Letteratura scientifica selezionata sul tema "Environmental damage"

Les estimacions de danys ambientals en cadenes de processos necessiten l'avaluació d'impactes ambientals en dues perspectives: orientades cap a cadenes de processos i orientades localment. Per a ambdues perspectives s'han desenvolupat eines específiques d'avaluació: l'Avaluació del Cicle de Vida (ACV o LCA) i l'Avaluació del Risc Ambiental (ERA). L'ACV és una eina, bastant nova, orientada cap a cadenes de processos, per avaluar el perfil ambiental dels productes, enfocada cap al cicle de vida complet d'aquests. A la fase de l'Avaluació de l'Impacte del Cicle de Vida (LCIA) s'avaluen els resultats del Inventari del Cicle de Vida (LCI) d'un sistema de producte, per entendre millor el seu significat ambiental. L'ERA és una eina per avaluar el risc de substàncies químiques específiques. A l'anàlisi d'exposició, s'avalua el risc d'un procés en un lloc concret. L'Anàlisi de Vies d'Impacte (IPA) és un mètode semblant que s'ha desenvolupat per a l'avaluació dels danys ambientals en termes de paràmetres d'impactes físics, com per exemple els casos de càncer. A l'IPA normalment aquests paràmetres es converteixen en costs externs. No obstant això, els individus podrien preferir altres esquemes de valoració.<br/>Els productes es fabriquen en una cadena ramificada de processos. Existeixen mètodes específics per a l'avaluació ambiental de productes que no s'haurien d'emprar directement per a l'avaluació d'un número de processos industrials amb una unitat funcional comuna, ja que el nivell de sofisticació en l'avaluació pot ser més elevat per a cadenes de processos industrials amb un número limitat de processos inclosos que per a productes complexos. S'han realitzat pocs esforços, per explorar sistemàticament les incerteses inherents, interfases i tipus de possibilitats d'integració i comunicació dels mètodes d'avaluació ambientals citats, orientats per un costat a cadenes de processos i per l'altre els orientats localment, en el cas de cadenes de processos industrials. Per això l'objectiu d'aquesta tesi, és trobar un compromís adequat entre els mètodes d'avaluació d'impacte ambiental, orientats a cadenes de processos i els orientats localment i, convertir les estimacions de danys ambientals en resultats significatius, com els costs ambientals.<br/>La tesi ofereix un algoritme matemàtic i un esquema que permet la diferenciació espaial a diferents nivells de detall i proposa una integració de l'ACV, l'IPA i els costs ambientals. La metodologia establerta "Estimacions de Danys Ambientals per a Cadenes de Processos Industrials" posa els punts mitjos i els punts finals en un marc comú. S'aplica i se segueix desenvolupant un mètode per a l'avaluació d'impactes depenents del lloc com una manera per aconseguir un compromís entre les avaluacions del dany específic de lloc i els indicadors potencials del cicle de vida. El mètode utilitza classes genèriques d'impacte que corresponen a diverses distribucions de receptors i condicions de dispersió basades en un raonament estadístic. Una part del desenvolupament de la metodologia consisteix en l'anàlisi de les incerteses en el LCI i l'IPA per la simulació de Monte Carlo. Aquesta aplicació paral.lela permet mostrar que les incerteses de l'inventari són menys importants que les dels danys.<br/>Els mètodes presentats i la metodologia desenvolupada s'han aplicat amb èxit per diferents camins al cas pràctic d'incineració de residus i, especialment, al seu impacte sobre la salut humana. La comparació dels resultats derivats, mitjançant indicadors d'impacte de punt final, amb els obtinguts per a l'indicador de punt mitjà, indica que per la situació del cas pràctic l'indicador de punt mitjà desestima l'impacte ambiental dels processos de transport. S'ha establert la base per a la creació d'una nova generació de models de gestió integrada de residus que inclou l'optimització de la ubicació de plantes de tractament de residus i de la difusió de les rutes de transports corresponents.<br>Las estimaciones de daños ambientales en cadenas de procesos necesitan la evaluación de impactos ambientales en dos perspectivas: orientadas hacia cadenas de procesos y orientadas localmente. Para las dos perspectivas se han desarrollado herramientas específicas de evaluación: el Análisis del Ciclo de Vida (ACV o LCA) y la Evaluación del Riesgo Ambiental (ERA). El ACV es una herramienta, bastante nueva, orientada hacia cadenas de procesos, para evaluar el perfil ambiental de los productos, enfocada hacia el ciclo de vida completo de éstos. En la fase de la Evaluación del Impacto del Ciclo de Vida (LCIA) se evalúan los resultados del Inventario del Ciclo de Vida (LCI) de un sistema de producto, para entender mejor su significado ambiental. La ERA es una herramienta para evaluar el riesgo de substancias químicas específicas. En el análisis de exposición, se evalúa el riesgo de un proceso en un lugar concreto. El Análisis de Vías de Impacto (IPA) es un método similar que se ha desarrollado para la evaluación de los daños ambientales en forma de parámetros de impactos físicos, como casos de cáncer. En el IPA normalmente estos parámetros están convertidos en costes externos. <br/>Los productos se fabrican en una cadena ramificada de procesos. Existen métodos específicos para la evaluación ambiental de productos que no se deberían aplicar directamente para la evaluación de un número de procesos industriales con una unidad funcional comuna, ya que el nivel de sofisticación en la evaluación puede ser más elevado para cadenas de procesos industriales con un número limitado de procesos incluidos que para productos complejos. Se han realizado pocos esfuerzos, para explorar sistemáticamente las incertidumbres inherentes y los tipos de posibilidades de integración y comunicación de los métodos de evaluación ambiental citados, orientados de un lado a cadenas de procesos y del otro lado orientados localmente, en el caso de cadenas de procesos industriales. Por eso el objetivo de esta tesis, es: encontrar un compromiso adecuado entre los métodos de evaluación de impacto ambiental, orientados a cadenas de procesos y los orientados localmente y, convertir las estimaciones de daños ambientales en resultados significativos, como los costes ambientales.