Emissions of CO2 have come to be regarded as the main factor in climate change in recent years, and how to control them has become a pressing issue. The problem cannot simply be labeled a technological one, however, because it is deeply involved with social and economic issues. Since 2008, the Global Center of Excellence (COE) program titled Energy Science in the Age of Global Warming Toward a CO2 Zero-Emission Energy System has been held at Kyoto University, Japan. The program aims to establish an international education and research platform to foster educators, researchers, and policy makers who can develop technologies and propose policies toward a zero-emission society by the year 2100. Setting out a zero-emission technology roadmap, Global COE promotes socioeconomic studies of energy, the study of new technologies for renewable energies, and research in advanced nuclear energy. A compilation of the lectures and presentations from the first symposium of Global COE held at Kyoto University, this book is intended to provide the impetus for the establishment of low carbon energy science to bring about harmony between mankind and the environment."

This book presents cutting-edge remote sensing research, outlining the advanced use of European Space Agency (ESA) satellite data in the context of climate change. The ESA, through its Support to Science Element (STSE) Programme, funds a network of young post-doc scientists pursuing 2-year cutting-edge research projects in the field of remote sensing. This "Changing Earth Science Network" focuses on the exploitation of Earth Observation (EO) data to address major issues concerning the broader context of climate change in five scientific research domains: the oceans, atmosphere, cryosphere, land and solid earth.

To understand the global warming mechanism, global mapping of primary production was carried out under the GCMAPS program. The program was concerned with marine and terrestrial environmental changes, which affect carbon cycle on the regional and global scales. On the regional scale, warm phase of ENSO (El Nino / Southern Oscillation) has been shown to affect economic activities in many countries. The keyword for understanding mechanism of global warming is primary productivity . The earth observation satellites (EOS) like the ADEOS of Japan, and the SeaWiFS, Sea Star and Terra of the U.S.A. provided much required data for modeling and verification of primary production estimates on both land and ocean.
The knowledge gained during the GCMAPS program has been documented in this book. Interpretation of the data suggests that global warming, which causes temperature and sea level rise, and changes in climate and ecosystems, is likely to have the largest influence on mankind. The first half of this book discuss changes in marine environments. Physical and chemical oceanographic properties of the equatorial Pacific and Indian Oceans are presented. Changes in partial pressure of carbon dioxide, flux and composition of settling particles and biological communities in the surface ocean have also been discussed. In addition to this, over hundred years of environmental records based upon coral skeletons are presented. Estimations of primary production and its utilization in validating satellite imagery data were conducted in the western North Pacific. Primary productivity estimates based upon the validated satellite imagery are presented on the global scale. Climate change modeling of primary production in global oceans is also presented.
The latter half of this book deals with changes in terrestrial environments. Primary productivity estimates for different types of ecosystems (e.g., forest, grassland) are presented together with soil carbon dynamics. Also, biomass and productivity estimation and environmental monitoring based upon remote sensing techniques are presented with a model analysis of the relationship between climate perturbations and carbon budget anomalies in global terrestrial ecosystems. This book elucidates integrated aspects of the global carbon cycle involving marine and terrestrial environments.
* Discusses a current understanding of the biogeochemical processes on land and ocean
* Provides global mapping of primary production based on satellite imagery data and modeling
* Presents the latest interpretations of relationships between carbon cycle and climatic change"

Emission inventory is basic for the understanding of environmental behaviors and potential effects of compounds, however, current inventories are often associated with relatively high uncertainties. One important reason is the lack of emission factors (EFs), especially for the residential solid fuel combustion in developing countries. In the present study, emission factors of a group of pollutants including particulate matter, organic carbon, elemental carbon (sometimes known as black carbon) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were measured for a variety of residential solid fuels including coal, crop straw, wood, and biomass pellets in rural China. The study provided a large number of emission factors that can be further used in emission estimation. Composition profiles and isomer ratios were investigated and compared so as to be used in source apportionment. In addition, the present study identified and quantified the influence of factors like fuel moisture, volatile matter on emission performance. The publication of the study will be of interest and helpful to the readers in the field of air pollution, human health, fuel saving and energy consumption etc. Guofeng Shen works at the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences, Jiangsu Academy of Environmental Sciences, China.

