Environmental Hazards In Africa - Save Our Community of Africa

UNHEALTHY COMMUNITY AND ENVINROMENT: SAVE OUR COMMUNITY AFRICA

Humans have doubtless been altering their local environments since arriving in the scene as a distinct species several hundred thousand years ago. Our debut as major actors on the global stage - actors comparable in influence to the classic roles played by erosion, volcanism, natural selection, and the like- is a much more recent phenomenon. This dates back at most several thousand years, but has accelerated greatly in scope and influence over the last several centuries. According to Crutzen (2002) " We live today in what may be called the "Anthropocene" - a new geologic epoch in which human kind has emerged as a globally significant - and potentially intelligent - force capable of reshaping the face of the planet". The Italian geologist Anthonio Stoppani (1873) was describing humanity's activities as a "new telluric force, which in power and universality may be compared to the greater forces of the Earth". Several international conferences have been held to tackle environmental problems. Examples are, UN conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro Brazil, 1992, World summit on Sustainable Development, held in Johannesburg in 2002, etc. The need for harnessing science and technology in support of efforts to achieve the goal of environmentally sustainable human development in the Anthropocene was generally recognized at the Johannesburg Summit. Environmental hazards are contemporary issue in Africa but before I delve into the causes of the problems and some solutions, I would give some definitions and features of environment. I shall also use Nigeria (an African Country) as a case study because of the limitations of the work.

DEFINITIONS AND FEATURES OF ENVIRONMENT

Environmental Hazards In Africa - Save Our Community of Africa

The unfortunate older, wrong and simplistic definition of environment is that it is the resource that was created for human use. It is that mechanical aspect that exists to serve human beings. This definition is unfortunate and wrong for it explained environment as something inanimate; something in at that exists solely for human recreation pleasures and needs. The background to this definition includes the anthropological, religious, psychological, economic and philosophical explanations of the origin and nature of the environment. Environment is also defined as the natural in which people, animals and plants live. Uchebu (1998) categorized the environment into physical and non-physical. The physical environment includes land (Terrestrial) Air, Water (Acquatic) environments and non-physical - cultural and socio- economic environment. The environment therefore functions according to Kankwenda (2001) as:

(1) A source of raw materials and energy (non - renewable resources);
(2) A provider of services such as maintenance of climatic system/stability and ecological cycle (renewable resources) including forest, agriculture land, water etc;
(3) And a sink for waste.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS

Environmental problems are about the central issue of the twentieth and twenty-first (20th -21st ) centuries. This is because the hazards, which are contained in it, are as deep and grave as they are long lasting in its effect to MAN and the eco-system itself. According to the "Awake" magazine, mankind is presently sitting on a time-bomb on account of environmental effects either in form of weaponry and/or pollutions and hazards such as flooding, drought, soil erosion, deforestation, volcanity, earthquakes, radio-chemical hazards etc.

Nigeria as a nation encompasses multiple climate which requires and sraddles various physiographic units. There are various ecological zones ranging from Sahel Savanna, Sudan Savanna and Guinea Savanna through Rain forest to Mangroves and Swamp forests. The various ecological zones respond differently to the impact of human activities by virtue of their natural stress response capabilities and inherent carry capabilities. The Sahelian Savanna is highly susceptible to desertification; the Sudan Savanna can barely cope with human pressures emanating from rapidly growing populations, fuel woods, harvesting and cattle grazing. The Guinea zone is ordinarily subjected to pressures as a natural buffer between the encroaching desert and the forest belt. The Rain forest belt is under excessive pressure through poor regulation and over-exploitation of forest products and other economic activities that result in clearing of vast area of land. Compounding this, especially in the Niger Delta area, is the large scale exploration, exploitation and processing activities by the petroleum industry, which have left their impact through crude oil and petroleum product spillages, gas flaring - related problems, land degradation and depletion of farm lands, water pollution and deterioration of critical habitats for fish stock. Occurrence of soil and gully erosion, especially in the eastern part of Nigeria, flooding in the low lying belt of mangrove and fresh water swamps, and uncontrolled logging with its inherent problems of destruction and loss of bio-diversity have immensely contributed towards further exacerbation of the deteriorating environmental scenario.

