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Topic Review
Carbon Dioxide Capture
Carbon capture is among the most sustainable strategies to limit carbon dioxide emissions, which account for a large share of human impact on climate change and ecosystem destruction. This growing threat calls for novel solutions to reduce emissions on an industrial level. Carbon capture by amorphous solids is among the most reasonable options as it requires less energy when compared to other techniques and has comparatively lower development and maintenance costs. In this respect, the method of carbon dioxide adsorption by solids can be used in the long-term and on an industrial scale. Furthermore, certain sorbents are reusable, which makes their use for carbon capture economically justified and acquisition of natural resources full and sustainable. Clay minerals, which are a universally available and versatile material, are amidst such sorbents. These materials are capable of interlayer and surface adsorption of carbon dioxide. In addition, their modification allows to improve carbon dioxide adsorption capabilities even more. 
  • 1.6K
  • 28 Mar 2022
Topic Review
MTBE and BTEX in Wetlands
Hydrocarbon contamination of water resources is a global issue. These compounds are generated and discharged into the environment in industrial areas from chemical and petrochemical plants, oil refineries, power plants, and so forth. Fuel hydrocarbons, namely, BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes) and MTBE (methyl tert-butyl ether), are commonly found in groundwater, posing environmental and health risks to humans and ecosystems. Nature-based technologies represent an alternative solution, providing high eciency, an environmentally friendly character, simple operation, and cost eciency, which are characteristics particularly desired by the international petroleum industry. This entry discusses the use of the green technology of constructed wetlands to remediate water polluted with hydrocarbons. Although the number of related international experiences and studies is limited, the article presents the latest developments of wetland technolog for the removal of MTBE and benzene-BTEX. The discussion includes the overall eciency of the di erent wetland types that have been tested and used, the main transformation and removal processes that regulate the fate of BTEX and MTBE in constructed wetlands, and the potential for future investigations.
  • 1.6K
  • 30 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Integrated Landscape Approaches
Integrated Landscape Approaches (ILAs) are increasingly presented as socio-environmental conceptual frameworks for holistic management and governance of sustainable landscapes. There is a wealth of literature, case studies, and widespread international interest in ILAs to reconcile and harmonize multiple goals for conservation, development, climate change, and human well-being at the landscape level.  
  • 1.6K
  • 15 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Air Emissions by Canada's Pulp and Paper Mills
The pulp and paper industry is a major contributor to water and air pollution globally. Pulp and paper processing is an intensive energy consuming process that produces multiple contaminants that pollute water, air, and affect ecological and human health. In Canada, the National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) is used to assess the release of air pollutants into the atmosphere from industrial facilities (including pulp and paper mills) and provides a repository of annual emissions reported by individual facilities. 
  • 1.6K
  • 28 Apr 2022
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.
  • 1.6K
  • 05 Jul 2023
Topic Review
Interspecies Electron Transfer in Anaerobic Methanogenic System
Anaerobic methanogenesis plays an important role in the sustainable management of high concentration organic wastewater and bioenergy recovery. Interspecies electron transfer (IET) is a new type of mutualistic symbiosis that can accelerate microbial metabolism and overcome thermodynamic barriers in the metabolic process, thus facilitating anaerobic methanogenesis. IET is classified into Direct Interspecies Electron Transfer (DIET) and Mediated Interspecies Electron Transfer (MIET) according to the different electron transfer methods.
  • 1.6K
  • 30 May 2023
Topic Review
Ringed Seals and Climate Change
Ringed seals are the smallest and most abundant member of the seal family that live in the Arctic and Sub-Arctic regions. The average life span of a ringed seal is 40 years, with a diet based mainly on Arctic cod and planktonic crustaceans. Typically about 5 feet (1.5 m) long, the ringed seal is known to be solitary with their main predator being polar bears. Recently, however, the biggest predator to ringed seals has been the changing temperature in the Arctic and the detrimental changes to sea ice that follow. With declines in snowpack and sea ice due to warming ocean and atmospheric temperatures, survival has become tougher for ringed seals in the Arctic and Sub-Arctic regions. Yet ringed seals are also potentially projected to thrive due to warming, considering the early extinction of their predators. Climate change is sure to change the fate of all ringed seals in the coming years for better or worse.
