Management and Development of Agricultural and Natural Resources in Egypt’s Desert
This book reviews the economic potential of various natural resources found in the Egyptian deserts that could help fill the food gap in Egypt, e.g., the date palm, olives, and domestic animals. Bearing in mind that the entire country is subject to arid or hyperarid climatic conditions, only a small portion (3% of total area) is agriculturally productive in comparison, the dominant deserts. These aspects, combined with a growing population (ca. 100 million citizens) and water resources scarcity, have produced severe adverse effects on natural resource utilization. This book presents innovative methods for addressing desert soil's key problems (soil erosion, salinity, pollution, decreased fertility, minerals, and weed and pest control). Its goal is to help authorities reclaim the desert and optimally utilize the minerals and the available natural resources to support the sustainability agenda 2030. Besides, it offers researchers guidance on remaining gaps and future research directions. Lastly and importantly, it provides essential information on investment opportunities in desert cultivation, such as the fields of food, fodder, and medicinal plants.
Zoological Illustrations, vol. I
The volumes of William Swainson's Zoological Illustrations are testimony of a glorious era of explorations and scientific discoveries at the beginning of the XIX century. European naturalists traveled exotic places to bring back specimen and description of animals and plants never seen before. A great effort was spent to categorize them in a precise taxonomy that would show the differences and similarities of those new species. A competition, really, to win the honor of being the first to name a new bird or a new plant. The rich illustrations in this volumes, the detailed descriptions and the author's comments open a window on that time. This new edition is not just a reprint of the original work, it is meant to make it easier, for the contemporary reader, to enjoy the vivid images and immerse in the spirit of a now forgotten time. Either by just flipping through the images or by carefully reading the descriptions, we hope you will enjoy this book as we enjoyed giving them a new life.
Carbon Mineralization in Coastal Wetlands
Carbon Mineralization in Coastal Wetlands: From Litter Decomposition to Greenhouse Gas Dynamics fills the current knowledge gap in carbon mineralization, providing a balanced view of the carbon dynamics of coastal wetlands. This book provides a holistic treatment of carbon mineralization, from the contributions of litter/root decomposition pathways to carbon mineralization and the processes and sources of greenhouse gas production. This book compares carbon mineralization in coastal wetlands and highlights differences in carbon dynamics. As studies on blue carbon have strongly emphasized the storage potential of coastal wetlands, this book serves as an ideal resource on the topics discussed.
Environmental Water Requirements in Mountainous Areas
Environmental Water Requirements in Mountainous Areas presents comprehensive and scientifically sound approaches and methodologies for estimating the environmental water requirements and tradeoffs for water allocation by analyzing anthropogenic and natural water needs. The book covers environmental water management issues in mountainous areas, specifically focusing on the Mediterranean region which exhibits significant contrasts in its demographic and hydrologic features. The authors include paradigms and information that will be useful for water resources managers, decision makers, scientists working in the fields of ecology and water resources management, engineers that design hydraulic works, and environmental policymakers.
Threats to the Arctic
Threats to the Arctic discusses all the current threats to this fragile region, emphasizing the interconnections between many environmental impacts, as well as the teleconnections between events already emerging in the Arctic (ocean circulation changes, melting of sea ice, glaciers and ice sheets) and other parts of the world. The book's aim is to inform readers about the impending, sometimes irreversible changes coming to the Arctic. University students, environmental engineers, policymakers and sociologists with an interest in the role of the Arctic in global change will benefit from the book's unique perspective. As this remote, inhospitable part of the world that few people will ever visit provides amazing insights, we can no longer have an 'out of sight - out of mind' approach to the environmental upheavals taking place in the Arctic.
Environmental Modeling
The book has two aims: to introduce basic concepts of environmental modelling and to facilitate the application of the concepts using modern numerical tools such as MATLAB. It is targeted at all natural scientists dealing with the environment: process and chemical engineers, physicists, chemists, biologists, biochemists, hydrogeologists, geochemists and ecologists. MATLAB was chosen as the major computer tool for modeling, firstly because it is unique in it's capabilities, and secondly because it is available in most academic institutions, in all universities and in the research departments of many companies. In the 2nd edition many chapters will include updated and extended material. In addition the MATLAB command index will be updated and a new chapter on numerical methods will be added.For the second edition of 'Environmental Modeling' the first edition was completely revised. Text and figures were adapted to the recent MATLAB(R) version. Several chapters were extended. Correspondingly the index of MATLAB commands was extended considerably, which makes the book even more suitable to be used as a reference work by novices. Finally an introduction into numerical methods was added as a new chapter.
Integrated Environmental Modelling Framework for Cumulative Effects Assessment
Global warming and population growth have resulted in an increase in the intensity of natural and anthropogenic stressors. Investigating the complex nature of environmental problems requires the integration of different environmental processes across major components of the environment, including water, climate, ecology, air, and land. Cumulative effects assessment (CEA) not only includes analyzing and modeling environmental changes, but also supports planning alternatives that promote environmental monitoring and management. Disjointed and narrowly focused environmental management approaches have proved dissatisfactory. The adoption of integrated modelling approaches has sparked interests in the development of frameworks which may be used to investigate the processes of individual environmental component and the ways they interact with each other. Integrated modelling systems and frameworks are often the only way to take into account the important environmental processes and interactions, relevant spatial and temporal scales, and feedback mechanisms of complex systems for CEA. This book examines the ways in which interactions and relationships between environmental components are understood, paying special attention to climate, land, water quantity and quality, and both anthropogenic and natural stressors. It reviews modelling approaches for each component and reviews existing integrated modelling systems for CEA. Finally, it proposes an integrated modelling framework and provides perspectives on future research avenues for cumulative effects assessment.
