This reference resource describes both the scientific background and the economic and social issues that resulted from environmental disasters resulting primarily from human activity. Categorized by the type of tragedy--including coal mine tragedies, dam failures, industrial explosions, and oil spills--this one-stop guide provides students with descriptions of some of the world's most tragic environmental disasters. Entries clearly describe each disaster by defining the cause, the consequences, and the clean-up efforts. Readers will learn who the responsible parties were, the effect on the environment and people living in the immediate area, and the economic impact of each disaster. In addition, the long-term consequences, the likelihood of a repeat disaster in the same area, and the measures that have been taken to prevent a repeat incident are discussed. Entries include the Chernobyl nuclear power plant explosion, the Exxon-Valdez oil spill, the atomic bomb at Hiroshima, and the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

On 14 April 1912, less than a week into a transatlantic trip from Southampton to New York, the largest luxury cruise liner in the world struck an iceberg off the coast of Labrador, causing the hull to buckle. The massive 50,000 ton ship hailed as 'unsinkable' was soon slipping into the cold Atlantic Ocean, the crew and passengers scrambling to launch lifeboats before being sucked into the deep. Of the 2,224 passengers and crew aboard, more than 1,500 died, making the sinking one of the deadliest for a single ship up to that time. The sinking has captured the public imagination ever since, in part because of the scale of the tragedy, but also because the ship represented in microcosm Edwardian society, with the super-rich sharing the vessel with poor migrants seeking a new life in North America. Other factors, such as why there were only enough lifeboats to hold half the passengers, also caused controversy and led to changes in maritime safety. In later years many survivors told their stories to the press, and Titanic celebrates these accounts. A final chapter examines the shipwreck today, which has been visited underwater by explorers, scientists and film-makers, and many artifacts recovered as the old liner steadily disintegrates. Titanic offers a compact, insightful photographic history of the sinking and its aftermath in 180 authentic photographs.

This book highlights the impact of COVID-19 on sustainable waste management and air emission, using various case studies. The year 2020 was a historical year mainly due to the pandemic caused by COVID-19 and it influenced or affected the global economy, business models and the industrial sectors, thus impacting sustainability in various ways. Given that sustainability has many faces and facets, it is worthwhile to deal with the relation (or impact) of COVID-19 on various elements of sustainability. This book presents how COVID-19 has influenced waste management and air quality.

The most commonly used biological wastewater treatment technologies still have serious technical-economical and sustainability-related limitations, due to their high energy requirements, poor effluent quality, and lack of energy and resource recovery processes. In this thesis, novel electrochemical membrane bioreactors (EMBRs), which take advantage of membrane separation and bioelectrochemical techniques, are developed for wastewater treatment and the simultaneous recovery of energy and resources. Above all, this innovative system holds great promise for the efficient wastewater treatment and energy recovery. It can potentially recover net energy from wastewater while at the same time harvesting high-quality effluent. The book also provides a proof-of-concept study showing that electrochemical control might offer a promising in-situ means of suppressing membrane fouling. Lastly, by integrating electrodialysis into EMBRs, phosphate separation and recovery are achieved. Hence, these new EMBR techniques provide viable alternatives for sustainable wastewater treatment and resource recovery.

This book focuses on microplastics as emerging persistent contaminants in terrestrial environments. Scientists from around the globe review recent advances in multi-disciplinary research on micro(nano)plastics, including analytical methods; the sources, fate and distribution of microplastics; ecological risks; toxicity and health risks; and control and countermeasures for microplastics in terrestrial environments. Offering a comprehensive overview of microplastics in terrestrial environments, the book is a valuable resource for environmental researchers, ecologists and toxicologists, as well as for policymakers and non-experts.

< p=""> This monograph is based on pollution control technologies available to deal with water and air pollution. It includes removal of variety of pollutants including arsenic, chromium, uranium, pesticides and arsenic from water using adsorption technique. In addition, this book deals with the sampling and removal of microplastics using various techniques. The contents also focus on the role of membrane technology in water and wastewater treatment, and particulate matter air pollution and its control techniques. This volume will be a useful guide for researchers, academics and scientists. ^

