More than 50% of the world's population already live in cities, and the proportion is rising extremely rapidly towards developed country levels of more than 90%. Groundwater from wells is the major source of water supply for many of these cities, however, groundwater is polluted by the cities that overlie it and sewerage systems are often absent, or leak. Industrial landuse implies the use of large quantities of chemicals, and it is the poor disposal and accidental spillage of these chemicals which results in the contamination of virtually every industrial site in the world. Much of this pollution migrates deeper to damage groundwater. Groundwater has slow turnover time, often measured in decades and centuries, reducing the self-cleansing capacity. Urban aquifers are therefore vitally important but very fragile, easily damaged and slow to repair. Urban groundwater problems and solutions vary greatly around the world. Mature cities often have remote and clean water supplies, good sewerage systems, strict controls on groundwater and land use, and declining industries. However, they have a legacy of more than one hundred years of waste disposal and industrially-contaminated land which continues to cause problems. Rapidly urbanising cities are frequently dependent on local groundwater and have poor sanitation and uncontrolled industry. These factors present many immediate risks to human health. This book explains the nature and value of urban groundwater, discussing the types of pollutants that are found, and their sources. The unique aspect of this book is the in-depth discussion of six different urban environments, complete with case studies. These environments are: Mature industrial cities; Arid-zone cities; Weathered crystalline aquifers in sub-Saharan Africa; Cities overlying karst aquifers; Alluvial aquifer systems; Shallow aquifers in Mediterranean climates.

This book describes six months of initial intensive activities within a motivating multidisciplinary project to achieve sustainable social, economic, and environmental revitalization in the historic core of Multan City, Pakistan. The project is managed by Fondazione Politecnico di Milano within the framework of the "Pakistan-Italian Debt for Development Swap Agreement and has five components: a livelihood improvement program, a living conditions improvement program, revitalization of physical assets, establishment of a Pakistan-Italian resource centre in Multan, and an Italian collaboration program for training and capacity building. All aspects are covered in this book, which provides a comprehensive account of progress in this excellent example of cross-cultural cooperation between a Western and an Eastern country in regenerating an historic populated site."

At present, we have been living in an ice age for around 2.5 million years, a geological epoch in which there is ice on Earth and in which the curve of the global mean temperature is subject to significant fluctuations (current trend: temperature increase). At nearly 16 million square kilometers, about ten percent of the land surface is currently covered by glacial ice-and glacial ice plays a major role in shaping landscapes. This compact textbook sharpens the eye for such landscapes. It makes the forms and the shaping processes comprehensible, which the author illustrates with numerous regional examples, especially from Central Europe, such as the North German Plain and the Alpine foothills, but also from Iceland. What traces have the glaciers and their meltwaters left behind? What formation processes can be inferred? How can recent climate history, in particular that of the Ice Age, be reconstructed? It is exciting to look at current developments in glaciated areas and also to take a look at the (climate) future of the Earth. For example, the question arises as to what influence glaciers have on sea level and on future climate change. In this context, natural processes such as the ice age cycles, for which there are various ice age formation hypotheses, and anthropogenic influences in global warming must be weighed against each other. Practice questions help to deepen understanding.

This book evolved from the 5th School of Environmental Research entitled Persistent Pollution Past, Present and Future," which has set a focus on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), heavy metals and aerosols.

-reconstruction of past changes based on the scientific analysis of natural archives such as ice cores and peat deposits,

-evaluation of the present environmental state by the integration of measurements and modelling and the establishment of cause-effect-patterns,

-assessment of possible environmental future scenarios including emission and climate change perspectives.

The UK has declared a 'climate emergency' and pledged to become carbon neutral by 2050. So how do we get there? Drawing on actions, policies and technologies already emerging around the world, Chris Goodall sets out the ways to achieve this. His proposals include: -Building a huge over-capacity of wind and solar energy, storing the excess as hydrogen. -Using hydrogen to fuel our trains, shipping, boilers and heavy industry, while electrifying buses, trucks and cars. -Farming - and eating - differently, encouraging plant-based alternatives to meat -paying farmers to plant and maintain woodlands. -Making fashion sustainable and aviation pay its way, funding synthetic fuels and genuine offsets. -Using technical solutions to capture CO2 from the air, and biochar to lock carbon in the soil. What We Need To Do Now is an urgent, practical and inspiring book that signals a green new deal for Britain.

