In the past few years, the subject of climate change has frequently garnered headlines due to the usual political controversy surrounding it. However, setting aside the argument as to whether climate change is a man-made effect or not, we cannot deny the fact that humanity has been discharging carbon increasingly into the atmosphere for centuries. Likewise, similar reports on the growing Great Pacific Garbage Patch-and the general accumulation of plastics everywhere-are alarming. Moreover, it has also been recently demonstrated that microplastics are finally entering the food webs which include the human consumer. Air, soil, and water pollution are increasing; in some ways forcing certain countries and governments to modify their politics, while also creating new opportunities and opening new niches for the marketing of products, such as air and water filters. With current techniques, it is not possible to completely eliminate all toxic and hazardous waste, which means that security deposits are necessary. Security deposits are storage areas prepared for certain toxic and dangerous industrial waste, so that its harmful properties cannot affect the natural environment and human health-at least, in any case, for a very long time. Due to their geomorphological composition, topography, and hydrographic conditions, there are sites that can be used as waste deposits, given their natural isolation and projected stability for hundreds of years. Thus, they become security deposits. In addition, every day new materials and construction techniques are developed that allow for a total isolation of the waste. A relatively new view in the material life cycle is the reuse of the generated waste as new resources. This helps to mitigate the cost increases in raw materials, energy, and regulations regarding waste disposal, which have caused the industry to rethink its production methods, leading to a better use of raw materials and energy. Clean technologies are those used by the industry to reduce the need for treatment or disposal of waste and to reduce the demand for raw materials, energy, and water. For the proper implementation of clean technologies, industries and municipalities must develop a deep understanding of their own processes and activities, and must analyze the characteristics of their equipment and make any possible modifications. An environmental evaluation of the situation provides suitable information on the efficiency of each component and its integration in the whole process, on the proportion of waste, on energy consumption, and on how to reorganize or modify to improve cost-efficiency in economic and environmental terms, which in a middle term view results in synergistic goals. With this concise introduction to the world of waste and pollutant treatment technologies, the editors believe it is clear that the solutions are to be developed on a case-by-case basis; because the larger the number of mixed pollutants, the more complex and intimated the process will be. This book presents a series of selected approaches that can be used to approach different cases, also depending upon budget and viability of a sustainable approach. This book serves as a source of information, triggers ideas, and fosters interaction between all the players taking action in sustainable development initiatives.

'Gow reinvents what it means to be a guardian of the countryside.'-Guardian 'This authentic, impassioned manifesto-cum-memoir will hopefully have a major impact on what is likely to be a long-running controversy.'-The Spectator 'Gow has a fire in his belly. We need more like him.'-BBC Wildlife Magazine A Waterstones Best Nature Writing Book of 2020 'Bringing Back the Beaver is a hilarious, eccentric and magnificent account of a struggle . . . to reintroduce a species crucial to the health of our ecosystems.'-George Monbiot Bringing Back the Beaver is farmer-turned-ecologist Derek Gow's inspirational and often riotously funny first-hand account of how the movement to rewild beavers into the British landscape became the single most dramatic and subversive nature conservation act of the modern era. Since the early 1990s - in the face of outright opposition from government, landowning elites and even some conservation professionals - Gow has imported, quarantined and assisted the reestablishment of beavers in waterways across England and Scotland. With a foreword by bestselling author of Wilding, Isabella Tree, Bringing Back the Beaver makes a passionate case as to why the return of one of nature's great problem solvers will be critical as part of a sustainable fix for the UK's growing flooding problems, whilst ensuring the creation of essential landscapes that enable the broadest spectrum of Britain's wildlife to thrive. 'It is wonderful to see that beavers are now officially back on the list of native species, having been absent for so long . . . far too long!'-Dame Judi Dench