  • 1.6K
  • 20 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Herman Cain
Herman Cain (born December 13, 1945) is an American politician, business executive, syndicated columnist, and Tea Party activist from Georgia. Cain grew up in Georgia and graduated from Morehouse College in 1967 with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics. He pursued graduate studies at Purdue University and graduated with a Master of Science in Computer Science in 1971, while also working full-time for the U.S. Department of the Navy. In 1977, he joined the Pillsbury Company in Minneapolis where he later became vice president. During the 1980s, Cain's success as a business executive at Burger King prompted Pillsbury to appoint him as chairman and CEO of Godfather's Pizza, in which capacity he served from 1986 to 1996. Cain was chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Omaha Branch from 1989 to 1991. He was deputy chairman, from 1992 to 1994, and then chairman until 1996, of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. In 1995, he was appointed to the Kemp Commission, and in 1996, he served as a senior economic adviser to Bob Dole's presidential campaign. Cain became the CEO of the National Restaurant Association, in which he served as president and CEO from 1996 to 1999. In May 2011, Cain announced his presidential candidacy. By the fall, his proposed 9–9–9 tax plan and debating performances had made him a serious contender for the Republican nomination. In November, however, his campaign faced five allegations of sexual misconduct—all denied by Cain—and he announced its suspension on December 3. In April 2019, Cain was considered by President Donald Trump for a vacancy on the Federal Reserve Board before withdrawing his name the same month.
  • 1.6K
  • 19 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Groundwater Temperature Measurements
Groundwater temperature (GWT) can be influenced by anthropogenic factors such as surface sealing or geothermal use. These thermal influences can lead to geochemical changes in groundwater, which can affect groundwater quality. Therefore, it is important to measure and monitor GWT. For this purpose, screened monitoring wells (MWs) are usually used. However, temperature measurements can be disturbed by vertical currents within MWs as a result of convection.
  • 1.6K
  • 05 May 2022
Topic Review
Global Warming Policy Foundation
The Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) is a lobby group in the United Kingdom whose stated aims are to challenge "extremely damaging and harmful policies" envisaged by governments to mitigate anthropogenic global warming. While their position is that the science of global warming or climate change is "not yet settled," the GWPF claims that its membership comes from a broad spectrum ranging from "the IPCC position through agnosticism to outright scepticism." The GWPF as well as some of its prominent members have been characterized as promoting climate change denial. In 2014, when the Charity Commission ruled that the GWPF had breached rules on impartiality, a non-charitable organisation called the "Global Warming Policy Forum" was created as a wholly owned subsidiary, to do lobbying that a charity could not. The GWPF website carries an array of articles "sceptical" of scientific findings of anthropogenic global warming and its impacts.
  • 1.6K
  • 30 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Nanoscale Zero-Valent Iron
Nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI) as a kind of emerging remedial material is used for contaminated soil, which can quickly and effectively degrade and remove pollutants such as organic halides, nitrates and heavy metals in soil, respectively.
  • 1.6K
  • 30 Jun 2023
Topic Review
Impact of Carbamate Pesticides on Male Reproductive System
Carbamates are widely used and known around the world as pesticides in spite of also having medical applications. Carbamates are mostly used as pesticides worldwide, despite their interesting medical applications, such as in the treatment of myasthenia gravis, Alzheimer’s disease, or glaucoma, among others.
  • 1.6K
  • 10 Aug 2022
Topic Review
Field Measurement Studies on Indoor Air Quality
The Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) is one of the key factors that influence the quality of the indoor environment, as well as the human health.
  • 1.6K
  • 16 Feb 2022
Topic Review
Earth Rainfall Climatology
Earth rainfall climatology Is the study of rainfall, a sub-field of meteorology. Formally, a wider study includes water falling as ice crystals, i.e. hail, sleet, snow (parts of the hydrological cycle known as precipitation). The aim of rainfall climatology is to measure, understand and predict rain distribution across different regions of planet Earth, a factor of air pressure, humidity, topography, cloud type and raindrop size, via direct measurement and remote sensing data acquisition. Current technologies accurately predict rainfall 3–4 days in advance using numerical weather prediction. Geostationary orbiting satellites gather IR and visual wavelength data to measure realtime localised rainfall by estimating cloud albedo, water content, and the corresponding probability of rain. Geographic distribution of rain is largely governed by climate type, topography and habitat humidity. In mountainous areas, heavy precipitation is possible where upslope flow is maximized within windward sides of the terrain at elevation. On the leeward side of mountains, desert climates can exist due to the dry air caused by compressional heating. The movement of the monsoon trough, or intertropical convergence zone, brings rainy seasons to savannah climes. The urban heat island effect leads to increased rainfall, both in amounts and intensity, downwind of cities. Warming may also cause changes in the precipitation pattern globally, including wetter conditions at high latitudes and in some wet tropical areas. Precipitation is a major component of the water cycle, and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the planet. Approximately 505,000 cubic kilometres (121,000 cu mi) of water falls as precipitation each year; 398,000 cubic kilometres (95,000 cu mi) of it over the oceans. Given the Earth's surface area, that means the globally averaged annual precipitation is 990 millimetres (39 in). Climate classification systems such as the Köppen climate classification system use average annual rainfall to help differentiate between differing climate regimes. Most of Australia is semi-arid or desert, making it the world's driest continent. Australia's rainfall is mainly regulated by the movement of the alien monsoon trough during the summer rainy season, with lesser amounts falling during the winter and spring in its southernmost sections. Almost whole North Africa is semi-arid, arid or hyper-arid, containing the Sahara Desert which is the largest hot desert in the world, while central Africa (known as Sub-Saharan Africa) sees an annual rainy season regulated by the movement of the intertropical convergence zone or monsoon trough, though the Sahel Belt located at the south of the Sahara Desert knows an extremely intense and a nearly permanent dry season and only receives minimum summer rainfall. Across Asia, a large annual rainfall minimum, composed primarily of deserts, stretches from the Gobi Desert in Mongolia west-southwest through Pakistan and Iran into the Arabian Desert in Saudi Arabia. In Asia, rainfall is favored across its southern portion from India east and northeast across the Philippines and southern China into Japan due to the monsoon advecting moisture primarily from the Indian Ocean into the region. Similar, but weaker, monsoon circulations are present over North America and Australia . In Europe, the wettest regions are in the Alps and downwind of bodies of water, particularly the Atlantic west coasts. Within North America, the drier areas of the United States are the Desert Southwest, Great Basin, valleys of northeast Arizona, eastern Utah, central Wyoming, and the Columbia Basin. Other dry regions within the continent are far northern Canada and the Sonoran Desert of northwest Mexico. The Pacific Northwest United States, the Rockies of British Columbia, and the coastal ranges of Alaska are the wettest locations in North America. The equatorial region near the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), or monsoon trough, is the wettest portion of the world's continents. Annually, the rain belt within the tropics marches northward by August, then moves back southward into the Southern Hemisphere by February and March.