This book focuses on the toxic legacy of Native North America, which is pervasive but largely invisible to most non-Native peoples. Many toxic sites are located in out-of-the-way rural areas largely forgotten by the majority of America, but which nonetheless have supplied its industries with the rudiments of manufacturing for the better part of a century before being closed and cast aside. Thousands of contaminated sites exist in the United States due to dumped, left out, or otherwise improperly managed hazardous waste. These sites include manufacturing facilities, processing plants, landfills, and mining sites. Based on the 1980 Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) cleans up these so-called Superfund sites, of which roughly 40 percent are located in Native country. The book links present-day Native American cultural and economic revival to a fundamental struggle to restore the health of both Native peoples and their homelands. It links past and present with a sense of Native Americans' perceptions of nature and the sacred land. By doing so, it also provides the majority society with an example to emulate as we emerge, by necessity, from the age of fossil fuels into a sustainable energy paradigm. This makes the book a must-read for students, scholars, and researchers of Native American studies, US politics, environmental studies, public policy, as well as policy-makers interested in a better understanding of the environmental devastation of Native land and its consequences.

Many books have been written about cricket, cricketers, the grounds they play on and the tours that the players and supporters undertake during the winter months. Writers on the English summer game have looked at the game's history and economic development, but one vital ingredient has been ignored: the game's geography, and how it has changed from a rural, meadowland pastime into a multinational sport and multi-million pound business, based largely in urban agglomerations.
This volume fills this void, looking at the fundamental geography of cricket, especially in England where the game is played by county sides. Besides looking at socio-economic influences, the book examines the physical geography of cricket, in particular, its interrelationship with the local environment and microclimate, and looks ahead to the likely impact that global warming and altered weather patterns will have on the county game.

These proceedings contain lectures, research papers and working group reports from the NATO Advanced Study Institute on "Surveillance of environmental pollution and resources by electromagnetic waves," held at Spatind, Norway, April 9-19, 1978. Remote sensing of the environment has developed into a very complex multidisciplinary field. It encompasses a huge range of different instrumental techniques and analytical methods, designed to provide information about a vast number of environmental parameters. Nevertheless, the approach to solve specific problems and the ways of handling the collected information are to a large extent the same or similar. This commonality is the basis for the Advanced Study Institute. To provide the best possible background, both tutoria11y and for a fruitful exchange of research ideas and results, a number of outstanding scientists were invited to review some major fields. The material presented in these proceedings is certainly not complete in the sense that it covers all aspects of the subject. The selection is deliberately due to the program committee and the editor. The program committee would like to express their gratitude to Dr. Ti10 Kester, head of the NATO Advanced Study Institute Program, NATO Scientific Affairs Division, for his support and encouragement during the organization of the Institute. Oslo, June 1978.

Radiation and the effects of radioactivity have been known for more than 100 years. International research spanning this period has yielded a great deal of information about radiation and its biological effects and this activity has resulted in the discovery of many applications in medicine and industry, including cancer therapy, medical diagnostics and quality control during manufacturing.
After Chernobyl, there has been a tendency for the public to regard radiation as harmful, even in situations where the doses are equal to, or below the natural level. Radiation and Health aims to increase awareness by presenting a balanced view of the nature of radiation and its existence in the environment, as well as discussing its effect on plants, animals and humans. It provides a survey of current knowledge from the discovery and basic theory of radiation and radioactivity to more recent developments concerned with the nature of radiation and its effect on the biological system. Numerous examples, exercises and diagrams are included in the book to make is accessible to the non-specialist.

The Handbook of Environmental Health is a must for the reference library of anyone with environmental concerns. Written by experts in the field and co-published by the National Environmental Health Association, this volume continues to be a valuable college textbook and major information resource on environmental issues.

The two-volume Handbook of Environmental Health has been a standard reference for over 23 years. Completely revised and expanded to reflect the latest developments and discoveries in this constantly changing and evolving field, the fourth edition continues to provide a basis for understanding the interactions between humans and the environment and how such interactions affect the health and welfare of individuals. Each volume includes a chapter on instrumentation, state-of-the-art graphics, a brand new comprehensive bibliography, and an index. They are an ideal text/reference for college and university students or professionals in the environmental, health, and occupational safety fields.

Focusing on factors that are generally associated with the outdoor environment, Volume II discusses a variety of environmental issues such as: toxic air pollutants and air quality control, risk assessment, solid and hazardous waste problems and controls; safe drinking water problems and standards; on-site and public sewage problems and control; plumbing hazards; air, water, and solid waste programs; technology transfer; geographic information systems and mapping; bioterrorism and security, disaster emergency health programs, ocean dumping; and much more.