The above are the various causes and effects of environmental hazards in Nigeria. But there are major noticeable changes in the environment as a result of human pressure on it. These include viz

(1) Loss of biodiversity resulting in reduced variety of genetic strains, species and ecosystems, depletion and extinction of species etc.
(2) Increasing rate of soil degradation and desertification as well as air and water pollution.
(3) Increase in green houses gases that are expected to lead to an increase in the mean global temperature of 200 to 500C.(Global Warming)
(4) Massive release of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) into the stratosphere resulting in increasing ultraviolet radiation from the sun due to depletion of ozone layer

PROGNOSIS FOR THE FUTURE

The prognosis for continued and sustainable improvements in human well being on a transformed environment is, at best, guarded. The two broad causes of environmental hazards are the industrially caused environmental pollution and the wasteful private consumption by whole population living under modern urban conditions. Whereas the former evil is done by a very limited number of humanity, the latter is perpetrated by the whole humanity whose greed has been fired by advertising following the industrial age to want to have more and more things and wastes the resources of nature. Consequently, while political regulations, laws, civil movements/pressure groups can force industries to safeguard the environment. Such coercive and institutional measures cannot work for the pollution by the whole citizenry. Rather a change of attitude and action towards environmental sustainability would be based on the voluntary action of individuals. Because whatever affects and pollutes the environment is also of effect to us. I therefore canvass for an approach or relation between man and environment called "Ecocentrism". The spirit behind this approach is to posit that environment is actually animate in the sense of being alive. It is therefore wrong to interpret environment as inert or inanimate.

Thus, the practical way forward for man to check environmental pollution and hazards according to Chigbo Joseph are viz

- Limit consumption of resources to a minimum and devise ways to use waste products in production.
- Making maximum use of the physical energy of the human body in order to maintain greater human health.
- Caution on use of the artificials additives to foods and other chemical products and be aware that harm almost invariably accompanies whatever good these substances do.
- Scientists and technologists to be ethically/humbly centered in their research and production
- Leaders to be imbued with the consciousness of saving man and the planet earth in their decisions.

In addition to the above, there should be establishment of regulatory agencies with varying powers to monitor and effectively control the sources of pollutants. Example is FEPA - Federal Environmental Protection Agency/Federal Ministry of Environment.

In a nutshell, the environment is a complex and delicate system which (I) if properly managed it can be geared to productive and domestic aesthetic and even spiritual requirements (ii) when poorly managed, the environment could easily become hazardous and threatening to human survival.

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Health, Safety & Environmental (HSE) Management In Engineering Practice

COMPONENTS OF HSE MANAGEMENT
Health, Safety and Environmental management should be part of the engineering profession in a country for the purpose of
o duty of care
o economic reasons and
o legal reasons.

HSE management should therefore consider five broad phases:
* Specifications
* Design and implementation
* Installation and commissioning
* Operation and maintenance
* Changes after commissioning.
* Compliance with the standards requires four essential elements:
* Identification of safety functions required for the safe shutdown
* Assignment of a safety integrity level (SIL) for each safety function
* Use of the safety lifecycle for the engineering design and
* Verification of the SIL achieved for each safety function.

3.0 ENGINEERING CODE OF PRACTICE
The engineering code of practice takes into consideration the following:
* Public safety: Giving priority to the safety and well-being of the community and having regard to this principle in assessing obligations to the clients, employers and colleagues.
* Risk Management: Taking reasonable steps to minimize the risk of loss of lives, injuries or suffering.
* Workplace and construction site: Minimizing potential dangers involved in the construction and manufacture of engineering products and processes.
* Public/Community well-being
* Communication
* Conflicts of interest
* Confidentiality

Health, Safety & Environmental (HSE) Management In Engineering Practice

The privilege of practicing engineering is entrusted to those qualified and who have the responsibility for applying engineering skills, scientific knowledge and ingenuity for the advancement of human welfare and quality of life. Fundamental principles of conduct of engineers include truth, honesty and trustworthiness in their service to the society, honourable and ethical practice showing fairness, courtesy and good faith towards clients, colleagues and others. Engineers take societal, cultural, economic, environmental and safety aspects into consideration and strive for the efficient use of the world's resources to meet long term human needs.

4.0 SAFE ENGINEERING DESIGNS
Safety is a concern in virtually all engineering design processes. Engineers should understand safety in the context of engineering design and what it means to say that a design is safe against human injuries.

Current design methods prioritize economic considerations over environmental ones. In some cases, economic considerations also serve environmental goals. For instance, the minimization of materials used in a structure means resources are saved. If they are saved at the expense of the length of the operating life of a product, then, economic considerations conflict with environmental interests which demand that products be made as durable as possible because of the need to minimize resource usage and waste generation in the long term.

Safety is the antonym of risk. So, a design is safe to the extent that it reduces risk. Safe design aims at minimizing risk in the standard sense of this term.

A safe design is the combination of all those procedures and principles that are used by engineers to make designed objects safe against accidents leading to human death or injuries, long term health effects, damage to the environment or malfunctioning in general.

