Bücher der Reihe Environmental Science

This book is the outcome of two International Conferences held at the ISEC in Bangalore, India: the international conference on "Climate Change and Social-Ecological-Economical Interface-Building: Modelling Approach to Exploring Potential Adaptation Strategies for Bio-resource Conservation and Livelihood Development" held during 20-21 May 2015 and jointly organized by the Centre for Ecological Economics and Natural Resources (CEENR), Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC) and the Centre for Environmental Systems Research (CESR), University of Kassel, Germany; and the international conference "Climate Change and Food Security - the Global and Indian Contexts," jointly hosted by the CEENR, ISEC and the School of Geosciences, University of Sydney, on 18-19 February 2015. The selected papers presented in this book portray a broad range of international research efforts aimed at developing a deeper understanding of human-environment systems but also at translating scientific knowledge into political and societal solutions and responses to the challenge of climate change.

In a time when an unquestionable link between anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases and climatic changes has finally been acknowledged and * widely documented through IPCC reports, the need for precise estimates of greenhouse gas (GHG) production rates and emissions from natural as well as managed ecosystems has risen to a critical level.

In the face of increasingly serious resource and environmental challenges, the world has already accepted low-carbon development as the main way forward for future city construction. Chinese cities have encountered many problems during their development, including land constraints, energy shortages, traffic congestion and air pollution. For this reason, the national meeting of the Central Work Conference on Urbanization made the strategic decision to take a new approach to urbanization and indicated that in future the key features of urbanization in China will be low-carbon development and harmony between the environment and resources. This book discusses the "low-carbon city" as the new pattern of Chinese urbanization. This represents a major change and takes "intensive land use,¿ ¿intelligent,¿ ¿green¿ and ¿low carbon" as its key words. Low carbon will become an important future development direction for Chinese urbanization development.In the twenty-first Century in response to the global climate change, countries have started a wave of low-carbon city construction. But in China, there are still many disputes and misunderstandings surrounding the issue. Due to a lack of research, low-carbon city construction in China is still in the early stages, and while there have been successes, there have also been failures. There are complex and diverse challenges in applying low-carbon development methods in the context of today¿s Chinese cities. The construction of low-carbon cities requires efficient government, the technological innovation of enterprises, and professional scholars, but also efforts on the part of the public to change their daily activities.Based on the above considerations, the collection brings together experts from urban planning and design, clean-energy systems, low-carbon transportation, new types of city infrastructure and smart cities etc., in the hope of forming some solutions for Chinese low-carbon city development.

Photoinduced processes, caused by natural sunlight, are key functions for sustaining all living organisms through production and transformation of organic matter (OM) in the biosphere. Production of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) from OM is a primary step of photoinduced processes, because H2O2 acts as strong reductant and oxidant.

This book discusses various statistical models and their implications for developing landslide susceptibility and risk zonation maps.

This book covers the full spectrum of water and environment conservation, offering management lessons, identifying the barriers to transformative change, and then presenting agendas and initiatives for sustainable global water and environment management.

A large part of the global population lives in arid lands which have low rainfall and often lack the water required for sustainable population and economic growth.

This book focuses on the microbial degradation of endosulfan, lindane, chlorophenols, organochlorine, aldrin, dieldrin, isoproturon and atrazine, etc. which are commonly used in crop fields to kill the pests. Further, it illustrates the role of degradative enzymes, metabolic pathways of degradation, toxicity of metabolites, and the factors regulating the pesticide degradation.In view of persistence of synthetic pesticides, scientists have discovered suitable microbes, such as bacteria, fungi and algae (naturally occurring or genetically engineered) over the years. After successful trials under laboratory and field conditions, these microbes are being used to degrade chemical pesticides in agriculture. As of now 2.56 billion kg of chemical pesticides is used every year to protect agricultural fields against pest attack. These technologies have been found to be highly effective, eco-friendly and cost-effective without disturbing the agro-ecosystems. As this book contains review articles contributed by various researchers from different countries whose work demonstrates recent advances in microbial degradation of pesticides, it will serve as a ready reckoner and also a valuable quick reference guide for scientists, academicians, cultivators and industrialists alike.

This book presents the outcomes of the 2017 national workshop and international conference organized by CEENR of ISEC, Bengaluru and Assam University Silchar.

This book is a valuable contribution to the debate about the harmful effects of environmental toxicants on human health, which is a growing concern in the 21st century. Complementary chapters decipher the phenomena and highlight the latest developments in environmental toxicology, providing readers with a comprehensive overview of environmental toxicology and human health.Since the toxicants in question are not only chemical or biological in nature, but also include man-made electromagnetic fields, the book explores in detail multidisciplinary approaches to environmental toxicology, with a focus on the following five aspects: 1. The effects of man-made electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) on human health proposed mechanisms and biological effects and measures). 2. An overview of nanotoxicity, nanomedicine and cancer research. 3. A bio-computational approach to the molecular interaction of environmental carcinogens with DNA. 4. The toxicology of environmental pollutants in the air, dust, soil, water and natural toxins in the environment: exposure and health. 5. Social insects as environmental indicators of ecotoxicological effects in different ecosystems.The book analyzes the carcinogenic, mutagenic, genotoxic and neurotoxic effects of both anthropogenic and natural toxins present in water, soil, air and our surroundings in the form of electro-pollution or electro-smog.

This book focuses on water resources and the economic, financial, social and environmental impacts (ICSDWE) of global warming and climate change. The book is a valuable resource for students and researchers at government organizations, academic institutions, and NGOs.

This book presents the first empirically tested, comprehensive study on shifting cultivation in Mizoram. Such cultivation leads to the burning and degradation of vast areas of forestland and therefore has adverse impacts on the floral and faunal resources.