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Elsevier

Books in Environmental sciences

The Environmental Sciences titles present critical research and insights into the complex interactions within natural ecosystems, climate systems, and human impacts on the environment. Covering areas such as biodiversity, sustainability, climate change, and resource management, these titles support scientific discovery and practical solutions for addressing today’s most pressing environmental challenges. This collection is essential for researchers, policymakers, and students dedicated to advancing environmental understanding and stewardship

  • Large Marine Ecosystems of the North Atlantic

    Changing States and Sustainability
    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 10
    • H.R. Skjoldal + 1 more
    • English
    This is the first book to provide assessments of multidecadal changes in resources and environments of the Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs) of the North Atlantic. Using the case study method, researchers examine the forces driving the changes and actions underway aimed at turning the corner from declining trends in biomass yields, toward recovery of depleted species populations and improvements in ecosystem integrity.Recently a distinguished group of 24 scientists argued eloquently that a new Sustainability Science was emerging that was focused on "meeting fundamental human needs while preserving the life support systems of planet Earth". The contributions contained in this volume are at the cutting edge of Sustainability Science and the results presented by the contributors are pertinent to one of the core questions: "How are long-term trends in environment and development, including consumption and population, reshaping nature-society interactions in ways relevant to sustainability?" (Science Vol. 292, 27 April 2001). The case studies demonstrate the utility of an ecosystem-based approach to the assessment and management of biomass yields and species sustainability.Movem... toward ecosystem-based management have emerged from the case studies on the initiation of recoveries of several depleted groundfish stocks of the US Northeast Shelf LME; the collapse of the Newfoundland-Labrado... Shelf cod; the assessment of physical and biological changes on the Scotian Shelf, West Greenland Shelf, Iceland Shelf LME, and the Faroe Plateau, the North Sea, and the Barents Sea LMEs. Uncertainties, with regard to environmental and human-generated forcing, are addressed in assessment of the states of the Iberian Coastal and Biscay-Celtic LMEs, and in broad-scale studies of the influences at the base of the food chain of climatic variability on the productivity and biodiversity of plankton communities of the North Atlantic. The volume concludes with an insightful perspective on the approaches used and the results reported by the eminent marine scientist and former President of ICES, Professor Gotthilf Hempel.

  • Ecology of Desert Systems

    • 1st Edition
    • Walter G. Whitford
    • English
    Conventional wisdom considers deserts stark, harsh regions that support few living things. Most people also believe that water alone makes the desert bloom. Ecology of Desert Systems challenges these conventional views. This volume explores a broad range of topics of interest to ecosystem, population, community, and physiological ecologists. Climate, weather patterns, geomorphology, and wind and water processes are examined as variables that affect the distribution of biota through fundamental ecosystem processes. Descriptions of morphological, behavioral, and physiological adaptations of desert biota illuminate, through the lens of patch dynamics, principles for understanding observed patterns of primary production, nutrient cycling, and the effects of consumers. Desertification, and the techniques for monitoring and quantifying it, is examined within the framework of desert ecosystem patterns and processes.

  • Chemistry of the Environment

    • 2nd Edition
    • Ronald A. Bailey + 4 more
    • English
    Emphasizing new science essential to the practice of environmental chemistry at the beginning of the new millennium, Chemistry of the Environment describes the atmosphere as a distinct sphere of the environment and the practice of industrial ecology as it applies to chemical science. It includes extensive coverage of nuclear chemistry, covering both natural environmental sources and anthropogenic sources, their impacts on health, and their role in energy production, that goes well beyond the newspaper coverage to discuss nuclear chemistry and disposal in a balanced and scientifically rational way.

  • Dictionary of Water and Waste Management

    • 1st Edition
    • Paul G Smith
    • English
    The first edition of the Dictionary of Waste and Water Treatment was published in 1981 and was aimed at treatment and treatment design. Over the last 20 years, areas such as air pollution control, solid waste management, hazardous waste management, pipeline management (leakage control, pipeline and sewer renewal) and environmental management systems have all become increasingly important. To reflect this shift, this completely revised and updated edition now covers water and waste management as well as treatment.The dictionary contains definitions of around 7000 terms used in:Water resources and hydrologyDrinking water qualityWaterborne diseasesPublic HealthWater treatmentWastewater treatmentSludge treatmentAir pollution & air pollution controlSolid Waste ManagementHazardous Waste ManagementPipeline Management (leakage control, pipeline & sewer renewal)Environmenta... Management systems (ISO 14000, EMAS)The dictionary has been completely revised and updated to encompass all the changes of the last 20 years to become the most comprehensive dictionary of water and waste management available.

  • Environmental Foresight and Models

    A Manifesto
    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 22
    • M.B. Beck
    • English
    Policy-makers and the public, it has famously been said, are more interested in the possibility of non-linear dislocations and surprises in the behaviour of the environment than in smooth extrapolations of current trends. The International Task Force in Forecasting Environmental Change (1993-1998) dedicated its work to developing procedures of model building capable of addressing our palpable concerns for substantial change in the future. This volume discusses the immense challenges that such structural change presents - that the behaviour of the environment may become radically different from that observed in the past - and investigates the potentially profound implications for model development.Drawing upon case histories from the Great Lakes, acidic atmospheric deposition and, among others, the urban ozone problem, this discourse responds to a new agenda of questions. For example: "What system of 'radar' might we design to detect threats to the environment lying just beyond the 'horizon'?" and "Are the seeds of structural change identifiable within the record of the recent past?"Meticulously researched by leading environmental modellers, this milestone volume engages vigorously with its subject and offers an animated account of how models can begin to take into consideration the significant threats and uncertainties posed by structural change.