With remarkable vision, Prof. Otto Hutzinger initiated The Handbook of Envir- mental Chemistry in 1980 and became the founding Editor-in-Chief. At that time, environmental chemistry was an emerging ?eld, aiming at a complete description of the Earth's environment, encompassing the physical, chemical, biological, and geological transformations of chemical substances occurring on a local as well as a global scale. Environmental chemistry was intended to provide an account of the impact of man's activities on the natural environment by describing observed changes. While a considerable amount of knowledge has been accumulated over the last three decades, as re?ected in the more than 70 volumes of The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry, there are still many scienti?c and policy challenges ahead due to the complexity and interdisciplinary nature of the ?eld. The series will therefore continue to provide compilations of current knowledge. Contri- tions are written by leading experts with practical experience in their ?elds. The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry grows with the increases in our scienti?c understanding, and provides a valuable source not only for scientists but also for environmental managers and decision-makers. Today, the series covers a broad range of environmental topics from a chemical perspective, including methodol- ical advances in environmental analytical chemistry.

This edited volume gives an insight into climate and energy protection in China and the European Union (EU). By taking a closer look at the EU and China seperately, the book presents the current situation in terms of environmental policy and energy use/ consumption in EU as well as in China. The book broaches the collaboration of the EU and China regarding climate and energy protection. The target audience primarily comprises research experts in the field of climate research as well as public decision makers.

This volume presents a state-of-the-art assessment of the Earth's climate system in Siberia and relationships between climate, ecosystems and people in that region. Changes in climatic variables and land cover in Siberia are among the earliest indicators of the Earth's response to climate warming. The volume is a compilation of results from studies on climate, land-cover and land-use changes and their interactions with biogeochemical and water cycles, atmospheric aerosol, and human and wildlife populations in Siberia. Regional changes in Siberia are predicted to affect climate and people on a global scale. NASA, the Russian Academy of Sciences, and several European institutions have supported these studies. The primary supporter of the projects that produced the results compiled in this volume is the NASA Land-Cover/Land-Use Change Program, hence most studies use remote sensing in their research. The chapters in this volume were written by an international team of scientists from the USA, Europe and Russia under the auspices of the Northern Eurasia Earth Science Partnership Initiative (NEESPI). This book will be of interest to those involved in studying recent and ongoing changes in Siberia, be they senior scientists, early career scientists or students.

The Mediterranean basin represents one of the most important "hot spots" of climate change in the world, with recent trends towards a hotter and drier climate being related to changes in atmospheric circulation patterns. Such changes can have significant impacts in the climate of this region but also on the natural environment and several socioeconomic activities. Among these patterns, the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is one of the main forcing factors in the region with impact on extreme events such as droughts, severe precipitations or heat and cold waves, the availability of water resources, the ecological dynamics, the quality and quantity of crops, the migration and welfare of animal populations, the fisheries dynamics, the triggering of landslides and the air pollution and human health, among others. The aim of Hydrological, Socioeconomic and Ecological Impacts of the North Atlantic Oscillation in the Mediterranean Region, is to serve as an updated reference text that covers the wide range of evidences on the NAO impacts in the Mediterranean regions and from a multidisciplinary perspective. This volume constitutes a unique document to present the state of the art of the numerous studies undertaken on the hydrological, socioeconomic and ecological impact of the NAO, collecting the expertise of researchers from several complementary earth science fields (geography, hydrology, remote-sensing, climatology, agriculture, energy), but that have been lacking a common ground.

A three-tier approach is presented: (i) fundamental dynamical concepts of climate processes, (ii) their mathematical formulation based on balance equations, and (iii) the necessary numerical techniques to solve these equations. This book showcases the global energy balance of the climate system and feedback processes that determine the climate sensitivity, inital-boundary value problems, energy transport in the climate system, large-scale ocean circulation and abrupt climate change.

