Alm provides a descriptive analysis of the science-policy linkage that defined the policy debate over acid rain in the United States. He focuses on the role that science and scientists played in both defining the acid rain problem as one worthy of policy consideration and in framing the acid rain issue in a way that would prompt action to reduce pollution levels.

A major concern of AlM's study are the problems scientists have in connecting to the policy side of environmental debates. He provides in-depth exchanges from the floor of Congress between scientists and policy makers as they debated the merits of reducing acid rain pollution. These exchanges provide special insight into the difficulty that scientists have in communicating the findings of their research to policy makers and the public. In addition, he uses in-depth interviews with the acid-rain scientists themselves to delineate the way they perceive how science is and ought to be linked to the policy world. Finally, Alm looks at the different perspectives offered by United States scientists versus Canadian scientists and natural scientists versus social scientists, and he examines the importance and implications of these differences to the future of environmental policy making in the United States.

Includes proceedings of a seminar held in Silsoe, UK, 26-28 March 1990.

The global economy is still experiencing the effects of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Over the last three years economies worldwide have slowed and international trade has declined. Most importantly, the crisis has negatively affected the lives of ordinary people, creating a sense of uncertainty about the future and thus posing a direct threat to social cohesion, thus posing new challenges to political leadership. Climate change is also forcing the developed world to formulate a common strategy that will balance growth and environmental protection. The aim of the book is to examine these international trends and comprehend the transformations that take place internationally. The multi-authored work presents several accounts on the course of vital aspects of politics and economy. As a result, the contents of the book focusses on four main subjects: 1) global economic crisis and its consequences, 2) economic governance, 3) political leadership, and 4) climate change.

This book is one of the outputs of the conference on 'Environmental Change, Forced Migration, and Social Vulnerability' (EFMSV) held in Bonn in October 2008. Migration is one of the oldest adaptation measures of humanity. Indeed, without migration the multitude of civilizations and interactions between them - peaceful and otherwise - would be hard to imagine. The United Nations (UN)-led global dialogue on migration is a clear sign that governments and the specialized UN agencies and bodies have recognized the need to view, govern, manage, and facilitate migration; to mitigate its negative effects; and to capitalize on the positive ones. It is a common expectation among experts that environmentally induced migration will further increase in the decades to come. Hence, next to the political, economic, ethnic, social, financial, humanitarian, and security aspects of migration, the environmental component should urgently be considered in the ongoing international dialogue on migration. This need is also a challenge. Without appropriate scientific knowledge, assessment, definitions, and classifications, the intergovernmental frameworks would not be able to deal with these complex phenomena. The Five-Pronged-Approach as formulated by the United Nations University (UNU) may serve as a framework to identify the additional dimensions of this challenge next to - and actually simultaneously with - the scientific one.

This book critically evaluates recently investigated feedstock for biofuels production. Biofuel sector is rapidly evolving to cater the renewable energy demands. Novel and advanced feedstock are being investigated for their techno-economic feasibility. Environmental concerns, food vs fuel debate, energy security, economic feasibility, and availability are the major drivers for exploring different feedstock for biofuel production. This book explores a wide range of potential biofuels feedstock, their functional concepts, recent advancement, novel technique and critical evaluation with other available biofuel feedstock. This book also discusses future prospects of biofuel production. It is a useful read for students, researchers, faculty, industry and policy makers in the biofuel field.

In 2004 an amount of 187 tons of palladium has been sold in world market. The main demands were automotive catalyst (58%), electronics (14%), jewellery (14%) and dental practises (13%). Especially, the increasing use of palladium in catalytic converters is a reason for substantial research in this field. Emission, environmental distribution and possible health effects of pla- num have been summarized detailed in two recent books "Emissionen von Platinmetallen: Analytik, Umwelt- und Gesundheitsrelevanz" and "Anth- pogenic Platinum Group Emissions - Their Impact on Man and Envir- ment" published by Springer in 1999 and 2000 (Zereini & Alt (Eds)). But there is a clear lack of information concerning palladium. It is very imp- tant to condense the present state of research findings from emission to potential health risks for the environment and humans. Very important is the chapter about analytical determination of pal- dium, which shows clearly the problems of several analytical techniques. Some data published during the last decade have to be re-evaluated because of insufficient analytical techniques. Also the finding that palladium c- pounds are relatively soluble and mobile in environmental settings is a great issue for further investigations. I think it is the right time for such a comprehensive book about palladium research and I am sure that readers with different scientific background like chemists, biologists, geologists medical doctors e.g. will benefit very much from reading this book.