A concise yet thorough overview of environmental issues, problems, and controversies facing Australia, Oceania, and Antarctica. The paradisiacal islands of the South Pacific. The unworldly landscapes and wildlife of Australia. The frozen expanses of Antarctica. This new title in ABC-CLIO's World Environment Series encompasses some of the most benign-and hellish-places on Earth. How is humanity threatening-and preserving-these diverse and far-flung environments? They are vast, distant, and scarcely populated. Yet the environments of Australia, Oceania, and Antarctica are facing the same threats confronting the rest of the planet, as well as some unique ones of their own. How have human-introduced species impacted Australia's natural order? What new global conventions are helping close Antarctica's ozone hole? And why is global warming threatening the South Pacific's life-teeming coral reefs? The region's governments are grappling with the spectre of global warming, which, if not meaningfullly addressed by industrialized nations half a world away, could produce rising sea levels capable of engulfing several states of Oceania and partially submerging portions of many other inhabited i

Engineers and scientists have made great progress in advancing the understanding of the principles underlying environmental quality and public health. However, all too often, society and the scientific community do not realize the connections between environmental occurrences. In their haste to remedy a situation, they overlook lessons that could be learned to prevent future disasters. Paying attention to the past instructs us about the future.
"Paradigms Lost" combines the historical case perspective with credible and sound scientific explanations of key environmental disasters and problems. The author sorts through natural disasters and human mistakes from Love Canal, New York to Bhopal, India to provide larger lessons that can be applied by scientists, engineers and public safety officials. The analysis of these events includes viable alternatives for future generations.
* Includes alternative approaches to environmental issues from preventative measures to contingency plans
* Richly annotated with sidebars, discussion boxes and generous examples from Exxon Valdez and Love Canal to Agent Orange and Bhopal
* A usable tool for all professionals from lawyers to chemical engineers

This book introduces readers to the development of novel optical biosensors for environmental analysis. Environmental pollution has now become a serious problem, which threatens the health of human beings. Traditional analytical methods have a number of drawbacks, such as the need for professional operators and complicated instruments. After millions of years of evolution, biomolecules can perform various functions with good accuracy and efficiency due to their unique structures, offering a viable alternative to traditional methods. This work focuses on using new biological sensing strategies, e.g. those based on special biomaterials, bio-reactions or living cells, to establish novel biosensors. As these biosensors offer satisfactory optical response performance, they can be used to transform the recognition behavior of specific targets into optical signals and effectively detect target objects.

Egyptian coastal lakes and wetlands are among the most productive wetland ecosystems in the world. This volume explores their current status and how it can be maintained and improved. It describes the five Northern coastal lakes, their origin, physical and chemical properties and current development activities, and discusses the challenges facing these lakes, such as shrinking, pollution, degradation, and adaptive management. Further topics include hydrodynamics and modeling techniques, as well as strategies for the sustainable development of these valuable resources. The book closes with a concise summary of the conclusions and recommendations presented in the chapters. As such, it offers an invaluable resource for the academic community and postgraduate students, as well as for environmental managers and policymakers.

This book offers extensive and comprehensive knowledge to the researchers and academicians who are working on decontamination of radioactively contaminated areas. Remediation strategies for contaminated sites are provided. Readers who will find this book useful include professionals specializing in radioecology, safe disposal of radioactive waste, as well as decontamination, remediation legacies and impact of radioactive waste material on the environment. The chapters give a broad overview and reviews of a number of original publications on remediation strategies that were explored after the Chernobyl and Fukushima Nuclear Power plant accidents. Useful case studies are provided that explore the latest technological developments and future trends for affected area decontamination.

This thesis provides a novel methodological basis for mechanistically understanding the dynamics of chemicals in products (CiPs) in the anthroposphere and physical environment and establishes a modeling continuum from production of a chemical to its concentrations in various environmental compartments. Using this framework, the thesis investigates how CiPs are transported and transformed and how they accumulate in the global environment. Furthermore, it identifies the measures needed to minimize their adverse effects on the environment and human society. It serves as an invaluable, interdisciplinary reference resource for industrial ecologists, environmental chemists and decision-makers involved in environmentally sound management of CiPs and associated waste.