This unique book examines the problem of global warming from the perspective of Asian Pacific countries. The unprecedented economic and demographic growth over the past two decades has increased the importance of the Asian Pacific region. It has become both a very large source of greenhouse gases as well as an important site to measure climate change impacts. Complex economic tools including computable general equilibrium models, international input-output models and engineering-economic models are used to assess the baseline emission levels and abatement costs for the economies examined. All outcomes suggest that abatement is possible, but will be expensive. The studies also suggest that the more energy efficient the economy, the higher the costs of further abatement. The book reveals how Asian countries in the tropics are more likely to be harmed than those in the temperate zone. Alternative strategies to mitigate carbon emissions such as energy conservation, emission permit trading, carbon tax, and carbon sequestration are examined to tackle the difficult problem of establishing effective policy tools to control warming in the Asian Pacific and the globe. While no single author provides a complete answer to this complex problem, all authors provide vital information and new ideas with which to fashion workable international and regional policies. Global Warming and the Asian Pacific is likely to be read by scholars and researchers of Asian studies, environmental and resource economics, as well as policymakers and those specifically involved in global warming research and policy.

Technological innovation combined with scientific research has always constituted a driving force of transformation in our societies. At the same time, it is no longer simply possible to transfer technologies from the North to the South; it is also essential to consider technical innovations that are adapted to the social, environmental, cultural and economic conditions of receiving countries, and which can be appropriated by their potential users and as such prove to be real technologies for fostering development.

The first International Scientific Conference on the topic organized by the UNESCO Chair Technologies for Development at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne in 2010 focused on its four priority sectors: Technologies for Sustainable Development of Habitat and Cities, ICTs for the Environment, Science and Technology for Disaster Risk Reduction, and Technologies for the Production of Sustainable Energy.

This volume reflects the main outcomes of the conference and provides some significant orientation and success criteria for the effective implementation and use of innovative technologies, their aims, their particular applications in the context of developing countries, their accessibility for users, and their appropriation by producers and stakeholders in the field of development both in the North and South, thus ensuring their sustainability. This kind of scientific cooperation also highlights the added values for northern researchers in sharing their knowledge and know-how, leading to a real win-win partnership.

The authors gathered within this book include representatives from academic and research institutions and other organizations from diverse countries and offer a significant synergy of competences, approaches and disciplines. "

Rising sea levels and altered weather patterns are expected to significantly alter coastal and inland environments for humans, infrastructure and ecosystems. Potential land-use changes and population increases, coupled with uncertain predictions for sea level rise and storm frequency/intensity represent a significant planning challenge. While efforts to mitigate climate change continue, plans must be made to adapt to the risks that climate change poses to humans, infrastructure, and ecosystems alike. This book addresses integrated environmental assessment and management as part of the nexus of climate change adaptation. Risk analysis has emerged as a useful approach to guide assessment, communication and management of security risks. However, with respect to climate change, an integrated, multi-criteria, multi-hazard, risk-informed decision framework is desirable for evaluating adaptation strategies. The papers in Part 1 summarize societal and political needs for climate change adaptation. Part 2 includes papers summarizing the state of the art in climate change adaptation. Three further parts cover: the process of change in coastal regions, in inland regions, and, finally, the potential challenges to homeland security for national governments. Each of these parts reviews achievements, identifies gaps in current knowledge, and suggests research priorities.

This book details the plant-assisted remediation method, "phytoremediation", which involves the interaction of plant roots and associated rhizospheric microorganisms for the remediation of soil contaminated with high levels of metals, pesticides, solvents, radionuclides, explosives, crude oil, organic compounds and various other contaminants. Each chapter highlights and compares the beneficial and economical alternatives of phytoremediation to currently practiced soil removal and burial practices.

The 'Year' That Changed How We View the North This book is about a new theoretical approach that transformed the field of Arctic social studies and about a program called International Polar Year 2007-2008 (IPY) that altered the position of social research within the broader polar science. The concept for IPY was developed in 2003-2005; its vision was for researchers from many nations to work together to gain cro- disciplinary insight into planetary processes, to explore and increase our understanding of the polar regions, the Arctic and Antarctica, and of their roles in the global system. IPY 2007-2008, the fourth program of its kind, followed in the footsteps of its predecessors, the first IPY in 1882-1883, the second IPY in 1932-1933, and the third IPY (later renamed to 'International Geophysical Year' or IGY) in 1957-1958. All earlier IPY/IGY have been primarily geophysical initiatives, with their focus on meteorology, atmospheric and geomagnetic observations, and with additional emphasis on glaciology and sea ice circulation. As such, they excluded socio-economic disciplines and polar indigenous people, often deliberately, except for limited ethnographic and natural history collection work conducted by some expeditions of the first IPY. That once dominant vision biased heavily towards geophysics, oceanography, and ice-sheets, left little if any place for people, that is, the social sciences and the humanities, in what has been commonly viewed as the 'hard-core' polar research.

