The blowout of the Deepwater Horizon and subsequent underground oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 is considered by many to be the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history. Interest groups, public officials, and media organizations have spent considerable time documenting the economic and ecological impacts of this spill as well as the causes of the spill, ostensibly to prevent future disasters of this magnitude. However, rather than an unbiased search for answers, such investigations involve strategic efforts by a variety of political actors to define the spill and its causes in ways that lead to their preferred policy solutions. Framing Environmental Disaster evaluates the causal stories that environmental groups tell about the spill and develops theoretical propositions about the role of such stories in the policy process. Which actors do groups hold responsible, and how do groups use blame attributions to advance their policy agendas? Constructing a creative methodological approach which includes content analysis drawn from blog posts, emails, press releases, and testimony before Congress and insights and quotations drawn from interviews with environmental group representatives, Melissa K. Merry argues that interest groups construct causal explanations long before investigations of policy problems are complete and use focusing events to cast blame for a wide range of harms not directly tied to the events themselves. In doing so, groups seek to take full advantage of "windows of opportunity" resulting from crises. An indispensable resource for scholars of public policy and environmental politics and policy, this book sheds new light on the implications of the gulf disaster for energy politics and policies while advancing scholarly understandings of the role of framing and causal attribution in the policy process.

This book describes in fascinating detail the wildlife, wild places and wild personalities that occupied Angola’s conservation landscape through four decades of war and a decade of peace. Intrigues, assassinations, corruption, greed and incompetence ? during the colonial era, through the horrific war and most especially throughout the crony-capitalist kleptocracy of President Jose Eduardo dos Santos ? have resulted in the extinction of most of its formerly abundant wildlife populations and the decay and erosion of a once endless Eden. This is the first book to integrate the political, economic and environmental threads that account for the post-colonial tragedy of one of Africa’s most biologically diverse countries. A corrupt government has robbed the country of its vast oil and diamond wealth, of its environmental health, of its morality and of its soul. It was not always so. The author was appointed ecologist to Angola’s National Parks in 1971. But the vast open spaces, peaceful stillness and tropical luxuriance that he found during the four years they spent exploring and developing the country’s wildlife reserves was not to last. The powder keg of anger against centuries of colonial exploitation ? of slavery, of forced labour and of an abusive system of penal settlement ? could not be contained. Bloody nationalist uprisings led to the abandonment of Angola by Portugal and the transition from random guerrilla skirmishes with a colonial army into a brutal civil war that cost over one million lives. Despite its scarred history, the author believes the country can still rebuild its national parks and save much of its wildlife and wilderness. But this can only happen if the current ageing autocracy makes space for a new generation of Angolan conservationists.

Environmental conditions do not exist in a vacuum. They are influenced by science, politics, history, public policy, culture, economics, public attitudes, and competing priorities, as well as past human decisions. In the case of Central Asia, such Soviet-era decisions include irrigation systems and physical infrastructure that are now crumbling, mine tailings that leach pollutants into soil and groundwater, and abandoned factories that are physically decrepit and contaminated with toxic chemicals. Environmental Crises in Central Asia highlights major environmental challenges confronting the region's former Soviet republics: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. They include threats to the Caspian and Aral seas, the impact of climate change on glaciers, desertification, deforestation, destruction of habitat and biodiversity, radioactive and hazardous wastes, water quality and supply, energy exploration and development, pesticides and food security, and environmental health. The ramifications of these challenges cross national borders and may affect economic, political, and cultural relationships on a vast geographic scale. At the same time, the region's five governments have demonstrated little resolve to address these complex challenges. This book is a valuable multi-disciplinary resource for academics, scholars, and policymakers in environmental sciences, geography, political science, natural resources, mass communications, public health, and economics.

The protection of the environment is one of the most important problems facing us today. Reliable and robust strategies for keeping pollution caused by harmful chemicals under safe levels have to be developed and used routinely. Large mathematical models, incorporating all important physical and chemical processes, can solve this task, but the computational burden is huge. The papers presented here describe some of the difficult problems that have to be solved during the development of large scale air pollution models, and different ways to solve them. The work involves combined research by specialists in the fields of environmental modelling, numerical analysis and scientific computing. Further, if models are to run in real time (which may be vital in the case of accidental hazardous releases), then new and efficient methods that harness the potential power of parallel supercomputers must be developed, so that actual computing speed starts to approach the maximum available performance. The articles should be understandable by specialists in the field of air pollution modelling, as well as specialists in the many other related areas.

