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
Market Premium for Green Buildings
In real estate markets, there is growing relevance of Green Buildings, especially in cities where the greater part of residential buildings is built before the first regulations on energy performance. Through policies oriented towards sustainable practices, a twofold goal can be achieved: energy consumption mitigation respecting the historical value for existing buildings, direct economic impacts on real estate values.
  • 561
  • 25 May 2022
Topic Review
Abandoned Croplands in South Africa
There is no standardised definition of agricultural land abandonment; however, a simple definition is the cessation of agricultural activities on a given surface of land. The term agricultural land abandonment is inclusive of land previously used for crops, vegetables, fruit trees, and cultivated and natural pastures. Other agricultural land abandonment studies specifically focus on crops, hence terms such as cropland abandonment, formerly arable lands, and old arable lands or fields are used. Others specify that for the land to qualify as abandoned, it should not be used for any other activity such as urbanisation or afforestation. Therefore, in the context of the rural areas of Africa wherein the cessation of cropping the land is used for grazing, the definition of cropland abandonment suffices. Baxter and Calvert define cropland abandonment as a process of withdrawing cropland from active agricultural production without a plan for crop cultivation in the immediate future. The cessation is usually due to a decline in economic viability even after changes in farming practices. Cessation results in natural succession wherein grasses, shrubs, and trees colonise former cropping lands; it can also result in land degradation. In the former homeland communal areas of South Africa, where the main agricultural activity involves cropping and livestock production, by default if the land is not used for cropping it turns into a grazing area. The same trend of abandoned cropping lands being used for grazing was also reported in Botswana. Therefore, the definition of abandoned cropping land is land mainly used for grazing. The areas are sometimes also called old fields, fallow, or idle fields. Some have turned to be secondary grasslands.
  • 2.2K
  • 25 May 2022
Topic Review
Odors Abatement
Traditionally, odor abatement has been carried out using physical–chemical technologies such as chemical absorption (scrubbing) and adsorption. However, biological technologies for odor treatment such as biofilters or biotrickling filters have become more relevant in the last years for many reasons, such as their high odor removal performances and the low operational costs associated.
  • 453
  • 27 May 2022
Topic Review
Teucrium Taxa Used in Kurdistan Region
Herbal medicine is still widely practiced in the Kurdistan Region, Iraq, especially by people living in villages in mountainous regions. Seven taxa belonging to the genus Teucrium (family Lamiaceae) are commonly employed in the Kurdish traditional medicine, especially to treat jaundice, stomachache and abdominal problems. Teucrium L. is the second-largest genus of the subfamily Ajugoideae in the family Lamiaceae (Labiatae), with a subcosmopolitan distribution and more than 430 taxa with accepted names. Mild climate regions, such as the Mediterranean and the Middle East areas, contain about 90% of the total Teucrium taxa. 
  • 391
  • 27 May 2022
Topic Review
Sense of Gain and Rural Infrastructures
Rural infrastructure is not only the foundation for the development of various rural undertakings but also an integral part of the rural economic system. Its construction and operation are closely related to farmers’ quality of life. However, owing to the urban–rural dual structure in many countries in the world, there is still a big gap between the level of rural infrastructure and that of cities, which affects the interests of farmers and restricts the sustainable development of rural areas. The sense of gain can reveal shortcomings in the rural infrastructure from the perspective of farmers, helping to suggest rapid and accurate improvements according to the farmers’ feelings.
  • 642
  • 24 May 2022
Topic Review
Climate Change Education
Climate Change Education (CCE) is one of the initiatives taken to deliver the facts about the current climate status of the world and the proper mitigation actions that need to be done to the youth, as they will be the ones who will have to face and deal with the consequences of climate change.; thus, CCE has now become a critical factor in strengthening the climate change awareness of young people. CCE is one of the sub-areas of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) where the focus is on the complexity and challenges involved in understanding and responding to the impact of climate change; furthermore, the implementation of CCE in ESD should include a holistic and integrated view of all dimensions, covering the ecological, economic, and social aspects of the consequences of climate change.
  • 631
  • 24 May 2022
Topic Review
Trap Formation in the Nematode-Trapping Fungi
Nematode-trapping (NT) fungi play a significant role in the biological control of plant- parasitic nematodes. NT fungi, as a predator, can differentiate into specialized structures called “traps” to capture, kill, and consume nematodes at a nutrient-deprived condition. Therefore, trap formation is also an important indicator that NT fungi transition from a saprophytic to a predacious lifestyle. With the development of gene knockout and multiple omics such as genomics, transcriptomics, and metabolomics, increasing studies have tried to investigate the regulation mechanism of trap formation in NT fungi. And elucidating the mechanism of trap formation will help to develop more effective anti-nematode agents by genetic modification.
  • 653
  • 23 May 2022
Topic Review
Regulatory Focus and Consumers’ Attitudes toward Artificial Meat
While production and consumption of meat cast a shadow over the prospects for sustainable development, artificial meat may be the solution. However, consumer acceptability of artificial meat is a major impediment to its use as a suitable alternative. Here analyzed the relationship between regulatory focus and consumer acceptance of artificial meat using randomized controlled trial data. Results showed that promotion focus results in a higher acceptance of artificial meat products due to a higher perceived benefit and lower perceived risk, whereas prevention focus results in a lower acceptance of artificial meat products due to perceived benefit being lower and perceived risk being higher. The moderating effect of the message framing was investigated employing structural equation modeling (SEM). It was discovered that a gain-oriented message framing could greatly strengthen the association between promotion focus and perceived benefit, whereas an avoidance oriented message framing could significantly diminish the relationship between prevention focus and perceived risk. 
  • 625
  • 23 May 2022
Topic Review
Renewable and Non-Renewable Energy Consumption
There are numerous discussions on China’s environmental sustainability. However, few scholars have considered renewable energy consumption and trade policy simultaneously to debate environmental sustainability. Therefore, researchers examined how renewable and non-renewable energy consumption, bio-capacity, economic growth, and trade policy dynamically affect the ecological footprint (a proxy for environmental sustainability). Researchers suggest a two-way causal relationship between renewable energy consumption and ecological footprint, non-renewable energy consumption and ecological footprint, and economic growth and ecological footprint.
  • 407
  • 23 May 2022
Topic Review
Influence of SDG on Firm Performance
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) seek to enhance human dignity and prosperity while simultaneously safeguarding the planet’s fundamental biophysical processes and ecosystem services. They recognize that reducing poverty and inequality necessitates long-term economic growth, peace, and justice strategies, as well as strategies to address basic social needs such as education, health, social protection, and job opportunities—all while addressing climate change and improving environmental protection.
  • 742
  • 23 May 2022
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