By the bestselling author of Storyland. Sheer cliffs, salt spray, explosive sea spume, thunderous clouds, icy waves, whales with mountains on their backs, sleet, bitter winds, bleak, impenetrable marshes, howling wolves, forests, the unceasing cries of birds and the death grip of subterranean vaults that have never seen the sun: these are wild landscapes of a world almost familiar. In Wild, Amy Jeffs journeys - on foot and through medieval texts - from landscapes of desolation to hope, offering the reader an insight into a world at once distant and profoundly close to home. The seven chapters, entitled Earth, Ocean, Forest, Beast, Fen, Catastrophe, Paradise, open with fiction and close with reflection. They blend reflections of travels through fen, forest and cave, with retelling of medieval texts that offer rich depictions of the natural world. From the Old English elegies to the englynion and immrama of the Celtic world - stories that largely represent figures whose voices are not generally heard in the corpus of medieval literature: women, outcasts, animals. Illustrated with original wood engravings, evoking an atmospheric world of whales, wolves, caves, cuckoos and reeds, Wild: Tales From Early Medieval Britain will leave readers feeling 'westendream': delight in the wilderness.

Herbicides constitute about 60% of the total pesticides consumed globally. In India, the use of herbicides started initially in tea gardens and picked up in the 1970s, when the high-yielding varieties of rice and wheat were introduced. Presently, 67 herbicides are registered in the country for controlling weeds in crops including cereals, pulses, oilseeds, fibre and tuber crops, and also in the non-crop situations. These chemicals are becoming increasingly popular because of their efficiency and relatively low cost compared with manual or mechanical weeding operations. The contribution of herbicide to total pesticide use, which was only 10-15% during the first decade of the 21st century, has now increased to about 25% with an annual growth rate of 15-20%, which is much higher than insecticides and fungicides. Though the application of herbicides is minimizing yield loss to a great extent, their residues in the food chain and surface and groundwater create some environmental nuisance particularly to non-target organisms. Research on pesticide residues in India was started during 1970s, when such chemicals were introduced on a greater scale along with high-yielding variety seeds, irrigation and chemical fertilizers for increasing food production. However, the herbicide residue research was not given much emphasis until 1990s. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research initiated a national level programme known as All India Coordinated Research Project on Weed Management through the NRC-Weed Science as the main centre along with some centers of ICAR Institutes and state agricultural universities. Over the last two decades, adequate information was generated on estimation, degradation and mitigation of herbicide residues, which were documented in annual reports, bulletins, monographs and scientific articles. However, there was no consolidated compilation of all the available information providing a critical analysis of herbicide residues. Accordingly, an effort has been made in the publication to compile the available information on herbicide residues in India. This is the first report of its kind which presents the findings of herbicide residues and their interactions in the biotic and abiotic environment. There are 16 chapters contributed by the leading herbicide residue scientists, each describing the present status of herbicide use, crops and cropping systems, monitoring, degradation and mitigation, followed by conclusions and future lines of work. This book will be useful to the weed scientists in general and herbicide residue chemists in particular, besides the policy makers, students and all those concerned with the agricultural production in the country.

This book describes the principles of integrated assessment models (IAM) for climate change economics and introduces various computable models for different development mechanisms under climate change governance. The authors present several new models they have constructed based on the RICE framework, specifically the MRICES((multi-factor RICE)) and EMRICES models, which incorporate global economic interactions into the RICE framework, and the CINCIA model, which describes technological advances and industrial structure evolution, introducing the mechanism of evolutionary economics. The models discussed in the book help governments and policy-makers tackle climate change and take positive measures on climate governance as well as promote economic and social development to narrow the gaps between countries.

