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Books > Earth & environment > The environment > Pollution & threats to the environment > General
Traditionally thought of as the last great unspoiled territory on
Earth, the Arctic is in reality home to some of the most
contaminated people and animals on the planet. Awarded a major
grant to conduct an exhaustive study of the deteriorating
environment of the Arctic by the Pew Charitable Trusts (the first
time Pew has given such a grant to a journalist), "Los Angeles
Times"environmental reporter Marla Cone traveled across the Arctic,
from Greenland to the Aleutian Islands, to find out why the Arctic
is toxic.
As we know, rapid industrialization is a serious concern in the context of a healthy environment and public health due to the generation of huge volumes of toxic wastewater. Although various physico-chemical and biological approaches are available for the treatment of this wastewater, many of them are not effective. Now, there a number of emerging ecofriendly, cost-effective approaches utilizing microorganisms (bacterial/fungi/algae), green plants or their enzymes, and constructed wetland treatment systems in the treatment of wastewaters containing pollutants such as endocrine disrupting chemicals, toxic metals, pesticides, dyes, petroleum hydrocarbons and phenolic compounds. This book provides a much-needed, comprehensive overview of the various types of wastewater and their ecotoxicological effects on the environment, humans, animals and plants as well as various emerging and eco-friendly approaches for their treatment. It provides insights into the ecological problems and challenges in the treatment and management of wastewaters generated by various sources.
Transport is now a critical problem throughout the world, and it is set to get worse. Whether it is traffic congestion, crashes (10 million killed and injured each year), noise, air pollution, landscape destruction, or greenhouse gas emissions (of which transport is the fastest-growing source), the damage and the costs from our current forms of transport are dangerously high and getting worse. Policies and practical measures that can reduce and eliminate these problems are urgently needed. This Reader contains 16 important contributions on how to improve transport globally. They are based on sound science, sound people-centred analysis, and a strong awareness of equity and human rights. And they have been selected for their originality, the importance of the issues they focus on, the quality of their insight and their practical relevance. A further 7 commissioned chapters provide informative overviews of the transport problems specific to each region of the world, while the editors' Introduction and Conclusion frames the discussion and lays out the scale of the challenges we face. As a whole, the Reader demonstrates what steps can be taken to improve both transport provision and use, in both the developed and the developing world, while reducing environmental and health impacts. It will serve as an invaluable sourcebook for anyone researching or attempting to address the issues associated with world transport policy and practice, whether students, planners, business people or policy-makers.
The contributors to this volume focus on the political and value issues that, in their shared view, underlie the global environmental crisis facing us today. They argue that only by transforming our dominant values, social institutions and way of living can we avoid ecological disaster.
The contributors to this volume focus on the political and value issues that, in their shared view, underlie the global environmental crisis facing us today. They argue that only by transforming our dominant values, social institutions and way of living can we avoid ecological disaster.
The use of marine organisms to degrade a variety of natural and synthetic substances in the marine environment, thereby reducing the levels of hazardous compounds, is increasingly drawing attention because of the potential such bioremediation has for environmental restoration. Among the current research efforts in bioremediation are some directed towards identifying organisms that possess the ability to degrade specific pollutants. With such organisms, which have already been identified, biochemical studies are going on with the aim of elucidating the pathways of these degradative processes and the enzymes involved. The volume includes chapters that are devoted to petroleum spill bioremediation, use of spectroscopy to identify microbial metabolic pathways, detoxification of mercury by using recombinant mercury-resistant bacteria, and the use of manganese-oxidizing bacteria for bioremediation. A broad-based approach to bioremediation of marine habitats is required because of the wide variety of contaminants in our oceans.
Consensus is growing internationally that traditional command-and-control approaches to environmental regulation have borne much of their low-hanging fruit. Yet it is far from clear what should complement or replace them. Regulatory agencies and policy-makers are struggling with a lack of information about regulatory reform, about what works and what doesn't, and about how best to harness the resources of both government and non-government stakeholders. Progress is being impeded unnecessarily by a lack of shared knowledge of how similar agencies elsewhere are meeting similar challenges and by a lack of data on the success or otherwise of existing initiatives. Despite recent and valuable attempts to deal with such problems in the European Union and North America, these remain islands of wisdom in a sea of ignorance. For example, when it comes to dealing with small and medium-sized enterprises, very little is known, and what is known is not effectively distilled and disseminated. Much the same could be said about the roles of third parties, commercial and non-commercial, as surrogate regulators, and more broadly of many current initiatives to reconfigure the regulatory state. Based on the authors' work for the OECD, Victorian Environmental Protection Authority and the Western Australian Department of Environment Protection, Leaders and Laggards addresses these problems by identifying innovative regulatory best practice internationally in a number of specific contexts, evaluating empirically the effectiveness of regulatory reform and providing policy prescriptions that would better enable agencies to fulfil their regulatory missions. Focusing primarily on the differing requirements for both corporations and small and medium-sized enterprises in North America and Europe, the book aims to complement existing initiatives and to expand knowledge of regulatory reform by showing: how existing experience can best be put to practical use "on the ground"; by drawing lessons from experiments in innovative regulation internationally; by reporting and extrapolating on original case studies; and by advancing understanding on which instruments and strategies are likely to be of most value and why. The authors argue that the development of theory has outstripped its application. In essence, Leaders and Laggards aims to ground a myriad of theory on the reinvention of environmental regulation into practice. The book will be essential reading for environmental policy-makers, regulatory and other government officials responsible for policy design and implementation, academics and postgraduate students in environmental management, environmental law and environmental policy, and a more general readership within environmental policy and management studies. It will also be of interest to those in industry, such as environmental managers and corporate strategists, who are considering the use of more innovative environmental and regulatory strategies, and to environmental NGOs.
