Eco-Friendly Digital Currencies: the Future of Our Planet

Cryptocurrency is a hot buzzword in our financial landscape today. ...

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United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Report on Environmental effects of ozone depletion and its interactions with climate change: 2002 Assessment

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Report on "Environmental effects of ozone depletion and its interactions with climate change: 2002 assessment." The chapters were published in the first issue (No. 1) of the 2003 volume of journal "Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences". This report includes assessments of human health, ecological, air quality and materials effects. The report was submitted to the 184 parties to the Vienna Convention for Protection of the Ozone Layer.

Air Quality Criteria for Ozone and Related Photochemical Oxidants Volume III of III

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) promulgates the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) on the basis of scientific information contained in air quality criteria documents. The previous ozone (O3) criteria document, Air Quality Criteria for Ozone and Other Photochemical Oxidants, was released in August 1986 and a supplement, Summary of Selected New Information on Effects of Ozone on Health and Vegetation, was released in January 1992. These documents were used as the basis for a March 1993 decision by EPA that revision of the existing 1-h NAAQS for O3 was not appropriate at that time. That decision, however, did not take into account some of the newer scientific data that became available after completion of the 1986 criteria document. The purpose of this revised air quality criteria document for O3 and related photochemical oxidants is to critically evaluate and assess the latest scientific data associated with exposure to the concentrations of these pollutants found in ambient air. Emphasis is placed on the presentation of health and environmental effects data; however, other scientific data are presented and evaluated in order to provide a better understanding of the nature, sources, distribution, measurement, and concentrations of O3 and related photochemical oxidants and their precursors in the environment. Although the document is not intended to be an exhaustive literature review, it is intended to cover all pertinent literature available through the end of 1993.

Examining spatiotemporal variability of urban particulate matter and application of high-time resolution data from a network of low-cost air pollution sensors

Traditional air monitoring approaches using regulatory monitors have historically been used to assess regional-scale trends in air pollutants across large geographical areas. Recent advances in air pollution sensor technologies could provide additional information about nearby sources, support the siting of regulatory monitoring stations, and improve our knowledge of finer-scale spatiotemporal variation of ambient air pollutants and their associated health effects. Sensors are now being developed that are much smaller and lower cost than traditional ambient air monitoring systems and are capable of being deployed as a network to provide greater coverage of a given area. The CitySpace project conducted by the US EPA and the Shelby County Health Department included the deployment of a network of 17 sensor pods using Alphasense OPC-N2 particulate matter (PM) sensors integrated with meteorological sensors in Memphis, TN for six months. Sensor pods were collocated with a federal equivalent method (FEM) tapered element oscillating microbalance (TEOM) monitor both before and after the primary study period. Six of the sensor pods were found to meet the data quality objective (DQO) of coefficient of determination (R2) greater than 0.5 when collocated with the TEOM. Seven pods were decommissioned before the end of the study due to mechanical failure. The six pods meeting the DQO were used to examine the spatiotemporal variability of fine PM (PM2.5) across the Memphis area. One site was found to have higher relative PM2.5 concentrations when compared to the other sites in the network. The 1-min data from this sensor pod were evaluated to quantify the regional urban background and local-scale contributions to PM2.5 at that monitoring location. This method found that approximately 20% of the PM2.5 was attributed to local sources at this location, compared to 9% at a local regulatory monitoring site. Additionally, the 1-min data were combined with 1-min wind speed and wind direction data to examine potential sources in the area using the nonparametric trajectory analysis (NTA) technique. This method geographically identified local source areas that contributed to the measured concentrations at the high reading sensor location throughout the course of the study.

GCSolar.NET User's Manual

The GCSolar.NET program will allow the user to view, manipulate, or run the GCSolar.NET modeling simulation for photolysis of contaminants in water. This guide focuses on chemical contaminants, but the same steps can be used to compute values for biological contaminants.

Spatio-Temporal Control of Nutrient Pollution from Organic Waste

Better management of anthropogenic organic waste and other primary sources of nutrient pollution such as agricultural, municipal, and industrial waste, will reduce the human impact on the environment. Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are a major environmental impact from organic waste and nutrient pollution. HABs can pose severe threats to human health due to the release of dangerous toxins in fresh or marine water that can negatively affect public health, increase treatment costs for drinking water, and cause enormous economic loss in industries that depend on clean water. In this study, the effect of decisions made in the organic waste supply chain on reducing the potential for HABs is investigated by integrating three types of models: a supply chain optimization model, a nutrient transport model, and an algae growth model. This contribution presents a comprehensive spatio-temporal management strategy for short-term HAB reduction by adjusting components in the supply chain, including technologies, logistics, nutrient management plans (or environmental costs), and seasonal waste storage planning. In addition, it is presented a case study of the Upper Yahara Watershed in the State of Wisconsin to illustrate the practicability of this modeling framework.

White House Pressed Agency to Repudiate Weather Forecasters Who Contradicted Trump

Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, told Wilbur L. Ross Jr., the commerce secretary to have NOAA publicly disavow the forecasters' position.