|
Showing 1 - 25 of
45 matches in All Departments
This book focuses on interdisciplinary issues of human health in
the changing urban environments of India's largest megacities-Delhi
and Mumbai. The authors explore human health concerns related to
increased temperatures and air pollution in these cities in a study
based on primary data collected through interviews, as well as
secondary data on causes of mortality from 2001 to 2012. During
this period, the surface temperatures for both megacities were
mapped using Landsat Images. The rapidly increasing populations of
cities and urban centers alter ecosystem services such as water,
air and land cover, with disastrous impacts on health and
wellbeing, particularly in megacities. In 2015, polluted air was
estimated to have been responsible for 6.4 million deaths
worldwide, and it is projected that it will cause between 6 and 9
million deaths per year by 2060. In 2017, outdoor air pollution
resulted in 1.2 million deaths in India and brought about a 3% loss
in GDP. The increase in population, vehicles, and industries has
led to changes in land use and land cover and a rise in city
temperatures and air pollution, creating urban heat islands (UHIs).
Together, UHIs and air pollution have damaging impacts on human
health that range from stress and headache to asthma, bronchitis,
and chronic diseases, and even to death. Delhi has been
experiencing emergency conditions in terms of environmental health
over the past two years. At the same time, both the Delhi and
Mumbai urban agglomerations are growing at a rapid pace, and the
United Nations has projected that they will be the second and third
most populous cities in the world by 2025. In this context, the
book offers significant insights into the past patterns and
responses to the present global urban health emergencies, and
explores sustainable means of combating the problem to enable
college and university researchers to develop innovative solutions.
Further. It presents trans-disciplinary research that cuts across
the WHO Action Plan, the Sustainable Development Goals, the Sendai
Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, and Habitat III to help
policymakers gain a better understanding of the global challenges
of urban health and wellbeing. The book is especially useful for
students and researchers in geography, urban demography, urban
studies, environmental studies, health sciences, and policy
studies.
Many students at undergraduate level struggle with the basic
concepts of thermodynamics and statistical physics such as entropy,
phase space, y-space, micro-canonical, canonical and grand
canonical ensembles, statistical weight (thermodynamic
probability), accessible states, density of states, partition
function. In this book the author has made every effort to explain
these basic concepts and notions in the simplest possible way,
keeping in mind the limitations and difficulties of an average
student. The book begins with the kinetic theory of gases and
transport phenomena and gives the students a thorough grounding in
the fundamental aspects of the topics such as Maxwell's law of
distribution of molecular speeds, mean free path, viscosity,
thermal conduction and diffusion. Next, the topics on equation of
state and critical constant are discussed. The chapters from 4 - 9
are devoted to the development of thermodynamic concepts and the
application of the laws of thermodynamics to the thermodynamic
processes. A sufficient number of solved examples enable the
students to test their conceptual understanding and analytical
skills. A comprehensive discussion of on the failure of classical
theory of radiation and the emergence of quantum concepts viz. the
particle nature of radiation is presented in the chapters on
radiations. Part II of the book presents a lucid and systematic
exposition of the fundamental principles of the most fascinating,
exciting, stimulating and challenging subject - statistical
physics. The understanding of statistical physics requires
knowledge of quantum mechanics at introductory level and a little
bit of mathematics of undergraduate level. Though this book
provides a self-contained study material, the knowledge of more
advanced mathematical tools will make the learning process of
statistical physics easier.
This book discusses various issues relating to water resources,
climate change and sustainable development. Water is the main
driving force behind three major pillars of sustainable
development: environmental, social and economic. As stated in the
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, development of these
pillars rests on the availability and management of resources to
fulfill the demand for water. By identifying the various challenges
in the context of water resources and climate change, the book
offers insights into achieving a better and more sustainable
future. It provides a unique forum for practitioners and academics
to exchange ideas on emerging issues, approaches, and practices in
the area of water resources, climate change, and sustainability,
while also presenting valuable information for policymakers on the
changing contours of water management and climate change
mitigation. As such it is a useful resource for decision-makers at
the local as well as the global level.
