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Topic Review
Dairy Wastewater Treatment by Membrane Separation Technology
Water pollution caused by population growth and human activities is a critical problem exacerbated by limited freshwater resources and increasing water demands. Various sectors contribute to water pollution, with the dairy industry being a significant contributor due to the high concentrations of harmful contaminants in dairy wastewater. Traditional treatment methods have been employed, but they have limitations in terms of effectiveness, cost, and environmental impact. Membrane separation technology (MST) has emerged as a promising alternative for treating dairy wastewater. Membrane processes offer efficient separation, concentration, and purification of dairy wastewater, with benefits such as reduced process steps, minimal impact on product quality, operational flexibility, and lower energy consumption. However, membrane fouling and concentration polarization present major challenges associated with this technique. Therefore, strategies have been implemented to mitigate these phenomena, including pre-treatment prior to MST, coagulation, and adsorption. 3D printing technology has gained prominence as one of the latest and most notable advancements for addressing these issues.
  • 1.7K
  • 07 Aug 2023
Topic Review
Catalytic Ozonation and Membrane Contactors
Membrane filtration has been widely used in water and wastewater treatment. However, this process is not very effective for the removal of refractory organic compounds (e.g., of pharmaceutical origin). Alongside, ozonation is an efficient oxidative process, although ozone is considered to be a rather selective oxidant agent and sometimes it presents quite low mineralization rates. An improvement of this oxidation process is catalytic ozonation, which can degrade organic compounds via the acceleration of hydroxyl radicals’ production. The hydroxyl radicals are unselective oxidative species, presenting high reaction constants with organic compounds. An efficient way to couple membrane filtration with catalytic ozonation is the deposition of an appropriate solid catalyst onto the membrane surface. Catalytic membrane ozonation can enhance the degradation of these compounds and, subsequently, the incidence of membrane fouling (i.e., the major problem of membrane uses).
  • 1.7K
  • 18 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Climate Change Education (CCE)
Climate Change Education (CCE) is learning geared toward helping people address and develop effective responses to climate change. It helps learners understand the causes and consequences of climate change, prepares them to live with the impacts of climate change and empowers learners to take appropriate actions to adopt more sustainable lifestyles. CCE helps policy-makers understand the urgency and importance of putting mechanisms into place to combat climate change on a national and global scale. Communities learn about how climate change will affect them, what they can do to protect themselves from negative consequences, and how they can reduce their own climate footprint. In particular, CCE helps increase the resilience of already vulnerable communities who are the most likely to be adversely affected by climate change. CCE is rooted in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD).
  • 1.7K
  • 04 Nov 2022
Topic Review
The Drivers and Barriers of Green Ports
Ports play an increasingly significant role in fostering regional economic growth and international trade as a key hub of the transportation network. Ports now provide cities, regions, and nations with a vital strategic resource for taking part in global economic cooperation and competitiveness, in addition to providing space for transportation, logistics, and a way to connect with the outside world. Green ports are presented as an achievable solution to the energy issue and environmental degradation. A green port is a port that not only satisfies environmental criteria but also provides economic benefits. Green ports are an excellent strategy to reduce environmental pollution and ecological harm, as well as to maintain the ports’ water resources and natural environment.
  • 1.7K
  • 26 Sep 2023
Topic Review
Chemical and Biological Degradation for Perfluorooctanoic Acid
Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is a perfluoro compound that contains an eight-carbon perfluoroalkyl chain followed by a carboxylic acid function group. It has found applications in water-resistant coating and is produced either by degrading other long-chain perfluorinated carboxylic acids or fluorotelomer alcohol. PFOA is challenging to further degrade during water treatment processes, leading to its accumulation in natural systems and causing contamination. Research has been conducted to develop several methods for its removal from the water system.
