Elsevier, 25th May 2021
World Environment Day is the most renowned day for environmental action. Since 1974, it has been celebrated every year on June 5th, engaging governments, businesses, celebrities and citizens to focus their efforts on a pressing environmental issue.
To mark World Environment Day 2021, Elsevier presents a curated list of free access journal articles and book chapters in support of this year's theme - Ecosystem Restoration.
People and the planet are only as healthy as the ecosystems we all depend on. Bringing degraded ecosystems back to life – for example by planting trees, cleaning up riverbanks, or simply giving nature space to recover – increases their benefits to society and biodiversity. Without reviving ecosystems, we cannot achieve the Sustainable Development Goals or the Paris Climate Agreement. But ecosystems are also complex and highly varied, and their restoration needs careful planning and patient implementation.
World Environment Day 2021 also marks the launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, a rallying call for the protection and revival of ecosystems all around the world, for the benefit of people and nature. The UN Decade runs from 2021 through 2030, which is also the deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals and the timeline scientists have identified as the last chance to prevent catastrophic climate change. It aims to halt the degradation of ecosystems, and restore them to achieve global goals. Only with healthy ecosystems can we enhance people’s livelihoods, counteract climate change, and stop the collapse of biodiversity.
Elsevier, General and Comparative Endocrinology, Volume 303, 1 March 2021
Anthropogenic activity is a major driver of seabird injury and mortality in the 21st century. Although most seabirds perish within the natural environment as a result of human activities, some are rescued and admitted to rehabilitation centres. Despite the considerable number of admissions, little is known regarding the physiological response seabirds have to specific admission reasons and the rehabilitation process.
Background: Today's meat and dairy industry has a vast environmental footprint. To reach the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs) of ending hunger globally (SDG #2) and achieving sustainable consumption and production (SDG #12), this food production system needs to change. Recent years have seen the rise in popularity of the vegan or plant-based diet among consumers, which can go some way to reducing the environmental burden.
The food industry is responsible for significant impacts on the environment, such as climate change, water depletion and land use. Although these environmental impacts, along with socio-economic ramifications, are generally difficult to monitor and control, there is a significant interest from the food industry to assess the sustainability of their activities and wider supply chains. However, new food products are being continuously designed and manufactured, for instance complex foods made with a number of ingredients such as sandwiches, prepared salads and ready meals.
A nudge experiment was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of presenting a menu with the dish-of-the-day (DoD) vs. a menu with free choice to facilitate consumer choice towards a fully plant-based, nutritious and tasty meal in foodservice setting. A menu card in control condition included the appetizer, the three mains and a dessert. The menu card in the intervention included the appetizer, eggplant lasagne as the DoD, and the dessert. Thirty-three volunteers ate twice at Future Consumer Lab in Copenhagen, once in each condition (67% women; mean age 25y; SD2.1).
Elsevier, International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science, Volume 22, December 2020
When studying perceptions of eating insects among new consumer groups, the focus is often on factors that make people avoid novel foods. In order to switch perspective and broaden the understanding of drivers for choosing insects as food, this pilot study aimed to explore the reasons for eating insects among Swedish adults with an interest in entomophagy. Data were collected via a questionnaire combined with workshop discussions.
Elsevier, China Economic Review, Volume 65, February 2021
Mitigating global warming is the responsibility of all countries. Moreso, the role of forests in sequestrating carbon is very crucial. Most environmental organizations are active in protecting the environment according to their objectives. This paper investigates the relationship between institutional freedom and forest carbon sinks by using a panel threshold model with 139 countries to verify the U-shaped relationship between forest carbon sinks and economic development. The U-shaped curve between forest carbon sinks and economic development is the same as the environmental Kuznets curve.
Agricultural pesticides represent a significant class of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) to which non-target organisms around the world are constantly exposed. Laboratory studies have found strong evidence showing the endocrine-disruptive potential of these pesticides at environmentally relevant exposure levels. Since the field of endocrine disruption continues to grow in richness and complexity, this review aims to provide an update on the effects of two agricultural pesticides that act as EDCs: atrazine and endosulfan.
Elsevier, Scientific African, Volume 7, March 2020
Increased demand for food to feed the ever-growing population led to development and adoption of synthetic chemicals as a quick and effective strategy of managing crop pests and diseases. However, overreliance on synthetic pesticides is discouraged due to their detrimental effects on human health, the environment, and development of resistant pest and pathogen strains. This, coupled with increasing demand for organically produced foods, stimulated search for alternative approaches and botanical pesticides are particularly gaining importance.