In order to effectively address global warming, many countries have significantly reduced the amount of carbon dioxide emissions that are put into the atmosphere. From the perspective of industrial structure, this volume examines the emission reduction potentials and abatement costs in China. By making an empirical analysis of the emission reduction, the author proposes some practical strategies. The book comprehensively summarizes related theories and research of contaminant disposal modeling, and estimates the shadow price of interprovincial CO2 emissions, the emission reduction potential of different regions, and the marginal emission reduction cost based on the parametric model. It finally puts forward the strategy to adjust the industrial structure in China. The book hence provides solid evidence for policy-makers to help mitigate CO2 emissions through industrial restructuring strategy.
Economic theory and empirical models suggest that economic instruments should help us to meet environmental goals at lower cost. Practical experience, however, shows that the cost savings of emission trading are smaller than expected and charges usually have had small incentive impacts. This book gives a comprehensive review of economic theory, simulation models, and practical experience with the use of economic instruments. The book focuses on air pollution control. Part I examines theoretical aspects and simulation modelling in a national context. Part II surveys the practical experience in a variety of countries. Part III explores international issues, such as joint implementation. Because of its blend of theoretical and empirical research, the book should prove interesting for both economists and those interested in environmental policy.
The potential to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and global climate change is one factor driving agricultural policy development of programs that might pay farmers for practices with a high potential to sequester carbon. With chapters by economists, policy makers, farmers, land managers, energy company representatives, and soil scientists, Agricultural Practices and Policies for Carbon Sequestration in Soil explores a broad range of topics. It examines topics such as the effects of soil tillage and mulch rate, soil monitoring and assessment, soil fertility management, policy options, and the economic issues associated with carbon sequestration.
Assessing the full scale of environmental impacts is essential for effective planning of transport and land use. This is an analysis of transport and land-use planning using strategic environmental assessment (SEA). It establishes the effectiveness of SEA through comparative studies of practice in three countries: Britain, the Netherlands and Germany. The author shows that use of SEA is widespread but far from systematic. He demonstrates the advantages of adopting a systematic application of a comprehensive form of SEA derived from all the major current approaches. Only once this approach is fully understood and systematically applied will all the full benefits be achieved and environmental impacts be minimalized.
Every spring, the University of Massachusetts - Amherst welcomes all ''Soils Conference" Scientific Advisory Board members with open arms as we begin the planning process responsible for bringing you quality conferences year after year. With this "homecoming" of sorts comes the promise of reaching across the table and interacting with a wide spectrum of stakeholders, each of them bringing their unique perspective in support of a successful Conference in the fall. This year marks the 20 DEGREES DEGREES anniversary of what started as a couple of thoughtful scientists interested in developing partnerships that together could fuel the environmental cleanup dialogue. Since the passage of the Superfund Law, regulators, academia and industry have come to realize that models that depend exclusively on ''command and control" mandates as the operative underpinning limit our collective ability to bring hazardous waste sites to productive re-use. It is with this concern in mind that the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection privatized its cleanup program in 1993, spurring the close-out of over 20,000 sites and spills across the Commonwealth to date, in a manner that is both protective of human health and the environment while also flexible and responsive to varied site uses and redevelopment goals. So we gather together again, this year, to hear our collective stories and share success and challenges just as we share stories at a family gathering. Take a read through the stories contained in these proceedings.
Contaminated land and the methods and legal controls governing its reclamation for subsequent development and use are of great current interest and concern. This volume covers aspects of this subject, ranging from the origins and extent of contaminated land problems, including effects on human health, through investigative measures, to specific techniques of remediation. It is written in the context of the new UK contaminated land regime and includes human and ecological risk assessment methodology, and the legal liabilities and insurance aspects of contaminated land. This authoritative review will be welcomed by those involved in the areas of land use planning and development, consultants and engineers in contaminated site investigation and remediation, and environmental regulators. Students of land management and environmental science will also find it essential reading.
This work reflects preoccupations with the threats posed to our environment due to climatic factors, major and natural hazards of all kinds and demographic influences. Topics covered include land surface processes, coastal zones and atmospheric risks.
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