  • 1.7K
  • 01 Dec 2023
Topic Review
Climate Across Cretaceous–Paleogene Boundary
The climate across the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary (K–Pg or formerly the K–T boundary) is very important to geologic time as it marks a catastrophic global extinction event. Numerous theories have been proposed as to why this extinction event happened including an asteroid known as the Chicxulub asteroid, volcanism, or sea level changes. While the mass extinction is well documented, there is much debate about the immediate and long-term climatic and environmental changes caused by the event. The terrestrial climates at this time are poorly known, which limits the understanding of environmentally driven changes in biodiversity that occurred before the Chicxulub crater impact. Oxygen isotopes across the K–T boundary suggest that oceanic temperatures fluctuated in the Late Cretaceous and through the boundary itself. Carbon isotope measurements of benthic foramifinera at the K–T boundary suggest rapid, repeated fluctuations in oceanic productivity in the 3 million years before the final extinction, and that productivity and ocean circulation ended abruptly for at least tens of thousands of years just after the boundary, indicating devastation of terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Some researchers suggest that climate change is the main connection between the impact and the extinction. The impact perturbed the climate system with long-term effects that were much worse than the immediate, direct consequences of the impact.
  • 1.7K
  • 25 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Contaminants of Emerging Concern
Worldwide, the pollution of water bodies by contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) such as pharmaceuticals, endocrine disrupting compounds, flame retardants including brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and perfluorochemicals (PFCs), microplastics, nanomaterials, and algal toxins, to name just a few, is creating a new set of challenges to the conventional wastewater treatment facilities, which demonstrate inefficiency in removing/degrading many CECs. As a consequence, environmentalists started to detect the presence of some of those contaminants at alarming levels in certain countries, with possible negative effects on aquatic species and often increased potential for human health risks through exposure to the contaminated waters, or the reuse of treated wastewater in agriculture and household use. Such issues are more accentuated in the African continent due to various socio-economic problems giving rise to poor sanitation systems and serious shortages in wastewater treatment plants in many regions, making it difficult to tackle the problem of conventional pollutants, let alone to deal with the more challenging CECs. Thus, in order to effectively deal with this emerging environmental threat, African researchers are working to develop and optimize sound sampling and analytical procedures, risk assessment models, and efficient remediation technologies.
  • 1.7K
  • 06 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Green Jobs
Green jobs, described as those jobs generated around sustainability and European Green Deal (EGD), have become “the emblem of this sustainable economy” according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report. Studies on green economy and green tourism have increased substantially in the last decade, but it is also true that there is a lack of studies that determine what green job opportunities exist in the Spanish hotel sector under the umbrella of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and sustainability policies.
  • 1.7K
  • 21 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Biological and Hydrobiological Background of Pond Carp Breeding
In the Central European region, there is a long tradition of breeding fish in artificially constructed ponds. As the area belongs to the temperate zone, farmed fish need to survive cold winter periods. Common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.), which is an omnivorous, bioturbating species, is well adapted to warm and cold periods and the alluvial water environment. Since the Middle Ages, a large scale, efficient carp farming methodology has been developed in the region, where production is based on natural resources (protein and fatty acid sources) of renewable water ecosystems.
  • 1.7K
  • 03 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Late Glacial
The Late Glacial climate warming (c. 13,000–10,000 years ago), or Tardiglacial ("Late Glacial"), is defined primarily by the beginning of the modern warm period, in which temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere rose substantially, causing a process of accelerated deglaciation following the Last Glacial Maximum (c. 25,000–13,000 years ago). At this time, human populations, previously forced into refuge areas as a result of Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) climatic conditions, gradually begin to repopulate the Northern Hemisphere's Eurasian landmass and eventually populate North America via Beringia for the first time. The Late Glacial Interstadial c.14,670 to c.12,890 BP represents the first pronounced warming since the end of the LGM. Evidence for its occurrence stems from two main types of analysis. The first is the use of oxygen isotope stages (OIS) gathered from stratified deep-sea sediment cores. Samples are gathered and measured for change in isotope levels to determine temperature fluctuation for given periods of time. The second is a proxy measurement, the observation of certain reappearing fauna and flora fossils that can survive only in temperate climates, thus indicating warming trends for a given geographic area. Archaeological evidence of settlement and resettlement in certain areas by humans also serve as proxy measurements. Towards the end of OIS 2 in which the Late Glacial Maximum occurs, the deep-sea sediment cores indicate a gradually warming climate, and the reappearance of certain warm-weather flora and fauna remains throughout the Northern Hemisphere correlate with that trend. The Late Glacial was interrupted by a severe decline in temperatures during the Younger Dryas from c.12,890 to c.11,650 BP.
