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Topic Review
Integrated Maritime Policy
Integrated and ecosystem-based maritime policy should be seen as a versatile multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral instrument for international dialogue within the region.
  • 1.4K
  • 17 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Carbon Sequestration as a Climate Change Mitigation Strategy
Agriculture is the second-highest, after energy use, source of greenhouse gas emissions, which are released from soils and animal digestion processes and as a result of energy consumption at various stages of agricultural production. However, changes in the management of agricultural systems may mitigate the negative impact of this sector on the atmosphere and climate. Carbon farming, which focuses on carbon sequestration, is closely linked to soil quality. Carbon converted to organic form in the soil stimulates the activity of soil enzymes, promotes the growth of beneficial microorganisms and improves chemical and physicochemical properties, including pH, sorption capacity and water retention.
  • 1.4K
  • 13 Jun 2023
Topic Review
Strasburg, Virginia
Strasburg /ˈstrɑːzbɜːrɡ/ is a town in Shenandoah County, Virginia, United States , which was founded in 1761 by Peter Stover. It is the largest town by population in the county and is known for its grassroots art culture, pottery, antiques, and American Civil War history. Strasburg has blended the nostalgia of the past with the inspiration of the future. The population was 6,398 at the 2010 census.
  • 1.4K
  • 16 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Predicted Changing Danube Delta Ecosystems for Fish Species
The Danube Delta is one of Earth’s biodiversity hotspots and includes many endemic, rare, and important species of both major conservation and economic value. This unique complex of ecosystems also plays a key role for Danube River and Black Sea fish fauna through its role as a natural safe buffer, shelter, feeding, reproduction, and smooth transitional area for a large number of fish species. Climate change is inducing a progressive sea level rise in the Black Sea, a fact that is expected to impact the delta’s key complex and dynamic habitats, biocoenoses, and associated biota, and last but not least the key taxonomic group, namely, fish. Around one-third of the fish species of this delta will be greatly affected, sometimes negatively, by this climate change scenario, another one-third to a lesser extent, and the final one-third not at all.
  • 1.4K
  • 20 Jul 2023
Topic Review
End-of-Life Household Materials
End-of-Life Household Materials (EoLHM) can be defined as household waste materials that still possess exploitable properties, thus making them suitable for reuse. There are several studies in the literature that address the recycling of these materials. When it comes to their reuse, unfortunately, only a limited number of studies are available.
  • 1.4K
  • 19 May 2021
Topic Review
Ecological Footprint for the Algerian Fisheries Management
According to the estimated ecological footprint (EF) of fishery production (EFf), Algiers fishing is in the status of ecological surplus, as the demand for fisheries production averages 15,338.49 gha compared to more than 108 thousand gha of biologically productive fishing area. In addition to this overall output, this metric indicates each species’ primary production requirement (PPR), which could help to restructure the fishing effort based on the stock’s condition. For the energy component, the fuel consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions expressed in metric tons of CO2 were used to estimate the required area for carbon sequestration, valued roughly at 500 gha. The latter is a reference state and remains approximate because it was derived from unofficial data provided by the fishers.
  • 1.4K
  • 31 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Water Footprint of Food Production
Blue water footprint - the volume of fresh surface and groundwater that has been evaporated or incorporated into a product. Green water footprint - the rainwater that is stored in the root zone of the soil and evapotranspired or incorporated into the product. Unsustainable blue water footprint - when it exceeds the available renewable blue water, thereby violating the environmental flow standard and depleting groundwater Water footprint - an indicator of the direct and indirect water use to produce the goods and services we use.
  • 1.4K
  • 26 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Method for Management and Reducing Plastic Waste
Plastic waste generation has increased dramatically every day. Indiscriminate disposal of plastic wastes can lead to several negative impacts on the environment, such as a significant increase in greenhouse gas emissions and water pollution. Products from the pyrolysis process encompassing of liquid, gas, and solid residues (char) can be turned into beneficial products, as the liquid product can be used as a commercial fuel and char can function as an excellent adsorbent. The char produced from plastic wastes could be modified to enhance carbon dioxide (CO2) adsorption performance.
  • 1.4K
  • 26 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Coastal Morphodynamics
The shape of the coast and the processes that mold it change together as a complex system. There is constant feedback among the multiple components of the system, and when climate changes, all facets of the system change. Abrupt shifts to different states can also take place when certain tipping points are crossed. The coupling of rapid warming in the Arctic with melting sea ice is one example of positive feedback. Climate changes, particularly rising sea temperatures, are causing an increasing frequency of tropical storms and “compound events” such as storm surges combined with torrential rains. These events are superimposed on progressive rises in relative sea level and are anticipated to push many coastal morphodynamic systems to tipping points beyond which return to preexisting conditions is unlikely. 