On 26 April 1986, the unthinkable happened near the Ukrainian town of Pripyat: two massive steam explosions ruptured No. 4 Reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, immediately killing 30 people and setting off the worst nuclear accident in history. The explosions were followed by an open-air reactor core fire that released huge amounts of radioactive contamination into the atmosphere for the next nine days, spreading across the Soviet Union, parts of Europe, and especially neighbouring Belarus, where around 70% of the waste landed. The following clean-up operation involved more than half a million personnel at a cost of $68 billion, and a further 4,000 people were estimated to have died from disaster-related illnesses in the following 20 years. Some 350,000 people were evacuated as a result of the accident (including 95 villages in Belarus), and much of the area returned to the wild, with the nearby city of Pripyat now a ghost town. Chernobyl provides a photographic exploration of the catastrophe and its aftermath in 180 authentic photos. See the twisted wreckage of No. 4 Reactor, the cause of the nuclear disaster; marvel at historic photos of the clean-up operation, with helicopters spraying decontamination liquid and liquidators manually clearing radioactive debris; see the huge cooling pond used to cool the reactors, and which today is home to abundant wildlife, despite the radiation; explore the ghost town of Pripyat, with its decaying apartment blocks, empty basketball courts, abandoned amusement park, wrecked schools, and deserted streets.

A concise yet thorough overview of the environmental issues, problems, and controversies facing the continent of Africa and the Middle East. Examining both the rich biological heritage of the world's second largest continent and the very serious human threats to it, Africa and the Middle East explores the impact global pollution and a burgeoning population are having on landscape and wildlife alike. How is global warming responsible for the rapidly expanding Sahara Desert? Can local populations be recruited to preserve threatened species? Over 80 percent of Madagascar's species are endemic, the highest percentage of any major ecological region in the world, such as the highly endangered aye-aye which resembles a cross between a monkey, a bat, and a woodpecker, and the giraffe-necked weevil, a red rainforest insect with a neck like a fire truck rescue ladder. Readers will learn all about these fascinating species and much more.

This book covers newly emerging two-dimensional nanomaterials which have been recently used for the purpose of water purification. It focuses on the synthesis methods of 2D materials and answers how scientists/engineers/nanotechnologist/environmentalists could use these materials for fabricating new separation membranes and most probably making commercially feasible technology. The chapters are written by a collection of international experts ensuring a broad view of each topic. The book will be of interest to experienced researchers as well as young scientists looking for an introduction into 2D materials-based cross-disciplinary research.

This book provides a multidisciplinary review of antibiotic resistance and unravels the complex and interrelated roles of environmental sources, including pharmaceutical industry effluents, hospital and domestic effluents, wildlife and drinking water. Antibiotic resistance is a global public health issue in which the interface between humans, animals and the environment is particularly relevant. The contrasts seen across different environmental compartments and world regions, which are due to climate, social and policy differences, mean that this problem needs to be analyzed from a multi-geographic and multi-cultural angle. Bringing together contributions from researchers on different continents with expertise in antibiotic resistance in a range of different environmental compartments, the book offers a detailed reflection on the paths that make antibiotic resistance a global threat, and the state-of- the-art in antibiotic resistance surveillance and risk assessment in complex environmental matrices.

A concise yet thorough overview of the environmental issues, problems, and controversies facing Latin America and the Caribbean-from the tip of South America to the Windward Islands. Snowy Andean peaks. Steaming Brazilian rainforest. Lush tropical islands. Few regions on Earth are as diverse or spectacular as Latin America and the Caribbean. And few are as threatened by expanding populations, industrial pollutants, and unsustainable farming methods. Latin America and the Caribbean, a new title in the World Environments series, explores the environmental problems facing our hemispheric neighbors. Home to the longest-mountain range, largest river, and greatest rainforest on Earth, no region on Earth boasts greater geographic extremes, faces greater environmental dangers, and enjoys more economic potential from its biodiversity than Latin America and the Caribbean. What are the political and economic factors affecting the Amazon's rapidly disappearing rainforest? What is being done to harvest life-saving drugs from the plants of the Orinoco? And what lies behind the mysterious disappearance of Central America's frogs? With essays, chronologies, biographies, and directory of organizati

This book analyzes the theory of ecological engineering of human settlements and provides case studies on the improvement of degraded lands and vegetation restoration, especially focusing on saline-alkali land, abandoned land, water source areas, and the impact of green belts on noise and air quality on the highways. In addition, it discusses the issue of biodiversity conservation strategies in rural landscape construction and demonstrates experiment measurement and field survey methods. The results obtained are supplemented by numerical calculations, presented in the form of tables and figures. As the first monograph on this subject, the book provides a wealth of ideas and resources for researchers, professionals and practitioners in the field of human settlements.

