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Books > Earth & environment > The environment > Pollution & threats to the environment
The Fukushima nuclear disaster in March 2011 led Japan, and many other countries, to change their energy policies. David Elliott reviews the disaster and its global implications, asking whether, despite continued backing by some governments, the growing opposition to nuclear power means the end of the global nuclear renaissance.
* Explores everything from self-belief to climate change denial and the anti-Vaxx movement, navigating readers through the functions of doubt, from the everyday to the extreme. * Looks at how doubt is dispelled, how it can be 'weaponised', and how both the proliferation and absence of doubt can lead to harmful belief systems. * Features interviews with Nobel prize winners, former terrorists, world class athletes, famous artists and coaches to explore how doubt functions in the lives of transformational thinkers and figures of popular interest.
International concern in scientific, industrial, and governmental communi ties over traces of xenobiotics in foods and in both abiotic and biotic envi ronments has justified the present triumvirate of specialized publications in and this field: comprehensive reviews, rapidly published research papers progress reports, and archival documentations. These three international publications are integrated and scheduled to provide the coherency essential for nonduplicative and current progress in a field as dynamic and complex as environmental contamination and toxicology. This series is reserved ex clusively for the diversified literature on "toxic" chemicals in our food, our feeds, our homes, recreational and working surroundings, our domestic animals, our wildlife and ourselves. Tremendous efforts worldwide have been mobilized to evaluate the nature, presence, magnitude, fate, and toxi cology of the chemicals loosed upon the earth. Among the sequelae of this broad new emphasis is an undeniable need for an articulated set of authoritative publications, where one can find the latest important world literature produced by these emerging areas of science together with docu mentation of pertinent ancillary legislation. Research directors and legislative or administrative advisers do not have the time to scan the escalating number of technical publications that may contain articles important to current responsibility. Rather, these individu als need the background provided by detailed reviews and the assurance that the latest information is made available to them, all with minimal literature searching.
This book explains the current climate protection processes and technologies, and informs the readers of the limiting factors and opportunities for future development. It represents the highest level of knowledge from leading scientists all over the world. Original high quality figures maximize understanding of the text. The book also introduces a new concept (climatographic), which provides a well pronounced solution to climate protection that is easily understandable for all levels of readers.
This study investigates the extent of the pollution of the Mediterranean Sea with respect to the four bordering EC countries - spain, France, Italy, and Greece. The environmental pressures and economic impacts are examined and the institutional/legal framework is described together with all the necessary environmental expenditures. The book is written in such a way that separate chapters are devoted to each of the four countries, after an initial section summarizing the major commonalities. These chapters are organized in parallel formats so that it is possible to examine the same topic country by country. Good references are provided for the reader who is not familiar with the subject of Mediterranean pollution. For specialists, the book provides a useful overview of adjacent fields other than their own speciality: for policymakers, the chapters provide sufficient foundations for decision-making: for the investment planner and banks, it provides budget and investment needs; and for the private sector, it gives an insight into the possibilities for corporate applications of environmental technologies. Four specialists - Prof. V. Silano (Italy), Dr. M. Vassilopoulos (Greece), Dr. L.A. Romafia (France), and Mr. A. Estevan (Spain- contributed sustantially by evaluating the necessary information from national documents on environmental policies and strategies. The book was developed on the basis of an integrated environmental study financed by the European Investment Bank, to which we would like to express our sincere thanks.
The fall of communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe has affected nations throughout the world. This broad-based study examines how this major historical event has influenced the governments, societies, economies, and foreign relations of Asia. The work of 15 scholars is divided into three sections: Economic Development and Environmental Impact; Politics and Foreign Relations; and Social and Women's Issues. Chapters span the far reaches of Asia, from Japan to Pakistan, from China to the Philippines. This first thorough interdisciplinary analysis concludes that nations such as Japan, India, and the Philippines have been less influenced than China, Korea, and Vietnam. In each case, while direct impact of the end of the Cold War has been minimal, there is strong evidence of more subtle effects. The breadth of the regional coverage and the diversity of the subject matter will interest scholars and researchers alike. The authors pose as many questions as they answer, and their conclusions are certain to stimulate debate.