Planetary Accounting
Addresses the political and behavioural as well as the scientific problems that we are facing today Introduces the novel concepts of Planetary Quotas and the Planetary Accounting framework - the first scalable and actionable framework of planetary limits Provides tangible detail that allow the reader to understand how the novel elements of the book could be applied to real world situations
A Citizen’s Disclosure on UFOs and Eti
In Volume Two of the six volume series: "A Citizen's Disclosure on UFOs and ETI", the reader is taken deeper into the public disclosure of the UFO and ETI phenomenon and the opposing mysterious covert world that surrounds this subject.This textbook explores UFO organizations, the UFO Community, the world's top leading Ufologists, researchers, contactees, debunkers and new-age space religions, as well as legitimate UFO study programs like the French COMETA Report, the Disclosure Witness Project and the Citizen's Hearing on Disclosure all hoping to bring UFO disclosure to the general public.Juxtaposed to public disclosure are the covert programs of deception that are spearheaded by the clandestine Military Intelligent Industrial Complex. Their subversive agenda includes spin-control of "official" UFO study programs and reports, stage-craft programs of cattle mutilations, alien abductions, cloning, hybridization, mind control, and deployment of programmable life forms utilizing alien reproduction vehicles, and the highly secret Black Space Program.
East Asian Low-Carbon Community
This book presents new vision of regional de-carbonization with concrete scheme design and substantial quantitative demonstration from original interdisciplinary studies. It provides new horizon for not only climate change, environmental conservation but also for international cooperation and peace in East Asia. The chapters introduce diverse low carbon society principles from local to global level with best practices integrating technology evolution and social innovation. While the book is designated for academics and the ultimate goal is to facilitate international climate regime making and environmental cooperation, local government and international organizations (United Nations, World Bank, and others) officers, researchers, international NGO/NPOs, consultants, students (particularly those studying environmental policy studies or international relationships), as well as reporters will find this book useful in broadening their understanding of low-carbon development in East Asia.
Arctic Plants of Svalbard
The Arctic is a special world. The Arctic Ocean is covered by white sea ice, and its margins are surrounded by bare terrestrial regions, known as tundra. Tundra is a cold and dry environment without trees, but even in the absence of trees, tundra plants such as dwarf shrubs, grasses, herbs and moss support the harsh environment by providing sustenance and shelter. This book introduces representative arctic plants and their function in Svalbard, revealing the unique tundra ecosystem, and discussing the direct and indirect effects of climate change in the Arctic.
Recent Trends in Waste Water Treatment and Water Resource Management
This book addresses a complex issue - water sustainability - that requires a combined approach to manage both water and energy. It highlights several technologies that have been introduced to study the water-energy linkage. It also discusses the need to develop effective laws for water management. In turn, the book assesses hybrid biological systems and demonstrates why they are better for the wastewater treatment process. Lastly, it reviews wastewater quality requirements, which have been the primary driver of industrial wastewater treatment programs in India. Gathering selected, high-quality research papers presented at the IconSWM 2018 conference, the book offers a valuable asset, not only for researchers and academics, but also for industrial practitioners and policymakers.
Climate Change and Impacts in the Pacific
This edited volume addresses the impacts of climate change on Pacific islands, and presents databases and indexes for assessing and adapting to island vulnerabilities. By analyzing susceptibility variables, developing comprehensive vulnerability indexes, and applying GIS techniques, the book's authors demonstrate the particular issues presented by climate change in the islands of the Pacific region, and how these issues may be managed to preserve and improve biodiversity and human livelihoods. The book first introduces the issues specific to island communities, such as high emissions impacts, and discusses the importance of the lithological traits of Pacific islands and how these physical factors relate to climate change impacts. From here, the book aims to analyze the various vulnerabilities of different island sectors, and to formulate a susceptibility index from these variables to be used by government and planning agencies for relief prioritization. Such variables include tropical cyclones, built infrastructures, proximity to coastal areas, agriculture, fisheries and marine resources, groundwater availability, biodiversity, and economic impacts on industries such as tourism. Through the categorization and indexing of these variables, human and physical adaptation measures are proposed, and support solutions are offered to aid the inhabitants of affected island countries. This book is intended for policy makers, academics, and climate change researchers, particularly those dealing with climate change impacts on small islands.
Assisted Phytoremediation
Assisted Phytoremediaion covers a wide range of uses of plants for remediation of environmental pollutants. It includes coverage of such techniques as root engineering, transgenic plants, increasing the biomass, use of genetic engineering and genome editing technology for rapid phytoremediation of pollutants. In order to improve the efficiency of plant remediation, genetic engineering plays a vital role in the overexpression of genes or gene clusters, which are responsible for degradation and uptake of pollutants. The book presents state-of-the-art techniques of assisted phytoremediation to better manage soil and water pollution in large amounts. This book is a valuable resource for researchers, students, and engineers in environmental science and bioengineering, with case studies and state-of-the-art research from eminent global scientists. This book serves as an excellent basis from which scientific knowledge can grow and widen in the field of environmental remediation.
