Unraveling Environmental Disasters
- 1st Edition - November 27, 2012
- Editors: Daniel A. Vallero, Trevor Letcher
- Language: English
Unraveling Environmental Disasters provides scientific explanations of the most threatening current and future environmental disasters, including an analysis of ways that the disas… Read more
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.
- Named a 2014 Outstanding Academic Title by the American Library Association's Choice publication
- 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
environmental scientists; management in disaster planning, risk assessment, safety training, and emergency planning; environmental engineers; oceanographers; occupational health specialists; political scientists; city planners; state and local government planners; individuals working in homeland security; chemists; military personnel; oil refinery managers; economists; and pharmaceutical researchers and regulators
undergraduate and graduate students studying environmental disasters
Preface
Our Focus
Chapter 1. Failure
Events
Disasters as Failures
Types of Failure
Types of Disasters
Systems Engineering
References and Notes
Chapter 2. Science
Scientific Advancement
Laws of Motion
Laws of Chemistry and Thermodynamics
Science in the Public Eye
References
Chapter 3. Explosions
Dust
Ammonium Nitrate
Picric Acid and TNT
Methyl Isocyanate
Natural Explosions—Volcanoes
References
Chapter 4. Plumes
Nomenclature
Early Air Quality Disasters
Toxic Plumes
Plume Characterization
Nuclear Fallout Plumes
References and Notes
Chapter 5. Leaks
Surreptitious Disasters
Pollutant Transport in Groundwater
Love Canal
Chester
Times Beach
Valley of the Drums
Stringfellow Acid Pits
Tar Creek
The March Continues
References and Notes
Chapter 6. Spills
Disastrous Releases
Oil Spills
Niger River Delta Oil Spills
Other Spills
Partitioning in the Environment
References and Notes
Chapter 7. Fires
Fire Disaster Thermodynamics
Kuwait Oil Fires
Release of Radioactive Material
Indonesian Wildfires
World Trade Center Fire
The Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami
Other Major Fires
Tire Fires
Coal Mine Fires
Indirect Effect: Formation of Toxic Substances
Indirect Impact: Transport
References and Notes
Chapter 8. Climate
Global Climate Change
Greenhouse Gases
Consequences of Global Warming
Is It a Disaster?
Responding to Climate Change
Carbon and Climate
Potential Warming Disaster
Geoengineering
Biological Drivers of Climate Change
References and Notes
Chapter 9. Nature
Hurricanes
Floods
Drought
Ecosystem Resilience
References and Notes
Chapter 10. Minerals
Inorganic Substances
Toxic Metals
Asbestos
Cyanide
Surface Mining
Value
References and Notes
Chapter 11. Recalcitrance
The Dirty Dozen
Agent Orange
Lake Apopka
James River
Persistent Wastes
The Arctic Disaster
References and Notes
Chapter 12. Radiation
Electromagnetic Radiation
Nuclear Radiation
Nuclear Plants
Nuclear Power Plant Failure
Is Nuclear Power Worth the Risks?
Meltdown at Chernobyl
The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster
Three Mile Island Nuclear Accident
Radioisotopes and Radiation Poisoning
Carbon Dating
Nuclear Waste Disposal
References and Notes
Chapter 13. Invasions
The Worst 100
Sensitive Habitats
References and Notes
Chapter 14. Products
Precaution
Endocrine Disruptors and Hormonally Active Agents
Antibiotics: Superbugs and Cross-Resistance
Organophosphates
Scientific Principles at Work
Milk and Terrorism
References and Notes
Chapter 15. Unsustainability
Oil
Phosphates
Helium
Platinum Group Metals
Lithium
Rare Earth Metals
Other Metals
Biomass
Methane
Carbon Dioxide
References and Notes
Chapter 16. Society
Justice
Solid Waste
Food Supply
Vinyl Chloride
Food Versus Fuel
Burning as a Societal Issue
Risk Trade-Offs
References and Notes
Chapter 17. Future
Recommendations
References and Notes
Glossary of Terms
Index
- Edition: 1
- Published: November 27, 2012
- Language: English
DV
Daniel A. Vallero
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 Engineering’s 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.
TL
Trevor Letcher
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.
Affiliations and expertise
Emeritus Professor, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South AfricaRead Unraveling Environmental Disasters on ScienceDirect