Elsevier, She Ji, Volume 5, Spring 2019
There is a metabolic rift running through our economy and culture, and it is distracting our attention from care for the biosphere. To heal this rift, the diverse groups of people that make up humankind need a shared purpose that everyone can relate to and support. A strong candidate for that shared purpose is care for the bioregion—bioregioning—as an activity that creates value.
Elsevier, Resources Policy, Volume 74, December 2021
With the rapid development of China's economy, it has become crucial to achieve the right balance between economic development and environmental protection. Green growth is a significant approach to addressing the relationship between economic development and the environment. Low-carbon development and ecological protection are two essential aspects of green development, and they tremendously impact enterprises' resource-based supply chain. Hence, this paper seeks to explore the revenue distribution mechanism of the resource-based supply chain in the context of green development.
Elsevier, Journal of Comparative Economics, Volume 45, 1 February 2017
This paper provides a systematic study of the location choice of new polluting firms driven by the 11th Five-Year Plan's water pollution reduction mandates in China. We explore a unique dataset of environmental statistics, which contains 31380 polluting manufacturing firms newly established in the period 2006–2010.
Elsevier, International Economics, Volume 134, August 2013
The economic crises seems blinding the governments and major economic actors toward environmental troubles. Nevertheless, the impacts of population growth and economic expansion have now the potential to disrupt important regulatory functions of global ecological systems. Green growth involves transforming the production and consumption processes in order to maintain or restore these regulatory functions of the planet's natural capital. It requires that environmental facto rs be treated as an essential factor of production and not merely an externality.
Elsevier, Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry, Volume 29, June 2021
Microplastic pollution has sparked interest from researchers, public, industries, and regulators owing to reports of extensive presence of microplastics in the environment, household dust, drinking water, and food, which indicates chronic exposure to organisms within ecosystems and in human living spaces. Although exposure to microplastics is evident, negative effects from microplastics appear to be minimal in most studies on biota, and no risk assessments have been completed for microplastics on human health.
This review is dedicated to ecocatalysis, a concept developed by the Grison group aiming at combining ecology and green chemistry, which could be the vector of sustainable development based on the principle of circular economy. Within this objective, the Grison group has relied on using remediation phytotechnologies, such as phytoextraction, rhizofiltration, and biosorption. These solutions inspired by Nature generate a novel type of biomass, which has become a source of innovation in catalytic chemistry, called ecocatalysis.
As more and more people are buying more and more items online, limiting the ecological footprint of e-commerce deliveries is pressing. Research suggests several initiatives for retailers and logistics service providers to take, but consumer-involvement is key. This research investigates how to encourage consumers’ sustainable decision-making in the web-shop's check-out page by using non-financial incentives only.
Elsevier, Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, Volume 92, March 2021
Vehicle driving patterns greatly impact the sustainability of the transportation system. Based on V2X communication, the ecological cooperative adaptive cruise control (Eco-CACC) is proposed combing the advantages of eco-driving and car-following to minimize the energy consumption of the connected automated vehicles platoon. Herein, the vehicle platoon behavior in the scenario of driving through a signalized intersection exhibits great benefits for sustainability which is even improved along corridors with more traffic lights.
Elsevier, Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 66, March 2021
The climate emergency and population growth are challenging water security and sustainable urban design in cities worldwide. Sustainable urban development is crucial to minimise pressures on the natural environment and on existing urban infrastructure systems, including water, energy, and land. These pressures are particularly evident in London, which is considered highly vulnerable to water shortages and floods and where there has been a historical shortage of housing. However, the impacts of urban growth on environmental management and protection are complex and difficult to evaluate.
Elsevier, Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 66, March 2021
Electric vehicles (EVs) are widely regarded as the key to finally making private mobility clean, yet virtually no research is being conducted on their potential contribution to the expansion of impervious surfaces. This study aims to start a discussion on the topic by exploring three relevant issues: the impact of EVs’ operating costs on urban size, the space requirements of charging facilities, the land demand of energy production through renewables.
This study presents a critical review analysis of greenery systems research through a bibliometric approach. The purpose of this study is to provide a holistic overview by (i) the development of the field; (ii) the research trends and the main issues; and (iii) the main gaps still observed in the literature. Therefore, this paper provides the past, the present and the potential future of this scientific topic and serves as an orientation and guide for researchers who aim for a better understanding of the main progress and gaps.
This paper assesses the influence of land development patterns on intra-urban thermal variation in a densely-developed subtropical city, considering joint effect from greenspace pattern and built-up geometry. Despite growing research on urban climates, research at a scale that can support urban planning with scientificallyinformed strategies is still not as well documented for warm climate cities as for temperate cities. In response, this paper uses land surface temperature and geoinformation to assess the subtropical city of Taipei, Taiwan.