  • 1.4K
  • 02 Nov 2023
Topic Review
Water Treatment Residues and Methanogenic Activity in Wastewater-Sludge
The effect of adding alum water treatment residues (WTR) on the methanogenic activity in the digestion of primary domestic wastewater sludge was evaluated through laboratory experiments in sedimentation columns, using total suspended solids (TSS) concentrations from 0.37 to 1.23 g/L. The addition of WTR to primary clarifiers can benefit its effluent water quality in terms of colour, turbidity, chemical oxygen demand (COD), and TSS. However, the presence of WTR can negatively influence the production of methane gas during organic sludge digestion in primary clarifiers, for concentrations of TSS between 14.43 and 25.23 g/L and of VSS between 10.2 and 11.85 g/L. The activity of the Methanothrix sp., curved bacilli, methanococci, and Methanosarcina sp. decreases considerably after 16 days of anaerobic digestion, and methane production seems to only be associated with fluorescent methanogenic bacilli.
  • 1.4K
  • 17 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Glyphosate-Based Herbicide
To meet the demands of farmers and combat weed problems, woodlands and farmlands are sprayed with agrochemicals, primarily glyphosate-based herbicides. Farmers increasingly embrace these herbicides containing glyphosate. Glyphosate and aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA), a key metabolite of glyphosate, have been reported as toxicological concerns when they become more prevalent in the food chain.
  • 1.4K
  • 13 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Temperature Record of the Past 1000 Years
The temperature record of the past 1,000 years or longer is reconstructed using data from climate proxy records in conjunction with the modern instrumental temperature record which only covers the last 170 years at a global scale. Large-scale reconstructions covering part or all of the 1st millennium and 2nd millennium have shown that recent temperatures are exceptional: the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report of 2007 concluded that "Average Northern Hemisphere temperatures during the second half of the 20th century were very likely higher than during any other 50-year period in the last 500 years and likely the highest in at least the past 1,300 years." The curve shown in graphs of these reconstructions is widely known as the hockey stick graph because of the sharp increase in temperatures during the last century. As of 2010 this broad pattern was supported by more than two dozen reconstructions, using various statistical methods and combinations of proxy records, with variations in how flat the pre-20th-century "shaft" appears. Sparseness of proxy records results in considerable uncertainty for earlier periods. Individual proxy records, such as tree ring widths and densities used in dendroclimatology, are calibrated against the instrumental record for the period of overlap. Networks of such records are used to reconstruct past temperatures for regions: tree ring proxies have been used to reconstruct Northern Hemisphere extratropical temperatures (within the tropics trees do not form rings) but are confined to land areas and are scarce in the Southern Hemisphere which is largely ocean. Wider coverage is provided by multiproxy reconstructions, incorporating proxies such as lake sediments, ice cores and corals which are found in different regions, and using statistical methods to relate these sparser proxies to the greater numbers of tree ring records. The "Composite Plus Scaling" (CPS) method is widely used for large-scale multiproxy reconstructions of hemispheric or global average temperatures; this is complemented by Climate Field Reconstruction (CFR) methods which show how climate patterns have developed over large spatial areas, making the reconstruction useful for investigating natural variability and long-term oscillations as well as for comparisons with patterns produced by climate models. During the 1,900 years before the 20th century, it is likely that the next warmest period was from 950 to 1100, with peaks at different times in different regions. This has been called the Medieval Warm Period, and some evidence suggests widespread cooler conditions during a period around the 17th century known as the Little Ice Age. In the hockey stick controversy, contrarians have asserted that the Medieval Warm Period was warmer than at present, and have disputed the data and methods of climate reconstructions.
  • 1.4K
  • 29 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Looking for Metropolitan ecological area
       Compact housing structures located in city centers are considered to be the most energy and environmentally effective, mainly due to the access to services, transport networks and municipal infrastructures. There is the question how to look for metropolitan ecologacl areas and why so many of the acknowledged ecological housing complexes are located on the outskirts of cities or suburbs and . Numerous cities decide to introduce strategies either to densify city centers, hoping to improve energy efficiency. The Tricity Metropolitan Area is a special case undergoing dynamic transformation, and its development overlaps with the processes of both planned densification of the center as well as uncontrolled suburbanization.  The goal  was to find the correlation between optimal location of an eco-district from the functional center of the Tricity Metropolitan Area, allowing for the most favorable energy and environmental parameters related both to the architectural and urban scale. The research was conducted in four different scenarios, concerning present and future development. In these scenarios, specific locations were examined, and the following were compared: total energy consumption, ecological footprint and CO2 lifecycle emissions. This study showed the possibility for suburban housing complexes with appropriate parameters in an edge city model to have the same or better results than complexes situated closer to the functional center of the city. This is mainly due to the building’s energy efficiency, sustainable mobility, municipal infrastructure and relevant service access. The research proves the importance of implementing sustainable energy-saving and environmentally oriented activities at both an architectural and urban scale planning process.
