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
Effects of Sunflower Phenolamides on Infected Bumblebees
Bees may forage on specific floral resources to face parasite infection. Such natural resources are comparable to ‘natural pharmacies’ and may be favoured in bee conservation strategies. Consumption of sunflower pollen, despite being detrimental for larval development, has been recently shown to reduce the load of a widespread bumble bee gut parasite in the common eastern bumble bee. Although the underlying mechanisms remain unknown, it has been suggested that sunflower phenolamides—a family of molecules found in most flowering plants—may be responsible for such a reduction in parasite load. 
  • 581
  • 06 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Groundwater Level Modeling with Machine Learning
Groundwater is the largest global reservoir of liquid freshwater, which is under increasing stress due to overdraft. Groundwater is a vital source of freshwater, supporting the livelihood of over two billion people worldwide. The quantitative assessment of groundwater resources is critical for sustainable management of this strained resource, particularly as climate warming, population growth, and socioeconomic development further press the water resources. Rapid growth in the availability of a plethora of in-situ and remotely sensed data alongside advancements in data-driven methods and machine learning offer immense opportunities for an improved assessment of groundwater resources at the local to global levels.
  • 1.1K
  • 06 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Carbon Dioxide Fixation by Phytoplankton
Marine phytoplankton account for more than half of the carbon dioxide fixation of Earth. The export of carbon is highest at the photic zone of the ocean, which is dominated by phytoplankton. Plankton can also be zooplanktons that feed on phytoplankton and release fecal pellets that are made of dissolved carbon particles. The growth of the phytoplankton mainly depends upon three factors, i.e., nutrients, sunlight, and carbon dioxide. Phytoplankton-like plants have chlorophyll that fixes carbon dioxide to glucose using the Rubisco enzyme.
  • 1.2K
  • 06 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Green Entrepreneurship in the Agriculture Industry
Agriculture is one of those industries that is contributing significantly to environmental degradation. Globally, the agriculture industry causes soil erosion, pollutes lakes, rivers, sea, and ground water, pollutes the top layer of earth through the excess amount of chemical in the form of fertilizer, and causes the extinction of living species. Academic research suggests that one of the solutions to environmental degradation caused by the agriculture industry is promoting green agriculture enterprises and integrating agriculture with advanced sophisticated sustainable technology through green agriculture entrepreneurship. Green agriculture allows the achievement of established threshold sustainable criteria while advancing rural communities with regard to food, energy, and technological independence.
  • 1.1K
  • 06 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Ways of Light Energy Utilization in C4 Photosynthesis
Most C4 plants that naturally occur in tropical or subtropical climates, in high light environments, had to evolve a series of adaptations of photosynthesis that allowed them to grow under these conditions. Some mechanisms that function under changing light conditions, particularly in high light intensity, are universal and are also found in C3 plants. However, some are modified in C4 plants to provide more efficient CO2 assimilation. The close relationship between the light phase of photosynthesis and the enzymatic reactions in chloroplasts, and the associated demand for ATP and NADPH, results that in C4 plants the linear and cyclic electron transport operate in a different ratio in the chloroplasts of mesophyll (M) and bundle sheath (BS) cells. In addition, differences in the intensity of light reaching M and BS chloroplasts and in the thylakoid structure (granal and agranal) will affect the processes of the redistribution of excitation energy between photosystems and the dissipation of its excess. Therefore, it can be assumed that, in the M chloroplasts, because of increased incoming light energy, the mechanisms related to the dissipation of excess energy must function better than in BS chloroplasts to prevent photosystems from photoinhibition and, in consequence, from a decrease in ATP and NADPH. On the other hand, BS chloroplasts, which receive less light energy, must have better functioning mechanisms that allow for its efficient use.
  • 801
  • 06 Apr 2022
Topic Review
The Fourth Industrial Revolution
According to Schwab, the word, “revolution”, refers to a radical change, and revolutions occur in the world when new technologies and novel ways of perceiving the world come about, with changes in the economic systems and the social structures of the world. As was noted before, the 4IR is defined as: “Revolution that is blurring the lines between the physical, the digital, and the biological worlds. Massive advances in artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), robotics, 3D printing, quantum computing, genetic engineering, and various other technologies”. One of the easiest ways of understanding the 4IR is to start gathering knowledge about the First Industrial Revolution, the Second Industrial Revolution, and then the Third Industrial Revolution.
  • 1.1K
  • 06 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Microcystins in Water
Eutrophication of surface waters caused by toxic cyanobacteria such as Microcystis aeruginosa leads to the release of secondary metabolites called Microcystins (MCs), which are heptapeptides with adverse effects on soil microbiota, plants, animals, and human health. Therefore, implementing ecotechnologies capable of handling this problem has become necessary.
  • 540
  • 06 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Leaf Senescence
Leaf senescence is an ordered physiological process in which cellular structures and biomolecules are progressively broken down and the resulting products mobilized to other plant organs such as fruits, seeds, tubers and/or more apical leaves.
  • 1.6K
  • 02 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Chronic Effects of Fluoxetine on Danio rerio
Fluoxetine is an antidepressant widely used to treat depressive and anxiety states. Due to its mode of action in the central nervous system (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI)), it becomes toxic to non-target organisms, leading to alterations detrimental to its survival.
  • 457
  • 06 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Anti-Inflammatory Properties Anthocyanins in Edible Flowers
The word ‘anthocyanin’ derives from two Greek words: anthos, which means flowers, and kyanos, which means dark blue. Anthocyanins are secondary metabolites in land plants that contribute to the color of leaves and flowers. These pigments are primary blue, red, and purple. They are synthesized via the flavonoid pathway, which is part of the general phenylpropanoid pathway.
  • 507
  • 01 Apr 2022
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