The over-exploitation of important earth resources such as land
and water has led to a number of environment-related problems the
world over. At the same time, land-use change caused by various
human activities has led to extinction of many plant and animal
habitats and species. In this context, the relevance of
biodiversity for human survival is becoming a major international
political issue as scientific evidence builds on the global health
implications of biodiversity loss. These issues are closely linked
with the issue of climate change, as many of the health risks due
to climate change are associated with rapid degradation of
biodiversity. This present work focuses on holistic natural
resource-based spatio-temporal planning, development and management
and considers them as essential to save the degraded ecosystem for
sustainable resource management. Contributions are compiled in two
volumes: 1. Climate Change and Biodiversity and 2. Landscape
Ecology and Water Management. Geoinformatics along with its tools
such as remote sensing and Geographical Information Systems (GIS)
have been used in assessing the results of various environmental
problems both physical and social. These volumes will be useful for
geographers, geoscientists, hydrologists, landscape ecologists,
environmentalists, engineers, planners and policy makers.
This book identifies and analyzes livelihood impacts of recent
environmental and socio-economic changes in urban and rural
settings of the mountainous state of Himachal Pradesh, north
western Himalaya, India. The findings of the research deal with the
broader objectives of the changing patterns of agricultural
production with special reference to diversification, as well as
forest-based livelihood outcomes, Clean Development Mechanism
forest project activities, the roles of different ethnic groups and
non-governmental organizations and the benefits and shortcomings of
tourism as a livelihood source. These tasks are studied by using an
exploratory approach, with participant observation, interviews
through random and cluster sampling among villagers, local land
users and officials, as well as with land cover interpretation and
secondary statistical data. This book is relevant for educational
use together with policy input on the issues exploring livelihood
security in a rapidly growing developing country.
This book brings together the emerging trends and techniques
incorporated in regional science during the first two decades of
this millennium. The book includes systematic and analytical notes
making scientific commentary on the innovative methods of regional
development, measurement of the development, regional development
models, and policy measures that have significant implications and
wide applicability instrumental for India as well as the other
global south countries. There is clear evidence in the global south
of the uneven spatial distribution of resources, economic
activities, literacy, and health conditions. The most striking fact
is the coexistence of development and underdevelopment that makes
the planning process complicated. This can hardly be explored
without taking a deep insight into the matter of how the regional
parameters are impacting regional society or economy to shape the
development of that region. There can be no effective global policy
framework that will be effective equally for each and every region
to mitigate local issues of society or economy. It is here that the
book integrates the efforts of practitioners working towards
addressing these regional issues and striving for sustainable
regional development through their innovative ideas. Through its
contributions, the book addresses development issues, regional
impact of climate change, social justice, migration, well-being,
livelihood vulnerabilities, and regional urban-environmental issues
from the standpoint of regional science. It is a significant
resource for researchers of spatial science, and policy makers.
In this book, an interdisciplinary research group of faculty
members, researchers, professionals, and planners contributed to an
understanding of the dynamics and dimensions of emerging challenges
and risks in megacities in the rapidly changing urban environments
in Asia and examined emerging resilience themes from the point of
view of sustainability and public policy. The world's urban
population in 2009 was approximately 3.4 billion and Asia's urban
population was about 1.72 billion. Between 2010 and 2020, 411
million people will be added to Asian cities (60 % of the growth in
the world's urban population). By 2020, of the world's urban
population of 4.2 billion, approximately 2.2 billion will be in
Asia. China and India will contribute 31.3 % of the total world
urban population by 2025. Developing Asia's projected global share
of CO2 emissions for energy consumption will increase from 30 % in
2006 to 43 % by 2030. City regions serve as magnets for people,
enterprise, and culture, but with urbanisation , the worst form of
visible poverty becomes prominent. The Asian region, with a slum
population of an estimated 505.5 million people, remains host to
over half of the world's slum population . The book provides
information on a comprehensive range of environmental threats faced
by the inhabitants of megacities. It also offers a wide and
multidisciplinary group of case studies from rapidly growing
megacities (with populations of more than 5 million) from developed
and developing countries of Asia.
Nanomaterials in Bionanotechnology: Fundamentals and Applications
offers a comprehensive treatment of nanomaterials in biotechnology
from fundamentals to applications, along with their prospects. This
book explains the basics of nanomaterial properties, synthesis,
biological synthesis, and chemistry and demonstrates how to use
nanomaterials to overcome problems in agricultural, environmental,
and biomedical applications. Features Covers nanomaterials for
environmental analysis and monitoring for heavy metals, chemical
toxins, and water pollutant detection Describes nanomaterials-based
biosensors and instrumentation and use in disease diagnosis and
therapeutics Discusses nanomaterials for food processing and
packaging and agricultural waste management Identifies challenges
in nanomaterials-based technology and how to solve them This work
serves as a reference for industry professionals, advanced
students, and researchers working in the discipline of
bionanotechnology.