The 4th International Conference on Selenium in the Environment and Human Health was held 18-21 October 2015 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. This conference provided an effective scientific communication platform for researchers in different disciplines worldwide to elucidate and better understand those complex roles of Se as both essential nutrient and environmental contaminant. This proceedings volume includes 98 peer-reviewed extended abstracts prepared by Se researchers from 28 countries. These most recent Se research studies address inter-relationships between the geological and atmospheric environment, agricultural food and selenium-biofortified food crops, human and animal health impacts, and genetic, biochemical, and cell and molecular activities. This book presents a unique myriad of Se research to further our international understanding of the role of Se in the context of biochemistry, food chain transfer, and health-related issues.

After sweeping environmental legislation passed in the 1970s and 1980s, the 1990s ushered in an era when new legislation and reforms to existing laws were consistently caught up in a gridlock. In response, environmental groups became more specialized and professional, learning how to effect policy change through the courts, states, and federal agencies rather than through grassroots movements. Without a significantly mobilized public and with a generally uncooperative Congress, presidents since the 1990s have been forced to step into a new role of increasing presidential dominance over environmental policies. Rather than working with Congress, presidents instead have employed unilateral actions and administrative strategies to further their environmental goals. Presidential Administration and the Environment offers a detailed examination of the strategies and tools used by U.S. presidents. Using primary sources from presidential libraries such as speeches and staff communications, David M. Shafie analyzes how presidents such as Bill Clinton and George W. Bush have used alternative executive approaches to pass environmental policies. From there, Shafie presents case studies in land management, water policy, toxics, and climate change. He analyzes the role that executive leadership has played in passing policies within these four areas, explains how this role has changed over time, and concludes by investigating how Obama's policies compare thus far with those of his predecessors. Shafie's combination of qualitative content analysis and topical case studies offers scholars and researchers alike important insights for understanding the interactions between environmental groups and the executive branch and the implications for future policymaking in the United States.

This timely volume presents the key concepts, issues, and debates surrounding environmental security, illustrating through a range of examples and cases how global environmental matters and international security are closely linked. Issues of climate change, dwindling resources, natural disaster, and disease that comprise environmental security are at the forefront of global politics and the media today. Environmental Security: A Guide to the Issues is a primer for anyone attuned to these threats. This well-reasoned, thought-provoking volume establishes and updates the connection between global environmental problems and international security, describing existing theories of environmental security and illustrating them with evidence from present-day global ecological realities. Specifically, the book shows readers how both shortages and abundance of natural resources such as fresh water, oil and natural gas, and diamonds and timber can contribute to conflict and insecurity. It also discusses how agriculture and fisheries issues affect food security with international ramifications, how global ecosystem shifts like climate change are affecting both the earth and the movement of people on it, and how war and preparation for war can affect the natural environment. Finally, the book explores how nations can, and must, cooperate with each other to confront and manage these threats. Wide-ranging cases and examples, from climate change to energy to water Primary source documents A chronology A glossary A bibliography

India has been traditionally well-endowed with large freshwater reserves, but increasing population, urbanization and agricultural growth in recent decades are causing overexploitation of surface and groundwater. As consumption of water grows, wastewater increases significantly and in the absence of proper measures for treatment and management, is polluting existing freshwater reserves. As a result, water pollution has emerged as one of the nation's gravest environmental threats. This book draws a link between water pollution generated by different industries and the various economic activities of the Indian economy using the Input-output framework. It constructs a detailed water pollution coefficient matrix involving different types of water pollutants. The book estimates the total amount of water pollution generated directly and indirectly in different sectors and activities, and also calculates the water pollution content in India's foreign trade sector. It also accounts for defensive expenditure from water pollution and estimates Green GDP for the extent and scope of environmental challenges. Analysis of the result indicates the variation in the pollution content of different economic activities. Finally, the book offers a portfolio of policies and assesses the implications of such policies on pollution generation in India.