Several design strategies used to achieve safety in operations of potentially dangerous technology are:
* inherently safe design
* safety factors
* negative feedback (self-shutdown) and
* multiple independent safety barriers.

Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) is the most common method of assessing safety but safe designs are used to reduce risks in the standard (probabilistic) sense but is inadequate. Safe design strategies are used to reduce estimated probabilities of injuries or reducing uncertainties not only risks. They are used to cope with hazards and eventualities that cannot be assigned meaningful probabilities.

5.0 DESIGN PRINCIPLES IN ENGINEERING
There are four (4) main design principles in Engineering practice.

(a) Inherently safe design:
This minimizes the inherent dangers in the process as far as possible. Potential hazards are excluded rather than enclosed or coped with. For instance, dangerous substances are replaced by less dangerous ones and fire proof materials are used rather than inflammable ones.

(b) Safety Factors
Construction should be strong enough to resist load and disturbances exceeding those that are intended. A common way to obtain such safety reserves is to employ explicitly chosen numerical safety factors are employed. If a safety factor of two (2) is employed when building a bridge, then the bridge is calculated to resist twice the maximal load to which it will be exposed to in practice.

(c) Negative feedback mechanisms
This is introduced to achieve a self-shutdown in case of device failure or when the operator looses control. Examples are safety valves that let out steam when the pressure is too high in a steam boiler and the dead man's hole that stops the train when the driver falls asleep. One of the most important safety measures in the nuclear industry is to ensure that reactors close down automatically in critical situations.

(d) Multiple Independent Safety Barriers
Safety barriers are arranged in chains, so that each barrier is independent of its predecessors (if the first fails, the second is still intact). The first barriers prevent accidents; the second barriers limit the consequences of an accident and rescue services as the last resort.

Safety factors and multiple safety barriers deal with uncertainties as well as risks. But currently, Probabilistic Risk Analysis (PRA) is used but does not deal with uncertainties. Probabilistic calculations can support but will not supplant the Engineers' ethically responsible judgment (environment, health and safety culture).

Safety engineering principles also include education of operators, maintenance of equipment and installations and incidence reporting are examples of safety practices of general importance.

6.0 HEALTH, SAFETY & ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT IN ENGINEERING PRACTICE
The Engineering profession is expected to be the harbinger of Health, Safety & Environmental management by virtue of the complexity of the output of the profession and their impacts on the lives of the general populace. How have we carried this along in our professional practices?

Seven (7) bad engineering practices have been identified:
* Believing that if something is not specifically stated, either "shall do" or "shall not do" in the standards, an engineer does not need to worry about it.
* Thinking that meeting the minimum requirements means the process is safe and complies with the standard.
* Ignoring the importance of good engineering practice.
* Designing systems that meet economic requirements but not safety protection requirements.
* Neglecting human factors (errors in calculations etc)
* Focusing on capital cost and not on lifecycle costs.
* Focusing only on the safety integrity level (SIL) and not on prevention.

Safety is an essential ethical requirement in engineering practice. Strategies for safe design are used not only to reduce estimated probabilities of injuries but also to cope with hazards and eventualities that cannot be assigned meaningful probabilities. Designers have an ethical responsibility to make constructions that are safe for future use. Safety is concerned with avoiding certain classes of events that are morally right to avoid.

In engineering design, safety consideration always includes safety against unintended human death or injuries that occur as a result of the unintended use of the designed object for:
* Prevention of damage to the environment
* Prevention of long term health effects

For example, if a bridge collapses, the engineers who designed it are held responsible.

Building designers and builders must obey construction safety in the use of Scaffolds, tool nets, tool boxes, mechanical lifts and manual lifts under safe procedures, use of personal protective equipments (PPEs) on sites (boots/helmets), clear passages and road-ways, construction tapes to cordon off work areas etc. Most engineers have neglected this aspect, thus, playing with the lives of the generality of the populace.

What engineers do have lasting influences on safety and define our level of Environment, Health and Safety culture.

7.0 ETHICAL OBLIGATIONS IN ENGINEERING PRACTICE
Ethical obligations are necessary in order for engineers to carry out their profession. Without the obligation of confidentiality, clients could not trust engineers with commercially sensitive information. Without these information, engineers could not do their jobs. The moral obligations of our profession can be understood as duties which are necessary.