Integrated Environmental Modelling Framework for Cumulative Effects Assessment
Global warming and population growth have resulted in an increase in the intensity of natural and anthropogenic stressors. Investigating the complex nature of environmental problems requires the integration of different environmental processes across major components of the environment, including water, climate, ecology, air, and land. Cumulative effects assessment (CEA) not only includes analyzing and modeling environmental changes, but also supports planning alternatives that promote environmental monitoring and management. Disjointed and narrowly focused environmental management approaches have proved dissatisfactory. The adoption of integrated modelling approaches has sparked interests in the development of frameworks which may be used to investigate the processes of individual environmental component and the ways they interact with each other. Integrated modelling systems and frameworks are often the only way to take into account the important environmental processes and interactions, relevant spatial and temporal scales, and feedback mechanisms of complex systems for CEA. This book examines the ways in which interactions and relationships between environmental components are understood, paying special attention to climate, land, water quantity and quality, and both anthropogenic and natural stressors. It reviews modelling approaches for each component and reviews existing integrated modelling systems for CEA. Finally, it proposes an integrated modelling framework and provides perspectives on future research avenues for cumulative effects assessment.
Biological Systematics
Understanding the history and philosophy of biological systematics (phylogenetics, taxonomy and classification of living things) is key to successful practice of the discipline. In this thoroughly revised Third Edition of the classic Biological Systematics, Andrew V. Z. Brower and Randall T. Schuh provide an updated account of cladistic principles and techniques, emphasizing their empirical and epistemological clarity. Brower and Schuh cover: -the history and philosophy of systematics -the mechanics and methods of character analysis, phylogenetic inference, and evaluation of results -the practical application of systematic results to: -biological classification -adaptation and coevolution -biodiversity, and conservation -new chapters on species and molecular clocks Biological Systematics is both a textbook for students studying systematic biology and a desk reference for practicing systematists. Part explication of concepts and methods, part exploration of the underlying epistemology of systematics, This third edition addresses why some methods are more empirically sound than others.
Geographical Data Science and Spatial Data Analysis
This book builds on the previous book by the same authors, An Introduction to R for Spatial Analysis and Mapping, to consider Spatial Data (ie the location attached to data), issues of inference, linking Big Data, Geography / GIS / Mapping and Spatial Analytics. A 'learning by doing' text book, it covers important theoretical issues and helps to develop practical skills in the reader for addressing these.
Sustainability
While politicians, entrepreneurs, and even school children could tell you that sustainability is an important and nearly universal value, many of them, and many of us, may struggle to define the term, let alone trace its history. What is sustainability? Is it always about the environment? What science do we need to fully grasp what it requires? What does sustainability mean for business? How can governments plan for a sustainable future? This short, accessible book written in the signature question-and-answer format of the What Everyone Needs to Know(R) series tackles these and numerous other questions. Sustainability is a porous topic, which has been adapted and reshaped for developing ecological models, improving corporate responsibility, setting environmental and land-use policies, organizing educational curricula, and reimagining the goals of governance and democracy. Where other treatments of this topic tend to focus on just one application of sustainability, this primer encompasses everything from global development and welfare to social justice and climate change. With chapters that discuss sustainability in the contexts of profitable businesses, environmental risks, scientific research, and the day-to-day business of local government, it gives readers a deep understanding of one of the most essential concepts of our time. Bringing to bear experience in natural resource conservation, agriculture, the food industry, and environmental ethics, authors Paul B. Thompson and Patricia E. Norris explain clearly what sustainability means, and why getting it right is so important for the future of our planet.
Principles and Applications of Soil Microbiology
Written by leading experts in their respective fields, Principles and Applications of Soil Microbiology 3e, provides a comprehensive, balanced introduction to soil microbiology, and captures the rapid advances in the field such as recent discoveries regarding habitats and organisms, microbially mediated transformations, and applied environmental topics. Carefully edited for ease of reading, it aids users by providing an excellent multi-authored reference, the type of book that is continually used in the field. Background information is provided in the first part of the book for ease of comprehension. The following chapters then describe such fundamental topics as soil environment and microbial processes, microbial groups and their interactions, and thoroughly addresses critical nutrient cycles and important environmental and agricultural applications. An excellent textbook and desk reference, Principles and Applications of Soil Microbiology, 3e, provides readers with broad, foundational coverage of the vast array of microorganisms that live in soil and the major biogeochemical processes they control. Soil scientists, environmental scientists, and others, including soil health and conservation specialists, will find this material invaluable for understanding the amazingly diverse world of soil microbiology, managing agricultural and environmental systems, and formulating environmental policy.
Ocean Currents
Ocean Currents: Physical Drivers in a Changing World opens with a general introduction to the character, measurement, and simulation of ocean currents, leading to a physical and dynamical framework for understanding the wide variety of flows encountered in the oceans. The book comprises chapters covering distinct aspects of contrasting ocean currents: broad and slow, deep and shallow, narrow and swift, large scale and small scale, low latitudes and high latitudes, and moving in horizontal and vertical planes. Through this approach the authors cover a wide range of applications, from local to global, with considerable geographical context.