  • 1.6K
  • 18 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Small-Scale Urban Green Infrastructure
Urban green infrastructure (UGI) such as green roofs, green facades, public parks, urban forests, urban wetlands, and unmanaged green sites, provide nature-based solutions (NBS) that offer a promising avenue for climate change adaptation in cities to reduce the negative environmental impacts of urbanization, such as the urban heat island effect and altered precipitation patterns. UGI supports a wide range of ES at different spatial levels including but not limited to provisioning (e.g., food, and freshwater), regulating (e.g., urban temperature regulations, noise reduction, air purification, pollination, runoff mitigation, and waste treatment), socio-cultural (tourism, recreation, cognitive development, social cohesion), and supporting (e.g., habitat for biodiversity diversity), with fewer documented health benefits (e.g., good health, mortality). 
  • 1.6K
  • 19 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Modern Flats in London Due to Climate Change
Since the UK government is scaling up its efforts towards net zero, resilient higher adaptation goals should be implemented against heatwaves. The UK’s average surface temperature has increased by 1.2 °C since the pre-industrial era (1850–1900). As per UKCP18, which is largely in connection with prior predictions of UKCP09, by the end of the 21st century, the UK climate will continue to warm, and the sea levels will continue to increase. With the increase in global temperatures, a significant threat of overheating has been reported due to more frequent and severe heatwaves in the UK housing stock.
  • 1.6K
  • 02 Nov 2023
Topic Review
Mycorrhizae and Water Quality
Mycorrhizae fungi are 400 million-year-old plant symbionts whose evolutionary success has been attributed to their ability to expand the rhizosphere of plants, enabling greater uptake of nutrients from surrounding soils in exchange for photosynthate provided by their host plants.
  • 1.6K
  • 26 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Aquaponics
Aquaponics is an alternative method of food production that confers advantages of biological and economic resource preservations. Nonetheless, one of the main diculties related to aquaponics systems could be the outbreak and dissemination of pathogens. The present review summarized the principal plant pathogens, the conventional and alternative BCA treatments on aquaponics systems, while considering related research on aquaculture and soilless systems (i.e., hydroponic) for its applicability to aquaponics and future perspectives related to biological control.
  • 1.5K
  • 27 Oct 2020
Topic Review
The Skeptical Environmentalist
The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the Real State of the World (Danish: Verdens sande tilstand, literal translation: The True State of the World) is a book by Danish environmentalist author Bjørn Lomborg, controversial for its claims that overpopulation, declining energy resources, deforestation, species loss, water shortages, certain aspects of global warming, and an assortment of other global environmental issues are unsupported by statistical analysis of the relevant data. It was first published in Danish in 1998, while the English edition was published as a work in environmental economics by Cambridge University Press in 2001. Due to the scope of the project, comprising the range of topics addressed, the diversity of data and sources employed, and the many types of conclusions and comments advanced, The Skeptical Environmentalist does not fit easily into a particular scientific discipline or methodology. Although published by the social sciences division of Cambridge University Press, the findings and conclusions were widely challenged on the basis of natural science. This interpretation of The Skeptical Environmentalist as a work of environmental science generated much of the controversy and debate that surrounded the book.
  • 1.5K
  • 22 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Implementation of Soil and Water Conservation in Indonesia
Soil and water are natural resources that support the life of various creatures on Earth, including humans. The main problem, so far, is that both resources can be easily damaged or degraded by human-induced drivers. The threat of damage or degradation is increasing due to rapid human population growth and humans’ insatiable daily necessities.
  • 1.5K
  • 13 Jul 2023
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