A completely up-to-date introduction to the most common group of bees in Britain. Bees, for most people, mean honey or bumble bees, but in fact these social species make up only a small proportion of the species that live in Britain. Open your eyes to the so-called ‘solitary’ bees, and discover a wonderfully diverse population – miners, leafcutters, carpenters and masons – many of which can be found in your own back garden. Solitary bees come in a variety of colours and sizes, with some as large as bumblebees and some only a few millimetres long, and many are key pollinators for our crops and wildflowers. This comprehensive book will tell the story of how these bees live, reproduce and thrive: discover the numerous strategies used by male bees to find females and persuade them to mate; follow the females as they build their nests – or in the case of ‘cuckoo’ species, sneak into the nests of their neighbours – and watch as the new generation appears. Explore the interactions between flowering plants and their bee visitors, asking what the plants get from the relationship, as well as how the bees select the plants they visit, and the ingenuity required to extract pollen, nectar and other rewards. Finally, learn places where bees flourish and what can be done to encourage them and ensure they continue to pollinate our flowers and crops. Drawing on all the latest research as well as the authors’ own observations in the field, this timely New Naturalist gives a wonderful insight into the complicated lives of solitary bees, and the complexity of the behaviour and ecology of this remarkable group of insects.

How did time begin? What conditions led to humans evolving on Earth? Will we survive the Anthropocene? And is it really true that we're all made from stars? Combining knowledge from chemistry, biology, and physics, with insights from the social sciences and humanities, A Brief History of the Last 13.8 Billion Years follows the continuum of historical change in the cosmos - from the Big Bang, through the evolution of life, to human history. In this compelling and revealing book, David Baker traces the rise of complexity in the cosmos, from the first atoms to the first life and then to humans and the things we have made. He shows us how simple clumps of hydrogen gas transformed into complex human societies. This approach - Big History - allows us to see beyond the chaos of human affairs to the overall trajectory. Finally, Baker looks at the dramatic and sudden changes we're making to our planet and its biosphere and how history hints at what might come next.

Ecology: The Economy of Nature teaches students the basic concepts in ecology through an evolutionary perspective with an emphasis on data analytic skill building, and new in class activities designed to improve student engagement. Available for the first time with Macmillan's new online learning tool, Achieve, Ecology: The Economy of Nature takes students through all of the key concepts of an ecology course. It challenges them along the way with questions that encourage critical thinking, whether about chapter concepts, quantitative tools, or figures. Achieve for Ecology: The Economy of Nature connects the interactive features and real-world examples in the book to rich digital resources that foster further understanding and application of ecology. Assets in Achieve support learning before, during, and after class for students, while providing instructors with class performance analytics in an easy-to-use interface.

Wetlands are vital for human survival. They are among the world's most productive environments as they are cradles of biological diversity that provide the water and productivity upon which countless species of plants and animals depend for survival. Wetlands provide habitat for thousands of species of aquatic and terrestrial plants and animals as well as a number of societal benefits such as food and habitat for fish and wildlife, water quality improvement, flood storage, shoreline erosion control, economically beneficial natural products for human use, and opportunities for recreation, education, and research. According to the Federal Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Wetlands, more than one-third of the United States' threatened and endangered species live only in wetlands, and nearly half use wetlands at some point in their lives. This book offers a comprehensive look at the importance of wetland conservation, its challenges, and future aspects. The book highlights the challenges of wetland conservation and current scenarios of existing wetlands; the importance of the inland wetland and its conservation is particularly highlighted as it is critical and very important in the current existing wetland scenario. This book is critical for industries, academics, research scholars, and environmental consultants who are practicing wetland management.

Ecotoxicology offers a comprehensive overview of the science underpinning the recognition and management of environmental contamination. It describes the toxicology of environmental contaminants, the methods used for assessing their toxicity and ecological impacts, and approaches employed to mitigate pollution and ecological health risks globally. Chapters cover the latest advances in research, including genomics, natural toxins, endocrine disruption and the toxicology of radioactive substances. The second half of the book focuses on applications, such as cradle-to-grave effects of selected industries, legal and economic approaches to environmental regulation, ecological risk assessment, and contaminated site remediation. With short capsules written by invited experts, numerous case studies from around the world and further reading lists, this textbook is designed for advanced undergraduate and graduate one-semester courses. It is also a valuable reference for graduate students and professionals. Online resources for instructors and students are also available.