This book consists of 26 contributions presented at the
International Geographical Union Study Group meeting, to understand
the limitations and opportunities provided by natural and human
environments of different marginal regions and the potential
strategies for successful spatial planning.
The over-exploitation of important earth resources such as land
and water has led to a number of environment-related problems the
world over. At the same time, land-use change caused by various
human activities has led to extinction of many plant and animal
habitats and species. In this context, the relevance of
biodiversity for human survival is becoming a major international
political issue as scientific evidence builds on the global health
implications of biodiversity loss. These issues are closely linked
with the issue of climate change, as many of the health risks due
to climate change are associated with rapid degradation of
biodiversity. This present work focuses on holistic natural
resource-based spatio-temporal planning, development, and
management and considers them as essential to save the degraded
ecosystem for sustainable resource management. Contributions are
compiled in two volumes: 1. Climate Change and Biodiversity and 2.
Landscape Ecology and Water Management. Geoinformatics along with
its tools such as remote sensing and geographical information
systems (GIS) have been used in assessing the results of various
environmental problems both physical and social. The volume will be
useful for geographers, geoscientists, hydrologists, landscape
ecologists, environmentalists, engineers, planners and policy
makers.
Geosphere-biosphere interaction of certain elements and compounds
is a major factor in global environmental change. This guide to the
role of geographical monitoring in ecosystem modelling contains
papers presented at the International Geographical Union Seminar on
monitoring geosystems.
Next-Generation Antimicrobial Nanocoatings for Medical Devices and
Implants provides a detailed, up-to-date overview of nano-based
antimicrobial coatings used to combat medical device-related
biofilms. An introduction to biofilms and how they infect medical
devices is included, as well as strategies/modification techniques
used to target these biofilms. This book evaluates the various
antimicrobial coatings formed using nanomaterials such as silver,
inorganic materials, organic materials, carbon dots, surfactants,
and electrospun fibers, specifically for us on medical devices and
implants. Numerous coating methods are discussed along with the
biological characterizations of these coating materials, and their
toxicological and environmental impact.Next-generation
Antimicrobial Nanocoatings for Medical Devices and Implants is a
useful reference for materials scientists, biomedical engineers,
and those working on the development of novel biomaterials for use
in medical devices and implants.
This book brings together the emerging trends and techniques
incorporated in regional science during the first two decades of
this millennium. The book includes systematic and analytical notes
making scientific commentary on the innovative methods of regional
development, measurement of the development, regional development
models, and policy measures that have significant implications and
wide applicability instrumental for India as well as the other
global south countries. There is clear evidence in the global south
of the uneven spatial distribution of resources, economic
activities, literacy, and health conditions. The most striking fact
is the coexistence of development and underdevelopment that makes
the planning process complicated. This can hardly be explored
without taking a deep insight into the matter of how the regional
parameters are impacting regional society or economy to shape the
development of that region. There can be no effective global policy
framework that will be effective equally for each and every region
to mitigate local issues of society or economy. It is here that the
book integrates the efforts of practitioners working towards
addressing these regional issues and striving for sustainable
regional development through their innovative ideas. Through its
contributions, the book addresses development issues, regional
impact of climate change, social justice, migration, well-being,
livelihood vulnerabilities, and regional urban-environmental issues
from the standpoint of regional science. It is a significant
resource for researchers of spatial science, and policy makers.
We are witnessing an unprecedented global outbreak of COVID-19,
which has been devastating in its consequences. Beyond the acute
health hazard, the pandemic has carried with it other threats for
mankind associated with the human economy, society, culture,
psychology and politics. Amidst these multifarious dimensions of
the pandemic, it is high time for global solidarity to save
humankind.Human society, its ambient environment, the process of
socio-economic development, and politics and power - all are
drivers to establish the world order. All these parameters are
intimately and integrally related. The interconnections of these
three driving forces have a significant bearing on life, space and
time. In parallel, the interrelationship between all these drivers
is dynamic, and they are changed drastically with time and space.
The statistics serve to align the thought, based on which social
scientists need to understand the prevailing equation to project
the unforeseen future. The trajectory of the future world helps in
planning and policymaking with a scientific direction.The
practitioners of all academic disciplines under the umbrella of the
social sciences need a common platform to exchange ideas that may
be effective in the sustainable management of the crisis and the
way forward after it is mitigated. This book provides
multidisciplinary contributions for expressing the solidarity of
academic knowledge to fight against this global challenge. It is
crucial that there should be an on-going discussion and exchange of
ideas, not only from the perspective of the current times but
keeping in view the preparedness for unforeseen post-COVID crises
as well.