<br/>La tesis ofrece un algoritmo matemático y un esquema que permite la diferenciación espacial a diferentes niveles de detalle y propone una integración del ACV, IPA y costes ambientales. La metodología establecida "Estimaciones de Daños Ambientales para Cadenas de Procesos Industriales" pone los puntos medios y los puntos finales en un marco común. Se continúa el desarrollo de un método para la evaluación de impactos dependientes del lugar como una manera para conseguir un compromiso entre les evaluaciones del daño específico de lugar y los indicadores potenciales del ciclo de vida. El método utiliza clases genéricas de impacto que corresponden a diversas distribuciones de receptores y condiciones de dispersión basadas en un razonamiento estadístico. Como parte del desarrollo de metodología, se analizan las incertidumbres en el LCI y IPA mediante la simulación de Monte Carlo.<br/>Los métodos presentados y la metodología desarrollada se han aplicado con éxito por diferentes caminos al caso práctico de incineración de residuos y especialmente a su impacto sobre la salud humana. La comparación de los resultados derivados mediante indicadores de impacto de punto final con los obtenidos para el indicador de punto medio, indica que para la situación del caso práctico el indicador de punto medio desestima el impacto ambiental de los procesos de transporte. Se ha establecido la base para la creación de una nueva generación de modelos de gestión integrada de residuos que incluye la optimización de la ubicación de plantas de tratamiento y de las rutas de transportes correspondientes.<br>Environmental damage estimations in industrial process chains need the assessment of environmental impacts in two perspectives: process chain-orientated and site-orientated. For both perspectives environmental assessment tools exist: Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Environmental Risk Assessment (ERA). LCA is a fairly new chain-orientated tool to evaluate the environmental performance of products focussing on its entire life cycle. In the Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) phase a product system's Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) results are evaluated to better understand their environmental relevance. ERA is a tool to assess the risk of chemicals. In the exposure analysis the risk of a process at one location is evaluated. The Impact Pathway Analysis (IPA) is a method related to ERA that has been developed for the assessment of environmental damages by the terms of physical impact parameters like cancer cases. Usually in the IPA the physical impact parameters are converted into external environmental costs, but depending on personal values individuals may prefer other existing weighting schemes to express different types of environmental damages.<br/>Products are manufactured in a ramified chain of processes. While specific tools exist for the environmental assessment of products and processes, this is not the case for the assessment of a number of industrial processes with a common functional unit such as end-of-life cycles. However, the level of sophistication in the assessment can be much higher for industrial process chains with a quite limited number of processes involved than for the life cycles of complex products. Only little efforts have been made so far to systematically explore the inherent uncertainties, interfaces and possibilities for integration and communication of the chain-orientated and site-orientated environmental assessment methods in the case of such industrial process chains. Therefore, the objective of this thesis is to find an adequate trade-off between process chain-orientated and site-orientated environmental impact assessment and to convert environmental damage estimates in meaningful results like environmental costs.<br/>The thesis proposes a mathematical framework and a flowchart that allows spatial differentiation at different levels of detail based on the integration of LCA, ERA and IPA with environmental costs. This methodology called "Environmental Damage Estimations in Industrial Process Chains" puts the conventional potential midpoint LCIA indicators in a common framework with damage endpoint IPA indicators. As a trade-off between site-specific damage assessments and potential life cycle indicators a currently existing site-dependent impact assessment is further developed and integrated in the methodology proposed. The site-dependent impact assessment method is based on statistical reasoning and uses representative generic impact classes corresponding to receptor distribution and dispersion conditions. As part of the methodology development, uncertainties in the LCI and IPA are analysed using Monte Carlo Simulation. This parallel analysis permits to show that the uncertainties in the inventory analysis are less important than those in the damage assessment.<br/>The presented methods and the developed methodology were successfully applied in several ways to a case study on waste incineration with a special focus on human health. In a comparison of the results obtained by endpoint indicators with midpoint indicators it was found that for the situation of the case study apparently the midpoint indicators underestimate the environmental impact of the transport processes. A new generation of integrated waste management tools seems to be feasible that takes into account the setting of the waste treatment installations and the sites affected by the transport routes, allowing in this way an overall environmental optimisation