  • 1.7K
  • 17 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Water Land Resources Degradation Index
Natural resources are gradually coming under continuous and increasing pressure due to anthropogenic interventions and climate variabilities. The result of these pressures is reflected in the sustainability of natural resources. Significant scientific efforts during the recent years focus on mitigating the effects of these pressures and on increasing the sustainability of natural resources. Hence, there is a need to develop specific indices and indicators that will reveal the areas having the highest risks. The Water and Land Resources Degradation Index (WLDI) was developed for this purpose. WLDI consists of eleven indicators and its outcome results from the spatiotemporal performance of these indicators. The WLDI is based on the Standardized Drought Vulnerability Index (SDVI) and the Environmentally Sensitive Areas Index (ESAI). 
  • 1.7K
  • 27 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Indoor Air Pollution
Indoor air pollution (IAP) is a serious threat to human health, causing millions of deaths each year. A plethora of pollutants can result in IAP; therefore, it is very important to identify their main sources and concentrations and to devise strategies for the control and enhancement of indoor air quality (IAQ). Herein, we provide a critical review and evaluation of the major sources of major pollutant emissions, their health effects, and issues related to IAP-based illnesses.
  • 1.7K
  • 30 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Biofuel Production Pathways by Microalga
Using microalgae to treat wastewater as well as simultaneously produce biofuels is one of the approaches for a sustainable future. The manufacture of biofuels from microalgae is one of the next-generation biofuel solutions that has recently received a lot of interest, as it can remove nutrients from the wastewater whilst capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The resulting biomass are employed to generate biofuels, which can run fuel cell vehicles of zero emission, power combustion engines and power plants. By cultivating microalgae in wastewater, eutrophication can be prevented, thereby enhancing the quality of the effluent. Thus, by combining wastewater treatment and biofuel production, the cost of the biofuels, as well as the environmental hazards, can be minimized, as there is a supply of free and already available nutrients and water.
  • 1.7K
  • 27 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Lichen Biomonitoring in Forests
Forest ecosystems are often located in remote areas, far from direct sources of air pollution. Nonetheless, they may be affected by different types of atmospheric deposition, which can compromise their health and inner balance. Epiphytic lichens respond to air pollution and climate change, and they have been widely adopted as ecological indicators, mainly in urban and industrial areas, while forest ecosystems are still underrepresented. 
  • 1.7K
  • 31 Mar 2023
Topic Review
Hockey Stick Graph
Hockey stick graphs present the global or hemispherical mean temperature record of the past 500 to 2000 years as shown by quantitative climate reconstructions based on climate proxy records. These reconstructions have consistently shown a slow long term cooling trend changing into relatively rapid warming in the 20th century, with the instrumental temperature record by 2000 exceeding earlier temperatures. The term "hockey stick graph" was popularized by the climatologist Jerry Mahlman, to describe the pattern shown by the Mann, Bradley & Hughes 1999 (MBH99) reconstruction, envisaging a graph that is relatively flat with a downward trend to 1900 as forming an ice hockey stick's "shaft" followed by a sharp, steady increase corresponding to the "blade" portion. The reconstructions have featured in Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports as evidence of global warming. Arguments over the reconstructions have been taken up by fossil fuel industry funded lobbying groups attempting to cast doubt on climate science. Paleoclimatology dates back to the 19th century, and the concept of examining varves in lake beds and tree rings to track local climatic changes was suggested in the 1930s. In the 1960s, Hubert Lamb generalised from historical documents and temperature records of central England to propose a Medieval Warm Period from around 900 to 1300, followed by Little Ice Age. This was the basis of a "schematic diagram" featured in the IPCC First Assessment Report of 1990 beside cautions that the medieval warming might not have been global. The use of indicators to get quantitative estimates of the temperature record of past centuries was developed, and by the late 1990s a number of competing teams of climatologists found indications that recent warming was exceptional. Bradley & Jones 1993 introduced the "Composite Plus Scaling" (CPS) method which, as of 2009, was still being used by most large-scale reconstructions. Their study was featured in the IPCC Second Assessment Report of 1995. In 1998 Michael E. Mann, Raymond S. Bradley and Malcolm K. Hughes developed new statistical techniques to produce Mann, Bradley & Hughes 1998 (MBH98), the first eigenvector-based climate field