Archaeology is a complex, multifaceted discipline which pursues an objective of paramount importance. The aim of this field is to unravel the lost mysteries of the past, shedding light on the life and culture of ancient civilizations. While it is nearly impossible to draw a conclusion with absolute certainty, archaeologists...
The effects of wildfires on the coastal sage scrub differ from other sources of disturbances such as grazing. First, fire disturbances on habitat are usually non-selective for particular plants implying that an entire area that is covered with plants may be scorched. In addition, fire disturbances get rid of both...
Current world climate zones are determined according to the zonation pattern based on differences in sea and air temperature. According to this zonation pattern, the basic climate zones are Tropical, Temperate, and Polar Zones, as it is presented in Figure 1. The mentioned zonation pattern can be explained with references...
Climate change refers to the conspicuous variations in either the average state of climate on earth or its variation over a period of time. This may occur due to internal forces or even due to external reasons, due to population growth or usage of land resources. The impact of greenhouse...
The main advantage of modern technologies and innovative solutions used by the US is that they allow the state to inform populations on time and prevent mass destructions. The eruptions not only vary in their style and power, but also in their effects and interaction with the natural and the...
As more and more people flock to cities urbanization threatens to make the city an inhospitable place. Overcrowding, urban decay, and high cost of living are just some of the implications. As the center of cities succumb to the ghettos and as vacant lots begin to be converted to residential...
Natural resources are substances that form on the Earths’ crust in their original form; that is, they normally occur on their own without any influence from human beings. These resources are either efficient for human survival or useful in men’s study of the environment around them. Mineral resources are naturally...
Climatic change has many negative effects on people and their environment. Some of the effects can give rise to dry spells, tsunamis, increased occurrences of hurricanes, and melting of ice in the northern and southern poles, among others. Generally, climatic change is a rapid and unexpected change in various natural...
The environmental situation in Haiti is paradoxical. On the one hand, the country has a variety of natural resources. On the other hand, people have practically no access to these resources. Apart from the resource exploitation problem, Haiti also has serious environmental issues, pollution being the most severe of them....
Pollution poses devastating consequences on the environment. In particular, various types of pollution, including water, air, soil, noise, and light contamination, contribute to the degradation of the environment to a considerable extent. As such, it is crucial to mitigate diverse forms of pollution as a way of enhancing the sustainability...
It could be hardly denied that the contemporary state of environmental health and the environment at large is immensely worrying. Numerous factors are contributing to the aggravation of the situation. These factors include but are not limited to the emissions of toxic gases that reinforce the “greenhouse effect,” the excessive...
Wine production in France dates back to the Roman Empire era and has gone through many changes both in quality, drinking habits and mode of grape cultivation over the years. French wine production is widely spread in almost all the regions in the country due to the rich climatic conditions...
Some of the most common words that we hear almost daily include sustainable development, sustainable community, sustainable industry, sustainable agriculture, etc. If we observe, the term “sustainable” is very common in all these terms. In a layman’s language, sustainability is associated with the quality of life in a community. This...
The Earth is divided into two parts; the lithosphere (the outer layer) and the asthenosphere. Their differences are depicted in their physical and in the motion of their plates. Lithosphere (Plate margins) Asthenosphere (plate interiors) Forms the outer layer Composed of crust and mantle Composed of melted rocks The...
The recent earthquakes and landslides reported in the media recently are said to be a result of geological processes producing significant landscape responses. The recent earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, for instance, have been reported to be a result of Earth’s shifting tectonic plates causing significant land responses. The frequency...
The magnitude and frequency relationships are important to geosciences because they are used in studying catastrophic events. They evaluate the relative amounts of work done on the landscapes over the long-term by events of all magnitudes. Geologists also conclude that large parts of sediment transportation are performed by events of...
Water is a very important resource that people use daily in domestic, agricultural, and industrial activities. The scarcity of water in Mozambique has significant social implications because 50% of people in rural areas walk for more than 30 minutes in search of water, while about 5% of them access piped...
Garret Hardin coined the term Tragedy of the Commons. Hardin used the term in reference to a situation that occurs when shared resources are overexploited and exhausted. In such a situation, overuse occurs when the benefits from using a particular reserve benefit an individual, whereas the price of degradation of...
Although some people deny the existence of climate change, it is still a rather acute problem. Climate change matters because it changes the globe’s temperature, creating impossible conditions for some plants (medical and edible), animals, and insects. Sometimes even the tiniest change in the climate can destroy the species humans...