Systema Naturae 250
The advent of relational data basing and data storage capacity, coupled with revolutionary advances in molecular sequencing technology and specimen imaging, have led to a taxonomic renaissance. Beginning with Linnaeus and his "apostles" via the great unsung hero Charles Davies Sherbon (arguably the father of bioinformatics) up to today's Planetary Biodiversity Inventories and tomorrow's Encyclopedia of Life and web-based taxonomy, this book provides scientific, historical, and cultural documentation of the evolution of taxonomy and the successful adaptation of the Linnean nomenclature system to that evolution.
Handbook of Wastewater Reclamation and Reuse
This comprehensive reference provides thorough coverage of water and wastewater reclamation and reuse. It begins with an introductory chapter covering the fundamentals, basic principles, and concepts. Each chapter includes an introduction, end-of-chapter problems, and references.
Concepts and Approaches for Sustainability Management
With the introduction of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by the United Nations General Assembly in 25 September 2015, UN agencies, member states and stakeholders have begun to focus on the adoption and implementation of these strategies in realization of 17 Sustainable Development Goals. To work toward sustainability, strategic measures to encourage stakeholders to contribute to the goals of the 2030 agenda are needed. In recognition of these efforts, this book is produced to compile research concepts and approaches for the area of sustainability management of industry, technology development, community, education and the environment. The objective of this book is to deliberate concepts and approaches of sustainability management taking place in Malaysia whereby case studies will be revealed to provide way forward of sustainability management toward achieving sustainable development. The insights provided can be applied toadvanced and developing countries by sustainable development practitioners, encompassing government agencies, academia, industries, NGOs and community, who would like to adopt the concept of approach of sustainability into their area of management.
Advances in Air Pollution Profiling and Control
Chapter 1: Airshed of a typical highly industrialized suburb of an Indian city: Air quality modelling and forecasting.- Chapter 2: Responsible factors of environmental degradation in nandakini river valley.- Chapter 3: Assessment of Ground Water Quality along the coastal areas of Srikakulam District, Andhra Pradesh, India.- Chapter 4: Presence of microplastic in water bodies and its impact on human health.- Chapter 5: Assessment of the ambient air quality of a highly industrialized suburb of a typical Indian city Assessment of quality.- Chapter 6: Inherent Safety in Offshore Oil and Gas Activities.- Chapter 7: Ambient quality downwind major industrial estates of Puducherry, India.
Introduction to Bayesian Methods in Ecology and Natural Resources
This book presents modern Bayesian analysis in a format that is accessible to researchers in the fields of ecology, wildlife biology, and natural resource management. Bayesian analysis has undergone a remarkable transformation since the early 1990s. Widespread adoption of Markov chain Monte Carlo techniques has made the Bayesian paradigm the viable alternative to classical statistical procedures for scientific inference. The Bayesian approach has a number of desirable qualities, three chief ones being: i) the mathematical procedure is always the same, allowing the analyst to concentrate on the scientific aspects of the problem; ii) historical information is readily used, when appropriate; and iii) hierarchical models are readily accommodated.This monograph contains numerous worked examples and the requisite computer programs. The latter are easily modified to meet new situations. A primer on probability distributions is also included because these form the basis of Bayesian inference.Researchers and graduate students in Ecology and Natural Resource Management will find this book a valuable reference.
Lca Based Carbon Footprint Assessment
This book discusses the concepts, methods and case studies pertaining to Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) based Carbon Footprint Assessment. It covers chapters on Carbon Footprint Assessment with LCA methodology & case studies on carbon footprint calculation following the LCA approach on power plants in India, Impacts of Vehicle Incidents On CO2 Emissions and school buildings in India.
Mercury and the Everglades. a Synthesis and Model for Complex Ecosystem Restoration
Volume II - Aquatic Mercury Cycling and Bioaccumulation in the Everglades Table of Contents Chapter 1. Aquatic Cycling of Mercury William H. Orem, David P. Krabbenhoft, Brett Poulin and George R. Aiken 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Cycling of Mercury in Surface Water 1.3 Cycling of Mercury in Aquatic Soils/Sediments and the Formation of Methylmercury (MeHg) 1.4 Perturbations Affecting Mercury Cycling 1.5 Summary and Conclusions Chapter 2. Sulfur Contamination in the Everglades, a Major Control on Mercury Methylation William H. Orem, David P. Krabbenhoft, Brett Poulin and George R. Aiken 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Historical and Background Levels of Sulfur in the Everglades 2.3 Present Levels of Sulfate in the Everglades 2.4 Other Forms of Sulfur in the Everglades 2.5 Sources of Sulfate to the Everglades 2.6 Remobilization of Sulfur from Drought and Fire 2.7 Sulfur Controls on Mercury Methylation 2.8 Other Impacts of Sulfur on the Everglades 2.9 Conclusions Chapter 3. A Causal Analysis for the Dominant Factor in the Extreme Geographic and Temporal Variability in Mercury Biomagnification in the Everglades Darren G. Rumbold 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Methods 3.3 Analysis 3.4 Management Relevant Conclusions 3.5 Final Thoughts Chapter 4. Dissolved Organic Matter Interactions with Mercury in the Florida Everglades Andrew M. Graham 4.1 Introduction 4.2 DOM Concentrations and Quality in the FL Everglades 4.3 Hg Complexation by DOM 4.4 Interactions of DOM with Hg-sulfide Species 4.5 DOM and Microbial Hg Methylation 4.6 DOM and Hg and MeHg Photodegradation 4.7 Impact of DOM on Trophic Transfer of MeHg 4.8 Conclusions Chapter 5. Phosphorus in the Everglades and Its Effects on Oxidation-Reduction