Transnational Environmental Policy analyses a surprising success story in the field of international environmental policy making; the threat to the ozone layer posed by industrial chemicals, and how it has been averted. The book also raises the more general question about the problem-solving capacities of industrialised countries and the world society as a whole. Reiner Grundmann investigates the regulations which have been put in place at an international level, and how the process evolved over twenty years in the US and Germany.


eBook available with sample pages: 0203464737

Air Quality Assessment and Management : A Practical Guide describes the techniques available for an assessment while detailing the concepts and methodologies involved. It reviews the principles of air quality management; primary sources of air pollution; impact of emissions on human health, flora and fauna; scoping of air quality impacts; baseline monitoring; impact prediction; impact significance; and pollution mitigation and control. Emphasis will be placed on the practical side of AQA, with numerous international case studies and exercises to aid the reader in their understanding of concepts and applications.

Since the mid 1990s, legal action to eliminate persistent organic pollutants (POPs) has started resulting in a global Convention on POPs, the Stockholm Convention, and a regional Protocol under the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (UN-ECE LRTAP Convention). POPs are characterized by long half-lives, persistence in the environment, they undergo long-range transport, accumulate in the environment and in biota, and they are toxic. The combination of these characteristics makes them a threat at the global level. This book makes the reader familiar with the goals of these two conventions, lays out characteristics of these compounds, presents results from case studies and addresses inventories, levels in humans and the environment as well as technologies to destroy them.

Air Quality Assessment: A practical guide describes the techniques available for an AQA while detailing the concepts and methodologies involved. It will review the principles of air quality management; primary sources of air pollution; impact of emissions of human health, flora and fauna; scoping of air quality impacts; baseline monitoring; impacts prediction; impact significance; and pollution mitigation and control. Emphasis will be placed on the practical side of AQA, with numerous international case studies and exercises to aid the reader in their understanding of concepts and applications.

A comprehensive, up-to-date review of lichens as biomonitors of air pollution (bioindication, metal and radionuclide accumulation, biomarkers), and as monitors of environmental change (including global climate change and biodiversity loss) in a wide array of terrestrial habitats. Several methods for using lichens as biomonitors are described in a special section of the book.

Research, Action and Policy: Addressing the Gendered Impacts of Climate Change presents the voices of women from every continent, women who face vastly different climate events and challenges. The book heralds a new way of understanding climate change that incorporates gender justice and human rights for all.

This book, along with its companion volume, discusses the research needs, institutional modifications, and legislative changes that must be addressed to deal more effectively with the risks of hazardous materials. Prominent among the research needs is the necessity to assess the health effects of low-level exposure to toxicants. For none of these agents (lead, mercury, radiation, PCDDs, dioxins, PCBs, pesticides) is the existing toxicological data sufficient to define unambiguously the dose-effect relationship in the low-dose domain. Another uncertainty is our ignorance of how individuals within the human population may vary in susceptibility to the agents because of differences in genetic background, age, sex, diet, health status and exposure to extraneous environmental influences. Also identified among the research needs are methods for improving the technology of waste disposal, waste reduction, and waste recycling. Institutional changes necessary are the commitment to long-term, pro-active, prevention-oriented objectives; institutional mechanisms to achieve better consistency and coordination among different agencies; improvement in the reliability, credibility, and effectiveness with which institutions communicate risk-assessments and risk-management policies; and provision for more adequate education and training of all who must be involved. Finally, the need for certain legislative changes is considered, including better use of incentives, such as taxation and price support mechanisms; better use of enforcement provisions; statutes that address cross-media patterns of human exposure; and greater federal-state-local coordination in risk-assessment and risk-management activities.

Recent books have raised the public consciousness about the dangers of global warming and climate change. This book is intended to convey the message that there is a solution. The solution is the rapid development of hydrogen fusion energy. This energy source is inexhaustible and, although achieving fusion energy is difficult, the progress made in the past two decades has been remarkable. The physics issues are now understood well enough that serious engineering can begin.The book starts with a summary of climate change and energy sources, trying to give a concise, clear, impartial picture of the facts, separate from conjecture and sensationalism. Controlled fusion -- the difficult problems and ingenious solutions -- is then explained using many new concepts.The bottom line -- what has yet to be done, how long it will take, and how much it will cost -- may surprise you.
Francis F. Chen's career in plasma has extended over five decades. His textbook "Introduction to Plasma Physics" has been used worldwide continuously since 1974. He is the only physicist who has published significantly in both experiment and theory and on both magnetic fusion and laser fusion. As an outdoorsman and runner, he is deeply concerned about the environment. Currently he enjoys bird photography and is a member of the Audubon Society.