Ecology plays a central role in the management and conservation of ecosystems. However, as coral restoration emerges as an increasingly popular method of confronting the global decline of tropical coral reefs, an ecological basis to guide restoration remains under-developed. Here, we examine potential contributions that trophic ecology can make to reef restoration efforts. To do so, we conducted a comprehensive review of 519 peer-reviewed restoration studies from the past thirty years.
Tropical insects are astonishingly diverse and abundant yet receive only marginal scientific attention. In natural tropical settings, insects are involved in regulating and supporting ecosystem services including seed dispersal, pollination, organic matter decomposition, nutrient cycling, herbivory, food webs and water quality, which in turn help fulfill UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Current and future global changes that affect insect diversity and distribution could disrupt key ecosystem services and impose important threats on ecosystems and human well-being.
Soil contamination by potentially toxic elements (PTEs) has led to adverse environmental impacts. In this review, we discussed remediation of PTEs contaminated soils through immobilization techniques using different soil amendments with respect to type of element, soil, and amendment, immobilization efficiency, underlying mechanisms, and field applicability. Soil amendments such as manure, compost, biochar, clay minerals, phosphate compounds, coal fly ash, and liming materials are widely used as immobilizing agents for PTEs.
Mercury contamination in soil, water and air is associated with potential toxicity to humans and ecosystems. Industrial activities such as coal combustion have led to increased mercury (Hg) concentrations in different environmental media. This review critically evaluates recent developments in technological approaches for the remediation of Hg contaminated soil, water and air, with a focus on emerging materials and innovative technologies. Extensive research on various nanomaterials, such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs), nanosheets and magnetic nanocomposites, for mercury removal are investigated.
Water footprint (WF) measures human appropriation of water resources for consumptive use of surface and ground water (blue WF) and soil water (green WF) and for assimilating polluted water (grey WF). Questions have been often asked about the exact meaning behind the numbers from WF accounting. However, to date environmental sustainability of WF has never been assessed at the sub-national level over time. This study evaluated the environmental sustainability of blue, green and grey WF for China's 31 mainland provinces in 2002, 2007 and 2012, and identified the unsustainable hotspots.
Sharks are a taxon of significant conservation concern and associated public interest. The scientific community largely supports management policies focusing on sustainable fisheries exploitation of sharks, but many concerned members of the public and some environmental advocates believe that sustainable shark fisheries cannot and do not exist and therefore support total bans on all shark fisheries and/or trade in shark products.
The Baltic Sea is essential for marine ecosystem services (MES) provision and the region's socio-economic dynamics. It is considered one of the busiest and most polluted regional seas in Europe. In recent years a collective effort in enforcing European and regional environmental policies and directives (e.g. Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC, 2000; Marine Strategy Framework Directive 2008/56/EC, 2008; Maritime Spatial Planning Directive 2014/89/EU, 2014) has been carried out. Ecosystem Services assessment and mapping is integrated into these directives.
The COVID-19 pandemic has stalled and rolled back progress on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Ecosystem services (ESs), defined as the contributions of ecosystems to human well-being, underpin the achievement of SDGs. To promote SDG achievement in post-pandemic era, we teased out the links between ESs and SDGs while examining the impact of COVID-19. We found that ESs benefited all SDGs, yet man-made pressures led to degradation of ecosystems and their services. There is broad consensus that the virus lurks in degraded ecosystems and generates spillover due to human interference.
The Ganga basin includes some of the most densely populated areas in the world, in a region characterized by extremely high demographic and economic growth rates. Although anthropogenic pressure in this area is increasing, the pollution status of the Ganga is still poorly studied and understood. In the light of this, we have carried out a systematic literature review of the sources, levels and spatiotemporal distribution of organic pollutants in surface water and sediment of the Ganga basin, including for the first time emerging contaminants (ECs).
Proximity and size of the nearest market (‘market gravity’) have been shown to have strong negative effects on coral reef fish communities that can be mitigated by the establishment of closed areas. However, moray eels are functionally unique predators that are generally not subject to targeted fishing and should therefore not directly be affected by these factors. We used baited remote underwater video systems to investigate associations between morays and anthropogenic, habitat, and ecological factors in the Caribbean region.
iScience, Volume 24, 19 March 2021
In this article, we seek to draw upon a variety of multidisciplinary datasets that are yet to be compiled in a peer-reviewed publication, to support growing movements looking to re-cast the forests of the Wet Tropics as cultural landscapes as well as purely “primitive” Gondwanan remnants.