Carbon emission exposure is largely related to the number of vehicles passing through a particular area. The study performed by Akland, Hartwell, Johnson, and Whitmore concluded that citizens are exposed to elevated levels of CO when performing activities associated with transit and being in places that are in close proximity...
Natural gas has been used so much because it is easy to transport and is good for environmental conservation. This is because it produces less carbon dioxide, unlike other fuels. In addition, it can be maintained for a long period of time, and there is enough market for the product...
Cleantech, an abbreviation for clean technology, refers to financial markets, funds, indices, and investments inclusive of companies that enable efficient use of resources that occur naturally and reduce the impact on the environment during the production of these natural resources. These companies do this through activities like clean energy or...
There are different wastes that are produced by a company. There are those that can be recycled by the same company or by another company. There are other wastes that cannot be recycled. To protect the environment, the recyclable ones should be recycled, and those that cannot be recycled should...
In today’s world, it is seen that energy resources are easily consumed away in many ways. And it will be going to pose a real threat to mankind really soon if the energy sources exhaust in the near future. Many people do believe in using renewable sources for energy like...
Much has been told about the global climate change during the last several decades. The humanity consumed too much, exploited the invaluable natural resources not giving anything in return. While the significant amount of researchers, the world leaders, and their supporters emphasize the importance of more active actions, the vast...
The word “igneous” is a Latin word for fire. This means igneous originate from hot, fluid material called “lava” that erupts on the earth’s surface during a volcanic activity or un-erupted lava at shallow depths within bodies. These types of rock are either formed at the surface of the earth...
Architects, real estate professionals, facility managers, engineers, interior designers, landscape architects, construction managers, lenders, and government officials all use LEED to help transform the built environment to sustainability. State and local governments across the country are adopting LEED for public-owned and public-funded buildings; there are LEED initiatives in federal agencies,...
There are seven main areas of environmental problems that face the National Park all around the world. These include overuse, insufficient funds for park operation, threats to wildlife, the concession systems, energy and mineral development, atmospheric pollution, and activities on neighboring lands. The major problem comes from the visitors coming...
If we look at the history of human usage of energy, the sun was the first energy source that gave us light and heat. The discovery of fire resulted in the possibility of burning wood for cooking and heating. Renewable sources of energy such as sun, wind, biomass, and hydropower...
From the very beginning of human civilization, it has been noted that in one way or the other human beings have had their impact on the wildlife as well as the nearby ecosystem. Human impacts on wildlife species upset the basic life of wildlife and also cause pressure on wildlife...
Hydrological impacts due to urbanization have compromised water quality, such as sedimentation, habitat changes, loss of fish, and increased temperatures. Most hydrological impacts are caused by runoff volumes and velocities of trying to urbanize cities, causing major strain to the water streams. Hydrologic impacts on water streams due to increased...
Greenhouse gases are gases that occur in the Earth’s atmosphere and tend to take in or send forth radiation within the thermal infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. This process leads to the greenhouse effect, which involves the absorption and the radiation of thermal radiation in all directions by the...
An advertisement about nuclear energy in an American scientific magazine runs like this “cleaner and greener”, referring to the energy obtained from nuclear power plants. “Our 103 nuclear power plants don’t burn anything, so they don’t produce greenhouse gases.” The Nuclear institutes try to tell the world that nuclear energy...
The recent trends in atmospheric concentration reveal that this greenhouse has level has been steadily increasing with time. For instance, the concentration of CO2 has been rising at a margin of 1.5ppm annually since 1970 up to the advent of the new millennium, although this annual rise in carbon dioxide...
Continental mountain ranges formation refers to geological procedures that mark mountain ranges whose understanding has been simplified by plate tectonics. The movement of plate tectonics is responsible for the formation of mountain chains which can occur in different manners. One of the methods is through subduction, which causes the oceanic...
Textual evidence from the investigation of disasters shows that accidents have a background, cultural context, and history. Examples of recent disasters which have a background of human failure due to the complexity of the system are the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident and the deepwater horizon spill in the Gulf of...
According to Adebobola, “the spread of democratic government brings more support for spreading resources to address environmental problems, in the remote rural areas.” These efforts to reverse the trend in environmental degradation have not gone without having positive impacts on environmental trends. There are trends at both local and global...