Nitrous oxide gas is a long-lived relatively active greenhouse gas (GHG) with an atmospheric lifetime of approximately 120 years, and heat trapping effects about 310 times more powerful than carbon dioxide per molecule basis. It contributes about 6% of observed global warming. Nitrous oxide is not only a potent GHG, but it also plays a significant role in the depletion of stratospheric ozone. This book describes the anthropogenic sources of N2O with major emphasis on agricultural activities. It summarizes an overview of global cycling of N and the role of nitrous oxide on global warming and ozone depletion, and then focus on major source, soil borne nitrous oxide emissions. The spatial-temporal variation of soil nitrous oxide fluxes and underlying biogeochemical processes are described, as well as approaches to quantify fluxes of N2O from soils. Mitigation strategies to reduce the emissions, especially from agricultural soils, and fertilizer nitrogen sources are described in detail in the latter part of the book.

Phytoremediation is an emerging technology that employs higher plants for the clean-up of contaminated environments. Basic and applied research have unequivocally demonstrated that selected plant species possess the genetic potential to accumulate, degrade, metabolize and immobilize a wide range of contaminants. The main focus of this volume is on the recent advances of technologies using green plants for remediation of various metals and metalloids. Topics include biomonitoring of heavy metal pollution, amendments of higher uptake of toxic metals, transport of heavy metals in plants, and toxicity mechanisms. Further chapters discuss agro-technological methods for minimizing pollution while improving soil quality, transgenic approaches to heavy metal remediation and present protocols for metal remediation via in vitro root cultures.

This book brings together authors with expertise in a wide range of fields to provide an up to the minute overview of the most important problems relating to mercury in the environment. The book reflects growing concern over the likelihood of harmful effects to human health and sensitive ecosystems posed by mercury in the light of increasing fossil fuel combustion, mercury use in a range of manufactured goods, and the lack of emission control policies. Concern has been expressed at local, national, and international levels; in the last three years both the European Commission and UNEP have published reports on mercury in the environment. Growing concern has led to an increased effort to understand the fate of mercury in the environment, including primary production and trade in mercury, emissions from manufacturing and power generation, natural emissions and re-emission, atmospheric transport and transformation, deposition patterns, uptake by biota, and eventual health impacts on living organisms. The increasing specialisation, and amount of research in the numerous scientific fields associated with the study of the fate of mercury in the environment, make the publication of this book both necessary and timely. For experts, and non-experts, who require both the broader picture, as well as an awareness of the latest progress in the fields relevant to mercury research, this book provides the most comprehensive and up to date overview available. The book has five sections.

"Natural resource Engineering" examines the physics and engineering aspects of soil and water-qulaity preservation. Topics include a quantitative overview of the hydrologic cycle, upland erosion and water quality, stream channel design, hydraulics of common management structures, ponds and embankments, drainage and irrigation, and stream and lake quality issues.

This practical text and reference:
Covers a diverse range of topics in the forefront of natural resources engineering
Stresses fundamentals, building on traditional agricultural engineering soil and water teachings
Contains chapter learning goals to help structure student study
Provides useful Internet addresses for current information and practical tips
Helps students and practicing professionals prepare environmentally friendly solutions for clients engaging in agricultural production and related commercial activities

This book presents a global overview examining monsoon variability in South Asia, Australian, South America and North American, as well as a focus on glaciers and monsoon systems. Monsoon systems are important components of the Earth's climate and play fundamental roles in water and energy balances. The variability and changes in the monsoons affect millions of people and the economies of many countries. This book presents the physical mechanisms involved with monsoon systems, including recent modeling advances addressing climate changes and future projections. The Monsoons and Climate Change will be of interest to both graduate students and researchers.

Most of the world s mountains are rich in water and, as such, play a pivotal role in the global water cycle. They provide water for diverse human uses and ecosystems. Growing water demands as well as climate change will lead to ever-increasing pressure on mountain waters. Overcoming water-use conflicts and maintaining the ecological functioning of mountain waters presents a highly challenging task and is indispensable for sustainable development.
This book extensively portrays the highly diverse attributes of mountain waters and demonstrates their paramount importance for ecological and societal development. The extensive summaries on the scientific basics of mountain waters are supplemented with considerations on the diverse water uses, needs for management actions, and challenges regarding sustainable water management. This overview concerns not only the mountain areas themselves but also downriver reaches and their surrounding lowlands, and, therefore, the relationship between mountain and lowland water issues."