State of the Environment Report - 2001 and 2002, Environmental Vulnerability Index (EVI):Provisional Indices and profiles for Trinidad & Tobago
This year’s state of the environment report presents in one consolidated text, a review of the environmental vulnerability of Trinidad and Tobago, using an Environmental Vulnerability Index composed of 48 environmental vulnerability indicators. The index focuses on the vulnerability of the environment to natural risks and to humans. It is based on the premise that the vulnerability of the environment to events in the near future can be determined from the calculated probability of their actual occurrence in the recent past. The main strength of the EVI is that it an impartial measure and provides simplified summary information and, also the detailed data required to highlight specific areas of concern for environmental managers, scientists and the general public. It thus helps identify mechanisms that tend to degrade the state of the environment which provide goods (e.g. food, fibre, oxygen) and services (e.g. water purification, waste treatment, pollination, recreation) that support human well-being. The indicators are divided into 5 categories of environmental vulnerability such as meteorological events (6 indicators), geological events (3 indicators), country characteristics (7 indicators), biological factors (8 indicators) and anthropogenic factors (24 indicators). The indicators are scored on a global vulnerability scale of 1-7, where 4 are average and scores 1-3 indicate below average vulnerability while scores of 5-7 indicate above average vulnerability.