In order to assess the environmental exposure from chemicals in various media, you must know the rate at which a chemical will degrade. Handbook of Environmental Degradation Rates saves you the time and money collecting and evaluating this important information. The Handbook provides rate constant and half-life ranges for various processes and combines them into ranges for different media (air, groundwater, surface water, soils), which can be directly entered into various models.
Some of the processes the Handbook includes are aerobic and anaerobic biodegradation, direct photolysis, hydrolysis, and reaction with various oxidants or free radicals (e.g., hydroxyl radical and ozone in the atmosphere). Experimental data are used and cited when available, and validated estimation methods are used when no experimental data are available. Researched and organized by leading experts, Handbook of Environmental Degradation Rates is easy-to-use and is well indexed by chemical name and CAS Number.

It is widely acknowledged that, in addition to global and regional efforts to cope with climate change by means of mitigation measures, adaptation initiatives can and perhaps should play a key role in enabling communities from across Africa to better handle the problems related to it. Due to the fact that experiences in climate change adaptation in Africa are poorly documented, this book provides an attempt to address the perceived need for better documentation and dissemination of African experiences on climate change adaptation.

Greenhouse gas (GHG) offsets have long been promoted as an important element of a comprehensive climate policy approach. Offset programs can reduce the overall cost of achieving a given emission goal by enabling emission reductions to occur where costs are lower. Offsets have the potential to deliver sustainability co-benefits, through technology development and transfer. They can also develop human and institutional capacity for reducing emissions in sectors and locations not included in a cap and trade or a mandatory government policy. However, offsets can pose a risk to the environmental integrity of climate actions, especially if issues surrounding additionality, permanence, leakage, quantification and verification are not adequately addressed. The challenge is to design offset programs and policies that can maximize their potential benefits while minimizing their potential risks. This handbook provides a systematic and comprehensive review of existing offset programs. It looks at what offsets are, how offset mechanisms function, and the successes and pitfalls they have encountered. Coverage includes offset programs across the full swath of applications including mandatory and voluntary systems, government regulated and private markets, carbon offset funds, and accounting and reporting protocols such as the WBCSD/WRI GHG Protocol and ISO 14064. Learning from the successes and failures of these programs will be essential to crafting effective climate policy. This is an essential reference for all regulators, policy makers, business leaders and NGOs concerned with the design and operation of GHG offset programs world-wide. Published with SEI

For chemists and engineers in ecology, food science, pollution control, and related fields. Details the procedures available for monitoring and controlling carbon, sulfur, and nitrogen pollutants in such industries as waste water treatment, energy, transportation, pharmaceuticals, and mining. Outlin

Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology attempts to provide concise, critical reviews of timely advances, philosophy, and significant areas of accomplished or needed endeavor in the total field of xenobiotics in any segment of the environment, as well as toxicological implications.

Japan s asbestos disasters, encompassing both occupational disease and environmental pollution, have been caused principally by the asbestos textile, asbestos cement water pipe, and construction industries. This book is unique in its interdisciplinary approach to those disasters as it incorporates medical science, economics, political science, law, architecture, environmental engineering, sociology, and journalism. Written by authorities in their fields, the chapters reflect the integration of these disciplines in topics that include a historical review of asbestos issues in Japan, asbestos-related diseases, international aspects of the asbestos industry, public policy, divisions of responsibility, relief activities in emergencies, and countermeasures enacted by local governments. The lessons of asbestos problems and policies in Japan are particularly important for developing countries to prevent the proliferation of asbestos disasters. This volume serves as a textbook on asbestos issues for all countries, especially where there is widespread use of asbestos.

Emerging contaminants (ECs) are predominantly unregulated anthropogenic chemicals that occur in air, soil, water, food, and plant/animal tissues in trace concentrations. ECs are persistent in the environment, capable of perturbing the physiology of target receptors and, therefore, are increasingly regarded as a subject of concern. This volume aims to enhance understanding of emerging contaminants' effects on plants and the environment and to highlight and address the need of sustainable and eco-friendly approaches in mitigating and remediating the effects of ECs. The book comprises chapters from diverse areas dealing with biotechnology, microbial technology, nanotechnology, molecular biology, remediation, and more. This volume will be useful to remediation practitioners, researchers, regulators and graduate students.

