Unraveling Environmental Disasters provides scientific explanations of the most threatening current and future environmental disasters, including an analysis of ways that the disaster could have been prevented and how the risk of similar disasters can be minimized in the future.
- Treats disasters as complex systems.
- Provides predictions based upon sound science, such as what the buildup of certain radiant gases in the troposphere will do, or what will happen if current transoceanic crude oil transport continues.
- Considers the impact of human systems on environmental disasters.
Unraveling Environmental Disasters provides scientific explanations of the most threatening current and future environmental disasters, including an analysis of ways that the disaster could have been prevented and how the risk of similar disasters can be minimized in the future.
- Treats disasters as complex systems.
- Provides predictions based upon sound science, such as what the buildup of certain radiant gases in the troposphere will do, or what will happen if current transoceanic crude oil transport continues.
- Considers the impact of human systems on environmental disasters.
Recenzijos
"This important, clearly written, well-organized book addresses a confluence of significant global issues and brings them into focus. Valleroand Letcherexamine engineering failures within the context of generating environmental disastersThe book addresses related issues of sustainability, anthropogenic global warming, pesticide use and its impact on the food chain, vinyl chloride production, etcSumming Up: Essential." --CHOICE Reviews Online, January 2014
Daugiau informacijos
Named a 2014 Outstanding Academic Title by the American Library Association's Choice publication
Preface |
|
viii | |
|
|
|
|
3 | (1) |
|
|
4 | (5) |
|
|
7 | (1) |
|
|
8 | (1) |
|
|
9 | (11) |
|
Failure Type 1 Miscalculations |
|
|
9 | (1) |
|
Failure Type 2 Extraordinary Natural Circumstances |
|
|
10 | (1) |
|
Failure Type 3 Critical Path |
|
|
11 | (5) |
|
Failure Type 4 Negligence |
|
|
16 | (3) |
|
Failure Type 5 Inaccurate Prediction of Contingencies |
|
|
19 | (1) |
|
|
20 | (6) |
|
|
20 | (1) |
|
Disasters from a Societal Perspective |
|
|
21 | (5) |
|
|
26 | (7) |
|
|
27 | (6) |
|
|
|
|
33 | (7) |
|
|
40 | (8) |
|
|
41 | (7) |
|
Laws of Chemistry and Thermodynamics |
|
|
48 | (6) |
|
Science in the Public Eye |
|
|
54 | (5) |
|
|
|
|
59 | (7) |
|
The Science of Dust Explosions |
|
|
62 | (1) |
|
|
62 | (1) |
|
|
63 | (1) |
|
|
64 | (1) |
|
|
64 | (1) |
|
|
65 | (1) |
|
|
65 | (1) |
|
|
66 | (1) |
|
|
66 | (2) |
|
|
68 | (1) |
|
|
69 | (2) |
|
Natural Explosions---Volcanoes |
|
|
71 | (4) |
|
|
|
|
75 | (4) |
|
Early Air Quality Disasters |
|
|
79 | (6) |
|
|
79 | (2) |
|
|
81 | (3) |
|
|
84 | (1) |
|
|
84 | (1) |
|
|
85 | (7) |
|
|
85 | (4) |
|
|
89 | (3) |
|
|
92 | (4) |
|
|
96 | (7) |
|
|
97 | (2) |
|
|
99 | (1) |
|
|
99 | (4) |
|
|
|
|
103 | (1) |
|
Pollutant Transport in Groundwater |
|
|
104 | (11) |
|
|
108 | (3) |
|
Liquid in Liquid Solubility |
|
|
111 | (4) |
|
|
115 | (1) |
|
|
115 | (1) |
|
|
116 | (1) |
|
|
117 | (2) |
|
|
119 | (1) |
|
|
120 | (2) |
|
|
122 | (6) |
|
|
128 | (4) |
|
|
|
|
132 | (1) |
|
|
133 | (14) |
|
|
134 | (3) |
|
|
137 | (3) |
|
Torrey Canyon Tanker Spill |
|
|
140 | (5) |
|
|
145 | (1) |
|
|
146 | (1) |
|
Niger River Delta Oil Spills |
|
|
147 | (1) |
|
|
147 | (5) |
|
|
149 | (3) |
|
Partitioning in the Environment |
|
|
152 | (11) |
|
|
|
Fire Disaster Thermodynamics |
|
|
163 | (5) |
|
|
167 | (1) |
|
|
167 | (1) |
|
|
167 | (1) |
|
|
168 | (1) |
|
|
168 | (1) |
|
|
168 | (1) |
|
Release of Radioactive Material |
|
|
169 | (1) |
|
|
170 | (1) |
|
|
171 | (1) |
|
The Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami |
|
|
172 | (1) |
|
|
173 | (1) |
|
|
174 | (1) |
|
|
174 | (1) |
|
Indirect Effect: Formation of Toxic Substances |
|
|
174 | (6) |
|
Indirect Impact: Transport |
|
|
180 | (3) |
|
|
|
|
183 | (3) |
|
|
186 | (4) |
|
|
187 | (3) |
|
Consequences of Global Warming |
|
|
190 | (1) |
|
|
190 | (2) |
|
Responding to Climate Change |
|
|
192 | (2) |
|
Difficulties with Climate Change Mitigation |
|
|
192 | (2) |
|
|
194 | (8) |
|
|
200 | (2) |
|
Potential Warming Disaster |
|
|
202 | (3) |
|
|
205 | (3) |
|
Biological Drivers of Climate Change |
|
|
208 | (14) |
|
|
|
|
222 | (4) |
|
|
223 | (2) |