  • 1.4K
  • 29 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Agricultural Water
Monitoring the microbial quality of water used in agriculture is important to reduce the likelihood of produce contamination and possible future foodborne outbreaks. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has established the Produce Safety Rule as part of the Food Safety Modernization Act to improve the safety of produce that is normally consumed raw during growing, harvesting, packing and holding activities. In order to comply with the rule, growers need to follow some standards for the microbial quality of water that is used on the produce field, however, more information on the water microbial profile is necessary in order to improve the accuracy of the testing.
  • 1.4K
  • 11 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Progesterone on Plant Growth and Development
Progesterone is a steroid hormone that is synthesized in the ovaries, placenta, and adrenal glands. The regulation of progesterone on plant growth is concentration-dependent. For example, low progesterone concentrations (0.01–1 μM) stimulate hypocotyl elongation, while high concentrations (100 μM) inhibit hypocotyl growth in Arabidopsis.
  • 1.4K
  • 14 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Lattice Boltzmann Method
Biofilm growth and evolution are very complex interactions among physicochemical and biological processes. Mathematical models are critical to modern biotechnology—both in research and in the engineering practice. Thus, many models of biofilms have been developed to include various biofilm reactor modules. However, considerable challenges exist in modelling microbial processes where mesoscopic dynamics of nutrient transport must be coupled with microscopic bacteria growth and their elementary biochemical reactions at reactive or enzymatic interfaces, in addition to the microbiological and/or ecological aspects of the “micro” organisms involved in biofilms. Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM) treats flows in terms of fictive parcels of particles which reside on a mesh and conduct translation according to collision steps entailing overall fluid-like behavior. The goal of this review is to discuss and identify the opportunities of applying different LBM-based models to specific areas of biofilm research as well as unique challenges that LBM-based models must overcome.
  • 1.4K
  • 19 Jul 2021
Topic Review
Soil Nanoremediation and Mushrooms
Soil pollution is a serious challenge facing the global community. This pollution is a direct and/or indirect harmful deterioration, which penetrates all aspects of our life, especially human health. Therefore, there is an urgent need to repair, remove, or decompose these pollutants according to various approaches. Concerning the relationship between soil nanoremediation and its mushrooms, this process can be called nano myco-remediation. The mechanism of this kind of remediation depends mainly on the enzymatic system of mushroom species and is involved in the bioremediation of organic environmental pollutants.
  • 1.4K
  • 06 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Water Stress and Water Footprint
Physical water stress and scarcity are often used interchangeably, or the exact nature of the underlying data is not clearly defined or justified (e.g., water use versus consumption versus withdrawal). A number of authors have noted that there is no widely accepted definition for physical water stress and scarcity.   Comparing different definitions of water stress and scarcity, they seem to be converging on the definition given by the CEO Water Mandate (A NGO affiliated with the United Nations), who defines water scarcity as lack of physical abundance of freshwater resources without considering whether water is suitable for use, and water stress as lack of ability to meet human and ecological demand for freshwater, in terms of water quantity and quality and accessibility to water.
  • 1.4K
  • 01 Feb 2022
Topic Review
Oregon Petition
The Global Warming Petition Project, also known as the Oregon Petition, is a petition urging the United States government to reject the global warming Kyoto Protocol of 1997 and similar policies. Some consider it to be a political petition designed for disinforming and confusing the public about the scientific results and the consensus of climate change research.
  • 1.4K
  • 02 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Climate, Urbanization and Environmental Pollution in West Africa
The need to elucidate the urbanization–climate–pollution nexus in West Africa arose from the several reported, but disjointed cases of climate extremes and environmental degradation in the sub-region. Since colonization and subsequent independence of nations in the West African region, several urban cities began to spring up and gradually grow. Urbanization was essentially characterized by population growth without complementary infrastructural development, weak coping strategies against climate extremes, numerous economic challenges, and high risk of environmental pollution. Initiative for urban renewal, urban greening and smart city development was low, and preparedness against future impact of extreme climate events and climate change is uncertain.
  • 1.4K
  • 12 Dec 2022
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