This book is a brief history of the end of the world as seen through the eyes of theatre. Since its inception, theatre has staged the fall of empires, floods, doomsdays, shipwrecks, earthquakes, plagues, environmental degradations, warfare, nuclear annihilation, and the catastrophic effects of climate change. Using a wide range of plays alongside contemporary thinkers, this study helps guide and galvanize the reader in grappling with the climate crisis. Kulick divides this litany of theatrical cataclysms into four distinct historical phases: the Ancients, including Euripides and Bhasa, the legendary Sanskrit dramatist; the Age of Belief, with the anonymous authors of the medieval mystery cycles, Shakespeare, and Pushkin; the Moderns, with Ibsen, Chekhov, Brecht, Beckett, and Bond; and, finally, the way the world might end now, encompassing Caryl Churchill, Tony Kushner, and Anne Washburn. In tandem with the insights gleaned from these playwrights, the book draws upon the work of contemporary scientists, ecologists, and ethicists to further tease out the philosophical implications of such plays and their relevance to our own troubled times. In the end, Kulick shows how each of these ages and their respective authors have something essential to say, not only about humanity's potential end, but, more importantly, about the possibility for our collective continuance.

This book comprehensively reviews the key topics in microbial fuel cells (MFC) and its applications in areas related to energy and environmental mitigation. It covers the microbial electrochemistry and the generation of electricity from waste, various synthesis and characterization approaches of polymer-based MFC electrodes, the multifunctional properties of a MFC which allows its simultaneous use as a fuel cell, bioremediation and biosensor device. It provides new direction to the readers to better understand the chemistry in MFC and methods to improve their desired properties. This book is a very valuable reference source for graduates and postgraduates, engineers and research scholars in the areas related to fuel cells electrochemistry and pollution mitigation.

In these pages is all the information that you-manager, engineer, or other technical professional-would need to select, size, and estimate "budget/study" level capital and annual costs for a variety of air pollution control equipment. This equipment includes wet scrubbers, carbon adsorbers, and other "add-on" devices. This book also deals with such nonstack controls as wet dust suppression systems and flue gas desulfurization systems. The costs are current (1988 or 1989 dollars) and are mainly presented in equational form for ease of computerization and updating. Clear, comprehensive equipment sizing procedures are also detailed. Finally, several detailed example problems are included to illustrate the sizing and costing procedures. This book is not just for technical personnel, however. The material is easy to grasp and use. Anyone with an air pollution control background can follow and apply the procedures and data herein. Using this book, air pollution control professionals can now develop sound, defensible (within +/-30%) cost estimates with a minimum of time and effort.

Did you know the link between carbon dioxide and global warming was first suggested in the 1850s? Climate change books are usually about the future, but Our Biggest Experiment turns instead asks how did we get into this mess, and how and when did we work out it was happening? Join Alice Bell on a rip-roaring ride through the characters, ideas, technologies and experiments that shaped the climate crisis we now find ourselves in. From an emerging idea of 'greenhouse gases' in the 19th century and, via scientific expeditions across oceans and ice caps and into space, the coining of the term 'global warming' in the 1970s, Bell explores how we began to realise that not only could human pollution dangerously warm the climate, but that it was already doing so. Drop by the first climate talks, weather forecasts and early experiments. Watch excitement over solar and wind power start in the 1870s, only to be forgotten before being rediscovered a century later. See the monster of big oil slain by a plucky investigative journalist back in the 1910s, only tore-emerge more powerful than ever. However, this isn't a simple story with exploitative fossil-fuel baddies on one side and the goodies of renewable energy, environmentalism and climate science on the other. It's more complex than that. As citizens of the 21st century, we've been left an almighty mess, but as this ultimately hopeful book argues, we've also inherited the tools for our survival.

This book provides insights into microfiber pollution in textile industries that would help researchers and professionals to work from the textile point of view to mitigate the problem, and create a green sustainable future. Microplastic pollution has received great importance due to its adverse environmental and health impact. Microplastic particles are found to contaminate the ecosystem. Research has reported microplastics on seashores, in deep seas, freshwater systems including rivers and lakes, and most importantly in the air. Various land-based and water-based organisms are also contaminated with microplastics. The most serious issue is when these particles are found in the food chain and air which can reach the human system. It has been estimated that human beings can intake up to 1,21,000 microplastic particles in a year through food and inhalation. Being one of the most polluting industries, the contribution of Textile industries in microplastic pollution is extremely higher (around 35%). This book addresses the issue of microfiber/microplastic pollution cause by various techniques including home laundry and the ways to alleviate it.