This book explores the geographical, geomorphological, ecological,
touristic and socioeconomic aspects of natural heritage, argues for
the dynamic conservation of that heritage and explains its key
characteristics, promotion, conservation and management to achieve
sustainable development goals. Emerging concepts such as
geodiversity, geographical heritage sites, geomonuments, geoparks
and geotourism are increasingly being used by conservationists. At
present, the development of geoparks is a major global theme
involving the application of geosciences to promote the inclusive
growth of society and the protection and conservation of our unique
geoheritage. Currently, there are 147 UNESCO global geoparks across
41 countries, in addition to a number of national-level geoparks.
Pursuing a holistic approach towards such sites will sensitise the
general public to the need for geoconservation of significant
geosites and promote it through geotourism. It is a crucial issue,
as various countries around the world are eager to develop their
geoparks and are working for the conservation of geoheritage sites
at the national level. This unique book gathers contributions from
15 countries in the form of case studies analysing the realities on
of geographical heritage, geoparks and geotourism. The respective
chapters address the role of geoparks as essential tools for
education, recreation and nature conservation. Given its scope, the
book offers a valuable guide for geoscientists, planners,
policymakers, civil society and anyone concerned about the
conservation of geoheritage sites and geoparks for a sustainable
future Earth.
This book focuses on understanding urban vulnerability and risk
mitigation, advancing good health and wellbeing, and analysing
resilience measures for various Asian cities. Today, cities are the
dominant human habitat, where a large number of environmental,
social, cultural and economic factors have impacts on human health
and wellbeing. Cities consist of complex, dynamic,
socio-ecological, and technological systems that serve multiple
functions in human health and wellbeing. Currently half of Asia's
population is urban, and that figure is expected to rise to 66
percent by 2050. Since urban areas are often most vulnerable to
hazards, the people living in them need good health infrastructure
facilities and technological support at various scales. As such,
the need of the hour is to enhance the adaptive capacity,
strengthen resilience, reduce vulnerability, and take risk
mitigation measures in urban areas, which requires a systematic
approach based on science-policy interface that is transformative,
trans-disciplinary and integrative for a sustainable urban future.
Global sustainable development goals are closely tied to urban
human health and wellbeing: (1) the third of the United Nations'
Sustainable Development Goals is to "Ensure healthy lives and
promote wellbeing for all at all ages" and (2) the eleventh is to
"Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable". By
addressing these goals, this book offers a highly useful resource
for anyone concerned with healthy and resilient cities in Asia,
today and tomorrow.
This book provides an overview of the ecological indicators of
landscape dynamics in the context of geographical landscape
integration. Landscape dynamics depicts every change that occurs in
the physical, biological, and cognitive assets of a landscape. To
understand and interpret the complex physical, biological, and
cognitive phenomena of landscapes, it is necessary to operate
conceptually and practically on a broad range of spatial and
temporal scales. Rapid land use changes have become a concern to
environmentalists and planners because of their impacts on the
natural ecosystem, which further determines socioeconomic dynamics.
In this regard, the book discusses case studies that share new
insights into how landscape patterns and processes impact small
creatures, and how small creatures in turn influence landscape
structure and composition. In turn, the relevant aspects of land
use and land cover dynamics are covered, and the multi-faceted
relationship between the substrata and ecological community is
highlighted. The book is unique in its focus on the application of
spatial informatics such as automatic building extraction from
high-resolution imagery; a soil resource inventory for meeting the
challenges of land degradation; hydrological modeling; the temporal
variation analysis of glacier area and the identification and
mapping of glacial lakes; morphometric analysis of river basins;
and the monitoring and modeling of urban sprawl, among other
features.
This book focuses on interdisciplinary issues of human health in
the changing urban environments of India's largest megacities-Delhi
and Mumbai. The authors explore human health concerns related to
increased temperatures and air pollution in these cities in a study
based on primary data collected through interviews, as well as
secondary data on causes of mortality from 2001 to 2012. During
this period, the surface temperatures for both megacities were
mapped using Landsat Images. The rapidly increasing populations of
cities and urban centers alter ecosystem services such as water,
air and land cover, with disastrous impacts on health and
wellbeing, particularly in megacities. In 2015, polluted air was
estimated to have been responsible for 6.4 million deaths
worldwide, and it is projected that it will cause between 6 and 9
million deaths per year by 2060. In 2017, outdoor air pollution
resulted in 1.2 million deaths in India and brought about a 3% loss
in GDP. The increase in population, vehicles, and industries has
led to changes in land use and land cover and a rise in city
temperatures and air pollution, creating urban heat islands (UHIs).