The main purpose of this thesis is the evaluation of the financial and economic instruments to support the management of environmental damage. The thesis explores the insurance and market opportunities to limit the environmental risks and to restore natural resources after a damage occurs. This work analyzes the topic through its contextualization within the regulations relating to environmental liability on a general level (Environmental Liability) and a bibliography research about the tools and techniques currently used by the insurance companies in terms of potential environmental damage. It will use a top-down approach, starting with a general analysis up to the examination of specific case studies. It is presented a survey of some insurance companies and instruments to analyze the current level and setting of insurance guarantees related to environmental risks. The insurance analysis is focused on specific cases of study in the Venice area, examining the present situation of financial guarantees instruments related to the waste treatment risks.

Environmental footprints are increasingly used to quantify and compare environmental impacts of for example products, technologies, households, or nations. This has resulted in a multitude of footprint indicators, ranging from relatively simple measures of resource use (water, energy, materials) to integrated measures of eventual damage (for example, extinction of species). Yet, the possible redundancies among these different footprints have not yet been quantified. This paper analyzes the relationships between two comprehensive damage footprints and four resource footprints associated with 976 products. The resource footprints accounted for >90% of the variation in the damage footprints. Human health damage was primarily associated with the energy footprint, via emissions resulting from fossil fuel combustion. Biodiversity damage was mainly related to the energy and land footprints, the latter being mainly determined by agriculture and forestry. Our results indicate that relatively simple resource footprints are highly representative of damage to human health and biodiversity.

Thesis (S.M. in Atmospheric Science)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, 2012.<br>Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.<br>Includes bibliographical references (p. 47-53).<br>Hurricane activity between 1979 and 2011 was studied to determine damage statistics under different environmental conditions. Hurricanes cause billions of dollars of damage every year in the United States, but damage locations and magnitudes vary from year to year. Seasonal hurricane forecasts predicting the strength of the upcoming hurricane season have the potential to be used by many industries and sectors to reduce and mitigate the effects of hurricanes. However, damage itself is not predicted by these forecasts. This work analyzed trends in hurricane damage due to atmospheric and oceanic conditions, and the results could be applied to and included in seasonal hurricane forecasts, thus increasing forecast applicability and value. This work used synthetic hurricane tracks generated from background climate conditions, a U.S. property portfolio, and a damage function based on wind speed to determine 1979-2011 hurricane damage. Damage was split into La Niña/El Niño and pre-/post- 1995 year sets to determine spatial and temporal trends in U.S. hurricane damage. This work concluded that different regions of the country experienced more or less hurricane damage under different environmental conditions. Knowledge of these trends can be applied to seasonal hurricane forecasts and can influence property owner, regulator, and insurer behavior across the nation.<br>by Anastasia Francis Maheras.<br>S.M.in Atmospheric Science

This thesis investigates whether liability regimes for purposes of claiming for damage caused to the environment in South Africa are effective, and provides a general view of the relevant concepts, and identifies the challenges in succeeding in bringing a successful statutory or civil liability claim. It examines the current environmental legislative framework and identifies its inadequacy in facilitating common law compensation claims to remediate environmental damage, as well as to compensate victims who personally suffer loss, harm or damage caused by a polluter. This study evaluates the complications and possibility of success in enforcing these damage claims. The thesis commences with an overview of the definitions of what the concepts “environment”, “ecology” and “natural resources” mean. In this context, it aims to provide clarity on what damage to the environment, as a common good, entails. Thereafter the fundamental right of persons to the environment, for purposes of determining locus standi and the scope and merits of a liability claim are discussed. It is also evaluates and determines the importance of protecting the environment with specific reference to its impact on social and economic development, and the way in which liability regimes, by acting as a deterrent, can further this aim. . The current legislative framework in South Africa lacks comprehensive liability rules to allow for a claim for damages to be