating System is an application, not a person. this explains why Operating System form a platform for other softwares of thrive on.

SUB-DIVISION OF A COMPUTER

HARDWARE: The Computer Hardware is the physical component of the computer (what you can see, touch, feel etc), including the digital circulating as distinguished from the comouter software, that execute within the hardware. the hardware of a computer is infrequently changed.

SOFTWARE: The computer consist of programmes enables the computer to perform specific task as opposed to its physical component (hardwares), which can only do the task they are written programmes that gives us a working environment.

VARIOUS COMPONENTS OF A SYSTEM

A system is a collection of inter-related component put together for a specific purpose.

ü Keyboard- An input device

ü Mouse- an Input device

ü Monitor- an Output device

ü C.P.U

ü Motherboard

CHARACTERISTICS OF A SYSTEM

·        They are inter-related

·        They have a goal

·        They are well defined (must be in orderly sequence)

·        They are interwoven (cannot work another)

DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (DBMS)

DBMS is a computer software designed for the purpose of managing databases. In computing, database can be defined as a structured collection of records or data that is stored in a computer so that a programme can consult is to answer queries. the records retrieved in answer to queries becomes information that can be used to make decision.

VARIOUS SITES AND THEIR FUNCTIONS

·        www.eye.co.uk United Kingdom businesses phone directories. etc

·        www.bigyellow.com. for businesses and people finder

·        www.bigbook.com. for North American Businessmen

INTERNET

This is seen as an electronic network of computers that includes nearly all university, document and research facility in the world. A network of computer network which operate world in using a common set of communication protocols. A global network connecting millions of computer.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE Internet AND THE internet

i. The iNTERNET can be any interconnected netwrok of computers or similar things between any organisations, group of people which may not be known or accessible to the public.

ii. The INTERNET is the kind of inter-networks or internet, in short which we are using now, ie world wide web (www). It is the largest internet we have in teh world, which comprises od trillions of computers being connected to each other, because of its size, it is very much public.

ADVANTAGES OF THE INTERNET

   I.        For Shopping

II.        Accessing Information

III.        For sending and receiving mails

IV.        For Entertainment

  V.        For Social Networking

VI.        For Online Services

VII.        For Downloading soft wares and Files

VIII.        For faster communication

DISADVANTAGES OF THE INTERNET

  I.      Theft of Personal Information

II.        Virus Threat

III.        Pornography

IV.        Spamming

INTERNET CONNECTIVITY

ü Dial up Connection (DUC): This is a form of internet access via telephone line. The client uses a modern connected to a computer and a telephone line to dial into an ISP's node to establish a modem to modem link which is then rooted to the internet. Dial up requires no addition infrastructure on top of the telephone network.

ü Point to Point Connection (PPC): It is more of wireless connection and the signal must be pointing to the same receiving and with the aid of an antenna, and the wave that carries such signal is radio wave. Each point has an antenna that receives and sends information to and from each point.

ü VSAT: It is very fast and efficient. In VSAT connection, you have the IDU and ODU (indoor unit and Outdoor unit)

ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS OF A VSAT

-IDU: Uses the modem inside the house

-ODU: Uses the dish outside which points towards the satellite

TYPES OF MODEM

·        Internal - Broadband

·        External - Dial up Services

BENEFITS OF VSAT

1.  Cost effectiveness

2.  Available in any Location

3.  Service availability

4.  Capable of sending and receiving all kinds of file document

RANGES OF CONNECTION

·        WAN (Wide Area Network): This goes beyond 1km, beyond metropolitan.

·        LAN (Local Area Network): This covers just few blocks or streets.

WEBSITE

This is a combination of webpages. Webpages are combination of audio, videos, data, images etc. a website is a collection of webpages, images, videos and other digits asset, which is hosted on a web server, usually accessible via the internet or a LAN. A webpage is a document typically written in html almost always accessible via http, a protocol that transfer information from the web server to display in the users web browser.

Websites are organized based on functions e.g.

o   A personal

o   A Non-Government

o   A Government

o   A Non-Profit Organization

o   A Blog

APACHE

        This is the most commonly used web server software (IIS Microd=soft Internet information server is also commonly used). Apache is what saves passwords and webpages in your system, that when you come back to your browaer to enter the same thing, it comes back on its own.

CATEGORIES OF WEBSITES

·        Static Website: This is the one that has webpages stored on the server in the same formats the user view them.

·        Dynamic Website: This is one that has frequently chaniging information each time a page is requested.

TYPES OF WEBSITES

ü Advertisers

ü Affiliate

ü Archives Sites

ü Blogs

ü Commerce site

ü Consumer

ü Corporate Websites

ü Google groups

ü Internet Archives

WEB DESIGN

        This is a process of conceptualization, planning, modelling and execution of electronic media delivery vis internet in teh form of mark up language suitable for interpretation by web browser and display as Graphic User Interface (GUI). Designing website can also be defined as the arrangement and creation of webpages that in turn make up a website. A web page consist of information for which the website is developed to a book, where reach page of the book is a web page.

HTML BASIS

-What do you hope to achieve by opening the website?

- Who is the audience?

-what is the content?