Radon is a highly radioactive gas and a waste product of nuclear reactors. Radon is also carcinogenic for this reason and can be linked to the incidence of lung cancer in non smoking individuals who often spend time indoors. Assessment and Mitigation of Indoor Radon Problem is a case book for professionals who are interested in modeling the distribution of Radon gas in a real environment. The book is a collection of results taken from a survey of locations in the US state of Ohio. The data in this case book is based is based on the homes and mitigation databases of the Ohio Radon Information System (ORIS), maintained by the Air Pollution Research Group (APRG) at The University of Toledo in Toledo. This case book will be of interest to software engineers and environmental health workers seeking to build a geographic information system for tracking radioactive waste that can contaminate residential areas, particularly household indoors.

Environmental Zeolites and Aqueous Media: Examples of practical solutions brings to light the characteristic features of ion exchange and adsorption onto natural zeolite for environmental cleanup processes, particularly for water purification, zeolite`s present, past and future. This eBook emphasizes on the recent development in the synthesis and manufacturing of the advanced cost-effective organic and inorganic zeolite-based adsorbents.

The close of the first decade of the 21st century posed additional pressing environmental issues related to human activities and their effects on the planet. The need to protect the planet seems frequently to be in conflict with the need to feed the earth’s inhabitants and to supply the energy required for industry, transportation, regulating our indoor environment, and fueling other needs. The corporate world sometimes seems to have a callous disregard for the safety of its workers and the public at large. This e-book discusses the ecological and health impacts of aquaculture, the Alberta tar sands development, the Gulf Oil disaster of 2010, the hazards of inadequately safeguarding water supplies, and global warming, to name some of the important topics. This e-book will be very useful to students of environmental science, ecology, ecotoxicology and others interested in a broad overview of contemporary environmental issues. It is presented in a highly readable manner that makes it accessible to well-informed members of the public. Complex biochemical and chemical equations are avoided. Nonetheless, current primary sources of scientific information are used and referenced, making it easy for a reader to pursue a topic in greater depth if so desired.

Handbook of Natural Zeolites provides a comprehensive and updated summary of all important aspects of natural zeolites science and technology. The e-book contains four sections covering the relevant scientific background, established technologies, recent discoveries and future perspectives. All 28 chapters in this handbook are presented by highly respected scientists and leaders in natural zeolites science and include extensive references. The text in this e-book is supported by excellent figures and tables. As a result, novices and established scientists alike will find this comprehensive volume a great resource for years to come.

Mechanisms of Landscape Rehabilitation and Sustainability is based on the results of landscape rehabilitation with the help of fabricated soil and a new approach on the use of restored soils for building houses and communities. This book presents discoveries and proposals that have emerged from the authors' research and explains ways to protect Earth's ecosystems against further degradation. These proposals are founded on the philosophy of sustainable development and its application to various aspects essential to the long-term success of human beings; these include community coexistence, education, water purification and recycling, agriculture, the production of fabricated soil for landscape rehabilitation, and the preservation and propagation of wild flora. Strategies for both indoor and outdoor systems are covered in this publication. The book covers several subjects including molecular biology, botany, microbiology, soil biochemistry and human interaction with the ecosystem. Methods for soil rehabilitation ultimately allow us to obtain optimal crop yield. Mechanisms of Landscape Rehabilitation and Sustainability is of particular interest to academic and professional biologists, soil scientists, ecologists, agronomists and architects.

Organic petrology is a discipline of geology which integrates multidisciplinary approaches for the exploration and evaluation of fossil fuel resources by conventional and unconventional procedures. Organic petrology has brought forth new, powerful analytical tools for the characterization of geological hydrocarbon systems, thus providing information where previous analytical techniques prove to be less effective. The reference provides a broad, comprehensive source of information about the application of organic petrology in the investigation of geological formations related with the production and accumulation of oil and gas. Eleven chapters cover a variety of topics (kerogens, dispersed organic matter systems, sedimentary organic matter systems, oil and gas shales, etc.). Additional information in chapters referring to examples in specific geographical locations provides a global perspective of hydrocarbon exploration. The book is an introductory reference for all scholars involved in applied organic petrology of hydrocarbon systems including graduate and undergraduate geology students, engineers and lab technicians. [Series intro] Geology: Current and Future Developments is a book series that brings together the latest contributions to geological research. Each volume features chapters contributed by academic scholars / professional experts from around the world. The scope of the book series includes (but is not limited to) topics such as plate tectonics, climate science, hydrocarbon exploration, mineral exploration, and environmental science. This series is intended as a useful compendium of scholarly reference material for geology students and professionals.