Dynamics Sara A. Phelps and Todd Z. Osborne 5.1. Introduction 5.2. Phosphorus in the Everglades 5.3. Phosphorus Dynamics Effects on Reduction-oxidation Reactions in Wetland Soils 5.4. Unknowns and need for future research Chapter 6. Major Drivers of Mercury Methylation & Cycling in the Everglades - A Synthesis Curtis D. Pollman 6.1 Mercury Cycling in the Everglades 6.2 The Role of Organic Carbon 6.3 The Role of Sulfate and Statistical Red Herrings 6.4 The Role of Phosphorus 6.5 Major Loss Mechanisms 6.6 Conclusions Chapter 7. Primer on Methylmercury Biomagnification in the Everglades Darren G. Rumbold 7.1 Introduction 7.2 MeHg entry into the food chain 7.3 Biomagnification Chapter 8. Food Web Structures of Biotically Important Species Peter C. Frederick, William F. Loftus, Ted Lange and Mark Cunningham 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Eastern Mosquitofish 8.3 Largemouth Bass 8.4 Wading birds 8.5 Florida panther 8.6 Discussion Chapter 9. Comparison of Everglades Fish Tissue Mercury Concentrations to Those For Other Fresh Waters Ted Lange 9.1 Introduction 9.2
Co-Existing with the Earth
The threat from global warming is growing and human activity is a major contributor to the problem. It is clear that we must change our wasteful behavior before it is too late. The Tzu Chi Foundation believes it can make a difference in addressing this critically important challenge. Over the last three decades it has embraced the cause of recycling and conserving resources to ensure a cleaner environment for future generations. Tzu Chi has mobilized tens of thousands of people in this campaign, expanding from Taiwan to 19 countries and territories around the world. Co-Existing with the Earth, Tzu Chi's Three Decades of Recycling tells the story of this uniquely effective grassroots effort and examines the reasons for its success. It also relates the stories of individual recycling volunteers and explains why they chose to join this international movement.
Co-Existing with the Earth
The threat from global warming is growing and human activity is a major contributor to the problem. It is clear that we must change our wasteful behavior before it is too late. The Tzu Chi Foundation believes it can make a difference in addressing this critically important challenge. Over the last three decades it has embraced the cause of recycling and conserving resources to ensure a cleaner environment for future generations. Tzu Chi has mobilized tens of thousands of people in this campaign, expanding from Taiwan to 19 countries and territories around the world. Co-Existing with the Earth, Tzu Chi's Three Decades of Recycling tells the story of this uniquely effective grassroots effort and examines the reasons for its success. It also relates the stories of individual recycling volunteers and explains why they chose to join this international movement.
Ozone Crisis
The real story behind the . Ozone Crisis Straight from today's headlines, award-winning science writer Sharon Roan offers an incisive look at one of the planet's most pressing ecological concerns. Ozone Crisis tells the compelling, often shocking story of the discovery of ozone depletion, the fight to ban chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), and future prospects and prognoses. ""At last a sober, well-researched, and well-written book on an important environmental problem.. a good yarn about stratospheric ozone..This is clearly one of the best case studies of the evolution of science-intensive public policy."" --Choice ""An engaging account . skillfully recounts in terms readily understood by lay readers the shrewd detective work and unprecedented scientific cooperation that helped give rise to the Montreal Treaty."" --John C. Topping, President, Climate Institute ""Whether you have the slightest interest in environmental matters or not, this book should be on your 'must check out!' list."" --Western Producer ""Anyone interested in understanding contemporary environmental policy issues will find Roan has written a well-researched, well-balanced, and informative book in an easy-to-read, journalistic style."" --Naturalist Review
Energy Efficient Buildings
Climate change is a severe global environmental problem threatening the sustainability of ecosystems worldwide and causing major catastrophes. Mitigation of climate change requires the sharp decrease of GHG emissions into the atmosphere and many countries are targeting to become carbon neutral by 2050. Buildings utilize large amounts of energy while in Europe they consume 40% of the overall energy use. European directives and legislation in member states promote the increase in energy efficiency and performance of public and private buildings transforming them to "nearly zero energy buildings". These green buildings have lower energy consumption, utilize less fossil fuels, more renewable energies while they emit less GHGs. A slightly different concept to "nearly zero energy building" is the concept of green "zero carbon emissions building". These types of energy efficient and green buildings utilize renewable energies to generate the required heat zeroing their carbon emissions. They also generate "green electricity" for their own consumption while they offset annually the grid electricity use. Current advances in various benign renewable energy technologies allow their use for heat, cooling and electricity generation in buildings. Many of these technologies are mature, reliable and cost-effective. They can be used for green energy generation either on-site or off-site while they can also recharge the electric car's batteries owned by the building's residents. The book consists of two parts. The first part includes six papers related with the creation of zero carbon emissions green residential buildings. The second part includes eight papers related with the creation of other types of energy efficient ZCEBs including hospitals, schools, offices, academic institutions, prisons, museums and swimming pools. The book could be useful to architects, engineers, building construction companies and companies manufacturing and installing various renewable energy systems. It could be also useful to public authorities interesting to improve the energy performance in public buildings as well as to policy makers who want to decrease the carbon emissions in the building sector complying with the global efforts for climate change mitigation.