Asbestos dust is well-known for causing cancer and other life-threatening illnesses yet still contaminates countless schools, factories and office buildings. This raises the issue of the best way to deal with Asbestos; immediate removal, containment or removal at renovation or demolition. Originally published in 1986, this report aims to evaluate these methods of dealing with asbestos in relation to their cost-effectiveness to conclude the most appropriate solution. This title will be of interest to students of Environmental Studies and Economics.

Investigations of atmospheric pollution have recently reached a new stage. In addition to the estimation and the monitoring of pollutant concentrations in the air around their sources, by way of observational data and also by calcu lations on the basis of theoretical research, it is now possible to make short term forecasts of air pollution and to use them to regulate industrial emissions. Many countries are interested in such forecasts. In the Soviet Union the organizations of the State Committee of the USSR for Hydrometeorology (Goskomgidromet) are carrying out a wide-scale scientific programme on the devising of methods to forecast atmospheric pollution. Prognostic groups are organized in territorial hydrometeocenters; in essence a new forecasting service has been established. Nowadays, in more than 200 towns of the USSR predictions are made and transmitted to large enterprises for the purpose of taking the necessary steps to preserve air qua lity. To ensure an operative working of this service, Methodological Instruc (1979) have been issued, as well as other instructions and guides. Wide tions scale verifications of proposed calculating methods have been made. Prob lems of forecasting and regulating air pollution have become evident lately in other countries as well. Much attention to these problems is payed by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). They have been widely dis cussed in a number of international conferences and meetings for modelling and investigating pollutant distribution in the atmosphere. The number of publications on this subject is rapidly increasing."

What we call the nation's energy policy attempts to give direction to the production, use, transportation, and distribution of energy to help achieve an array of societal goals in the most compatible ways. In this title, originally published in 1993, noted analysts provide insight into complex policy issues of significant importance. Among the topics addressed are difficulties encountered in trying to fashion energy policy in the U.S. congress, the nature of energy policies and environmental polices, the challenges arising from regional conflict over energy policies, and the viability of deregulating electric power production. This collection of lectures is a valuable resource for students interested in environmental studies and public policy.

This broad review is the first to gather comprehensive information on the complete contemporary range of toxicity testing procedures and hazard assessment procedures, which is normally scattered and difficult to find. The two-volume set provides a consistent, template-based approach, linking relevant information on background, theory and practice to each bioassay. Volume 2 examines hazard assessment schemes. Includes extensive glossary.

Despite the efforts of Southeast Asian governments and of ASEAN, transboundary haze continues to be a major environmental problem in Southeast Asia. This book demonstrates that the issue is complex, and explains why efforts to solve the problem in purely political terms are ineffective, and likely to continue to be ineffective. The book shows how state-led, state-incentivised agribusiness development lies at the heart of the problem, leading to a large rise in palm oil production, with extensive clearing of forests, leading to deliberate or accidental fires and the resulting haze. Moreover, although the forest clearing is occurring in Indonesia, many of the companies involved are Malaysian and Singaporean; and, further, many of these companies have close relationships with the politicians and officials responsible for addressing the problem and who thereby have a conflict of interest. The author concludes by discussing the huge difficulties involved in overturning this system of 'patronage politics'.

Public agencies and industry will probably spend tens of billions of dollars on new water pollution abatement facilities in the next few decades. Added billions will be spent for the operation of new and existing facilities. How can physical science research reduce the cost of achieving objectives? And how can social science research make sure that the right objectives are being efficiently pursued? This title, first published in 1962, is directed to the orientation of the research effort, and the tool used for this purpose is an economic framework. This book will be of interest to students of economics and environmental studies.