Chemistry is considered to be one of the prime causes of environmental pollution and degradation. The United Nations General Assembly also addressed the environmental challenges in its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which have been adopted in 2015. A closer look shows that to meet these goals chemistry will play an important role. Green chemistry encompasses design and synthesis of environmentally benign chemical processes, green approaches to minimize and/or remediate environmental pollution, the development of biomaterials, biofuel, and bioenergy production, biocatalysis, and policies and ethics in green chemistry. When products in use today become waste, we need to treat that waste so that hazardous substances are not re-circulated into new products. In this context, circular economy is also an important point of discussion, which focuses on recycling, reuse and use of renewable sources. The theme of the International Conference on "Green Chemistry in Environmental Sustainability & Chemical Education (ICGC-2016) held in Delhi from 17-18 November 2016 was to discuss the emerging green trends in the direction of sustainability and environmental safety. ICGC-2016 consisted of keynote, plenary and invited lectures, panel discussion, contributed oral papers and poster presentations. The conference provided a platform for high school students, undergraduate and postgraduate students, teaching fraternity and young researchers to interact with eminent scientists and academicians from all over the world who shared their valuable views, experience and research on the harmonious methods in chemistry for a sustainable environment. This volume of proceedings from the conference provides an opportunity for readers to engage with a selection of refereed papers that were presented during the ICGC-2016 conference. The overarching goal of this book is to discuss most recent innovations and concerns in green chemistry as well as practical challenges encountered and solutions adopted to remediate a scathed environment into a pristine one. It includes an extensive variety of contributions from participants of ICGC-2016 that demonstrate the importance of multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach to problem solving within green chemistry and environmental management. The proceedings is thus a green chemistry monograph resulting from the fruitful deliberations in the conference, which will deeply enhance awareness about our responsibility towards the environment.

This book assesses harmful effects of plastics on the environment and public health. Risk assessment of plastics is required to evaluate currently available treatment technologies and identify the significance of plastic pollution. This book covers background information concerning plastic pollution in the environment, sources and pathways of plastics, characterization and analysis of plastics in the environment, environmental risks of plastics, public health risk of plastics, life cycle approaches in assessing plastic pollution, preventive measures of plastic pollution, fate and transport of plastics, and summary and outlook. The content of the book focuses on assessment of risks of plastics (including nano- and micro-plastics) released into the environment, and it is designed to educate fundamental aspects of plastic materials, including potential risks to the public health and environment, approaches to assessing their harmful effects, prevention of plastic pollution, and environmentally sound technologies for recycling plastics and/or converting them into renewable energy sources. Readers, particularly those in the field of toxicology, materials, environmental policy, public health, and water treatment, benefit from this book's content and educational features, in perspectives of providing knowledge in the environmental field, namely the current status and technology developments for avoiding or minimizing plastic contamination, case studies used to assess environmental and public health risks of micro- and nano-plastics, and educational recommendations in resolving issues with global plastic pollution.

This book presents recent advances in studies of light propagation, scattering, emission and absorption in random media. Many natural and biological media vary randomly in time and space. Examples are terrestrial atmosphere and ocean, biological liquids and tissues to name but a few.

Environmental Toxicology provides a detailed, comprehensive introduction to this key area of sustainability and public health research. The broad coverage includes sections on ecological risk assessment, monitoring, mechanisms, fate and transport, prevention, and correctives, as well as treatment of the health effects of solar radiation and toxicology in the ocean. The 23 state-of-the-art chapters provide a multi-disciplinary perspective on this vital area, which encompasses environmental science, biology, chemistry, and public health.

This unique volume offers an up-to-date overview of all the main aspects of groundwater in the Nile Delta and its fringes, as well as latest research findings. The themes covered include: * Nile Delta aquifer formation and its characteristics * The use of the groundwater in the Nile Delta and its implications * Sedimentology and hydrogeophysical characteristics * Groundwater investigations and aquifer characterization using current direct resistivity and induced polarization * Groundwater contamination and degradation * Saltwater intrusion and its control * Delineation of groundwater flow and seawater intrusion using various techniques, including one-dimensional subsurface temperature profiles, geoelectrical resistivity, and integrated subsurface thermal regime and hydrogeochemical data * Modeling of groundwater and of saltwater intrusion in the Nile Delta aquifer * Excessive pumping and groundwater quality assessment for irrigation and drinking purposes * Groundwater management for sustainability in the Nile Delta. The volume appeals to postgraduate students, researchers, scientists, professionals, decision makers and planners.