Agricultural production is very much dependent on land-water resources and in recent decades there have been trends towards new agricultural solutions either to substitute the increasing degradation in land-water qualities or to find new agricultural alternatives more suitable for arid and semi-arid climate.

Degradation in water quality resulting from waste, pollutions and sanitation on the one hand, and reduced land quality due to decreasing soil fertility, man-made technological interferences “dams”, soil erosion and climate change on the other, triggered new shifts in agricultural technologies. Traditional agricultural techniques are becoming more and more dependent on artificial fertilization either to compensate for decreasing soil fertility and/or to increase soil productivity.

Chemical pesticides are still in use, inefficient irrigation routines and further pressures on water resources have, also, caused gradual degradation in land-water resources in particular the large-scale and long-term negative impacts on water resources.

These trends have forced shifts towards new agricultural technologies that either rely on less land and indoor green-house solutions and/or what is known as “complete liquid fertilizers” as well as clean sterilized organic-fertilization. These solutions, foliar spray, fertigation programs, hydroponic solutions, aireal/soil application of “liquid complete” and/or “sterilized clean organic” ferilizers” have new advantages. However they either shifted focus to alternative solutions that may require additional costs, i.e. making food production less economic, or made farming and agriculture that can not afford the new technologies to continue their “business-as-usual” traditions.

http://www.behance.net/gallery/A-COMPLETE-LIQUID-FERTILIZER/2283468

220 AD The Great Wall, 1420 AD The Forbidden City, 1997 AD Three Gorges Dam and 2002 AD China does again with the biggest construction project on earth in the middle of the deep ocean. That is to meet the 21st century where China’s export-import trade is exploding by nearly 30% each year and to support the heavy traffic from Yangtze River where there is considerable sedimentation of silt where it meets the ocean.

This China’s Ultimate Mega Port, The Yangshan Port, is one of the busiest cargo facilities on earth with the world biggest import-export trade. It has one of the most advanced and cutting edge control system in any container port around the world. It is 32 km off-shore and 15-20 meters deep, a 20 km cargo-port that can handle 25 million shipping containers in one year, i.e. 70 000 in just one day and to built it required thousand of million cubic meters of soil. It is built for loading and unloading gigantic containerships and linked to the main land China by the second world largest bridge.

There many examples of businesses in the public sector that went over to private owners, and visa-versa, with major political transformations/reforms. Such major shifts from private-to-public or public-to-private were not always performed on sustainable long-term policies with solid assessment analysis of the socio-economic consequences. Sustainable economic management requires taking in considerations how the lifecycle of companies may look like in a turbulent and dynamic world.

5 key differences between a private and public company

For those who are working in laboratories and/or in a way or another being exposed to indoor pollutants, there are guidelines for the exposure to such pollutants. In this document such guidelines for indoor air-quality are given for some selected indoor sources of pollutants (benzene, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, naphthalene, nitrogen dioxide, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (especially benzo[a]pyrene), radon, trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene). These pollutants are known in respect of their hazardousness to health and are often found indoors in concentrations of health concern. For these pollutants information is given for their indoor sources, pathways of exposure, indoor concentrations, indoor–outdoor relationship, kinetics and metabolism, health effects, and health risk evaluations as well as other relavant explanations.

Click to access e94535.pdf

Air pollution has become the world’s single biggest environmental health risk. According to WHO it is linked to around 7 million death or nearly one in eight death in 2012. The new figures are more double previous estimates and suggest that outdoor pollution from traffic fumes and coal-burning, and indoor pollution from wood and coal stoves, kill more people than smoking, road death and diabetes combines.

The document is WHO’s Air Quality Guidelines Global Update 2005. These Guidelines offer guidance to policy-makers on reducing the effects on health of air pollution for the four most common air pollutants – particulate matter, ozone, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide.  Also, issues affecting the use of the guidelines in risk assessment and policy development.