Mangrove-dominated estuaries host a diverse microbial assemblage that facilitates nutrient and carbon conversions and could play a vital role in maintaining ecosystem health. In this study, we used 16S rRNA gene analysis, metabolic inference, nutrient concentrations, and δ13C and δ15N isotopes to evaluate the impact of land use change on near-shore biogeochemical cycles and microbial community structures within mangrove-dominated estuaries.
Rapid emergence of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) is a global problem. Soil is a major reservoir of ARGs. The extensive use and/or abuse of antibiotics has increased ARGs proliferation in the soil. The dynamics and transfer of ARGs amongst microorganisms associated with plants and fauna are being investigated. Exogenous coselective agents further exacerbate the problem. Integrated approaches reducing selection pressure and disrupting ARGs transmission routes are essential in the One Health perspective, which appreciates the interconnectivity between humans, animals, and the environment.
Elsevier, Cities, Volume 26, August 2009
Urban forests are integral components of urban ecosystems, which could generate significant ecosystem services, such as offsetting carbon emission, removing air pollutants, regulating the microclimate, and recreation. These ecosystem services contribute to improving environmental quality, quality of life, and sustainable urban development. Despite a long history of inserting vegetation in human settlements in China, modern scientific study of this natural-cum-cultural resource did not start until the 1990s.
Elsevier, Current Research in Food Science, Volume 3, November 2020
The principal motivations for the worldwide trend towards reducing meat consumption are health, the environment and animal welfare. The present study investigated the willingness of omnivores to introduce mixed (beef-vegetable protein) and 100% vegetable protein products into their diet. The participants (n = 251) were young adult omnivores who consumed meat at least once a week. The stimuli were images of six different products representing two beef burgers, two mixed-protein burgers (50% beef and 50% seitan or soy) and two 100% vegetable protein burgers (seitan and soy).
Elsevier, One Earth, Volume 4, 22 January 2021
The upcoming Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) meeting, and adoption of the new Global Biodiversity Framework, represent an opportunity to transform humanity's relationship with nature. Restoring nature while meeting human needs requires a bold vision, including mainstreaming biodiversity conservation in society. We present a framework that could support this: the Mitigation and Conservation Hierarchy.
Mangrove forests are found on sheltered coastlines in tropical, subtropical, and some warm temperate regions. These forests support unique biodiversity and provide a range of benefits to coastal communities, but as a result of large-scale conversion for aquaculture, agriculture, and urbanization, mangroves are considered increasingly threatened ecosystems. Scientific advances have led to accurate and comprehensive global datasets on mangrove extent, structure, and condition, and these can support evaluation of ecosystem services and stimulate greater conservation and rehabilitation efforts.
Restoring forest cover is a prominent option for climate mitigation. Effective deployment requires knowing where opportunities are and how they vary in carbon capture, costs, co-benefits, and feasibility. Here, we combined spatial, economic, and feasibility analyses to examine 10 different opportunity classes for restoration of forest cover across the contiguous United States. These include non-stocked forests, shrublands, protected areas, post-burn landscapes, pasture lands, croplands with challenging soils, urban areas, floodplains, streamsides, and biodiversity corridors.
Protecting the ocean has become a major goal of international policy as human activities increasingly endanger the integrity of the ocean ecosystem, often summarized as “ocean health.” By and large, efforts to protect the ocean have failed because, among other things, (1) the underlying socio-ecological pathways have not been properly considered, and (2) the concept of ocean health has been ill defined. Collectively, this prevents an adequate societal response as to how ocean ecosystems and their vital functions for human societies can be protected and restored.
Elsevier, One Earth, Volume 1, 22 November 2019
Over US$60 trillion is predicted to be spent on new infrastructure globally by 2040. Is it possible to meet UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 9 (develop infrastructure networks) without sacrificing goals 14 and 15 (ending biodiversity loss)? We explore the potential role of “no net loss” (NNL) policies in reconciling these SDGs.
Elsevier, One Earth, Volume 3, 18 December 2020
Earth's ecosystems, upon which all life depends, are in a severe state of degradation. The upcoming UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration aims to “prevent, halt and reverse the degradation of ecosystems on every continent and in every ocean.” These Voices articulate why and what action is urgently needed.
Rewilding should be central to the massive restoration efforts needed to overcome the global biodiversity crisis and enhancing the biosphere's capacity to mitigate climate change. Key elements include large areas for nature, restoration of functional megafaunas and other natural biodiversity-promoting factors, synergy with major societal dynamics, and careful socio-ecological implementation.
Maintaining or restoring connectivity among wildlife populations is a primary strategy to overcome the negative impacts of habitat fragmentation. Yet, current connectivity planning efforts typically assess landscape resistance, the ability of organisms to cross various biophysical elements in a landscape, while overlooking the various ways in which human behaviors influence connectivity. Here, we introduce the concept of “anthropogenic resistance” to capture the impacts of human behaviors on species' movement through a landscape.
