Environmental engineering

Environmental engineering is the application of science and engineering principles to improve the environment (air, water, and/or land resources), to provide healthy water, air, and land for human habitation and for other organisms, and to remediate polluted sites.Environmental engineering involves water and air pollution control, recycling, waste disposal, and public health issues as well as a knowledge of environmental engineering law. It also includes studies on the environmental impact of proposed...

read more

Deforestation

It is impossible to overstate the importance of humankind's clearing of the forests. The transformation of forested lands by human actions represents one of the great forces in global environmental change and one of the great drivers of biodiversity loss. The impact of people has been and continues to be profound. Forests are cleared, degraded and fragmented by timber harvest, conversion to agriculture, road-building, human-caused fire, and in myriad other ways. The effort to use and subdue the...

read more

Ozone exposure

A team of scientists says the risk of dying from respiratory problems is more than 30% greater in metropolitan areas with the highest ozone concentrations than areas where ozone levels were the lowest.Ground-level ozone, along with particulate matter, is a major component of smog. Ozone is a naturally occurring gas most prevalent high in the atmosphere, where it protects against harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun. However, ozone at ground level is produced when exhaust from cars, power plants,...

read more

Plastic bag sideeffect

Every once in a while the government here passes out an order banning shop keepers from providing plastic bags to customers for carrying their purchases, with little lasting effect. Plastic bags are very popular with both retailers as well as consumers because they are cheap, strong, lightweight, functional, as well as a hygienic means of carrying food as well as other goods. Even though they are one of the modern conveniences that we seem to be unable to do without, they are responsible for causing...

read more

Air pollution cleaned by fog

While it hassles commuters, morning mist removes a lot of airborne particles which are hazardous for people with respiratory health problems. The water droplets inside morning fog are of just the right size to collect and hold onto tiny air pollutant particles floating in the air. Once the fog settles back to the ground, it takes the air pollution particles with it. A dreary, foggy morning may wreak havoc on your morning commute. But now, scientists reveal that not all thick, foggy air is bad. Some...

read more

Atmospheric pollution

Although atmospheric pollution can have natural sources, for example volcanic eruptions, the term is usually used to refer to the gaseous by-products of man-made processes such as energy production, waste incineration, transport, deforestation and agriculture. During the last 200 years, mankind has begun to significantly alter the composition of the atmosphere through pollution. Although air is still made up mostly of oxygen and nitrogen, mankind, through its pollution, has increased the levels...

read more

Asia pollution

The grey, sulphur-laden skies overlying parts of Asia have a bright side — they reflect sunlight back into space, moderating temperatures on the ground. Scientists are now exploring how and where pollution from power plants could offset, for a time, the greenhouse warming of the carbon dioxide they emit.A new modelling study doubles as a thought experiment in how pollution controls and global warming could interact in China and India, which are projected to account for 80% of new coal-fired power...

read more