There are five (5) fundamental values necessary for the ethical obligations:
* Protection of lives and safeguarding of people.
* Professionalism, integrity and competence
* Commitment to community/public well-being
* Sustainable management and care for the environment
* Sustaining engineering knowledge

8.0 ENGINEERING PRACTICE REQUIREMENTS
* Engineers shall hold paramount the Health, Safety and Environment/welfare of the public in the practice of their profession.
* Engineers shall practice only in their areas or field of competence, in a careful and diligent manner and in conformance with standards, laws, codes, rules and regulations applicable to engineering practice.
* Engineers shall examine the societal and environmental impact of their actions and projects, including the use and conservation of resources and energy in order to make informed recommendations and decisions..
* Engineers should declare their interests clearly.
* Engineers shall sign and take responsibility for all engineering works which they prepared or directly supervised. Engineers may sign works prepared by others only with their consent and after sufficient review and verification.
* Engineers shall act as faithful agents for their employers or clients and maintain confidentiality, avoid conflicts of interest whenever possible and disclose unavoidable conflicts.
* Engineers professional concerns must be made known to the client and the consequences of engineering decisions or judgments.
* Engineers should reject any public works, engineering decisions or practice that endanger the HSE of the public.
* Engineers shall commit to life-long learning, strive to advance the body of engineering knowledge and should encourage other engineers to do likewise.
* Engineers shall promote responsibility, commitment and ethics both in the education and practice phases of engineering. They should enhance society's awareness of engineer's responsibilities to the public and encourage the communication of these principles of ethical conduct among engineers.

9.0 HSE SUSTAINABILITY MANAGEMENT
This is about the long term survival of humanity. It recognizes that decisions made today must enable both those in the present as well as people of the foreseeable future to make effective choices about their quality of life.

Failure to identify risks to safety and the inability to address or control these risks can result in massive costs, both human and economic. The multidisciplinary nature of safety engineering means that a very broad array of professionals are actively involved in accident prevention or safety engineering.

A critical fault endangers or few people. A catastrophic fault endangers, harms or kills a significant number of people. Engineer's errors or inability to incorporate the HSE management in his practice spells catastrophic.

10.0 THE WAY FORWARD
Everyone must strengthen his or her understanding of HSE awareness by making safety a priority. Also, cost effective solutions in order to gain the biggest return on investment should be developed.

Engineers take early design of a system, analyze it to find what faults can occur and then propose safety requirements in design specifications upfront and changes to existing systems to make the system safer.

If significant safety problems are discovered late in the design process, correcting them can e very expensive. This type of error has the potential to waste large sums of money.

* At all times, take all reasonable care to ensure that your work and the consequences of your work cause no unacceptable risk to safety.
* Take all reasonable steps to make your management/client and those to whom they have a duty of care aware of the risks you identify.
* Make anyone overruling or neglecting your professional advice formally aware of the consequent risks.
* It is critical for engineers to maintain a deep and broad understanding of the many technical and professional practice issues that they will inevitably encounter in their role as employees of public owners. This is achieved through appropriate education, training, experience, license, professional engineering practice and continuing professional development.

11.0 CONCLUSION
The engineering practice like the construction industry is the agent of social and economic development, the barometer of economic activities and a very large employer of labour in Nigeria. It accounts for over 60% of the total capital investment. It is the largest employer of labour (think of all the electrical, mechanical, civil, chemical and computer jobs in industries).

Health, Safety and environment, which is concerned with life and property must be taken serious in this profession. Safety procedures are necessary to prevent accidents, diseases and harmful effects on the health of the public at large arising from the activities in the industry on site and its environs or off site.

Good HSE management is visible in a country through the quality of the professional ethics of the professionals, engineers inclusive and the level of her health values and the state of her environment, that is, her level of cleanliness (personal hygiene and public sanitation).

It can only be developed through personal commitment, willingness and self-sacrifice because of the long and short run benefits therein. HSE management habit starts with safety consciousness. Safety consciousness dwells with each and every one of us and should be taken along to our professional practices.

People should recognize that their health and well-being are related to the quality of their environment and should apply thoughtful principles to attempt to improve the quality of their environment.

As Engineers, we should lead others in being safety conscious at all times and refraining from doing anything that may result to accident. We should apply safety measures to all our daily activities and take our safety and that of others around us as our responsibilities especially in our practices.

Finally, as Engineers we should pursue sustainable Health, Safety & environmental management and make it part and parcel of our engineering practice today for the continued relevance of our profession tomorrow. It is only when this is done that our professional ethics will be meaningful knowing fully well that the products of our professional practices have great impact on the lives of the entire citizens of this country.

Health, Safety & Environmental management habit is therefore not only necessary and but remains a vital ingredient of our professional ethics in engineering practice in Nigeria and elsewhere and this must be sustained always by all.