The search for a cause of the global warming phenomenon on our planet has sparked some interest in the scientific community. The connection between changes occurring in the sun and global warming presents one fundamental perspective which has been investigated by a number of scientific research groups. In recent times, there have been some promising results that might help us uncover the clues about such a link. The Sun-Climate Connection over the Last Millennium: facts and questions presents fundamental information about the solar activity, space weather, terrestrial climates and their variations over an extended period of time. The information presented is a set of analyses based on modern methods of statistical analysis of non-stationary time series, including Fourier, wavelet and singular spectral analysis while considering space weather phenomena (solar winds, solar flares, aurora borealis etc.) and other terrestrial manifestations of solar activity. The physical mechanisms potentially linking solar activity and space weather to climate are discussed based on these analyses. The eBook also provides some context of modern millennial temperature reconstructions for explaining global warming in the 20th century. Scenarios of the solar activity and climate evolution throughout the 21st century are considered on the basis of the updated data. The eBook provides useful facts for researchers seeking information on climate and space research with respect to solar phenomena

With the application of the effective stress concept, the strength and volumetric behavior of saturated materials was clearly understood. For the case of unsaturated materials, a universally accepted effective stresses equation is still under debate. However, the use of the effective stress concept to develop constitutive models for unsaturated soils is becoming increasingly popular not only because the hydro-mechanical coupling observed in these materials is implicit in the formulation but also because simpler and more precise models can be established. Towards A Unified Soil Mechanics Theory demonstrates that the same strength and volume change equations used in saturated soil mechanics can be used for the case of unsaturated soils. In other words, the constitutive models developed for saturated soils can be used for unsaturated materials once the effective stress equation has been defined.

In this book, an analytical equation for the effective stress for unsaturated soils is established. This equation requires the knowledge of the superficial area of solids affected by the capillary phenomenon. In other words, we need to know how water distributes in the pores of the soil. This distribution can be modeled using a solid-porous model built on a regular network. However the size of the network required to correctly simulate the structure of a small soil sample cannot be managed with a common PC. For that reason, a probabilistic porous-solid model is developed. This model uses the pore size distribution in the form of a probabilistic function which in addition to the Laplace equation and the principle of continuity can be expressed as the probability of a pore of certain size to be filled or dry at suction during a wetting or drying path, respectively. In this way, the soil-water retention curves can be simulated and the effective stress at any suction during wetting or drying processes can be determined. Based on this approach, it is shown that unsaturated soils behave under the same principles for strength and volumetric behavior as saturated soils.

Towards A Unified Soil Mechanics Theory paves the way for a universal theory of soil mechanics. The volume will be a valuable reference to civil engineers, earth scientists and hydrologists interested in soil mechanics at both academic and professional levels.

Environmental pollution has received the attention of both economists and ecologists who have integrated their ideas and concepts in recent decades. Production and consumption of material goods generates residuals that are disposed in the environment. Air emissions constitute one of the most important residuals, including greenhouse gases, as well as localized substances toxic to human health and the environment. How economic activity affects gas emissions is valuable information for pollution control and is extremely useful for defining and implementing successful environmental policies, aimed at improving the global efficiency of an economy. The e-book presents the relationship between economic activities and air pollution. It describes research contributions focused on showing the properties and the usefulness of National Accounting Matrices with Environmental Accounts (NAMEA). Additionally, demonstrates the most recent advances in the input-output methodology and linear extended multisectorial models to capture the gas emissions processes with empirical applications of these methods to specific countries. The contents of the e-book make it an interesting platform of new knowledge for both academic public and people in national agencies of environmental regulation.