This book honors Professor. John O'M. Bockris, presenting authoritative reviews on some of the subjects to which he made significant contributions - i.e., electrocatalysis, fuel cells, electrochemical theory, electrochemistry of single crystals, in situ techniques, rechargeable batteries, passivity, and solar-fuels - and revealing the roles of electrochemical science and technology in achieving a sustainable society. Electrochemistry has long been an object of study and is now growing in importance, not only because of its fundamental scientific interest but also because of the central role it is expected to play in a future sustainable society. Professor John O'M. Bockris contributed greatly to various aspects of fundamental and applied electrochemistry - such as the structure of the double layer, kinetics and mechanism of the electrochemistry of hydrogen and oxygen, electrocatalysis, adsorption and electrochemical oxidation of small organic molecules, fuel cells, electrocrystallization, theoretical electrochemistry, new methods, photoelectrochemistry, bioelectrochemistry, corrosion and passivity, hydrogen in metals, ionic solutions and ionic liquids, and molten silicates and glasses, as well as socio-economic issues such as the hydrogen economy - for over half a century from 1945 until his retirement in 1997.

This book focuses on the transition towards net-zero carbon built environments to deliver on the climate emergency. It provides an evidence-based roadmap and proposes guidelines to achieving targets covering emerging technologies, materials, innovative design, regulations and policies.

This new book evaluates the risks and benefits of the widely used types of drinking water treatment technologies, based on assessment and comparison of chemicals used in treatment, by-products of chemicals, and non-treatment. This valuable material was prepared by independent experts in drinking water treatment technology and toxicology, in conjunction with EPA.

What happens when vast population growth endangers the world's food supplies? Or our water? Our energy needs, climate, or environment? Or the planet's biodiversity? What happens if these all become critical at once? Just what is our future? In End Game, world-renowned scientists Anthony Barnosky and Elizabeth Hadly explain the growing threats to humanity as the planet edges towards a resource war for remaining space, food, oil and water. And as they show, these wars are not the nightmares of a dystopian future but are already happening today. They explore the origins of Ebola in densely populated areas of south-eastern Guinea, witness raging fires in Yellowstone and Colorado and explain how drought-induced food shortages are already causing problems in the Sudan, Gaza Strip and Iraq. Finally, they ask: at what point will inaction become the break-up of the intricate workings of the global society? The planet is in danger now, but the solutions, as Barnosky and Hadly show, are still available. We still have the chance to avoid the tipping point and to make the future better. But this window of opportunity is closing fast and will shut within ten-to-twenty years. End Game is the call we need.

This book considers climate change from an economic and international policy perspective. It argues that an emissions trading systems (ETS) should first be adopted in all G20 countries with those national ETS then integrated into a global ETS. The topic of global warming is at the forefront of international discussions, especially given recent environmental policy changes in the US under Presidents Trump and Biden and the emergence of the Fridays For Future movement. Combatting climate change does not necessitate a trade-off between economic growth and climate policy provided that the latter is consistently linked to new economic policy. Policymakers should support innovation, effective redistribution policies and modern mobility concepts. Moreover, there are crucial links between financial market dynamics and price dynamics in ETS. If measures discussed here are coordinated effectively in the EU/G20, and at the global level, then climate neutrality could be achieved.

In fact, with the control and containment of most infectious conditions and diseases of the past millennium having been achieved in most developed countries, and with the resultant increase in life expectancies, much more attention seems to have shifted to degenerative health problems. Many of the degenerative health conditions have been linked to thousands of chemicals regularly encountered in human living and occupational/work environments. It is important, therefore, that human health risk assessments are undertaken on a consistent basis - in order to determine the potential impacts of the target chemicals on public health.

Heavy-metal contamination is one of the world's major environmental problems, posing significant risks to agro-ecosystems. However, conventional technologies for metal-contaminated soil remediation have often been expensive and disruptive. This book provides comprehensive, state-of-the-art coverage of the natural, sustainable alternatives that use a wide range of biological materials in the removal/detoxification of heavy metals, consequently leading to the improvement of crops in these soils. Novel, environmentally friendly and inexpensive solutions are presented based on a sound understanding of metal contamination and the roles of plants and microbes in the management of these toxic soils. Written by more than forty worldwide experts drawing on their wealth of experience in this field, the book provides not only the necessary scientific background but also addresses the challenging questions that require special attention in order to better understand metal toxicity in soils and its management through bioremediation. This book will be of interest to a wide range of students/researchers/practitioners specializing in the areas of environmental microbiology, soil pollution, sustainable development, crop science, soil biology, and related disciplines. It will be especially useful to anyone engaged in identifying metal-contamination problems and trying to solve them through the application of natural and inexpensive biological materials.