This document contains Part (1) Application of air quality guidelines for policy development and risk reduction; Part (2) Risk assessment of selected pollutants (Particulate matter, Ozone, Nitrogen dioxide, Sulfur dioxide).

Click to access E90038.pdf

Air pollution is a worldwide problem especially in many big cities and industrial areas around the world. Emission of fine particulate matter (e.g. aerodynamic diameter ≤ 2.5 µm; PM_2.5) , chemicals (e.g. biogenic VOC) and pollutants (e.g. heavy metals), and associated photo-chemical reactions (e.g. production of tropospheric ozone) in the atmosphere as well as in-cloud interactions (e.g. acid rain) experienced dramatic changes since the industrial revolutions. Concentrations of hazardous pollutants in global atmospheric air masses, dry and wet precipitates have been subject to gradual increasing reaching harmful levels for air-quality what regards human health (e.g. lung cancer, mortality) and the environment (e.g. negative impacts for forests and vegetation and quality of life in aquatic eco-systems) in many places around the world.

Climate change influences air quality through several mechanisms, including changes in photochemical reaction rates, biogenic emissions, deposition/re-suspension, and atmospheric circulation. Several techniques/approaches were used in such studies including atmospheric chemistry, climate model inter-comparison, high-resolution satellite observations together with a global atmospheric models and extensive compilation of surface measurements to better represent global air pollution exposure.

http://www.salon.com/2013/09/23/infographic_shows_air_pollution_deaths_around_the_world_newscred/

The world is experiencing tectonic changes in terms of population, economy, production, services and technology. The world in the year 2050 will not any longer be as it used to be in the past decades.

The world population will grow from 6 billions in the year 2000 (one billion in the developed world and five billions in the developing world) to 9 billions in the 2050. One hundred million out of the three billions of the global increase in population will go to the developed world, while the developing countries will increase by 2.9 billions. This is a dramatic shift in world population in the coming five decades only, i.e. an increase from 6 to 9 billions.

The other consequential change is, by the year 2000, the developed world (one billion people) had 80% of the global economy while the developing world (five billion) had the remaining 20%. But, by the year 2050, the developed world will have only 35% of the world economy, while the developing countries will have 65% of the global economy. So, the 80% vs 20% of global economy of the year 2000 will be change to 35% vs 65% by the year 2050. This is just turning the world on its head in terms of the world that used to be in the past decades. This dramatic change in the structure of world economy is being driven by the development in global population and the fast transfer of modern technology to the developing countries.

You can imagine how such monumental economic shifts mean to the young generation world over. This is a change of enormous importance where India and China by the year 2050 will constitute 50% of the global GPD, this is a monumental switch in terms of economical power.

In the year 2000, one billion middle class people were in the rich countries and half billion people were in the developing countries. By the year 2030, 2 billion middle class people will be in Asia (one billion in China by 2050). Africa will grow from 850 millions people in 2000 to two billions people 2050. By the year 2050, the average income in Africa will be 2000-3000 dollar per capita, for China and India will be between 30 000 and 40 000 dollar per capita, and for the countries in the rich world (US and Europe) will be between 90 000 and 100 000 dollar per capita.

Africa is a continent that is not any longer isolated, it is not a place where people are not well informed as information is passing and moving very quickly. Much trade and business in China and India is geared towards Africa.

These tectonic changes have monumental impacts on the young generation and they have to think very carefully how to face the global transfer in economy, production, services and technology. Education figures for the year 2007, tell us that 110 000 Chinese and over 100 000 Indians were studying in the US, while only 11200 Americans were studying in China and 2800 Americans in India. But, these figures will experience dramatic changes in the future because the mentioned major shifts in economy, production, services and technology.

The western countries were able to stay ahead because of (1) manufacture and that was taken away and moved to Asia; (2) service industries that first moved into the western countries but is moving out again to Asia by their gradual dominance in the service sectors; (3) technology where the west were able to stay ahead, but now the technological advance is being shifted as well to Asia. The challenge is now what is left for the west to do??