Reconnect
Divided from earth, divided from our fellows, divided within ourselves, we constructed a dominionist narrative that allowed us to ravish the fertile land, commit genocides, become an agent of extinction, and a cancer that earth may soon remove for her own survival. Little voices are calling to us; memories suppressed for eons are tugging at our subconscious minds. "It's time to come home," they are saying, "time to return to the greater earth community and the nourishing relationships you once knew before word and thought became twisted. It's time to rejoin family, sit by the well-springs, and reconnect again."From his writing desk in his hand-built New Hampshire cabin, Dan Lake sends forth a surprising new version of an old story. Reconnect uses Dan's unique vision and expertise in religion, science, and philosophy to blend current knowledge and technology with ideas that have been with us from the ancient Greeks to Spinoza and Whitman. The result is a new paradigm of oneness designed to embed us once again in our only home, Earth.
Mechanical Energy Storage for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Resources
Describes storage techniques intuitively, yet based on very effective ideas Contains some unique ideas/approaches in terms of development and analysis Designed to work as a standalone textbook, with most of the physics and math basis described in early chapters
The Gasoline Diet
WE HAVE A MOMENT to enjoy clear skies, work and meet virtually, and to pause and reflect how much we can improve the environment by burning less gasoline.1. Use The Gasoline Diet to track your gasoline consumption for one month.2. Every 3000 miles you drive you leave behind in CO2 the weight of your car.3. Every mile you drive you leave behind one pound of CO2 - let's change this.Together we can stop climate change within the next decade AND avoid a disastrous future.Let's keep our beautiful blue sky! Follow The Gasoline Diet.
Life Cycle Assessment for Sustainable Mining
Life Cycle Assessment for Sustainable Mining addresses sustainable mining issues based on life cycle assessment, providing a thorough guide to implementing LCAs using sustainability metrics. The book details current research on LCA methodologies related to mining, their outcomes, and how to relate sustainable mining concepts in a circular economy. It is an in-depth, foundational reference for developing ideas for technological advancement through designing reduced-emission mining equipment or processes. It includes literature reviews and theoretical concepts of life cycle assessments applied in mining industries, sustainability metrics and problems related to mining and mineral processing industries identified by the life cycle assessment results. This book will aid researchers, students and academics in the field of environmental science, mining engineering and sustainability to see LCA technology outcomes which would be useful for the future development of environmentally-friendly mining processes.
Environmental Sustainability and Economy
Environmental Sustainability and Economy contains the latest practical and theoretical concepts of sustainability science and economic growth. It includes the latest research on sustainable development, the impact of pollution due to economic activities, energy policies and consumption influencing growth and environment, waste management and recycling, circular economy, and climate change impacts on both the environment and the economy. The 21st century has seen the rise of complex and multi-dimensional pathways between different aspects of sustainability. Due to globalization, these relationships now work at varying spatiotemporal scales resulting in global and regional dynamics. This book explores the complex relationship between sustainable development and economic growth, linking the environmental and social aspects with the economic pillar of sustainable development. Utilizing global case studies and interdisciplinary perspectives, Environmental Sustainability and Economy provides a comprehensive account of sustainable development and the economics of environmental protection studies with a focus on the environmental, geographical, economic, anthropogenic and social-ecological environment.
There Is No Planet B
Feeding the world, climate change, biodiversity, antibiotics, plastics, pandemics - the list of concerns seems endless. But what is most pressing, and what should we do first? Do we all need to become vegetarian? How can we fly in a low-carbon world? How can we take control of technology? And, given the global nature of the challenges we now face, what on Earth can any of us do, as individuals? Mike Berners-Lee has crunched the numbers and plotted a course of action that is full of hope, practical, and enjoyable. This is the big-picture perspective on the environmental and economic challenges of our day, laid out in one place, and traced through to the underlying roots - questions of how we live and think. This updated edition has new material on protests, pandemics, wildfires, investments, carbon targets and of course, on the key question: given all this, what can I do?
Current and Future Trends of Rainfall Erosivity and Soil Erosion in Central Asia
This book analyses climate change influences on rainfall erosivity and soil erosion across Central Asia, provides an overview (past and projections) on the Central Asian countries where projected changes in rainfall erosivity and erosivity density are the greatest, and discusses the potential impacts on the environment across the region. This analysis is accomplished primarily using the RUSLE model with past and future climate projections, spatiotemporal variations of rainfall erosivity and soil erosion based on WorldClim, and Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) climate models (for Central Asia and separately Kazakhstan). The relationship between precipitation characteristics and erosion has been well established, but spatial and temporal projections of future rainfall erosivity in a changing climate in Central Asia have not been published significantly. Therefore, assessing rainfall erosivity and its consequences can assist specialists andresearchers in achieving the best practices for soil conservation. The result of this type of research is all-encompassing, and may reflect normal variations in other parts of the world (for example, the arid and semi-arid regions) and is inherently limited to the Central Asian region.