Applied Photochemistry encompasses the major applications of the chemical effects resulting from light absorption by atoms and molecules in chemistry, physics, medicine and engineering, and contains contributions from specialists in these key areas. Particular emphasis is placed both on how photochemistry contributes to these disciplines and on what the current developments are. The book starts with a general description of the interaction between light and matter, which provides the general background to photochemistry for non-specialists. The following chapters develop the general synthetic and mechanistic aspects of photochemistry as applied to both organic and inorganic materials, together with types of materials which are useful as light absorbers, emitters, sensitisers, etc. for a wide variety of applications. A detailed discussion is presented on the photochemical processes occurring in the Earth's atmosphere, including discussion of important current aspects such as ozone depletion. Two important distinct, but interconnected, applications of photochemistry are in photocatalytic treatment of wastes and in solar energy conversion. Semiconductor photochemistry plays an important role in these and is discussed with reference to both of these areas. Free radicals and reactive oxygen species are of major importance in many chemical, biological and medical applications of photochemistry, and are discussed in depth. The following chapters discuss the relevance of using light in medicine, both with various types of phototherapy and in medical diagnostics. The development of optical sensors and probes is closely related to diagnostics, but is also relevant to many other applications, and is discussed separately. Important aspects of applied photochemistry in electronics and imaging, through processes such as photolithography, are discussed and it is shown how this is allowing the increasing miniaturisation of semiconductor devices for a wide variety of electronics applications and the development of nanometer scale devices. The final two chapters provide the basic ideas necessary to set up a photochemical laboratory and to characterise excited states. This book is aimed at those in science, engineering and medicine who are interested in applying photochemistry in a broad spectrum of areas. Each chapter has the basic theories and methods for its particular applications and directs the reader to the current, important literature in the field, making Applied Photochemistry suitable for both the novice and the experienced photochemist.

1. Preface and Course Introduction.- 2. Emission Sources and Quantities.- 3. Atmospheric Chemistry of Sulphur Dioxide and Nitrogen Oxides.- 4. Dispersion and Transport of Atmospheric Pollutants.- 5. Control of Air Pollution - The European Community Approach.- 6. Desulphurization of Flue Gases on the Basis of Lime or Limestone Scrubbing.- 7. The Wellman Lord Process.- 8. ISPRA MARK 13A Desulphurization Process.- 9. BF / UHDE / MITSUI-Active Coke Process for Simultaneous SO2- and NOx-Removal.- 10. Walther Process.- 11. EBDS-Process.- 12. Primary Measures for NOx Reduction.- 13. High and Low Dust SCR Processes.- 14. Costs of Desulphurization and Denoxing.- 15. Situation in the United States and Japan.

The book reviews existing research on the challenges of voice and silence in organizations. After a major disaster, when investigators are piecing together the story of what happened, a striking fact often emerges: before disaster struck, some people in the organization involved were aware of dangerous conditions that had the potential to escalate to a critical level. But for a variety of reasons, this crucial information did not reach decision-makers. So, the organization moved ever closer to catastrophe, effectively unaware of the possible threat-despite the fact that some of its employees could see it coming. What is the problem with communication about risk in an organization, and why does this problem exist? What stops people in organizations or project teams from freely reporting and discussing critical risks? This book seeks to answer these questions, starting from a deep analysis of 20 disasters where the concealment of risks played a major part. These case studies are drawn from around the world and span a range of industries: civil nuclear power, coal, oil and gas production, hydropower energy, metals and mining, space exploration, transport, finance, retail manufacturing and even the response of governments to wars, famines and epidemics. Together, case studies give an insight into why people hesitate to report risks-and even when they do, why their superiors often prefer to ignore the news. The book reviews existing research on the challenges of voice and silence in organizations. This helps to explain more generally why people dread passing on bad news to others-and why in the workplace they prefer to keep quiet about unpleasant facts or potential risks when they are talking to superiors and colleagues. The discussion section of the book includes important examples of concealment within the Chinese state hierarchy as well as by leading epidemiologists and governments in the West during the novel coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan in 2019-2020. The full picture of the very early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic remains unclear, and further research is obviously needed to better understand what motivated some municipal, provincial and national officials in China as well as Western counterparts to obfuscate facts in their internal communications about many issues associated with the outbreak.

This scientifically rigorous and philosophically sophisticated defense of environmentalism is meant to excite, educate, and alarm the reader. There is a widespread scientific and public recognition that the world is facing an environmental crisis of vast proportions. What is the relationship between the growth of human population and industrial activity on one hand and the environmental crisis on the other? If this is not determined and dealt with, Earth's ecology may be expected to collapse.

This volume provides an overview of the occurrence and fate of emerging contaminants, discusses advanced chemical analysis methods, toxicological and ecotoxicological effects as well as human exposure. One focus is on pharmaceuticals, in particular antibiotics, and the problems associated with their increased use in hospitals. Other covered emerging contaminants occurring e.g. in food, water, air or soil include brominated flame retardants, polar pesticides, phthalates, phosphate esters, perfluorinated compounds, personal care products, musk fragrances, disinfection byproducts, illicit drugs, and nanomaterials. The chapters written by experts are a valuable source of information for a broad audience, such as analytical chemists, environmental chemists and engineers, toxicologists, ecotoxicologists and epidemiologists working already in this field as well as newcomers.

