Summary

Environmental science emerged from the fields of natural history and medicine during the Enlightenment. Today, it provides an integrated, quantitative, and interdisciplinary approach to the study of environmental systems. Environmental studies are incorporating more of the social sciences in order to understand human relationships, perceptions and policies towards the environment. This entry collection features information about design and technology for improving environmental quality in every aspect.

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Topic Review
Education for Sustainable Development
Education can serve the purpose of trying to mitigate catastrophes, from the climate change education perspective. Therefore, understanding how teachers are engaging with sustainability issues can help to reveal how they cope with it. In a school context, teachers can have a role in enacting an interconnection between critical thinking (CT) as a potentially useful tool and education for sustainable development (ESD), in terms of educating and communicating the importance of sustainability to future generations.
  • 1.4K
  • 14 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Catalytic Applications of Single-Atom Catalysts
Heterogeneous catalysis is an important research hotspot in the global field. Due to its economic and energy-saving features, it is widely used in the transformation of various energy resources (e.g., petroleum, coal, natural gas, and solar energy) in nature, the synthesis of numerous industrial chemicals, the purification of vehicle exhaust, and so on. It is estimated that catalysts are used in the production processes of about 80% of artificial chemicals at some stages, and about 35% of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP) is accounted for by catalytic processes. In the field of catalysis, exploring the efficient, stable, and economical catalyst formulations has promoted the rapid development of nanomaterials synthesis methods. Traditional heterogeneous catalysts are metal nanoparticles (NPs) dispersed on supports. Among them, noble metals are the most efficient catalysts. 
  • 674
  • 04 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Graviperception and Graviresponses in Euglena gracilis
The genus Euglena contains unicellular eukaryotic flagellates. In addition to light and chemicals, the cells perceive the gravitational field of the Earth and orient themselves paralell to the gravivector to optimize their position in the water column. The perception is based on transient receptor proteins in the membrane which are stimulated by the pressure of the cell content onto the lower membrane. Upon stimulation these proteins open and allow the influx of calcium from the outer medium which binds to a specific calmodulin. In turn this enzyme activates a adenylyl cyclase which produces cAMP believed to stimulate a phosphodiesterase A which finally modifies a flagellar protein which results in a course correction. Since Euglena is photosynthetic it absorbs carbon dioxide and produces oxygen and is thus an excellent candidate for a bioregenerative life support system during long-term space flights.
  • 402
  • 04 Nov 2022
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.
  • 648
  • 03 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Drinking Water Microbiome
Microbial communities interact with us and affect our health in ways that are only beginning to be understood. Microorganisms have been detected in every ecosystem on Earth, as well as in any built environment that has been investigated. Drinking water sources, drinking water treatment plants and distribution systems provide peculiar microbial ecological niches, dismantling the belief of the “biological simplicity” of drinking water. The assemblage of microbes within drinking water is referred to as the drinking water microbiota (“microbiome” when referring to the associated genetic information), and it accounts for about 106–108 cells/L. Recent DNA sequencing and meta-omics advancements allow a deeper understanding of drinking water microbiota.
  • 597
  • 16 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Microcystin-LR in Primary Liver Cancers
Among all of the variants of MCs, MC-LR has been widely studied due to its severe hepatotoxicity. Since 1992, various studies have discovered the important role of MC-LR in the origin and progression of primary liver cancers (PLCs), while few reviews have focused on it. Based on the available literature, the mechanisms of how MC-LR induces or promotes PLCs are elucidated in this review. This review aims to enhance our understanding of the role that MC-LR plays in PCLs and provides a rational approach for future applications.
  • 327
  • 10 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Plant Growth in Altered Gravity/Microgravity
Understanding how plants respond and adapt to extraterrestrial conditions is essential for space exploration initiatives. Deleterious effects of the space environment on plant development have been reported, such as the unbalance of cell growth and proliferation in the root meristem, or gene expression reprogramming. However, plants are capable of surviving and completing the seed-to-seed life cycle under microgravity. A key research challenge is to identify environmental cues, such as light, which could compensate the negative effects of microgravity.
  • 961
  • 31 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Polymeric Biodiesel
Biodiesel industry is expanding rapidly in accordance with the high energy demand and environmental deterioration related to the combustion of fossil fuel. However, poor physicochemical properties and the malperformance of biodiesel fuel still concern the researchers. In this flow, polymers were introduced in biodiesel industry to overcome such drawbacks. This article introduces polymeric biodiesel which is Hydroxyalkanoates methyl ester (HAME) and hydroxybutyrate methyl ester (HBME) that are sourced from carbon-enriched polymers with the help of microbial activity. Composition, production techniques, characteristics, and limitations of polymeric biodiese were explored. 
  • 802
  • 21 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Solid Oxide Fuel Cells
The result indicated that SOFCs (Solid Oxide Fuel Cells) have better implications for environmental performance, as well as being the least cost-effective option for commercially competitive purposes.
  • 826
  • 01 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Carbon Dots Composites
Among carbon-based nanomaterials, carbon dots (CDs) have received a surge of interest in recent years due to their attractive features such as tunable photoluminescence, cost effectiveness, nontoxic renewable resources, quick and direct reactions, chemical and superior water solubility, good cell-membrane permeability, and simple operation. CDs and their composites have a large potential for sensing contaminants present in physical systems such as water resources as well as biological systems. Tuning the properties of CDs is a very important subject.
  • 659
  • 17 Oct 2022
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