Remote Sensing of Plant Biodiversity
This Open Access volume aims to methodologically improve our understanding of biodiversity by linking disciplines that incorporate remote sensing, and uniting data and perspectives in the fields of biology, landscape ecology, and geography. The book provides a framework for how biodiversity can be detected and evaluated--focusing particularly on plants--using proximal and remotely sensed hyperspectral data and other tools such as LiDAR. The volume, whose chapters bring together a large cross-section of the biodiversity community engaged in these methods, attempts to establish a common language across disciplines for understanding and implementing remote sensing of biodiversity across scales. The first part of the book offers a potential basis for remote detection of biodiversity. An overview of the nature of biodiversity is described, along with ways for determining traits of plant biodiversity through spectral analyses across spatial scales and linking spectral data to the tree of life. The second part details what can be detected spectrally and remotely. Specific instrumentation and technologies are described, as well as the technical challenges of detection and data synthesis, collection and processing. The third part discusses spatial resolution and integration across scales and ends with a vision for developing a global biodiversity monitoring system. Topics include spectral and functional variation across habitats and biomes, biodiversity variables for global scale assessment, and the prospects and pitfalls in remote sensing of biodiversity at the global scale.
Cultural Values and Human Ecology in Southeast Asia, Volume 27
Ecologists have long based their conceptual frameworks in the natural sciences. Recently, however, they have acknowledged that ecosystems cannot be understood without taking into account human interventions that may have taken place for thousands of years. And for their part, social scientists have recognized that human behavior must be understood in the environment in which it is acted out. Researchers have thus begun to develop the area of "human ecology." Yet human ecology needs suitable conceptual frameworks to tie the human and natural together.In response, Cultural Values and Human Ecology uses the framework of cultural values to collect a set of highly diverse contributions to the field of human ecology. Values represent an important and essential aspect of the intellectual organization of a society, integrated into and ordained by the over-arching cosmological system, and constituting the meaningful basis for action, in terms of concreteness and abstraction of content as well as mutability and permanence. Because of this balance, values lend themselves to the kinds of analyses of ecological relationships conducted here, those that demand a reasonable amount of specificity as well as historical stability.The contributions to Cultural Values and Human Ecology are exceedingly diverse. They include abstract theoretical discussions and specific case studies, ranging across the landscape of Southeast Asia from the islands to southern China. They deal with hunting-gathering populations as well as peasants operating within contemporary nation-states, and they are the work of natural scientists, social scientists, and humanists of Western and Asian origin. Diversity in the backgrounds of the authors contributes most to the varied approaches to the theme of this volume, because differences in cultural background and academic tradition will lead to different research interests and to differences in the empirical approaches chosen to pursue given problems.
Pollinators and Pollination
A unique and personal insight into the ecology and evolution of pollinators, their relationships with flowers, and their conservation in a rapidly changing world. The pollination of flowers by insects, birds and other animals is a fundamentally important ecological function that supports both the natural world and human society. Without pollinators to facilitate the sexual reproduction of plants, the world would be a biologically poorer place in which to live, there would be an impact on food security, and human health would suffer. Written by one of the world's leading pollination ecologists, this book provides an introduction to what pollinators are, how their interactions with flowers have evolved, and the fundamental ecology of these relationships. It explores the pollination of wild and agricultural plants in a variety of habitats and contexts, including urban, rural and agricultural environments. The author also provides practical advice on how individuals and organisations can study, and support, pollinators. As well as covering the natural history of pollinators and flowers, the author discusses their cultural importance, and the ways in which pollinator conservation has been portrayed from a political perspective. The book draws on field work experiences in South America, Africa, Australia, the Canary Islands and the UK. For over 30 years the author has spent his career researching how plants and pollinators evolve relationships, how these interactions function ecologically, their importance for society, and how we can conserve them in a rapidly changing world. This book offers a unique and personal insight into the science of pollinators and pollination, aimed at anyone who is interested in understanding these fascinating and crucial ecological interactions.
Pollution of Water Bodies in Latin America
Preface.- Historical findings on presence of pollutans in water bodies in Latin America and their ecotoxicological impact.- Toxicity produced by an industrial effluent from Mexico on the common carp (Cyprinus carpio).- Pesticide contamination in Southern Brazil.- Embryotoxicity and teratogenicity induced by naproxen in Xenopus laevis, species of ecological interest in Mexico.- Differential responses of biochemical and behavioral parameters in the native gastropod Chilina gibbosa exposed subchronically to environmental concentrations of two insecticides used in argentina.- Oxidative stress induced by water from a hospital effluent of the city of Toluca, Mexico on Hyalella azteca.- Evaluation of the toxicity of municipal effluents from a locality in the State of Mexico using Hyalella azteca as a bioindicator.- Analysis of heavy metals present on air through the toxicity analysis in water by the gas washer method, using the organism Daphnia magna.- Ecotoxicological Studies of Metal Pollution in Sea Turtles of Latin America.- Evaluation of the toxicity of an industrial effluent before and after a treatment with Sn-modified TiO2 under UV irradiation through oxidative stress biomarkers.- Effects of river pollution on its biota: results from twenty years studies in the Suqu穩a River Basin (C籀rdoba, Argentina).- Effects found and induced by the presence of metals in species of the economic and ecological importance of Mexican aquatic environments.- Environmental Pollution by Hydrocarbons in Colombia and its Impact on the Health of Aquatic Ecosystems.- Biomonitoring of diffuse contamination in the Subtropical Region of Brazil: Multibiomarker Assessment in neotropical freshwater fishes.- Genotoxicity biomarkers in fish erythrocytes and water quality parameters.- Health diagnosis of the fish Scomberomorus cavalla from Tecolutla, Ver. M矇xico.- Histopathological assessment of organisms in ecotoxicological studies from Mexico.- Histopathological analysis of the intestine from Mugil cephalus on environment reference sites.- Impacts caused by manganese in the aquatic environments of Brazil.- Genotoxic effect of amoxicillin on peripheral blood of common carp (Cyprinus carpio).- Final conclusions.- Index.
