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
Rice Husk Reinforced Polymer Composites
Rice (Oryza sativa L. genus) is the primary source of daily food intake and has become the world’s second most important cereal crop sector due to the demand of billions of human beings. Rice husk (RH) should never be burned, due to various reasons, such as the ashes, harmful gases, and fumes that contribute to air pollution. Typically, the RH can be used as biochar, extracted silica, or husk itself. In general, RH is a hull to protect seeds or grains. It is formed from rigid materials, is water-insoluble, and is abrasive, with a high level of cellulose–silica structures. The exterior of the hulls consists of silica covered with a cuticle, with a small amount of silica content at the innermost epidermis. The exploitation of RH residues in biocomposites offers multiple advantages, for example, reducing the relative amount of constituents derived from synthetic polymers, such as resin polymers and some additives. The tensile strength is mainly used to evaluate the strength behavior of a composite material. 
  • 1.4K
  • 04 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Real Driving Emissions
Air pollution caused by vehicle emissions has raised serious public health concerns. Vehicle emissions generally depend on many factors, such as the nature of the vehicle, driving style, traffic conditions, emission control technologies, and operational conditions. Concerns about the certification cycles used by various regulatory authorities are growing due to the difference in emission during certification procedure and Real Driving Emissions (RDE). Under laboratory conditions, certification tests are performed in a ‘chassis dynamometer’ for light-duty vehicles (LDVs) and an ‘engine dynamometer’ for heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs). As a result, the test drive cycles used to measure the automotive emissions do not correctly reflect the vehicle’s real-world driving pattern. Consequently, the RDE regulation is being phased to reduce the disparity between type approval and vehicle’s real-world emissions. According to this review, different variables such as traffic signals, driving dynamics, congestions, altitude, ambient temperature, and so on have a major influence on actual driving pollution. Aside from that, cold-start and hot-start have been shown to affect on-road pollution. Contrary to common opinion, new technology such as start-stop systems boost automotive emissions rather than decreasing them owing to unfavourable conditions from the point of view of exhaust emissions and exhaust after-treatment systems. In addition, the driving dynamics are not represented in the current laboratory-based test procedures. As a result, it is critical to establish an on-road testing protocol to obtain a true representation of vehicular emissions and reduce emissions to a standard level. The incorporation of RDE clauses into certification procedures would have a positive impact on global air quality. 
  • 1.1K
  • 02 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Microbial Food Safety and Sustainability
Improving the environmental sustainability of the food supply chain will help to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This environmental sustainability is related to different SDGs, but mainly to SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 12 (Responsible Production and Consumption), SDG 13 (Climate Action), and SDG 15 (Life on Land). The strategies and measures used to improve this aspect of the food supply chain must remain in balance with other sustainability aspects (economic and social).
  • 514
  • 02 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Agricultural Fertilization in Europe
Fertilizers stand at the base of current agricultural practices, providing the nutrient sustainment required for growing plants.
  • 1.1K
  • 30 Jul 2021
Topic Review
Black Coral Distribution in Italian
The aim of this entry is to present a review of the knowledge on the occurrence of black corals in the Italian seas, providing the first comprehensive distribution map of these species. The distribution of black corals may be considered the first step towards defining a more complete overview regarding the present knowledge on these vulnerable species. This study also highlights the need for the conservation programs protecting black corals in the Italian seas.
  • 682
  • 28 Jul 2021
Topic Review
Foraminiferal EcoQS Assessment, Transitional Waters
Transitional waters straddle the interface between marine and terrestrial biomes and, among others, include fjords, bays, lagoons, and estuaries. These coastal systems are essential for transport and manufacturing industries and suffer extensive anthropogenic exploitation of their ecosystem services for aquaculture and recreational activities. These activities can have negative effects on the local biota, necessitating investigation and regulation. As a result of this, EcoQS (ecological quality status) assessment has garnered great attention as an essential aspect of governmental bodies’ legislative decision-making process. Assessing EcoQS in transitional water ecosystems is problematic because these systems experience high natural variability and organic enrichment and often lack information about their pre-human impact, baseline, or “pristine” reference conditions, knowledge of which is essential to many commonly used assessment methods. Here, foraminifera can be used as environmental sentinels, providing ecological data such as diversity and sensitivity, which can be used as the basis for EcoQS assessment indices. Fossil shells of foraminifera can also provide a temporal aspect to ecosystem assessment, making it possible to obtain reference conditions from the study site itself. These foraminifera-based indices have been shown to correlate not only with various environmental stressors but also with the most common macrofaunal-based indices currently employed by bodies such as the Water Framework Directive (WFD).
  • 942
  • 28 Jul 2021
Topic Review
Renewable Energy Policies in Iran
The National Renewable Energy Policy can be introduced as an important step in increasing the investment and extraction of renewable energy in the total energy mix. Furthermore, to increase the use of local renewable energy sources, increasing the share of renewable energy in the composition of electricity generation can be achieved through facilitating the growth of the renewable industry, ensuring the reasonable cost of renewable energy production and creating public awareness of the importance of sustainable energy and clean technology.
  • 1.5K
  • 26 Jul 2021
Topic Review
Ionizing Radiation
The development of protective agents against harmful radiations has been a subject of investigation for decades. However, effective (ideal) radioprotectors and radiomitigators remain an unsolved problem. Because ionizing radiation-induced cellular damage is primarily attributed to free radicals, radical scavengers are promising as potential radioprotectors. Early development of such agents focused on thiol synthetic compounds, e.g., amifostine (2-(3-aminopropylamino) ethylsulfanylphosphonic acid), approved as a radioprotector by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA, USA) but for limited clinical indications and not for nonclinical uses. To date, no new chemical entity has been approved by the FDA as a radiation countermeasure for acute radiation syndrome (ARS). All FDA-approved radiation countermeasures (filgrastim, a recombinant DNA form of the naturally occurring granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, G-CSF; pegfilgrastim, a PEGylated form of the recombinant human G-CSF; sargramostim, a recombinant granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor, GM-CSF) are classified as radiomitigators. No radioprotector that can be administered prior to exposure has been approved for ARS. This differentiates radioprotectors (reduce direct damage caused by radiation) and radiomitigators (minimize toxicity even after radiation has been delivered). Molecules under development with the aim of reaching clinical practice and other nonclinical applications are discussed. Assays to evaluate the biological effects of ionizing radiations are also analyzed. Ionizing radiation is the energy released by atoms in the form of electromagnetic waves (e.g., X or gamma rays) or particle radiation (alpha, beta, electrons, protons, neutrons, mesons, prions, and heavy ions) with sufficient energy to ionize atoms or molecules.
  • 2.2K
  • 23 Feb 2022
Topic Review
Agriculture and Pollinator Biodiversity
Pollinator biodiversity is greatly affected by industrialized agriculture practices. Agroecological alternatives for food production must be implemented. 
  • 1.2K
  • 22 Jul 2021
Topic Review
Tunnel Technology
Tunnel Technology is an infrastructure-based technology that facilitates crop production for an extended period. The technology protects the crop from climate change effects, prolongs production, and makes efficient use of resources.
  • 532
  • 19 Jul 2021
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