It has been known at least since the end of the century that the polar areas play a very important role in the formation of the Earth's climates. It is also known today that they are the most sensitive regions to climatic change, and are thus perfect case studies for the detection of such changes. The most serious obstacle to the study of climatic and other geographical elements of the polar areas (including the Arctic) has always been the severe climatic conditions which prevail in these regions. Because of these extreme con- tions, research into particular elements of the climatic system (including the atmosphere) began here much later than it did in lower latitudes. For instance, the whole area of the Arctic was not sufficiently covered with a network of meteorological stations until the late 1940s (and even then there were large areas of the central Arctic and the Greenland interior for which no data were available). This is probably why it was not until the start of the 1990s that a body of work began to appear which analysed in any depth climatic variability for the Arctic as a whole. While a considerable number of papers had been p- lished before this period, most of them were local studies presenting highly localised information, providing air temperature measurements but often little else.
The destruction of the ozone layer, together with global warming, is one of the hot environmental topics of today. This book examines the effect of human activities on atmospheric ozone, namely the increase of tropospheric ozone and the general diminution of stratospheric ozone and the production of the Antarctic ozone hole. Also discussed is the role of remote sensing techniques in the understanding of the effects of human activities on atmospheric ozone as well as in the development of social and political awareness of the damage to the ozone layer by man-made chemicals, principally CFCs. This led to the formulation and ratification in 1989 of the Montreal Protocol on controlling/banning the manufacture and use of chemicals that damage the ozone layer. Since then, remote sensing has played a key role in monitoring atmospheric ozone concentration and determining the success of the Montreal Protocol in protecting the ozone layer from further damage. In this book, the renowned authors discuss the sophisticated instruments that have been launched into space to study not only ozone but also other trace gases in the atmosphere, some of which play a key role in the generation and destruction of ozone in the atmosphere. Professors Cracknell and Varotsos also examine the satellite-flown instruments which are involved in monitoring the absorption of solar ultraviolet light in the atmosphere in relation both to the generation and destruction of ozone and consequently to human health. This scholarly book, written by the foremost experts in the field, looks at remote sensing and its employment in the various aspects of ozone science. It is widely acknowledged that global warming, due to anthropogenic greenhouse gases emissions, represents a threat to the sustainability of human life on Earth. However, many other threats are potentially just as serious, including atmospheric pollution, ozone depletion, water pollution, the degradation of agricultural land, deforestation, the depletion of the world's mineral resources and population growth.
Climate change impacts the wellbeing of societies across the entire globe. By utilizing innovative technologies, public health can be better protected in the years to come. Utilizing Innovative Technologies to Address the Public Health Impact of Climate Change: Emerging Research and Opportunities presents an ambitious examination on the implementation of technology to mitigate and create resilience against the impacts of climate change. Highlighting a range of topics such as water management, vulnerable populations, and disaster risk analysis, this book is ideally designed for academics, students, researchers, and professionals interested in emerging progress in climate change protection.
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.
Covering the ethical dimensions of international-level adaptation funding, a subject of growing interest in the climate change debate, this book provides a theoretical analysis of the ethical foundations of the UNFCCC regime on adaptation funding, one that culminates in the definition of a framework of justice. The text features an interpretative analysis of the ethical contents of the UNFCCC funding architecture by applying the framework of justice proposed to different areas of empirical investigation. The book offers scholars working on climate change, international relations, and environmental politics an analysis characterized by both theoretical soundness and empirical richness. The comprehensiveness of the book's approach should make it possible to plan and implement international adaptation funding more effectively, and eventually to define more just funding policies and practices.
This book presents the results of studies that determine the most effective ways for human development, ensuring a decent life, and preserving natural resources within the framework of the defined issues. Russia is a participant of the United Nations Global Agreement on implementing sustainable development, adopted in 2015. Russia is a large country, both in terms of population and territory, that can significantly influence the achievement of sustainable development goals. Russia is actively promoting social responsibility practices and sustainable development among scientists, specialists, and students. The presented articles highlight the main problems in ecology, economy, education, and law; and analyses the opportunities and prospects in achieving sustainable development goals in the context of modern conditions.