Health, Safety & Environmental (HSE) Management In Engineering Practice
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Azuka Emeasoba, KSC

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The Importance of Environmental Sustainability

Environment sustainability is extremely important, to establish a safe environment for the future. The ozone layer is slowly decreasing, and as it continues to deplete the more scientists will worry about the increase on natural disasters, like heat waves, flash floods, severe hurricanes, etc. We rely too much on crude oil, and the oil spill on the Golf of Mexico has a negative impact to the sea life of the area. Consequently, it is very important that we try to look at other renewable sources of energy, to keep man made damage to the environment at a minimum.

There is more than just one way to ensure that we maintain our environment and that it continues for the future. Such as reducing carbon footprints and emission, and reusing as many items as we can. (Such as recycling) We should all use eco-friendly items, not only at home, but also in the workplace. However there is much more to sustainability that just recycling and using eco products. Are there any strategic, economic, or environmental decisions that are being made, to make sure that all of our resources are being used efficiently? Are there any health and safety issues when using these resources? There should be policies in the economy that amplify sustainability, and not the other way around. Green technology is the way to go and any advancement in technology should not block sustainability.

In today's world people have to pay a premium to get things such as organic food, solar panels, etc. compared to the much cheaper GM foods. Going green is definitely not cheap. Even though the green products are expensive, they are also hard to find for some consumers. Cooperation from the government is needed to ensure that the green products are made available to everyone and at an affordable price. It takes a great effort to get green products. They are found online to department stores.

The Importance of Environmental Sustainability

Going green is more of a lifestyle choice to those who want to do so. More people will need to get involved and go green in the future to make sure that our environment is sustainable.

The Importance of Environmental Sustainability
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For more opinions on current environmental issues please visit http://www.the-environment-blog.blogspot.com/

Who am I? http://the-environment-blog.blogspot.com/2010/08/who-am-i.html

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Environmental Issues Articles: What's Their Focus?

Environmental issues articles can be write-ups about the different environmental problems the world is facing today. Environmental problems connote something negative about the human activity on its biophysical environment. There are environmental and social movements around the world that address these problems through activism, education, and advocacy.

Environmental issues articles are concerned about climate change, environmental degradation, pollution, resource depletion, and the likes. Through science and the application of the scientific method, more and more individuals have an increased level of understanding about Mother Earth. A multi-disciplinary academic study known as environmental science is now being researched and taught in various universities around the globe. This study serves as basis in dealing with issues on the environment.

Environmental issues articles are mostly reports made from the collection of large amounts of data and are mostly issued at the international, national, and regional levels government and non-government organizations. The United Nations Environment Program which was set up in 1972 is the largest international agency that addresses these types of issues.

Environmental Issues Articles: What's Their Focus?

Addressing environmental problems through articles aim for sustainability in reducing or preventing the negative effects on our environment. Most of these articles encourage organizations and individuals to act collectively in order for humans to use the Earth's resources within the sustainable limits.

Articles regarding these issues can be about climate change: global warming, fossil fuels, greenhouse gas, and shutdown of thermohaline circulation, global dimming, sea level rise, and ocean acidification. Global warming issues typically centers on the continuous rise of the normal temperature of the Earth's oceans and atmosphere. Burning fossil fuels are also common issues in articles concerning the environment.

Some articles about environmental issues also focus on conservation. Typical points of discussion include species extinction, coral bleaching, invasive species, endangered species, pollinator decline, Holocene extinction, and poaching. Conservation's primary focus is to maintain the overall health of the natural world that includes biological diversity, habitats, and fisheries.

Pollution is also a common issue that is discussed in write-ups. Most articles talk about light pollution, visual pollution, point source pollution, noise pollution, and non-point source pollution. Air and water pollution are also very common topics of articles on our environment.

The biophysical environment which consists of the built environment and the natural environment must interact symbiotically in order to maintain sustainability. Without this symbiosis which the environmental issues articles tend to focus on, the degradation of the Earth will continue and the human race will perish.

Environmental Issues Articles: What's Their Focus?
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Do read up environmental issues articles from the site http://environmentalissuesarticles.com/ and be more aware of our environment.

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Earth Day Fundraisers - Educational, Profitable, and Environmental

On April 22nd this year, as on that day every year, we celebrate Earth Day and spend some time reflecting on our impact on the planet and work on integrating earth friendly practices into our daily routines.

For groups who need to raise money in the Spring, (and what group doesn't?) Earth Day provides a fantastic opportunity to promote one of the newest and most exciting areas of brochure based fundraising: Green Fundraising.

Green Fundraising is as simple as it is effective. Groups decide which of a number of all natural, organic, or earth friendly fundraising product lines they want to sell, order some free brochures, and then go sell.