Despite the importance of tropical forest conservation in achieving global sustainability goals and the key role of forest-risk commodity trade in driving deforestation, consumer country policy options for reducing imported deforestation have received limited scholarly attention. Drawing on gray literature and a European Commission public consultation, we identify 86 policy options for the European Union to address deforestation.
This paper aims to contribute to the limited understanding and recognition of soil ecosystem services (SoES) in spatial planning. In light of its critical role in climate crises and due to its global degradation, soil has drawn considerable attention in the recent global agenda. As one of its vital services, soil serves as a terrestrial carbon pool, which significantly contributes to offset greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere (EEA, 2012).
Elsevier, One Earth, Volume 1, 25 October 2019
To conserve the bulk of Earth's ecological heritage across the Anthropocene, setting aside half of Earth's land is just a start. To conserve biodiversity over the long term across an increasingly human planet, conservation must become as integral to the human enterprise around the world as are social and economic development.
Elsevier, One Earth, Volume 1, 20 September 2019
Conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services in natural environments requires careful management choices. However, common methods of evaluating the impact of conservation interventions can have contextual shortcomings. Here, we make a call for counterfactual thinking—asking the question “what would have happened in the absence of an intervention?”—with the support of rigorous evaluation approaches and more thoughtful consideration of human dimensions and behavior.
Elsevier, One Earth, Volume 1, 25 October 2019
Economic development projects are increasingly applying the mitigation hierarchy to achieve No Net Loss, or even a Net Gain, of biodiversity. Because people value biodiversity and ecosystem services, this can affect the well-being of local people; however, these types of social impacts from development receive limited consideration. We present ethical, practical, and regulatory reasons why development projects applying the mitigation hierarchy should consider related social impacts.
Elsevier, One Earth, Volume 2, 24 January 2020
Is ecology, as a science, doing enough to address big environmental problems? Here, a review of the top 40 ecology journals suggests not. As ecologists, we have the opportunity to reinforce the relevancy of ecology to society through greater promotion and execution of solution-focused science.
One Earth, Volume 2, Issue 1, 2020, Pages 98-108
We assess the success of natural reforestation in China's TNSP using satellite data. We use microwaves and SIF to measure water and photosynthesis in dryland vegetation. A strong correlation is found between reforestation and remote sensing data. Natural reforestation is successful at increasing vegetation activity in arid areas
Largely driven by the corporate sector, the recent surge of interest in trees as a solution to climate change has a distinct emphasis on planting trees. Realizing anticipated benefits will require managing the risks and trade-offs of land-use interventions and embracing the imperative of protecting existing forests.
Microplastic (MP) and nanoplastic (NP) pollution is among the global environmental concerns of the 21st century owing to its transboundary distribution and persistence. The number of studies focused on the determination of MPs in air, water, sediment, soil, and biota of an important number of ecosystems has increased exponentially. However, the impact that the methodologies used to isolate and determine MPs and NPs have on the environment owing to the consumption of reagents and energy and the generation of waste is not yet studied.
Elsevier, Developments in the Built Environment, Volume 6, May 2021
Urban regions in sub-Saharan Africa are growing significantly more rapid than their also growing rural counterparts. However, the employment perspectives in rural areas are decreasing, and thus the urban growth can become a driver for enhanced livelihoods in the rural areas.
Elsevier,
The Journal of Climate Change and Health, Volume 2, May 2021, 100011
The health impacts of the climate crisis demand that health systems adapt their practices and mitigate their carbon emissions. Contributing to SDGs 4, 11 and 13, this article argues that health services and policy research (HSPR) is crucial for the transformation of these systems.
Elsevier, Case Studies in Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Volume 3, June 2021
The widespread consumption of electronic devices has made spent batteries an ongoing economic and ecological concern with a compound annual growth rate of up to 8% during 2018, and expected to reach between 18% and 30% to 2030. There is a lack of regulations for the proper storage and management of waste streams that enables their accumulation in open settings and the leakage of hazardous substances into the environment on landfill settings.
Elsevier, Case Studies in Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Volume 3, June 2021
The widespread consumption of electronic devices has made spent batteries an ongoing economic and ecological concern with a compound annual growth rate of up to 8% during 2018, and expected to reach between 18% and 30% to 2030. There is a lack of regulations for the proper storage and management of waste streams that enables their accumulation in open settings and the leakage of hazardous substances into the environment on landfill settings.