Ronald M. North President Universities Council on Water Resources People sense intuitively that the world in which we live is not free of risk. Every decision, every action, even the refusal to either act or decide involves some element of risk. Perhaps, because we accept relatively low levels of risk in our daily activi ties, we tend to minimize the existence of risk and thereby fail to include risk assessment in those decisions and actions which could be improved through a risk assessment process. However, our casual approach to risk assessment seems to stem largely from the diffi culties inherent in measuring risk rather than from any lack of cognizance of the existence of risk. This conclusion is evidenced by the many statements in official documents relating to planning and evaluation which suggest that risk assessments should be con ducted but do not provide the mechanism for such assessments nor do they encourage their consideration in the decision making process. This conference on Risk/Benefit Analysis in Water Resources Planning and Management is notable because it attempts to identify and evaluate the mechanisms available for risk assessment which might be useful in water resources planning and management efforts. These proceedings bring together the thoughts of professional per sons who have struggled with the problems of risk assessment and who have contributed to the refinement of both theoretical and pragmatic solutions for the improvement of risk assessment processes."
This volume brings together scholars working in diverse traditions of the humanities in order to offer a comprehensive analysis of the environmental catastrophe as the modern-day apocalypse. Drawing on philosophy, theology, history, literature, art history, psychoanalysis, as well as queer and decolonial theories, the authors included in this book expound the meaning of the climate apocalypse, reveal its presence in our everyday experiences, and examine its impact on our intellectual, imaginative, and moral practices. Importantly, the chapters show that eco-apocalypticism can inform progressively transformative discourses about climate change. In so doing, they demonstrate the fruitfulness of understanding the environmental catastrophe from within an apocalyptic framework, carving a much-needed path between two unsatisfactory approaches to the climate disaster: first, the conservative impulse to preserve the status quo responsible for today's crisis, and second, the reckless acceptance of the destructive effects of climate change. This book will be an invaluable resource for students and scholars interested in the contributions of both apocalypticism and the humanities to contemporary ecological debates.
First book on the market to look at climate change and coaching. International and diverse case studies and coaching examples. Applies theory and concepts to practice. Additional materials available on the editors' website.
This book reviews water treatment technologies for the removal of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs). It provides the reader with an overview of state-of-the-art techniques and recent efforts to develop more sustainable approaches. After nearly two decades of research into the presence and impact of PhACs in the environment, they remain one of the hottest topics in the fields of environmental chemistry, toxicology and engineering. Accordingly, intensive research efforts are currently being devoted to water treatment technologies that can reduce the presence of these emerging contaminants in water bodies. This book examines various types of contaminated water from industry, hospitals and urban wastewater. It provides the reader with a range of potential solutions for water treatment and reuse, and addresses the advancement of analytical tools for evaluating the performance and efficiency of treatment technologies.
Since its first systematic application during the 1970s, bioremediation, or the exploitation of a biological system's degradative potential to combat toxic pollutants such as heavy metals, polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), cyanides, and radioactive material, has proven itself over time, and the many advances in molecular techniques have only amplified its utility. In Bioremediation: Methods and Protocols, experts in the field explore imaginative and ambitious multidisciplinary techniques that will enable more predictable removal of pollutants from a variety of environments. The easy-to-follow volume addresses some of the broader issues such as the effect of the environment in determining the availability and fate of organic and inorganic compounds and how choices around the most appropriate bioremediation process can be arrived at, as well as detailed complementary techniques that support the effective deployment and monitoring of a bioremediation approach. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible protocols, and notes on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and cutting-edge, Bioremediation: Methods and Protocols offers researchers a series of invaluable techniques certain to enhance their work with environmental contamination."
Packaging plays a major role in the environmental footprints of products from any industrial sector, and thus is important to address the sustainability issues of packaging. Packaging and the packaging sector have to be eco-conscious as there are many types of packaging across various industrial sectors and so are their environmental impacts as well. Plastic packaging is one of the most common element and the packaging sector accounts for almost 40% of plastic pollution in the world. Sustainable packaging is the only way forward to alleviate the environmental devastations from the the packaging sector. This book presents case studies and discusses how to make packaging more sustainable for a better future.
