Awareness Of Environmental Hazards Research Articles

Historical predictability of rainfall erosivity: a reconstruction for monitoring extremes over Northern Italy (1500\u20132019)

Erosive storms constitute a major natural hazard. They are frequently a source of erosional processes impacting the natural landscape with considerable economic consequences. Understanding the aggressiveness of storms (or rainfall erosivity) is essential for the awareness of environmental hazards as well as for knowledge of how to potentially control them. Reconstructing historical changes in rainfall erosivity is challenging as it requires continuous time-series of short-term rainfall events. Here, we present the first homogeneous environmental (1500–2019 CE) record, with the annual resolution, of storm aggressiveness for the Po River region, northern Italy, which is to date also the longest such time-series of erosivity in the world. To generate the annual erosivity time-series, we developed a model consistent with a sample (for 1981–2015 CE) of detailed Revised Universal Soil Loss Erosion-based data obtained for the study region. The modelled data show a noticeable descending trend in rainfall erosivity together with a limited inter-annual variability until ~1708, followed by a slowly increasing erosivity trend. This trend has continued until the present day, along with a larger inter-annual variability, likely associated with an increased occurrence of short-term, cyclone-related, extreme rainfall events. These findings call for the need of strengthening the environmental support capacity of the Po River landscape and beyond in the face of predicted future changing erosive storm patterns.

Echoes from the coast: Assessment of residents’ perception of environmental hazards and risks in coastal communities of Nigeria

AbstractHuman settlements can be threatened by presence of environmental hazards, as their incidence is often unpredictable in temporal and spatial dimension. Coastal communities in oil‐producing states are often at risk of natural and technological environmental hazards as well as those emanating from residents’ living conditions. This paper therefore examines the residents’ perception of environmental hazards and risks in coastal communities of Nigeria. This work is aimed at providing information that could guide in improving environmental awareness and safety in the study area. Three coastal communities (Sapele, Oghara, and Koko) were selected in Delta State, Nigeria. One ward was randomly selected out of every three wards in each community. Thus, three wards were selected in Sapele, two in Oghara, and one in Koko, and a questionnaire was administered on every fifth residential building in each of the selected wards. A total of 218 residents were selected for the survey using this systematic sampling technique. The study established that residents were aware of environmental hazards and risks in the study area. Furthermore, the study found out that residents did not perceive environmental hazards and risks emanating from their living conditions as threats to their living compared to technological (oil‐induced) and natural environmental risks. The study recommends that government and all concerned agencies synergize efforts to create enlightenment programs and implement policies that could enhance residents’ awareness of environmental hazards and risks arising from their living conditions. Also environmental hazards and risks education should be introduced into school curriculum. Finally, the government should promulgate and enforce laws to guide the activities of industrialists and manage the threats from flood in the study area.

Health behaviors related to endocrine-disrupting chemicals and the associated factors of adolescent Korean girls

ABSTRACTIn this cross-sectional study, we examined the relationships among knowledge about endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), recognition of EDCs-related female reproductive illnesses, concern for the environment, perceived susceptibility to EDCs-related diseases, self- appraisal of exposure to EDCs, and health behaviors related to EDCs in adolescent Korean girls. A convenience sample of 218 girls was recruited during July and August 2015 from middle and high schools located in a city in Korea. The self-administered questionnaire incorporated four characteristics of the participants, five related factors, and a dependent variable of health behaviors. Four of the factors explained 20.4 percent of variance in health behaviors, and after controlling covariates, concern for the environment and self-appraisal of exposure to EDCs were still significant factors explaining 29.0 percent of the variance in health behaviors. However, for one factor, knowledge about EDCs, no independent contribution to health behaviors was observed. The findings indicated that education for young women should focus on enhancing their interests in the environment and awareness of environmental hazards. Further, clear and reliable guidelines to protect young women from the exposure to EDCs should be provided to adolescent girls.

Learning about the Functions of the Olfactory System from People without a Sense of Smell

The olfactory system provides numerous functions to humans, influencing ingestive behavior, awareness of environmental hazards and social communication. Approximately ⅕ of the general population exhibit an impaired sense of smell. However, in contrast to the many affected, only few patients complain of their impairment. So how important is it for humans to have an intact sense of smell? Or is it even dispensable, at least in the Western world? To investigate this, we compared 32 patients, who were born without a sense of smell (isolated congenital anosmia - ICA) with 36 age-matched controls. A broad questionnaire was used, containing domains relevant to olfaction in daily life, along with a questionnaire about social relationships and the BDI-questionnaire. ICA-patients differed only slightly from controls in functions of daily life related to olfaction. These differences included enhanced social insecurity, increased risk for depressive symptoms and increased risk for household accidents. In these domains the sense of olfaction seems to play a key role.

Environment and citizenship: integrating justice, responsibility and civic engagement

About the book: The book demonstrates how awareness of environmental hazards, injustices and new forms of risk is only effective when it generates strategies for political change. It examines how environmental movements have become increasingly involved in governance processes at the national, regional and intergovernmental levels, in contexts such as the EU, UN and LA21 initiatives. The authors argue that while 'rights-discourse' has highlighted the status of specific identities, taking account of obligation prompts a consideration of social, cultural, political, economic and environmental injustices. Tackling these injustices demands a concern with both entitlements and obligations of all relevant parties and constituencies.

Towards a socio-oecotechnology

Abstract The paper will attempt to demonstrate that within the broad ambit of the socio-technical model there is scope for development and for a degree of innovation. Two aspects of the model will be progressed and to some extent integrated. Firstly, I will argue that the joint optimisation (JtO) concept has not been elaborated and emphasised as much as it deserves and it needs to be sharply differentiated from the widely used notion of maximisation. Secondly, using JtO, I will extend the two system socio-technical model to a troika model by including the impact of technology on the oecological environment. 1 To obtain the best overall results, JtO has to be achieved between three systems: the social, the technical and the oecological. In this way, the extended model will engage with the public’s rapidly growing awareness of environmental hazards for which it frequently blames technologies. This extension also raises the socio-technical model from the micro- to the meso- and macro-level which was always the intention of the early pioneers. These theoretical developments will be treated heuristically and briefly illustrated by two case examples from recent research.

Environmental Quality of Child Day-Care Facilities: An Architect's Point of View

National statistics clearly point to a continuing rise in the demand for child day-care and preschool facilities, so it is essential that we provide children with a place to go during the day where they can be cared for, learn, and be protected from environmental hazards while being given the greatest benefit of high-quality and safe buildings. Through awareness of environmental hazards and integration of this awareness into their designs, architects can greatly contribute to such safe and stimulating environments.9