lodged directly by an individual against the polluter. As stated an effective liability regime also acts as a deterrent to combat the problem of environmental damage, and could be facilitated in improved environmental governance structures. The possibility of taking successful recourse by ways of a civil delictual liability claim is critically discussed to determine whether the current flexible principles of delict can be applied effectively in cases where environmental damage claims are instituted. Criminal liability forms only a limited part of the study as utilising criminal law principles can merely serve as deterrent for environmental crimes in South Africa, yet does not provide compensation as reparation. The issue of the economic consequences relating to the various environmental liability regimes is also included in the study. Sound environmental liability regimes can serve the purpose of attracting and encouraging foreign direct investment, which is critical for economic and social development. The study further contains a brief capita selecta from the laws of other countries in order to tap from the experience of the other jurisdictions that have developed legal regimes for environmental governance. It aims to provide justifiable recommendations for future developments in this area of South Africa’s national laws.<br>Thesis (LLD)--University of Pretoria, 2019.<br>Private Law<br>LLD<br>Unrestricted

Male factor infertility is a contributing factor in up to 50% of infertile couples. Increasing numbers of couples undergoing assisted reproductive technology (ART) treatment and reports of a possible decline in male fertility suggest that lifestyle, occupational and environmental exposures might impair semen quality. Sperm DNA contains both DNA strand breaks and base damage that has been associated with poor semen quality but few studies have examined the role of double strand breaks (DSBs), a toxic lesion, or DNA damage such as N7-methyldeoxyguanosine (N7-MedG) arising from alkylating agents that can be toxic and mutagenic. The aim of this research was to examine the relationships between exposures, DNA damage and male fertility. Men were recruited from couples attending for ART treatment and they provided information on lifestyle, occupational and environmental exposures as well as a sperm sample. Semen concentration and motility was determined by standard techniques in the neat sample and the prepared sample that underwent density gradient centrifugation for ART treatment. DSBs were measured in individual sperm cells by the neutral Comet assay and N7-MedG levels in sperm DNA by an immunoslot blot assay. Information on ART outcomes (% fertilisation, % cleavage and clinical pregnancy) was collected and associations between DNA damage, exposures, semen quality and ART outcomes were determined. Expression of individual DNA repair proteins was also examined in individual oocytes. Men in manual work had significantly lower semen volumes and higher % immotile sperm. Exposure to dry cleaning fluids and having a fever were associated with a decrease in sperm number and while non-ionizing radiation was associated with an increase in % immotile sperm, X-ray exposure was correlated to a decrease in % progressively motile sperm. Semen parameters were significantly and negatively correlated with DSBs in neat and prepared sperm, and N7-MedG levels in neat sperm. Density gradient centrifugation improved sperm sample quality and decreased DSBs and N7-MedG levels significantly. Successful fertilization of oocytes was negatively associated with DSB levels in neat and prepared sperm and with N7-MedG levels in neat sperm. Lower DSB levels in men were associated with an increased chance of an achieving clinical pregnancy especially in ICSI couples. N7-MedG levels were significantly correlated with driving a car and exposure to detergent or printing inks and dyestuffs. DSBs were correlated negatively with exercise and positively with eating nuts and almonds or exposure to non-ionizing radiation. DNA repair gene expression in individual oocytes showed significant intra and inter-individual variability. Sperm DNA damage can reduce male fertility, but the causes of such damage remain to be identified. The variable ability of individual oocytes to repair this damage may well affect the chance for a successful pregnancy.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2001.<br>Includes bibliographical references (leaves 145-149).<br>Large earthquakes have the potential of causing extensive damage and enormous economic losses. These losses are primarily attributable to the reduction in functionality of various facilities in the affected region and the rebuilding costs, and can be reduced through strategic pre- and post-earthquake decisions. This thesis describes an integrated methodology to estimate losses due to scenario earthquakes, with emphasis on the reduced functionality of the transportation infrastructure. The methodology integrates variables that were previously considered exogenous to the transportation system, through models for reduced industrial production capacity, and damage to lifelines, residential clusters and other structural components in an integrated framework. By modifying input parameters, one can evaluate the effect on the losses of various mitigating actions. The methodology is thus useful for prioritizing retrofitting efforts and in general for developing pre and post- earthquake strategies for lowering economic losses. A case study of a New Madrid scenario earthquake is presented. Future efforts needed to improve the loss estimation capability of this methodology are identified.<br>by Umang Gupta.<br>S.M.