Climate Change Adaptation and Human Capabilities explores learning, health, mobility, and play as climate capabilities and produces new insights into the depth of climate change impact on social life.
Notwithstanding past achievements, flood damage continues to rise throughout the world as the magnitudes of floods increase, partly as a result of poor land management and partly by climate change, growing populations and continuing development in flood-prone areas, and the aging and deterioration of flood defences. One of the major goals of water management is the protection of society from floods. That issue is addressed here in terms of such broad issues as flood analysis, flood impact, non-structural and structural flood management measures. Non-structural measures focus on flood plain management, flood insurance, flood forecasting and warning, and emergency measures during floods. Structural measures focus on catchment management, embankments and flood reservoirs. Post-flood measures are also discussed. Future planning of flood management should be based on a clear understanding of the effectiveness interventions and their impacts on river catchment ecosystems.
The book presents discussions of the application of Stan Cohen's theories alongside empirical contributions in the fields of critical and green criminology. Taken together, the authors critically address harms and crimes against the environment, as well as against human and nonhuman victims.
This book focuses on the risks that climate change poses for the health sector. It discusses the current vulnerabilities to climate-sensitive diseases, the resultant mortality and morbidity in human populations, the projected risks in connection with increasing global warming, and the options for tackling the adverse impacts of climate change. Adapting to climate change so as to effectively address the risks for and adverse impacts on the health sector requires an in-depth understanding of current deficits in health sector preparedness for climate-sensitive illnesses, as well as future plans and programs for increasing adaptive capacity and building resilience. The book situates climate and health adaptation concerns in the broader context of developing countries, providing insights that can be useful for other countries as well, helping them further their health adaptation efforts. In India, poverty and inadequate access to basic water, health and sanitation services combine with climate-related events to adversely impact health outcomes. Three case studies on the occurrence of heat stress, flooding, and extreme cyclonic events in India are presented along with a critical assessment of the level of preparedness and capacity of healthcare facilities to respond to the threats posed by climate change. The book presents the key challenges faced in reducing the risks posed to the health sector by climatic factors, and highlights the most important opportunities for promoting resilience and adaptation to achieve sustainable development. Dr. Dasgupta's excellent book reviews the health risks of climate change, outlines an operational framework for health adaptation, and describes the socioeconomic context for adaptation in India. - Kristie L. EbiProfessor, Departments of Global Health, and Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, USA This pioneering work contributes to an the understanding of the preparedness in India to manage health risks from such (climate) change on the basis of detailed data analysis, both from large national surveys and contextualized field based surveys.- Kanchan ChopraFormer Director and Professor, Institute of Economic Growth, New Delhi, India
The quality of the air we breathe is fundamental to the quality of
life for the growing millions of people living in the world's
burgeoning megacities. In this book, experts in atmospheric
sciences, human health, economics, social and political sciences
contribute to an integrated assessment of the complex elements
needed to structure air quality policy in the 21st century. The
analysis is developed through a case study of the Mexico City
Metropolitan Area - one of the world's largest megacities in which
air pollution grew unchecked for decades. The international
research team is led by Luisa T. and Mario J. Molina, Nobel
Laureate in Chemistry. Improvements in Mexico City's air quality in
the last decade testifies to the power of determined and
enlightened policy making, and throws into relief the tough
problems that remain to be solved.
One of the principal concerns in recent years regarding the atmospheric environment has been the formation of ozone and other photo-oxidants over much of Europe in the summer. Ozone is formed in the atmosphere by a complex series of chemical reactions in the presence of sunlight from volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides. As the reactions take place in air flows determined by the detailed meteorological situation, the measurement, interpretation, understanding and modelling of the levels, fluxes and origins of the ozone are extremely difficult. The present volume reviews several of the currently important questions and presents detailed reports from investigators all over the continent. As such, it provides insight into the current scientific views about ozone in Europe. |
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