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
Pollution of Polyethylene Terephthalate Water Bottles
According to studies on global plastic manufacturing and the resulting pollution, plastic wastes have been identified as a serious environmental concern. The impact of plastic garbage on marine species, humans, and the environment is a source of public concern, necessitating the need to save ecosystems and the lives that depend on them. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) water bottles have a significant carbon footprint and represent tremendous waste. In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), PET water bottles are widely utilized, with yearly consumption reaching 450 water bottles per person. 
  • 3.2K
  • 27 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Edible Mushrooms
Edible mushrooms are considered an important next-generation healthy food source. Edible mushrooms are rich in proteins, dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals, and other bioactive components (alkaloids, lactones, polysaccharides, polyphenolic compounds, sesquiterpenes, sterols, and terpenoids). 
  • 7.4K
  • 06 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Microbial in Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon Polluted Soils
Nowadays, soil contamination by total petroleum hydrocarbons is still one of the most widespread forms of contamination. Intervention technologies are consolidated; however, full-scale interventions turn out to be not sustainable. Sustainability is essential not only in terms of costs, but also in terms of restoration of the soil resilience. Bioremediation has the possibility to fill the gap of sustainability with proper knowledge. Bioremediation should be optimized by the exploitation of the recent “omic” approaches to the study of hydrocarburoclastic microbiomes. To reach the goal, an extensive and deep knowledge in the study of bacterial and fungal degradative pathways, their interactions within microbiomes and of microbiomes with the soil matrix has to be gained. 
  • 969
  • 27 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Crop Plants with Silicon Application
Silicon (Si) is present in soil mainly in three different phases such as solid, liquid, and adsorbed. Solid phases can be either amorphous or crystalline. Plants take up Si from the soil which impacts their growth and nutrient accumulation. It increases plant resistance to abiotic and biotic stresses such as drought, salinity, and heavy metal, diseases, and pest infestation.
  • 1.9K
  • 29 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Studies on Traditional Ecological Knowledge
Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) dominated by traditional populations, especially fishermen and women, has been the object of scientific research from different perspectives, disseminating information on fauna and flora in different environments. Such interest refers to the importance that the set of information that these populations have on the dynamics of the local environment and the relationship with the environment in which they live. Generally, the transmission of this knowledge happens from generation to generation; however, it is still little valued by studies related to natural sciences. The study of this type of traditional ecological knowledge can support scientific studies and, therefore, help to fill the gaps in the understanding between the relationship between human activities and different ecosystems.
  • 1.0K
  • 26 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Sustainable Economic Recovery Post Natural Disaster with Insurance
Insurance as a form of disaster risk management has developed continually throughout the world. Disaster insurance has also received good responses from communities and governments, as indicated by the demand for disaster insurance both by the community (individuals) and by governments in the form of national disaster insurance.
  • 868
  • 27 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Sustainable Management of Olive Orchard Nutrition
Plant responses to nutritional aspects, as well as environmental considerations, are discussed. Nutrient deficiency impairs production, whereas over-fertilization may reduce yields and oil quality, and increase environmental hazards and production costs. The effect of irrigation on nutrient availability and uptake is very significant. Application of organic matter (e.g., manure, compost) and cover crops can serve as substitutes for mineral fertilization with additional benefits to soil properties. Recycling of the pruned orchard material, olive pomace and olive mill wastewater, as well as the use of recycled wastewater for irrigation, are all potentially beneficial to olive orchard sustainability, but present the risk of environmental pollution.
  • 973
  • 25 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Lake-Level Fluctuations
Recent decades of warmer climate have brought drying wetlands and falling lake levels to southern Alaska. These recent changes can be placed into a longer-term context of postglacial lake-level fluctuations that include low stands that were as much as 7 m lower than present at eight lakes on the Kenai Lowland. Closed-basin lakes on the Kenai Lowland are typically ringed with old shorelines, usually as wave-cut scarps, cut several meters above modern lake levels; the scarps formed during deglaciation at 25–19 ka in a kettle moraine topography on the western Kenai Lowland. These high-water stands were followed by millennia of low stands, when closed-basin lake levels were drawn down by 5–10 m or more. Peat cores from satellite fens near or adjoining the eight closed-basin lakes show that a regional lake level rise was underway by at least 13.4 ka. At Jigsaw Lake, a detailed study of 23 pairs of overlapping sediment cores, seismic profiling, macrofossil analysis, and 58 AMS radiocarbon dates reveal rapidly rising water levels at 9–8 ka that caused large slabs of peat to slough off and sink to the lake bottom.
  • 1.2K
  • 25 Apr 2022
Topic Review Video
Waste Plastic Pyrolytic Catalysis
With the increase in demand for plastic use, waste plastic (WP) management remains a challenge in the contemporary world due to the lack of sustainable efforts to tackle it. The increment in WPs is proportional to man’s demand and use of plastics, and these come along with environmental challenges. This increase in WPs, and the resulting environmental consequences are mainly due to the characteristic biodegradation properties of plastics. Landfilling, pollution, groundwater contamination, incineration, and blockage of drainages are common environmental challenges associated with WPs. The bulk of these WPs constitutes polyethene (PE), polyethene terephthalate (PET) and polystyrene (PS). Pyrolysis is an eco-friendly thermo-chemical waste plastic treatment solution for valuable product recovery, preferred over landfilling and incineration solutions.
  • 2.0K
  • 24 Apr 2022
Topic Review
UN Sustainable Development Goals
Reaching the land-related UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and similar goals articulated by the EU Green Deal (GD) by 2030 presents a major challenge and requires a pragmatic approach focused on joint learning by land users (mostly farmers), researchers and other stakeholders in “Living Labs” and system experiments at experimental farms of research organizations. Defining specific indicators and thresholds for ecosystem services in line with land-related SDGs is crucial to establish “Lighthouses” that can act as inspiring examples if they meet the various thresholds.
  • 1.2K
  • 25 Apr 2022
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