Elsevier, Case Studies in Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Volume 3, June 2021
Quantification and extent mapping of seawater intrusive zones are extremely critical for coastal aquifers, especially for those impacted with anthropogenic stress. In this regard, the present study has attempted to evaluate, demarcate and compare the evolving hydrochemistry of the two most exploited aquifers situated along the western coast of India, i.e. Valsad and Navsari. Through an integrated application of water indices, major ion chemistry and statistical analysis, a probable scenario with respect to groundwater quality and the impeding causes concerning it has been suggested.
Food is essential to provide energy for human cellular metabolism, and is usually made from plants or animals. Beside plants and animals, other important food sources are made by microorganisms, typically products of fermentation (e.g bread, wine, beer, soy sauce, etc). Nowadays, because of the increasing environmental pollution, climate change and population growth, is becoming challenging to keep the food supply safe, nutritious and sustainable. Importantly, the development of the synthetic biology field enable the engineering of cells that can be used in food manufacturing.
Elsevier, Future Foods, Volume 3, June 2021
As future foods, cultured meat is produced by culturing animal cells ex vivo rather than raising and slaughtering animals. It is a promising way to address concerns about resource consumption, environmental pollution, public healthy that associated with conventional livestock production. In the past two years, dozens of cultured meat-related start-ups have been founded and millions of dollars have been raised, demonstrating the high business enthusiasm, broad market prospects and high profitability expected.
Elsevier, Food Quality and Preference, Volume 93, October 2021
In view of all kinds of sustainability concerns related to our current diet, it is essential to gain a good understanding of the sustainability motives consumers have for selecting their food. A comprehensive and validated scale to measure sustainability motives within the full range of food choice motives could contribute to this understanding, especially as sustainability is a multi-faceted concept in which the different aspects can sometimes be conflicting.
Elsevier, Geography and Sustainability, Volume 2, June 2021
After 10 years of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident, Japan decided on 13 April 2021 to release the nuclear wastewater into the Pacific Ocean. It is apparent that Japan has chosen the most cost-efficient way to deal with the contaminated water, however, great opposition and concerns have been aroused internationally due to the harmful ecotoxicological features of radioactive materials. Here we analyze the ecological impacts caused by the nuclear accident and the potential impacts of releasing the nuclear wastewater into the ocean.
Elsevier, Geography and Sustainability, Volume 1, March 2020
Soil organic carbon (SOC) in croplands is a key property of soil quality for ensuring food security and agricultural sustainability, and also plays a central role in the global carbon (C) budget. When managed sustainably, soils may play a critical role in mitigating climate change by sequestering C and decreasing greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. However, the magnitude and spatio-temporal patterns of global cropland SOC are far from well constrained due to high land surface heterogeneity, complicated mechanisms, and multiple influencing factors.
Elsevier, Geography and Sustainability, Volume 1, March 2020
Agricultural landscapes cultivated in hilly and mountainous areas, often with terracing practice, could represent for some regions historical heritages and cultural ecosystem services. For this reason, they deserve to be protected. The complex morphology that characterises them, however, makes these areas intrinsically susceptible to hydrogeological instability, such as soil loss due to surface erosion or more severe mass movements. We can identify three major critical factors for such landscapes.
The fast-expanding electric vehicle market demands eco-friendly, high-performance, and low-cost energy storage systems. Lithium-sulfur battery with higher theoretical specific capacity and lower cost is regarded as a promising successor to lithium-ion battery. However, lithium-sulfur battery's polysulfide shuttling and lithium degradation have hindered its practical applications. In this study, cellulose fibers (CFs) were extracted from recycled paper hardboards by a simple alkaline treatment and then coated onto polypropylene separators by vacuum filtration.
Elsevier,
Materials and the Environment, Third Edition: Chapter 11 - Renewable materials, natural materials, Volume , 2021
This book chapter advances SDGs 9 and 12 by exploring whether renewable materials, derived wholly or in part from nature, can play a larger role in the engineering economy of the 21st century.
Elsevier,
Encyclopedia of Renewable and Sustainable Materials: Nanomaterial for CO2 Sequestration, Volume 3, 2020
This book chapter advances SDGs 7, 13, and 12 by describing promising nanomaterials for the capture of CO2 emissions. Since it will take time for the world to rely solely on renewables, nanomaterials for carbon capture can help protect the atmosphere from harmful greenhouse gases in the interim.
Elsevier,
Soil Health and Intensification of Agroecosystems, Volume , 22 March 2017
This book chapter advances SDGs 15 and 2 by discussing basic soil physical, chemical, and biological properties and explores the interrelationships between different soil properties and functions as essential building blocks for a healthy functioning soil system.