|
|
225 | (1) |
|
|
226 | (2) |
|
|
228 | (1) |
|
|
228 | (7) |
|
|
|
|
235 | (1) |
|
|
236 | (10) |
|
|
236 | (3) |
|
|
239 | (3) |
|
|
242 | (1) |
|
|
243 | (1) |
|
Mechanism of Toxicity in Humans |
|
|
243 | (1) |
|
Arsenic: The Toxic Metalloid |
|
|
243 | (3) |
|
|
246 | (6) |
|
|
249 | (1) |
|
Naturally Occurring Asbestos |
|
|
250 | (1) |
|
|
251 | (1) |
|
|
252 | (10) |
|
|
262 | (3) |
|
|
265 | (11) |
|
|
|
|
276 | (2) |
|
|
278 | (4) |
|
|
282 | (2) |
|
|
284 | (2) |
|
|
286 | (1) |
|
|
287 | (12) |
|
|
|
Electromagnetic Radiation |
|
|
299 | (3) |
|
|
302 | (1) |
|
|
303 | (1) |
|
Nuclear Power Plant Failure |
|
|
304 | (1) |
|
Is Nuclear Power Worth the Risks? |
|
|
304 | (1) |
|
|
305 | (3) |
|
The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster |
|
|
308 | (4) |
|
Three Mile Island Nuclear Accident |
|
|
312 | (1) |
|
Radioisotopes and Radiation Poisoning |
|
|
313 | (1) |
|
|
314 | (4) |
|
|
318 | (5) |
|
|
|
|
323 | (1) |
|
|
323 | (30) |
|
|
323 | (2) |
|
|
325 | (3) |
|
|
328 | (9) |
|
|
337 | (4) |
|
|
341 | (5) |
|
|
346 | (1) |
|
|
346 | (7) |
|
|
|
|
353 | (1) |
|
Endocrine Disruptors and Hormonally Active Agents |
|
|
354 | (6) |
|
Screening to Prevent Hormonal Disasters |
|
|
358 | (2) |
|
Antibiotics: Superbugs and Cross-Resistance |
|
|
360 | (2) |
|
|
362 | (4) |
|
|
363 | (1) |
|
|
363 | (1) |
|
|
364 | (1) |
|
|
365 | (1) |
|
Scientific Principles at Work |
|
|
366 | (5) |
|
|
366 | (2) |
|
Configurational Isomers and Chirality |
|
|
368 | (2) |
|
Configurational Isomers and Double Bonds |
|
|
370 | (1) |
|
Effect of Shape of Molecules |
|
|
370 | (1) |
|
|
371 | (6) |
|
|
|
|
377 | (1) |
|
|
378 | (1) |
|
|
379 | (1) |
|
|
379 | (1) |
|
|
379 | (1) |
|
|
380 | (1) |
|
|
380 | (1) |
|
|
380 | (2) |
|
|
382 | (1) |
|
|
383 | (4) |
|
|
|
|
387 | (3) |
|
|
390 | (4) |
|
|
394 | (7) |
|
|
396 | (4) |
|
Genetically Modified Food |
|
|
400 | (1) |
|
|
401 | (1) |
|
|
401 | (8) |
|
|
402 | (6) |
|
|
408 | (1) |
|
|
409 | (2) |
|
Burning as a Societal Issue |
|
|
411 | (3) |
|
|
414 | (10) |
|
|
415 | (9) |
|
|
|
|
424 | (13) |
|
Thoughtful Land-Use Decisions |
|
|
425 | (4) |
|
|
429 | (2) |
|
|
431 | (2) |
|
|
433 | (1) |
|
Less Hubris, More Humility |
|
|
433 | (4) |
Glossary of Terms |
|
437 | (40) |
Index |
|
477 | |
Professor Daniel A. Vallero is a renowned environmental scientist and engineer with four decades of experience. He has advised U.S. government agencies on critical issues like PBTs, climate change, acid rain, and chemical risks. At Duke University, he led the Engineering Ethics program and taught courses on air pollution, sustainable design, and ethics. Vallero has served on the National Academy of Engineerings Online Ethics Committee and the National Institute of Engineering Ethics. An expert in emerging technologies, he focuses on societal, ethical, and public health challenges related to nanotechnology and environmental biotechnology. His work also encompasses emergency response and homeland security, making him a leading voice in environmental risk and ethics. Professor Trevor Letcher is an Emeritus Professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and living in the United Kingdom. He was previously Professor of Chemistry, and Head of Department, at the University of the Witwatersrand, Rhodes University, and Natal, in South Africa (1969-2004). He has published over 300 papers on areas such as chemical thermodynamic and waste from landfill in peer reviewed journals, and 100 papers in popular science and education journals. Prof. Letcher has edited and/or written 32 major books, of which 22 were published by Elsevier, on topics ranging from future energy, climate change, storing energy, waste, tyre waste and recycling, wind energy, solar energy, managing global warming, plastic waste, renewable energy, and environmental disasters. He has been awarded gold medals by the South African Institute of Chemistry and the South African Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Journal of Chemical Thermodynamics honoured him with a Festschrift in 2018. He is a life member of both the Royal Society of Chemistry (London) and the South African Institute of Chemistry. He is on the editorial board of the Journal of Chemical Thermodynamics, and is a Director of the Board of the International Association of Chemical Thermodynamics since 2002.