This volume is first part of the five-part set on bioenergy research. This volume covers current developments and both basic and advanced concepts in bioenergy production. Based on bioenergy road map, the book will also evaluate about the ratio existing between current challenges associated and practical implementation of these biofuels. The book complies up to-date progressive development in available bioenergy options and discusses opportunities and existing risks. The main objective of the book is to provide insights into the opportunities and required actions for the development of an economically viable bioenergy industry for practical replacement of fossil fuels. This book is of interest to teachers, researchers, scientists, capacity builders and policymakers. Also the book serves as additional reading material for undergraduate and graduate students of environmental sciences. National and international bioenergy scientists, policy makers will also find this to be a useful read. Other four volumes of this set explore latest developments, commercial opportunities, waste to energy and integrated solution for bioenergy concerns.

This title, first published in 1987, provides an authoritative account of both the science and the politics of acid rain. Chris Park places the debates surrounding acid rain in context, and examines the full implications of scientific studies and the effects of acid rain on surface waters, soils and buildings. Evidence is drawn from around the world, including an examination of the damage in Scandinavia and Germany and the effects of acid rain in the U.K. and U.S.A. A comprehensive and relevant work, this is an important guide for students of geography, environment and sustainability and energy policy.

Electronic and electric waste (e-waste), defined as end-of-life electronic products, including computers, television sets, mobile phones, transformers, capacitors, wires and cables, are a major global environmental concern. The crude recycling of e-waste releases persistent toxic substances, such as heavy metals, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), polychlorinated dibenzodioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and the environmental pollution and health risks caused by the improper disposal of e-waste has become an urgent issue. This book offers an overview of e-waste history, sources, and entry routes in soil, air, water and sediment. It also addresses e-waste transport and fate, bioavailability and biomonitoring, e-waste risk assessment, impacts on the environment and public health. In addition, it discusses the impact of e-waste on soil microbial community diversity, structure and function and reviews the treatment and management strategies, such as bioremediation and phytoremediation, as well as policies and future challenges. Given its scope, it is a valuable resource for students, researchers and scholars in the field of electronics manufacturing, environmental science and engineering, toxicology, environmental biotechnology, soil sciences and microbial ecology, as well as and plant biotechnology.

Low Carbon Cities is a book for practitioners, students and scholars in architecture, urban planning and design. It features essays on ecologically sustainable cities by leading exponents of urban sustainability, case studies of the new directions low carbon cities might take and investigations of how we can mitigate urban heat stress in our cities' microclimates. The book explores the underlying dimensions of how existing cities can be transformed into low carbon urban systems and describes the design of low carbon cities in theory and practice. It considers the connections between low carbon cities and sustainable design, social and individual values, public space, housing affordability, public transport and urban microclimates. Given the rapid urbanisation underway globally, and the need for all our cities to operate more sustainably, we need to think about how spatial planning and design can help transform urban systems to create low carbon cities, and this book provides key insights.

The Global Politics of Pesticides explores the varied, and often conflicting, interests involved in the formulation of international policies on chemical pesticide manufacture and use in each of the main areas of environmental pollution, trade, development, public health, food security, biotechnology and industrial safety and explains why some aspects of pesticide use are subject to strict international guidelines whilst others are not. The book breaks new ground in objectively examining the competing viewpoints of food producers and other pesticide users, the chemical industry, health officials, traders, environmental/consumer pressure groups and the public. It also considers how international regulation can occur in spite of the fundamental differences of opinion and seemingly opposing interests held by the key actors.

Since the extensive floods of 1966, inhabitants of Venice's laguna areas have come to share in, and reflect upon, concerns over pressing environmental problems. Evidence of damage caused by industrial pollution has contributed to the need to recover a common culture and establish a sense of continuity with "truly Venetian traditions." Based on ethnographic and archival data, this in-depth study of the Venetian island of Burano shows how its inhabitants develop their sense of a distinct identity on the basis of their notions of gender, honor and kinship relations, their common memories, their knowledge and love of their environment and their special skills in fishing and lace making.