The atmosphere of the earth is multi-layered. The layer nearest to the surface is the troposphere. Followed by it is the stratosphere, where the ozone layer is located, which protects the earth, from ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation, considered to be harmful to all forms of life – humans, plants, and animals....
Mesopotamia geography rivers are the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, and the plain along the middle and lower reaches is almost entirely located within Iraq, where in the southeast it enters Iran, in the northwest enters Syria. The continuation of the plain is the Persian Gulf with its low-lying southwestern coast,...
Contamination of recreational water in a sewered town occurs when untreated waste substances are discharged into water bodies directly or indirectly. Fecal bacteria are a category of bacteria that come from the feces of humans, domestic and wild animals. Fecal bacteria gain access into rivers and lakes through the human...
When an industrial accident involving a key nuclear power plant happens, it is as good as a nuclear accident happening in all other regions of the world. These may be the consequences and impacts of the accident. When an accident of a significant nuclear power plant occurs at one point,...
Multi-effect evaporation systems are utilized by industries to desalinate seawater. A multi-effect evaporator works on the principle that lowering pressure would result in lower boiling temperature of water. The system involves the use of a series of water boiling containers arranged in a decreasing pressure manner (Sayyaadi & Saffari, 2010)....
Comparison of the pre-disaster and post-disaster development conditions and challenges in the Japan and Haiti A study of the two disasters from the pre-disaster to the post-disaster recovery period is a clear signal that there are great variations in the level of preparedness and response to disasters between the two...
Introduction Environmental pollution is a major subject of debate in both European systems and the Mediterranean countries. In both regions, there has been an increase in water pollution, air pollution, and noise pollution. The leading types of pollution in both regions are water and air pollution. In an effort to...
Ensult Limited undertook an environmental impact study on behalf of the town council and the residents of Greenopolis Town. The town council wants to construct a thermal power plant to generate 250 MW of power to meet the rising power demand. However, some of the locals opposed the idea on...
Introduction A fuel cell vehicle (FCV), also known as a fuel cell electric vehicle is a kind of motor vehicle that runs on a fuel cell. The fuel cell converts hydrogen fuel stored in a tank fitted to the vehicle to produce electricity. The electricity that is produced is converted...
Introduction Environmental performance is a critical aspect for facilities offering disposal of waste services in Australia. There exist various legislations on environmental performance, whose aim is to promote and monitor responsible waste management by waste disposal facilities in the country. This report evaluates how SITA Lucas Height Company in NSW...
Abstract A hypothesis is a proposition that tries to explain the facts or phenomena in a study. It is normally used in science-related studies because scientific procedures are used in testing it. A hypothesis is important when carrying out a study because it gives guidance on how the study should...
Why the IUCN Needs a Commission of Education and Communication (CEC) The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) works together with various agencies in order to conserve the universe. The union mobilizes many people across the world in order to promote the idea of conservation. This practice will eventually...
Abstract An ecological footprint is an instrument that enables an educated guess of the biologically fruitful area required to uphold existing consumption patterns. While doing so, it considers man’s activities making it possible to predict the impact of such activities on the surroundings. This report examined the ecological footprints of...
Most of the problems that affect mankind are normally stemming from the environment. It is in this regard that people found it necessary to find solutions to those environmental problems. “Environmental science can be defined as a field of study that provides an integrated, quantitative, and interdisciplinary approach to the...
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the issue of environmental biology in relation to conservation of global environment. In the recent past, biotechnology has been become an important tool in environmental studies and conservation, with various researchers attempting to use genetically modified microorganisms to save the environment. This...
With the spatial environments becoming highly dynamic, the human species have undergone significant modifications in their phenotypical characteristics as a result of speciation. The acknowledgment of human beings as interactors, rather than being replicators can be attributed to the currently experienced revolutionary changes to the current man to facilitate fitness...
Introduction Environmental issues have increased across the world in line with the increasing human activities following the industrial revolution. There was an increase in the establishment of industries all over the world in the early years of the 20th century1. Most nations, especially in Europe and America, became industrialized at...
Introduction As it would be observed, waste management has become a major challenge for many developed countries in the world. Today, nations have to deal with increased tonnes of waste every year as a result of economic growth and increased urban developments, among other factors. Even though many countries have...
Managing electronic waste is one of those tasks of the XXI century that appeared with the advent of technological advances and might seem easy at first, yet, at a second glance, pose a number of difficulties to the users of modern technology. Much like industries and households, schools produce impressive...