This book presents comprehensive information on the types of geohazards that impact not only the human society but also the natural resources as well. Authored by experts working on characterization and modeling geohazard phenomena and vulnerability of different regions of World towards specific types of geohazards. Individual s are devoted to every geohazard type, detailing it in terms of definition, types, causes, likely impacts on socio-economic milieu and natural environment, methods of mitigation and relief and rescue procedures. Case studies and specific s on systematic of geohazard vulnerability mapping, information dissemination and relief and rescue operations are also included in this book.

Natural disasters, tornadoes, hurricanes, and floods are occurring with increasing frequency. In emergencies, pure drinking water is quickly the most important item. "Low Cost Emergency Water Purification Technologies" provides the tips and techniques for supplying potable drinking water at low cost in the direst circumstances.

Succinct and readable, this manual describes the various options for correcting unsanitary or unsatisfactory drinking water. Several treatment methods for contaminated water are reviewed and the pros and cons of each are discussed.
Covers long-term technologies including sand filtration, packaged filtration units, pressurized filtration systems and natural filtrationAddresses short-term strategies such as reverse osmosis-based filtration, cartridge filtration systems, and solar pasteurizations systemsDescribes disinfection systems, energy-saving applications, cost considerations and HA/DR applications

"Handbook of Recycling" is an authoritative review of the current state-of-the-art of recycling, reuse and reclamation processes commonly implemented today and how they interact with one another. The book addresses several material flows, including iron, steel, aluminum and other metals, pulp and paper, plastics, glass, construction materials, industrial by-products, and more. It also details various recycling technologies as well as recovery and collection techniques. To completely round out the picture of recycling, the book considers policy and economic implications, including the impact of recycling on energy use, sustainable development, and the environment.

With contemporary recycling literature scattered across disparate, unconnected articles, this book is a crucial aid to students and researchers in a range of disciplines, from materials and environmental science to public policy studies.
Portrays recent and emerging technologies in metal recycling, by-product utilization and management of post-consumer wasteUses life cycle analysis to show how to reclaim valuable resources from mineral and metallurgical wastesUses examples from current professional and industrial practice, with policy and economic implications

Population growth and industrial development have increased the amount of wastewater generated by urban areas, and one of the major problems facing industrialized nations is the contamination of the environment by hazardous chemicals. Therefore, to meet the standards, suitable treatment alternatives should be established. Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs) in Water and Wastewater Treatment is a pivotal reference source that provides vital research on the current, green, and advanced technologies for wastewater treatment. While highlighting topics such as groundwater treatment, environmental legislation, and oxidation processes, this publication explores the contamination of environments by hazardous chemicals as well as the methods of decontamination and the reduction of negative effects on the environment. This book is a vital reference source for environmental engineers, waste authorities, solid waste management companies, landfill operators, legislators, environmentalists, and academicians seeking current research on achieving sustainable management for wastewater treatment.

Discussing many important air pollution issues, the included contributions were presented at the 29th annual meeting in a successful series of international conferences dealing with the Modelling, Monitoring and Management of Air Pollution. The scientific knowledge derived from well-designed studies needs to be allied with further technical and economic studies to ensure cost-effective and efficient mitigation. In turn, the science, technology and economic outcomes are necessary but not sufficient. Increasingly, it is being recognised that the outcome of such research needs to be contextualised within well-formulated communication strategies that help policymakers and citizens to understand and appreciate the risks and rewards arising from air pollution management. Consequently, this volume comprises a wide range of high-quality papers that develop the fundamental science of air pollution and that place these new developments within the frame of mitigation and management of air pollution. Air pollution issues remain one of the most challenging problems facing the international community. The varied research published in this book covers topics such as Air pollution modelling; Indoor air pollution; Emission studies; Air pollution management, policy and legislation; Monitoring, measuring and data; Global, regional and local studies.

Renewable energy (RE) is a subject of great interest today. It is one of the two main means for implementing climate change mitigation programmes, and presently the only perceived means for replacing the declining global fossil fuel reserves. It also helps fight poverty and assists in the global quest for gender equity by taking clean energy where it is needed most for development. It is perhaps not surprising therefore that there is so much coverage of RE in both the conventional media and the internet by media and tech writers, economists and bloggers, many of who only have a partial understanding of the technology itself. The end result is mostly promotional rhetoric that says little about the true value of the technology, and leads to a confused picture for the serious individual or decision-maker who wants to know what the technology is really capable of doing. This book provides a clear and factual picture of the status of RE and its capabilities today. The need for such a book was first realized by the author when he was engaged in a renewable energy capacity-building project encompassing countries from Europe, the Caribbean, Africa, and the Pacific. The book is largely non-technical in nature; it does however contain enough mention of the science and technology to enable readers to go further with their own investigations should they wish to. The book covers all areas of renewable energy (RE), starting from biomass energy and hydropower and proceeding to wind, solar and geothermal energy before ending with an overview of ocean energy. It begins with a simple introduction to the physical principles of the RE technologies, followed by an enumeration of the requirements for their successful implementation. The last two chapters consider how the technologies are actually being implemented today and their roles in climate change mitigation and poverty alleviation.