Earth Day Fundraisers - Educational, Profitable, and Environmental

What makes green fundraising such a popular choice is that the products can help people to make a difference for the planet. Take for example one of the most popular green fundraising products, reusable shopping bags. Reusable bags can help each person who buys and uses one reduce their plastic bag waste by 500 bags every year.

Another very green fundraiser that is gaining in popularity is the vegetable garden fundraiser. With this fundraiser, group members sell kits that allow customers to plant and grow their very own delicious and nutritious vegetables.

So as everyone recognizes Earth Day, use the time and the fact that the environment is more in your customers minds to offer them earth friendly products. Show them that an individual can make a difference for the environment and that your group is doing everything possible to help that movement.

Earth Day Fundraisers - Educational, Profitable, and Environmental
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Jordan Gottlieb is the author of this article.

Learn more about Green Fundraising.
Learn more about Earth Day Fundraising.

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List of Environmental Problems

With the latest researches on global warming and climate change, there are several agencies that promote environmental awareness and taking care of the environment. A large part of the environmental awareness program is on helping the public know more about the environmental problems and the alternatives to solving them. Here is a list of the most common environmental problems that the public should be aware of.

* Garbage problem

This is very common in third world countries. The people do not have access to information to proper waste disposal that they end up mismanaging their garbage. This is evidenced by heaps of garbage in inappropriate areas and water systems. Some people also tend to burn their garbage leading to more environmental problems.

List of Environmental Problems

The best way to solve this is to educate the people on garbage segregation. The people must also find ways on how to recycle their waste materials so that there will be little need to create more landfills in the future.

* Air pollution

Industrialization is, perhaps, the main culprit for the growing air pollution in many countries. It is good that the more advanced countries are also now focusing on looking on more environment friendly methods of production in order to minimize the effects of industrialization to the environment. Industrial smoke from factories and the smoke from vehicles are now being reduced through the use of other sources of fuel and energy other than fossil fuels.

* Water pollution

The waters of the world are great sources of food and materials for man. However, if the natural habitats of fishes and other marine animals are contaminated, marine resources become depleted, which could eventually lead to food shortage.

People who live near the shores and other bodies of water should learn how to properly dispose their solid and water wastes so that the natural ecosystem will not be contaminated. Environment-friendly detergents, soaps and other solutions should also be used in order to prevent marine life poisoning.

If there will just be enough trees and forests in the world, the effects of climate change and global warming will be greatly reduced. But since the forest areas are being reduced to expand the human habitats or to serve as quarry sites, more and more landslides tend to occur. The presence of trees also tends to reduce the temperature and to provide more food and protection for other animals.

With each person planting at least one tree, the world will be on its way to saving itself from these environmental problems.

List of Environmental Problems
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Please click these links if you want to know more about list of environmental problems or list of radioactive elements in general.

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Current Environmental Science Events

Environmental science has become one of the premier media-friendly sciences over the last few decades. It is a science that thrives on symposiums, conferences, and of course media coverage. Te pressing environmental issues like green house emission and global warming nowadays share the media limelight along with global terrorism and sub-prime crisis in United States. There are a plenty of academic and industry-level conferences in the field of environmental science. In this article, details of some of the events related to environmental science to be held in the months of July and August in 2008 are provided.

The global conference on Global Warming will be held in Dedeman Hotel at Istanbul, Turkey, on July 6-10, 2008. The contemporary issues and the relevance of new findings regarding global warming will be discussed elaborately in the conference.

The seventh global conference of Environmental Justice and Global Citizenship will be held at Oxford, United Kingdom on July 9-12, 2008. Papers related to environments, sustainability and technologies will be presented in the conference. The objective of the conference is to figure out the role of environmental research in present-day society and politics, by finding out how environments, sustainability, and technology are linked in contemporary culture and politics.
The 22nd Annual Meeting for the Society of Conservation Biology will be held in Tennessee, United States, from July 13 to July 17, 2008.

Current Environmental Science Events

The AMSI/MASCOS Industry Workshop on the Mathematics of Water Supply and Pricing will be held at Queensland, Australia on July 14-16, July 2008. There will be short courses and lectures from experts on the topics such as water trading, pricing models, risk management, monitoring water quality and water economics during the three-day program.

World Renewable Energy Congress (WREC) Exhibition 2008 will be held from July 19 to July 25, 2008, at Glasgow, United Kingdom. WREC is a forum for people concerned with the conservation of the environment from various quarters, politicians, researchers, industrialists, media persons, and environmental activists, to present their views.

