It is important to understand the structure and function of the environment to be able
to assess the impacts of human activities and the viability of development efforts (Adger
et al., 2004: 21–24). Knowledge about the Earth, its organisms and human affairs is
incomplete and data collection has often been inadequate, so forecasting and decision
making are frequently far from perfect. Nevertheless, compared with the situation before
the International Geophysical Year (1957–1958), there is now much more understanding
of the environment and humans, and a vastly improved ability to monitor and forecast.