Together, UHIs and air pollution have damaging impacts on human
health that range from stress and headache to asthma, bronchitis,
and chronic diseases, and even to death. Delhi has been
experiencing emergency conditions in terms of environmental health
over the past two years. At the same time, both the Delhi and
Mumbai urban agglomerations are growing at a rapid pace, and the
United Nations has projected that they will be the second and third
most populous cities in the world by 2025. In this context, the
book offers significant insights into the past patterns and
responses to the present global urban health emergencies, and
explores sustainable means of combating the problem to enable
college and university researchers to develop innovative solutions.
Further. It presents trans-disciplinary research that cuts across
the WHO Action Plan, the Sustainable Development Goals, the Sendai
Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, and Habitat III to help
policymakers gain a better understanding of the global challenges
of urban health and wellbeing. The book is especially useful for
students and researchers in geography, urban demography, urban
studies, environmental studies, health sciences, and policy
studies.
This book identifies and analyzes livelihood impacts of recent
environmental and socio-economic changes in urban and rural
settings of the mountainous state of Himachal Pradesh, north
western Himalaya, India. The findings of the research deal with the
broader objectives of the changing patterns of agricultural
production with special reference to diversification, as well as
forest-based livelihood outcomes, Clean Development Mechanism
forest project activities, the roles of different ethnic groups and
non-governmental organizations and the benefits and shortcomings of
tourism as a livelihood source. These tasks are studied by using an
exploratory approach, with participant observation, interviews
through random and cluster sampling among villagers, local land
users and officials, as well as with land cover interpretation and
secondary statistical data. This book is relevant for educational
use together with policy input on the issues exploring livelihood
security in a rapidly growing developing country.
This volume synthesizes critical environmental challenges of
dynamic earth and human environment systems in South Asia
emphasizing geographical dimensions. It deals with spaceborne
monitoring, climate, ecohydrology, forests and biodiversity,
land-use and land-cover change (LUCC), natural hazards, and
disasters in order to contribute towards a sustainable future. The
contributions range from traditional field techniques to the use of
remote sensing and geographic information systems. The book
integrates environmental attributes relating the past, present, and
future of South Asia broadly based on biophysical and human
dimensions in spatio-temporal perspectives. The monitoring of
natural hazards and climate issues is considered a vital component
in the context of environmental geography, especially in
observation and understanding of climate and water-induced
disasters. It is important to communicate the advances in
geoscience techniques to increase the resilience of the vulnerable
society of South Asia and to promote livelihood security. The
sustainability of South Asia depends strongly on the earth
environment, and thus the development of geo-environmental
monitoring is critical for a better understanding of our living
environment. The aim of the book is to present dynamic aspects of
environmental geography to contribute to future earth initiatives
in South Asia.
Nanotechnological Aspects for Next-generation Wound Management
provides detailed, up-to-date literature on nanotechnology's role
in wound management and its applications using nanoparticles,
nanocomposites, carbon-based nanostructures and nanomaterials.
Scaffolds, three-dimensional approaches, skin tissue engineering,
and polymer-based films are discussed to treat wounds. This
one-of-a-kind reference is ideal for health practitioners,
clinicians and researchers who will find the book to be excellent
reference material for updates on recent trends in nanotechnology
for wound management.
Nanobiotechnology for Bioremediation: Fundamentals and Mechanisms
provides detailed information on nanomaterial applications for the
bioremediation of a heavily contaminated environment. Relevant
information is provided on the application of nanofibers, nanoscale
zero-valent iron (nZVI), nanocomposites, carbon nanotubes for
rejuvenation of a heavy environment from different pollutants, such
as heavy metals, chlorinated compounds, organic compounds,
polyaromatic hydrocarbon, and hydrocarbons. The book also explores
the application of nanomaterials as a sustainable green solution
that help prevent various high levels of contamination in the
environment. Each chapter addresses the application of
nanomaterials as a sustainable tool for managing innumerable
environmental challenges. This helps readers translate their
research findings into sustainable innovations to resolve their
immediate environmental challenges.
|
|