Elsevier,
Methods in Stream Ecology: Third Edition, Volume 1, 20 February 2017
This book chapter advances SDG 14 by outlining the use of behavioral observations, gut content and fecal analyses, morphological measurements, and stable isotopes for drawing inferences about the trophic ecology of stream fishes. These methods allow insights at the level of individuals, populations, communities, and entire food webs. Using multiple methods in concert provides a rich perspective on how dietary differences among fish species affect stream ecology.
Elsevier,
Methods in Stream Ecology: Third Edition, Volume 1, 20 February 2017
This book chapter advances SDG 14 by providing an overview of the methods for monitoring stream temperature, characterization of thermal profiles, and modeling approaches to stream temperature prediction. The development of spatially explicit predictive models provides a framework for simulating natural and anthropogenic effects on thermal regimes, which is integral for the sustainable management of freshwater systems.
Elsevier,
Land Restoration: Reclaiming Landscapes for a Sustainable Future, Volume , 2016
This book chapter advances SDGs 15 and 11 by looking at land restoration and its military dimensions, as part of the environmental security discourse, a topic that has not received as much attention as it should in mainstream environmental security studies and policy discussions.
Elsevier,
Aquatic Ecotoxicology: Advancing Tools for Dealing with Emerging Risks, Volume , July 13, 2015
This book chapter advances SDGs 3 and 14 by highlighting how assessing environmental risks of chemicals entering the aquatic environment as a consequence of human activities is a complicated task and summarizing relevant strategies for emerging risks.
Elsevier,
Aquatic Ecotoxicology: Advancing Tools for Dealing with Emerging Risks, July 13, 2015
This book chapter advances SDGs 3 and 14 by providing an overview of ecotoxicological tools currently used for risk assessment in aquatic media, improving risk assessments, biological tools, and emerging concerns.
Elsevier,
Coastal Wetlands: An Integrated Ecosystem Approach, 1 January 2018
This book chapter advances SDGs 14 and 15 by covering all aspects of successful mangrove forest rehabilitation, including post monitoring to ensure continued success. Mangroves are critical coastal ecosystems that impact the environment and lives of all living creatures.
Elsevier,
Encyclopedia of Modern Optics, Volume 1-5, 1 January 2018
This book chapter advances SDGs 7, 11, and 13 by offering a promising alternative energy source. It reviews polymer-based solar cells, which are are light, flexible, affordable, sustainable, and now boast improved performance.
Elsevier,
World Seas: An Environmental Evaluation Volume II: The Indian Ocean to the Pacific, Volume , 1 January 2018
This book chapter advances SDGs 14 and 15 by looking at Fiji, which is one of the most developed of the Pacific Island economies with a population highly dependent on the country’s rich biodiversity and natural resources for food, agriculture, tourism, culture, coastal protection, shelter, recreational sports, and other vital human needs. Sustainable use and practical management of coastal resources are urged while there is still a chance of ecosystem repair and restoration.
Elsevier,
Approaches to Water Sensitive Urban Design: Potential, Design, Ecological Health, Urban Greening, Economics, Policies, and Community Perceptions, Volume , 1 January 2018
This book chapter advances SDGs 13, 12, and 15 by outlining some of the key approaches used in water sensitive urban design and provides a summary of current knowledge about practical application and performance.
Elsevier,
Coastal Wetlands: An Integrated Ecosystem Approach, Volume , 1 January 2018
This book chapter advances SDGs 14 and 15 by discussing salt marsh restoration and rehabilitation projects that have been initiated at many locations around the world as a means of addressing past habitat loss as well as future threats.
Elsevier, Encyclopedia of Ocean Sciences, Volume , 1 January 2019
The pollution of the marine environment by solid wastes, either directly introduced into the sea or discharged into the oceans from rivers or pipelines, is considered from the perspective of both their impacts and their regulation. The waste materials covered include dredged material, particulate wastes from sand/gravel extraction, and land reclamation, and industrial wastes including mining wastes, munitions, and plastics/litter.
Elsevier, Coasts and Estuaries: The Future, Volume , 31 January 2019
Bivalve habitats were once a dominant ecosystem in temperate and subtropical estuaries worldwide. While bivalve habitats are greatly reduced from their former abundance, remnant, and restored populations have been shown to provide a suite of important ecosystems services including improving water quality, coastal protection, and providing fisheries nursery habitat, in addition to providing a direct food value.
Elsevier, Advances in Ecological Research, Volume 64, January 2021
Global social and economic changes, alongside climate change, are affecting the operating environment for agriculture, leading to efforts to increase production and yields, typically through the use of agrochemicals like pesticides and fertilizers, expanded irrigation, and changes in seed varieties. Intensification, alongside the expansion of agriculture into new areas, has increased harvest, but has also had numerous well-known impacts on the environment, ultimately resulting in a loss of resilience and lack of sustainability in agro-ecosystems.