A special symposium on environmental conservation issues related to the Midwest floods will be held in Tuscan, Arizona, United States, on July 29, 2008, as part of the 2008 SWCS International Conference.

The fifth edition of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) World Congress will be held on August 3-7, 2008, at Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre in Sydney. The main objectives of the conference are to study and analyze the environmental problems to provide a sustainable solution. Special focus will be given to management and regulation of natural resources.

The conference on Climate Change Post-Kyoto: Insights from BRIC Countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) will be held on August 8, 2008, at Glasgow, United Kingdom. The conference is organized by University of Birmingham and University of Glasgow, United Kingdom.

Current Environmental Science Events
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Understanding the Internal and External Environmental Factors and Its Impact on Daycare Marketing

For a daycare center to successfully identify what sort of marketing strategies to employ for the daycare, it is important first to evaluate the environment that affects its marketing strategy. There are 2 types of environmental factors that the daycare will need to assess; its external environment and its internal environment.

External environmental factors are issues that affect the daycare business but are outside of its control. The daycare just simply needs to know what it is and work around its constraints.
- Political - what are the governmental rules and regulations in which the daycare is required to adhere to.
- Economic - what is the economic situation. - recession? Inflation? Etc.
- Sociocultural - what is the expectation of the people with regards to daycare services. Are they expecting just a nanny care service or are they expecting something more. Thjs will impact the daycare services that should be offered.
- Technological - this will impact the way in which we communicate with the customer as well as how we promote the daycare centre.

There is also an internal environment in which the daycare exists which will affect the marketing which will require the business to do some "soul-searching". Internal environmental factors are those that are within the daycare's control. The daycare will need to look at the daycare business as a whole and identify its strengths and weaknesses. Strengths will be those factors that the daycare is proud of or good at. Weaknesses are basically areas of improvement. A good guide will be to benchmark the daycare against a close competitor's.

Understanding the Internal and External Environmental Factors and Its Impact on Daycare Marketing

In internal environmental scan will require the daycare to conduct a close evaluation at the following:
- the services it provides
- the price of its services
- its current strategy to promote and market the daycare
- the way the business is operating
- its staff and their qualifications
- its finances and budget

With the information gathered on the daycare's internal and external factors, the daycare will be able to make a more information decision on its marketing strategies.

Understanding the Internal and External Environmental Factors and Its Impact on Daycare Marketing
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Environmental Abuse

Abuse of our environment arises from actions that cannot be sustained by
nature. For instance, if 3 trees are felled in order to make way for a new
house, then nature has lost three trees and any offspring forever. This is not
sustainable.

If, after felling the three trees,  four new trees are planted in an
alternative location where growth and reproductive prospects are the same as in
the previous location, then this is sustainable. Why four trees, you may ask?
Two reasons: 1, because not all saplings survive into maturity, 2. to compensate
for the time lag before the new trees reach the age of those that were
replaced. This is a simple example to illustrate the point. In
reality, the calculation for restocking tree plantings involves many factors and
is quite a bit more complicated!

Power Stations - a Special Case

Environmental Abuse

Another example: if a power station is to be environmentally friendly then it
should either ensure that no pollutants or excess carbon dioxide is pumped into
the environment or take alternative actions that will restore the quality of the
environment. Historically we know this has not been achieved. If the cost of
making power stations environmentally sustainable was reasonable then we would
have done it long ago. The fact that this is a widely known problem has led to a
major misconception across society that being environmentally friendly costs money.
This is simply not the case. Modern power stations are generally far kinder to
the environment than older ones. They still pollute the environment, but not
nearly as much as the older ones did. To translate the power station experience
to other aspects of life, and industry in particular, is a mistake.

Pollution Production

Pollutants are unwanted bi-products. They have been produced and this
production has cost money. Trash that goes into land-fill is a bi-product of
goods that we want. This trash is made up primarily of packaging. Somebody went
to the trouble of making the packaging, using valuable energy and probably
emitting some pollution in the process. Somebody else went to the trouble of
purchasing this packaging - then, at the end of its life it is dumped. The same principle can be
applied to all pollution. It has been produced and paid for. To say, therefore, that
pollution reduction costs money is illogical.