  • Biotransformations: Bioremediation Technology for Health and Environmental Protection

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 36
    • R.D. Stapleton Jr. + 1 more
    • English
    This volume provides a clear understanding of how microbes, following their degradative processes, contribute maximally to the benefit of mankind through biotransformations of waste materials as well as a wide variety of health-risk compounds.The book contains twenty four chapters contributed by leading scientists from different parts of the world, covering various aspects of bioremediation of xenobiotics such as toxic, carcinogenic, teratogenic, and mutagenic compounds, which include halogenated aromatics, derivatives of heavy metals, microbial toxins, tannins, dyes, sulfur compounds of coal and petroleum and pesticides. The bioremediation of agricultural residue, industrial as well as municipal wastes, fuel oils, lubricants, natural rubber products, and other synthetic polymers, which pollute the environment substantially, also constitutes an important component of the book. All biotechnological aspects of microbial transformations pertaining to biodegradation/biore... of hazardous wastes, ranging from screening methods for microbes with degradative potential, processes of degradation, strain improvement for enhanced biodegradation and elimination of xenobiotics of health and environmental concern have been dealt with. The book intends to widen the scope of Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology in general and biotransformations in particular. It will provide an opportunity for scientists in the areas of biochemistry, food industry, environmental science and engineering and their implications in technologically feasible, environment friendly and economically viable bioremediation options. Also, it forms an interface between agro-industrial establishments and the academic world and will generate new thought provoking ideas for scientists of future generations for the safeguard of both human and animal health as well as the environment.

  • Freshwater Ecology

    Concepts and Environmental Applications
    • 1st Edition
    • Walter K. Dodds
    • English
    Freshwater Ecology: Concepts and Environmental Applications is a general text covering both basic and applied aspects of freshwater ecology and serves as an introduction to the study of lakes and streams. Issues of spatial and temporal scale, anthropogenic impacts, and application of current ecological concepts are covered along with ideas that are presented in more traditional limnological texts. Chapters on biodiversity, toxic chemicals, extreme and unusual habitats, and fisheries increase the breadth of material covered. The book includes an extensive glossary, questions for thought, worked examples of equations, and real-life problems.

  • Building the Ecological City

    • 1st Edition
    • R R White
    • English
    If the modern city is a monument to anything, it is a monument to man's inefficiency. Our cities are plagued by problems of congestion, waste, and pollution that deplete natural resources, damage the environment and reduce the quality of life of citizens.The irony is, as this fascinating new study shows, that it doesn't have to be like this.Building the ecological city describes the problems we face and puts forward solutions to the question – how can we build cities that provide an acceptable standard of living for their inhabitants without depleting the ecosystems and bio-geochemical cycles on which they depend?The book suggests and examines the concept of urban metabolism in which the city is characterized as a set of interlinked systems of physical flows linking air, land and water. A series of chapters looks at the production and management of waste, energy use and air emissions, water supply and management, urban land use and air quality issues. Within the broader context of climate change, the book then considers a range of practical strategies for restoring the health of urban ecosystems from the restoration of 'brownfield' land to productive use through to improving air quality and making better use of water resourcesBuilding the ecological city is a major contribution to better urban management and planning for both citizens and the environment and is an invaluable sourcebook for urban and national planners, architects and environmental agencies.

  • Air Pollution Meteorology

    • 1st Edition
    • R R Scorer
    • English
    Written by a distinguished international scientist, who has made fundamental contributions on the climatic relationship between air pollution and meteorology, the book provides a compendium of realistic examples of air pollution behaviour. After commencing with a general survey he takes us through a study of diffusion mechanisms including pollution from industrial chimneys and road traffic. Air pollution meteorology covers boundary layer scaling, pre-processing meteorological data, air quality management, urban meteorology, and atmospheric chemistry (oxides of nitrogen are central to ozone chemistry) with accounts of typical air pollution episodes and a brief dictionary of air pollutants.

  • Metals, Metalloids and Radionuclides in the Baltic Sea Ecosystem

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 5
    • P. Szefer
    • English
    This book presents in detail the state of knowledge of the distribution, bioavailability, biomagnification, discrimination, fate and sources of chemical pollutants (metals, metalloids, radionuclides and nutrients) in all compartments (atmosphere, water, deposits, biota) of the Baltic environment. Particular components of the Baltic ecosystem are considered as potential monitors of pollutants. Budgets of chemical elements and the ecological status of the Baltic Sea in the past, present and future are presented. Estimates of health risks to man in respect to some toxic metals and radionuclides in fish and seafood are briefly discussed. The content of the book makes possible the identification of gaps in our environmental knowledge of the Baltic Sea, with certain sections establishing possible priorities, key areas or strategies for future research.

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