Evidence shows that global climate change is occurring. Research and debate continue on the role of increasing atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases in influencing climate change. Many sectors are or will be influenced by changing climate and climate variability, including increasing global temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, and increased frequency of unusual weather events. Agriculture and the world's supply of food and fiber are particularly vulnerable to such climate change.

Effects of Climate Change and Viarability on the Agricultural Production Systems provides an integrated assessment of global climate change's impact on agriculture at the farm level, in the context of farm level adaptation decisions. Ten agricultural areas in the Upper Midwest region - the heart of the United States' corn belt - were subjected to climate change and changing climate variability scenarios through simulations of future climate using results from general circulation models. Crop growth models, calibrated to the study sites, were used to simulate yields under varying climate conditions. Farm level production and economic analyses were performed to determine what adaptation strategies might be best utilized to maintain production and profitability for producers under conditions of global climate change and changing climate variability. Similar integrated analyses from Australia and Argentina provide comparisons from different regions.

The robust integrated systems methodology for assessing impacts and adaptation opportunities in several different major agricultural regions provides the reader with an example for similar endeavors. Also discussed are guidelines and useful analytical options for input suppliers, agricultural researchers, and agricultural producers to enable risk averting strategies and adaptations as global climate change plays out.

Understanding Active Noise Control Provides a concise introduction to the fundamentals and applications of active control of vibration and sound for the non-expert. It is also a useful quick reference for the specialist engineer. The book emphasises the practical applications of technology, and complex control algorithms and structures are only discussed to the extent that they aid understanding. Extensive recommendations for further reading on the subject are provided, but the text will stand alone for those seeking an overview of the key issues: fundamentals, control systems, transducers, applications and possible future directions.

Greenhouse-induced climate warming increasingly appears to be a reality, and the warming climate will be accompanied by an accelerated sea level rise - as much as 60-100 cm over the next century. What is commonly absent in the discussion of rising sea level, however, is the role played by the subsidence of low-lying coastal areas, which can have a far greater local effect than the eustatic rise of the sea. The combined sea-level rise and land subsidence will almost certainly make the greatest impact on coastal societies in the densely populated regions of southern Asia, but its effects will be felt globally. This volume explores the concepts of sea-level rise and coastal subsidence, both natural and anthropogenically accelerated, in the form of a series of case studies in such diverse locations as Bangkok, Bangladesh, Venice, and the Niger and Mississippi deltas, as well as a discussion of the economic, engineering and policy responses that must be considered if the effects of local sea-level rise are to be mitigated.

The world's environmental future will be determined in significant part by what happens in the rapidly industrializing and urban economies of Asia. The sheer scale of urban population and industrial growth in Asia from Indonesia to China and the energy- and materials-intensive character of the development process, constitutes a dark shadow over the region's, and indeed the world's, environment. And yet this challenge is also an opportunity. Precisely because so much of the urban-industrial investment within developing Asia has yet to take place, the opportunity exists to shape a different development future one that is far less energy-, materials- and waste-intensive. "Asia's Clean Revolution" examines the prospects for and pathways to such a new trajectory. The book lays out a path-breaking vision of how developing economies might go beyond environmental regulation and put in place an array of policies and institutions that could integrate environmental, industrial and technological goals. These findings provide important input for negotiators considering climate change on a global scale. The book approaches the challenge of growth and environment in Asia in a novel way, by identifying six major transformational dynamics under way in the world today, and assessing whether these can be harnessed to the goal of improved environmental performance of industry. With a set of specially commissioned chapters from the leading authorities in North America and Asia, this ground-breaking book is the first to present concrete policy solutions to the looming crisis driven by large-scale urban-industrial growth in developing Asia."

In Arctic Canada, Hudson Bay is a site of great exploration history, aboriginal culture, and a vast marine wilderness supporting large populations of marine mammals and birds. These include some of the most iconic Arctic animals like beluga, narwhal, bowhead whales, and polar bears. Due to the challenges of conducting field research in this region, some of the mysteries of where these animals move, and how they are able to survive in such seemingly inhospitable, ice-choked habitats are just now being unlocked. For example, are polar bears being replaced by killer whales? This new information could not be more salient, as the Hudson Bay Region is undergoing rapid environmental change due to global warming, as well as increased pressures from industrial development interests. A Little Less Arctic brings together some of the world 's leading Arctic scientists to present the current state of knowledge on the physical and biological characteristics of Hudson Bay.