Improving Power Stations

Let's apply this logic to power
stations: virtually all power stations around the world are pumping out
particles into the air as a bi-product. Older stations (especially coal-fired
ones) are pumping out relatively large particles compared to modern stations.
These large particles are responsible for seeding rain clouds and changing
weather patterns. If all these particles, large and small, were added up and
weighed, you can imagine that they would add up to thousands of tons a day that
are being pumped upwards - and eventually falling back down again. This is like
chartering 100's of airliners every day to take off loaded with tons of carbon
particles and then letting them free into the atmosphere. Old power stations
were built this way, when pollution and waste was not the main consideration.
Most countries around the world have brought in legislation to curb these
emissions, along with sulphur, mercury and other harmful substances and things
are improving all the time. I would contend though, that in time, this would
have happened through market forces. For example, another bi-product of coal
fired power stations - fly ash - is now routinely made into bricks for building
construction and is also used in road construction. Modern power stations also
recycle much of the heat produced in emissions as a way to improve
efficiency.  Many also heat local homes and businesses, including the power
station itself, using this heat output. As I stated, though, power stations are
a special case, and their struggle to be environmentally friendly has led to the
mistaken belief that environmentally friendly measures are costly.

Conservation

To recycle, and even better, to re-use is surely preferable to a constant
cycle of dumping old and buying new. An even better way is summed up in an old-fashioned term:
conservation. This is not only the most environmentally sound way to proceed, it
is also the most cost effective. By turning down your thermostat a notch or two,
or by walking instead of driving occasionally; by turning off lights when you
leave an empty room: these may seems small measures to take, but if multiplied
around the world, would make a real difference to the environment. Take travel:
why do we travel so much? Can't some people work from home and therefore avoid
the rush hour and have a better quality of life? Can schools and homes be nearer
to each other? Perhaps there should be more/smaller schools and instead of less/larger? In fact, more and smaller of everything may not be a bad idea when
considering travel reduction. Perhaps the time has come to consider a steep rise in fuel
prices?

Environmental Footprint

Most production activities, and increasingly most of our everyday activities
have a so-called environmental "footprint". This footprint is a
measure of the effect of an action on the environment. When we take out then we
should give back. Just as new trees are planted to replace those that have been
felled, so we should make amends when we pollute our environment. Better still,
though, is the idea that we make no footprint in the first place. The question
is: why were the trees felled in the first place?

Environmental Abuse
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Environmental Issues Affecting the Travel Industry

Protecting the environment is now one of the most talked-about and hotly-debated topics across the globe. Many companies are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to create products or make their products environmentally friendly. An example is the electric car that is being looked at as a viable option to that of the present gasoline powered car. In 2009 world leaders met in Copenhagen to discuss ways in which they can prevent global warming and reduce on the effects of climate change, in effect protecting the environment. The travel industry too has not been left out of this issue. In an industry where the number of people engaged in international travel has been predicted to reach the billion mark in 2010, there is concern about its contribution to the damage done to the environment. Also like every other industry the travel industry needs to be concerned about ways of doing business that are environmentally friendly. Outlined below are some of the environmental issues affecting the travel industry which stakeholders need to address and in some cases seek out long term solutions.

1. Aviation which ferries hundreds of thousands of tourists across the globe is of great concern to those seeking to protect the environment. A major concern for the industry is greenhouse gas emissions and their implication for climate change. Aviation produces at least two percent of emissions. One way the aviation industry is working on this problem is by rolling out newer planes that have fuel efficient engines which means less carbon emissions. However not all airlines especially in the poorer countries can afford buying new aircraft.

2. Mass tourism. With the cost of travel becoming cheaper and more and more people venturing further away from their countries to places that were previously inaccessible but can now be reached because of air transport, areas of environmental and historical significance are becoming crowded. This is putting pressure on ecosystems within these areas and threatening the flora and fauna. Also climate change is going to mean that certain places will not favour visitors because of weather conditions becoming extreme which will lead to overcrowding in other places with more favourable weather conditions. Again this presents a danger to the ecosystems in the overcrowded areas and to the tourism of the area.

Environmental Issues Affecting the Travel Industry

3. Deforestation. In spite of the worldwide call to protect the environment there are still areas where massive logging is taking place. This is also contributing to destruction of flora and fauna and is a threat to the tourism in those areas.

4. With the call to go green affecting all industries across the globe the tourism industry has not been left out. There is pressure on those who are in the industry to find methods of doing business that are sustainable and environmentally friendly. For example can the hotel industry build hotels that are more environmentally friendly? What methods can they use to conserve energy and reduce on chemicals that are used in the dry cleaning of tons of laundry used in the industry?

5. Human encroachment. With populations continuing to grow worldwide there is now competition between man and animals for space. Humans are now encroaching on areas like National Parks that are protected and marked for wildlife. This has led to reports of people and their livestock being killed by wild animals which in turn leads to people hunting and killing these animals that are considered to be a threat. This is a threat to the tourism of the area. Human encroachment is also forcing animals to move away from their habitat to other areas where they cannot survive leading to the extinction of certain species.

Environmental Issues Affecting the Travel Industry
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