"Chemistry of Advanced Environmental Purification Processes of Water" covers the fundamentals behind a broad spectrum of advanced purification processes for various types of water, showing numerous applications through worked examples. Purification processes for groundwater, soil water, reusable water, and raw water are examined where they are in use full-scale, as a pilot approach, or in the laboratory. This book also describes the production of ceramic particles (nanochemistry) and materials for the creation of filtration systems and catalysts that are involved.
Uses chemistry fundamentals to explain the mechanisms behind the various purification processes Explains in detail process equipment and technical applicationsDescribes the production of ceramic particles and other new materials applicable to filtration systemsIncludes worked examples

Concise and readable, "Drinking Water Security for Engineers, Planners and Managers" provides an overview of issues including infrastructure planning, planning to evaluate vulnerabilities and potential threats, capital improvement planning, and maintenance and risk management. This book also covers topics regarding potential contaminants, available water security technologies, analytical methods, and sensor technologies and networks. Other topics include transport and containment of contaminated water, treatment technologies and the treatability of contaminants.
Threat and vulnerability risk assessments and capital improvementIdentification and characterization of potential contaminants and clean upApplication of information assurance techniques to computerized systems

The field of environmental history emerged just decades ago but has established itself as one of the most innovative and important new approaches to history, one that bridges the human and natural world, the humanities and the sciences. With the current trend towards internationalizing history, environmental history is perhaps the quintessential approach to studying subjects outside the nation-state model, with pollution, global warming, and other issues affecting the earth not stopping at national borders. With 25 essays, this Handbook is global in scope and innovative in organization, looking at the field thematically through such categories as climate, disease, oceans, the body, energy, consumerism, and international relations.

Hydrology is a key influence on water security, environmental sustainability, agricultural production, energy, and transport, especially in unique environments such as arid regions and the tropics, where degradation issues on water and land can threaten the livelihoods of poor communities. With implications in urbanization, landscape architecture, and sanitation, enhancing the practice of water use, management, and planning is imperative for the sustainable development of these regions. Hydrology and Water Resources Management in Arid, Semi-Arid, and Tropical Region is an essential research publication that seeks to improve scientific understanding and sharing of data in hydrology and integrated water resources management of arid, semi-arid, and tropical regions in order to enhance water governance and alleviate reduction in the vulnerability of water resources systems to global changes. Featuring a wide range of topics such as hydrometeorology, sustainable development, and climate change, this book is ideal for researchers, technology developers, academicians, policymakers, government officials, and students.

This book asks under which conditions cooperation is in the interest of the riparian countries sharing international waters, and how institutions must be designed to realize potential gains of cooperation. The author, Ines Dombrowsky, develops a conceptual framework that draws upon different economic theories, including the theory of external effects, non-cooperative game theory and transaction costs economics. She distinguishes the different types of externality problems inherent in international water management and specifies the institutional prerequisites for cooperation. She argues that the respective problems differ with respect to the need to define property rights and to establish enforcement mechanisms. The book also explores the role of issue linkage and of international organizations to foster cooperation. The theoretic considerations are compared and contrasted with the findings of a global review of international water treaties and organizations. By taking hydrological and legal aspects into account, this book provides an interdisciplinary contribution at the interface of hydrology, law and economics. As such, it is addressed to scholars, practitioners and policy-makers, including economists, political scientists, international lawyers, natural scientists, and water resource managers.

When it comes to water, we are fed a daily diet of doom and gloom, of a looming crisis: wars of the future will be over water; nearly one-billion people lack access to clean water; river basins are closed so there is no more water to be allocated despite ever-growing demand; aquifers are overdrawn to such an extent that a global food crisis is just around the corner and major cities, such as Bangkok and Mexico, are sinking. And let us not forget about pollution or vector-borne diseases.

The challenges for sustainable water management are massive. Yet, as shown in this book, there are many positives to be drawn from the southern African experience. Despite abiding conditions of economic underdevelopment and social inequality, people rise to the challenge, oftentimes out of necessity and through self-help, but sometimes through creative coalitions operating at different scales - from the local to the global - and across issue areas - from transboundary governance to urban water supply.

This first volume in the Off-Centre series argues that we must learn to see water and the region differently if we are to meet present challenges and better prepare for an uncertain, climate-changing future.

Larry A. Swatuk is Professor in the School of Environment, Enterprise and Development (SEED) at the University of Waterloo, Canada; Extraordinary Professor at the Institute for Water Studies, University of Western Cape, South Africa; and Research Associate, Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC). Prior to joining the University of Waterloo, he was Associate Professor of Natural Resources Governance at the Okavango Research Institute, Maun, Botswana.

Research on the cutting edge of economics, ecology, and ethics is presented in this timely study. Building from a theoretical critique of the tradition of cost-benefit analysis, the contributors lay the foundation for a macroeconomics of environmental sustainability and distributive justice. Attention is then turned to three of the most critical areas of social and environmental applied research - biodiversity, climate change, and energy. The contributors redefine progress away from growth and toward development. To this end, the first section of the book tackles the dominant framework used in the US today to evaluate tradeoffs between economic growth and its inherent externalities. Succeeding chapters cover a wide variety of studies related to biodiversity health and energy. Each section is anchored with overviews by top scholars in these areas - including Herman Daly, Carl McDaniel, Stephen Schneider, and Nathan Hagens - and followed by detailed analyses reflecting the transdisciplinary approach of ecological economics. Students and scholars of ecological, environmental, and natural resource economics, sustainability sciences, and environmental studies will find this book of great interest. Non-profit and government agencies in search of methods and cases that merge the study of ecology and economics will also find the analyses of great practical value.