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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Entries
Topic Review
Water Quality Degradation
Water quality degradation is happened through the natural processes that influence the surface water and groundwater quality by various sources such as climate changes, natural disasters, geological factors, soil-matrix, and hyporheic exchange. Water could also be contaminated by anthropogenic factors. Anthropogenic pollutants are substances caused by human actions, mostly resulting from land-use practices. 
  • 17.0K
  • 05 Feb 2022
Topic Review
Motorcycle Market
In many cities, urbanization has led to a rapid increase in the demand for mobility. Most of this new demand has been satisfied by the individual private transport industry, within which motorcycles have an important share: around 30% of the vehicles in the world are motorcycles. Thus, the motorcycle market has experienced an upward trend, especially in developing countries. That uncontrolled growth brings along mobility, accidents, and environment-related issues that concern policy-makers. Research trends regarding this matter evidence that greenhouse gas emissions, sustainability, environmental impact, and developing countries are the topics of greater interest for researchers. In addition, taking into account the needs of modern cities, sustainable modes of transport such as electric and shared mobility are compulsory as a priority on governments' agendas. 
  • 3.3K
  • 26 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Endophytic Bacterial in Rice Plant
Endophytic bacterial communities are beneficial communities for host plants that exist inside the surfaces of plant tissues, and their application improves plant growth. They benefit directly from the host plant by enhancing the nutrient amount of the plant’s intake and influencing the phytohormones, which are responsible for growth promotion and stress. Endophytic bacteria play an important role in plant-growth promotion (PGP) by regulating the indirect mechanism targeting pest and pathogens through hydrolytic enzymes, antibiotics, biocontrol potential, and nutrient restriction for pathogens. 
  • 1.9K
  • 15 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Silver Nanoparticle
Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are among the most commonly used engineered nanomaterials with medicinal, industrial, and agricultural applications. Considering the vast usage of AgNPs, there is a possibility of their release into the environment, and their potential toxicological effects on plants and animals. Apart from using the particulate form of silver, AgNPs may be transformed to silver oxide or silver sulfide via oxidation or sulfidation, respectively, and these ones impact the soil and living organisms in a variety of ways. Therefore, it is critical to address the behavior of nanoparticles in the environment and possible methods for their removal. This review focuses on three objectives to discuss this issue including: the possible pathways for the release of AgNPs into the environment; the toxicological effects of AgNPs on plants and microorganisms; and the recommended phytoremediation approaches.
  • 2.2K
  • 19 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Climate Change, Security and the Nexus Concept
The nexus concept has been emerging since the Bonn 2011 Conference, “The Water Energy and Food Security Nexus—Solutions for the Green Economy”, with significant involvement from the UN and other international organisations. It has been defined as a “set of context-specific critical interlinkages between two or more natural resources used in delivery chains towards systems of provision”. From a policy perspective, it looks at delivery chains of resources, such as water and energy, in a polycentric manner, i.e., as independent providers based on ecosystem services with interlinkages across delivery stages, but without a presumed hierarchy among those dimensions. Thus, water, energy and food are seen as interrelated and of equal priority for the SDGs, considering the specific conditions of their provision and the strategic interests of relevant actors.
  • 1.3K
  • 15 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Thallium
Thallium, as a pharmaceutical cosmetic product, is applied for facial hair removal and fungal infections of the scalp. Thallium acetate is currently used as a catalyst in organic synthesis in the oxidation of olefins and hydrocarbons, and in epoxidation and polymerization reactions. Detection of Tl is a challenging task because its concentration in environmental samples may be at a nanogram per gram level or lower.
  • 3.4K
  • 23 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Nitrogen Turbine Engine
An ever-increasing demand for electrical power and soaring levels of energy consumption around the world have led to an energy crisis. Thus, this entry focuses on the conventional technologies against those of newer developments in electrical power generation such as using nitrogen generators. The nitrogen generator method is most appealing as it is a seemingly free energy already existing in nature. A nitrogen generator with a 5000 (Nm3/h) capacity has the potential to be used to analyze gas composition and the results are compared with the gas composition of a conventional steam turbine, which is used to pressurize 6000 (kWh) injection steam turbines. The magnetic bearing must be installed in both systems to modify all centrifuged systems which reduces all energy consumption in all systems by more than 50%. Artificial intelligence is used with the machine to analyze and control nitrogen gas flow to provide a more precise evaluation resulting in a more efficient technology. It should further be noted that the nitrogen turbine is superior to the steam turbine because it does not require the burning of fossil fuel to generate power. Hence, it is crucial to modify conventional technologies to improve energy sustainability and begin the long task of tackling environmental issues.
  • 3.2K
  • 12 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Parthenin
Parthenin, a sesquiterpene lactone of pseudoguaianolide type, is the representative secondary metabolite of the tropical weed Parthenium hysterophorus (Asteraceae). It accounts for a multitude of biological activities, including toxicity, allergenicity, allelopathy, and pharmacological aspects of the plant. Thus far, parthenin and its derivatives have been tested for chemotherapeutic abilities, medicinal properties, and herbicidal/pesticidal activities. However, due to the lack of toxicity-bioactivity relationship studies, the versatile properties of parthenin are relatively less utilised. The possibility of exploiting parthenin in different scientific fields (e.g., chemistry, medicine, and agriculture) makes it a subject of analytical discussion. It is important to highlight that the toxic nature of parthenin can be overcome by thoroughly understanding its structural basis, designing suitable derivatives, and deciding the appropriate doses.
  • 1.6K
  • 09 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Indoor Air Quality Improvement
Poor indoor air quality is a consequence of air contamination with pollutants whose sources may be natural or anthropogenic. The diversity of air contaminants range from particulate materials (PMs), biological pollutants, and over 400 different organic and inorganic chemical compounds, whose concentrations depend on both internal and external factors. Because people spend most of their time inside, poor indoor air quality causes serious human health issues, resulting in significant economic losses. Nature-based solutions using microalgae systems that mimic the role played by microalgae in the oceans, providing oxygen and biofixing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, may be installed in new and already existing buildings to improve indoor air quality in an energy-conserving manner while providing autonomy to the building. 
  • 1.5K
  • 08 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Industrial Ecology Education
Industrial ecology (IE) education is a topic that has received attention in institutions of higher education throughout the world. Some universities have been teaching and researching IE for the past 20 years but its scope is still being defined. There is a need to catalogue and exchange experiences of IE teaching and their results. In addition to an extensive literature review, this paper provides a framework composed of content and strategies for teaching Industrial Ecology. This framework is tested in teaching IE as a general education course for undergraduate students at Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT). The methodology applied in this paper is of a descriptive and empirical nature and thus this paper focuses on a practice-oriented perspective in describing the experience at BIT. A range of different strategies, including lectures, group discussions, case studies, role playing games, oral presentations, evaluation, and student feedback have been incorporated into the course. The course received highly positive evaluation by the participating students. Students were impressed by IE’s characteristic of interdisciplinarity, way of thinking and practical value. Additionally, the course appears to influence students’ values, attitudes, and behavioral intentions. The paper concludes with some thoughts on ways of improving IE education in the future.
  • 1.2K
  • 06 Oct 2021
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