reconstruction (CFR). This showed global patterns of annual surface temperature, and included a graph of average hemispheric temperatures back to 1400 with shading emphasising that uncertainties (to two standard error limits) were much greater in earlier centuries. Jones et al. 1998 independently produced a CPS reconstruction extending back for a thousand years, and Mann, Bradley & Hughes 1999 (MBH99) used the MBH98 methodology to extend their study back to 1000. A version of the MBH99 graph was featured prominently in the 2001 IPCC Third Assessment Report (TAR), which also drew on Jones et al. 1998 and three other reconstructions to support the conclusion that, in the Northern Hemisphere, the 1990s was likely to have been the warmest decade and 1998 the warmest year during the past 1,000 years. The graph became a focus of dispute for those opposed to the strengthening scientific consensus that late 20th century warmth was exceptional. In 2003, as lobbying over the 1997 Kyoto Protocol intensified, a paper claiming greater medieval warmth was quickly dismissed by scientists in the Soon and Baliunas controversy. Later in 2003, Stephen McIntyre and Ross McKitrick published McIntyre & McKitrick 2003b disputing the data used in MBH98 paper. In 2004 Hans von Storch published criticism of the statistical techniques as tending to underplay variations in earlier parts of the graph, though this was disputed and he later accepted that the effect was very small. In 2005 McIntyre and McKitrick published criticisms of the principal components analysis methodology as used in MBH98 and MBH99. Their analysis was subsequently disputed by published papers including Huybers 2005 and Wahl & Ammann 2007 which pointed to errors in the McIntyre and McKitrick methodology. Political disputes led to the formation of a panel of scientists convened by the United States National Research Council, their North Report in 2006 supported Mann's findings with some qualifications, including agreeing that there were some statistical failings but these had little effect on the result. More than two dozen reconstructions, using various statistical methods and combinations of proxy records, support the broad consensus shown in the original 1998 hockey-stick graph, with variations in how flat the pre-20th century "shaft" appears. The 2007 IPCC Fourth Assessment Report cited 14 reconstructions, 10 of which covered 1,000 years or longer, to support its strengthened conclusion that it was likely that Northern Hemisphere temperatures during the 20th century were the highest in at least the past 1,300 years. Further reconstructions, including Mann et al. 2008 and PAGES 2k Consortium 2013, have supported these general conclusions.
  • 1.7K
  • 10 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Economics in Marine Spatial Planning
There has been a rapid increase in the use of Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) worldwide, partly due to the continued loss of marine biodiversity and habitat. The sustainability of marine resources is threatened in all regions of the world by major events such as climate change, marine pollution, and overfishing, as well as illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing both on the high seas and in country waters.
  • 1.7K
  • 20 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Sustainable Manufacturing Practices
Sustainable manufacturing was defined as "the creation of manufactured products that use processes that minimize negative environmental impacts, conserve energy and natural resources, are safe for employees, communities, and consumers and are economically sound".
  • 1.7K
  • 12 Sep 2021
Topic Review
American Farm Bureau Federation
The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), more commonly known as Farm Bureau Insurance and Farm Bureau Incorporated (FB), is a United States -based insurance company and lobbying group that represents large agricultural corporations. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the Farm Bureau has affiliates in all 50 states and Puerto Rico.
  • 1.7K
  • 01 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Nature Time and Pro-environmental Attitudes/Behaviors
Urbanization, screen dependency, and the changing nature of childhood and parenting have led to increased time indoors, creating physical and emotional distancing from nature and time spent in natural environments. Substantial evidence from observational and intervention studies indicates that overall time spent in nature leads to increased perceived value for connectedness to nature and, subsequently, greater pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors (PEAB).
  • 1.7K
  • 30 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Plants' Physiological Responses to Drought and Water Stress
Drought affects several biochemical and physiological processes of plants, such as translocation, respiration, the uptake of ions, photosynthesis, nutrient and sugar metabolism, and phytohormones. Cell membranes can be destroyed, and leaf water potential can be diminished by drought. Furthermore, heavy drought causes the cessation of photosynthesis and metabolic disorders, and it can lead to the death of plants.
  • 1.7K
  • 05 Jul 2023
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