Microplastic Pollution
Microplastics pollution in aquatic systems: Ecotoxicological effects on biota Current State of Microplastic Research in SAARC Countries- A Review Microplastic pollution in sediments: occurence, fate and effects (with a specific focus on biogeochemical carbon and nitrogen cycles) A Review of Microplastics in Dentistry Domestic laundry and microfiber shedding of synthetic textiles Effect of textile parameters on microfiber shedding properties of apparels ​
Virus Host Cell Genetic Material Transport
The reproduction and spread of a virus during an epidemic proceeds when the virus attaches to a host cell and viral genetic material (VGM) (protein, DNA, RNA) enters the cell, then replicates, and perhaps mutates, in the cell. The movement of the VGM across the host cell outer membrane and within the host cell is a spatiotemporal dynamic process that is modeled in this book as a system of ordinary and partial differential equations (ODE/PDEs). The movement of the virus proteins through the cell membrane is modeled as a diffusion process expressed by the diffusion PDE (Fick's second law). Within the cell, the time variation of the VGM is modeled as ODEs. The evolution of the dependent variables is computed by the numerical integration of the ODE/PDEs starting from zero initial conditions (ICs). The departure of the dependent variables from zero is in response to the virus protein concentration at the outer membrane surface (the point at which the virus binds to the host cell). The numerical integration of the ODE/PDEs is performed with routines coded (programmed) in R, a quality, open-source scientific computing system that is readily available from the Internet. Formal mathematics is minimized, e.g., no theorems and proofs. Rather, the presentation is through detailed examples that the reader/researcher/analyst can execute on modest computers. The ODE/PDE dependent variables are displayed graphically with basic R plotting utilities. The R routines are available from a download link so that the example models can be executed without having to first study numerical methods and computer coding. The routines can then be applied to variations and extensions of the ODE/PDE model, such as changes in the parameters and the form of the model equations.
Climate Change and Coastal Ecosystems
Produced by a Leading Aquatic ScientistA narrative account of how estuaries around the world are being altered by human forces and human-induced global climate changes, Climate Change and Coastal Ecosystems: Long-Term Effects of Climate and Nutrient Loading on Trophic Organization chronicles a more than 40-year-old research effort conducted by Dr. Robert J. Livingston and his research team at Florida State University. Designed to evaluate system-level responses to natural and anthropogenic nutrient loading and long-term climate changes, the study focused on the northeast Gulf of Mexico river-bay systems, and concentrated on phytoplankton/benthic macrophyte productivity and associated food web organization. It addressed the changes of food web structure relative to long-term trends of climatological conditions, and was carried out using a combination of field-descriptive and experimental approaches.Details Climate Change, Climate Change Effects, and EutrophicationThis book includes comparative analyses of how the trophic organization of different river-bay ecosystems responded to variations of both anthropogenic impacts and natural driving factors in space and time. It incorporates a climate database and evaluates the effects of climate change in the region. It also provides insights into the effects of nutrient loading and climate on the trophic organization of coastal systems in other global regions.Presents research compiled from consistent field sampling methods and detailed taxonomic identifications over an extended period of studyIncludes the methods and materials that the research team used to access the health and trophic organization of Florida's estuariesProvides an up-to-date bibliography of estuarine publications and reportsBased on a longitudinal study of anthropogenic and natural driving factors on river-estuarine systems in the northeast Gulf of Mexico, Climate Change and Coastal Ecosystems: Long-Term Effects of Climate and Nutrient Loading on Trophic Organization is useful as a reference for researchers working on riverine, estuarine, and coastal marine systems.
Strategic Decision Making for Sustainable Management of Industrial Networks
This book presents a diverse set of decision-making methodologies to solve some of the most important decisions that most organizations face today. It is an excellent demonstration of some great challenges in our society in the area of sustainability. These great challenges, ranging from sustainability in logistics to the use of renewable energies, needs to be urgently addressed. Sustainability has become one of the most important topics in management and many organizations are taking big steps towards sustainability. Organizations are attempting to use cleaner production technologies and renewable energies sources, to improve health and safety issues within their industries and the products and services they offer. These points involve several important strategic and managerial decisions, highlighted in this book. The book can be used by decision-makers and policy-makers as exemplary guidelines to solve sustainability problems.
Tropical and Extratropical Air-Sea Interactions
Tropical and Extratropical Air-Sea Interactions: Modes of Climate Variations provides a thorough introduction to global atmospheric and oceanic processes, as well as tropical, subtropical and mid-latitude ocean-atmosphere interactions. Written by leading experts in the field, each chapter is dedicated to a specific topic of air-sea interactions (such as ENSO, IOD, Atlantic Nino, ENSO Modoki, and newly discovered coastal Ni簽os/Ni簽as) and their teleconnections. As the first book to cover all topics of tropical and extra-tropical air-sea interactions and new modes of climate variations, this book is an excellent resource for researchers and students of ocean, atmospheric and climate sciences.
