IMPACT OF MONTANE ENVIRONMENTAL LOADS ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY OF THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC

Abstract

Environmental burdens are currently a significant determinant ofenvironmental quality. The occurrence of montane environmental burdens affects the environmental quality at the local, regional and supraregional levels, mostly to a negative extent. Environmental pollution, due to montane environmental burdens is accompanied by a reduction in environmental quality in all spheres of anthropogenic existence. It is for this reason that the presented article studies the occurrence of montane environmental burdens and their impact on environmental quality in individual regions of the Slovak Republic. In the analyses Analytic Hierarchy Process a multi-criteria decision-making method based on values of the weights in terms of the principles of the Saaty matrix – a quantification of synergistic interactions of indicators. The study concentrates on selected comparative years 2008, 2012, 2017 and 2021 and includes a matrix of their elimination. The results present a categorization of montane environmental loads in the Slovak Republic into categories of the environmental load (from very low to very high) on the environmental quality. In the summary matrix of a comprehensive assessment of montane environmental loads, negative indicators (55.65%) prevails over positive ones (44.35%) with a total scoring ratio of 0.80, i.e. III. category, the average impact on environmental quality.