Elsevier,
Management of Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CEC) in Environment, 2021.
This book chapter advances SDGs 3, 12 and 13 by discussing the entrance of microplastics in a range of environments, including oceans, surface waters, wastewaters, soils, sediments, the atmosphere, and food.
Elsevier,
Management of Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CEC) in Environment, 2021.
This book chapter advances SDGs 3, 12, and 13 by discussing carbonaceous aerosols that are one of the important components of the aerosol and play a significant role in changing climate, fluctuating air quality and health of the living being.
Elsevier,
Encyclopedia of the World's Biomes, 2020.
This book chapter advances SDGs 15 and 11 by looking at how island biogeography arose in the past and how it is now changing in the Anthropocene. Biogeography is determined by three processes: immigration, evolution, and extinction and in the Anthropocene, human impacts are increasingly more important to island biogeography.
Elsevier,
Encyclopedia of the World's Biomes, 2020.
This book chapter advances SDGs 12, 13 and 14 by discussing the current warming of the Arctic climate caused by human exploitation activities and the potential impact these activities may have in driving a number of marine mammals and other vertebrate species to extinction, unless strong conservation initiatives are put in place immediately.
Elsevier,
Green Chemistry and Water Remediation: Research and Applications, 2021.
This book chapter advances SDGs 6, 12 and 11 by analyzing research studies on water remediation within the framework of 12 principles of green chemistry, bibliometric features, and characteristics of related research papers.
Elsevier,
Handbook of Water Purity and Quality, Second Edition, 2021.
This book chapter advances SDGs 6 and 11 by providing information on various sources of pollution and ways to monitor them. Assuring water quality and purity is extremely important because water is an essential material for human survival.
Elsevier,
Wood Microbiology, Second Edition, 2020.
This book chapter advances SDG 15 by presenting the major positive and negative attributes of wood before moving onto a review of the field of biodeterioration and its relation to its origins from Forest Pathology. The roles of various researchers in understanding the nature of deterioration are reviewed to provide context then common terminology related to degradation is reviewed.
Elsevier,
Developments in Soil Science, Volume 36, 2019.
This book chapter advances SDGs 15 and 13 by discussing the impact of deforestation, rising temperatures, drought, fire and other ecological disturbances and the reduction of forest cover on much of the earth, compromising the ability of forests to supply important ecosystem services.
Elsevier,
Handbook of Bioremediation, 2021.
This book chapter advances SDG 15 by bringing current bioremediation techniques together to compare, understand, and effectively apply strategies to exclude inorganic pollutants from contaminated environments, keeping in view the effectiveness and economics of bioremediation strategies.
Elsevier,
Dynamic Sedimentary Environments of Mangrove Coasts, 2021.
This book chapter advances SDGs 13, 14 and 15 by exploring “passive” mangrove restoration strategies as a preferred restoration in order to provide better opportunities for blue carbon abatement and increase resilience of coasts to rising sea levels and biodiversity loss.
Elsevier,
Soils and Landscape Restoration, 2021.
This book chapter advances SDGs 15 and 11 by exploring a holistic approach to urban soil restoration which seeks to improve urban soils using integrated socioecological and landscape-scale approaches that embrace diverse outcomes including novel ecosystems and many sociocultural goals.
Elsevier,
An Introduction to Aquatic Toxicology, 2014.
This book chapter advances SDGs 14 and 3 by discussing the history of aquatic contamination, highlighting major cases where aquatic contamination has become an issue and cases where efficient solutions to environmental problems have been reached.
Elsevier,
Advances in Ecological Research, Volume 64, January 2021
This book chapter advances SDG 15 by demonstrating the concept of designing mixed species native plantings (a type of semi-natural habitat) based on plant-insect interactions to increase abundance and diversity of non-bee and bee crop pollinators in an intensively managed agricultural landscape.
Elsevier,
Foundations for Sustainability, A Coherent Framework of Life-Environment Relations, 2019, Pages 205-230
Contributing to SDGs 13, 14 and 15, this chapter explores technology and applications with break-through capacity to contribute solutions to the systemic human-environment problem.
Elsevier,
Foundations for Sustainability, A Coherent Framework of Life-Environment Relations, 2019, Pages 1-25
Contributing to SDGs 13, 14 and 15, this introductory chapter presents theory and applications rigorously rooted in science, and we modify the foundations of science so the ground is fertile to nurture the roots of the theory and actions the authors see as necessary to solve the human-environment crisis.