Necessity is the mother of invention. Where energy lacks there is much concern about finding it and using it with the most sustainable manner possible. This is why Iceland is among very few countries in the world where Renewable Energy Resources are managed with the best possible sustainable solutions. It is, also, possible that the availability and affordability of renewable energy in Iceland attracted Scandinavians to settle in Iceland sometime around the second half of the 9th century as in ancient cultures people sought living there were good possibilities to secure “WE-resources”. i.e. water and energy resources. The necessity and needs for survival are essential drivers for inventions and advances in science and technology. It is interesting to mention that 100% of the electricity production in Iceland is produced from renewable energy resources, i.e. hydropower and geothermal heat. Furthermore, 85% of total primary energy supply in Iceland is derived from domestically produced renewable energy sources.

So, we have something to learn from this country that in addition of being in the icy part of the world has a very long dark winter season. However, Iceland is not as cold as Minnesota (USA), for example, and not as dark as Tromso (Norway). That doesn’t mean that Island is some tropical paradise though.

To learn more about geothermal energy, please, visit:                                                                   (1) http://cognitiveanomalies.com/what-is-geothermal-energy-what-are-geothermal-energy-advantages-and-disadvantages/                                                                                                     (2) http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2011/09/working-on-this-one-developers-warm-to-small-scale-geothermal

The dream of any nation is to provide its population with safety and security especially in most critical situations with severe disasters, tragedies and collective nightmare arising from fear, insecurity and uncertain future. The nuclear disaster and the national tragedy from Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan demonstrated how collective efforts, the neat national planning along with continuous and intensive hard-work brought about safety and security for almost all the population in Japan.

An amazing awareness and responsibility on all levels for the DE-COMTAMINATION of every single inch or centimeter of land, houses, school, hospitals, roads, trees and practically all environmental compartments. A national DE-COMTAMINATION strategy if followed by other nations much of pollutions and waste problems can be solved. Successful sustainable management is about providing future generations with secure and safe living conditions, it is a collective discipline, awareness and responsibility from all for all and by all including preparing and fostering future generation for how to handle national disasters and severe tragedies.

Cleaning up Fukushima

Geothermal energy is among potential “semi-global” natural energy resources, as it is only accessible and affordable in economic terms in hot and limited areas around the globe. It is also considered to be relatively user friendly, more energy-intensive in comparison to solar energy, has less threats in case of technical failure as compared to nuclear power, simple and more safe production-technology in terms of drift and above all more durable and lasing natural source. It is indeed a form of “fossil resource” as being a remainder from the Big Bang. However, unlike energy produced in stars such as in the sun (solar energy) through fusion-reactions, energy in planets such as the earth is being produced through decay processes of the primordial radio-activity. Actually, without the embedded sources of heat in the earth’s body, i.e. the energy emitted through the decay of natural radio-activity, e.g. the radio-active members of the U and Th series, and many other radio-active isotopes of other elements that can have half-lives much longer than the age of the universe itself, e.g. Te-128 of half-life of 2.2 exa millions (billion billion millions) of years.

The most interesting issue in energy production and use is that water in always involved in these processes with two main impacts what concerns WE-resources, i.e. Water and Energy.  For energy we are consuming more energy resources and thereby less we are gradually facing less access to energy resources and as a consequence increasing prices of energy production. As energy production, use and consumption create more waste and pollution as well as bring water to more open systems and interactions there is continuous and gradual degradation in water quality and thereby increasing threats to all life forms on the earth.

So, production and use of geothermal energy can be, also, associated with negative impacts on water resources, environment and bio-diversity.

Making a Difference through Geothermal Energy

An important aspect for appropriate implementation of Sustainable Technologies is Sustainable Management. The fundamental question is How Sustainable is Sustainable? And what are the most appropriate solutions for Achieving the Best Socio-economic Sustainability? Among strategic long-term and large-scale policies for the MENA region, where arid and semi-arid conditions prevail, is Water Management because of its impacts on all involved sectors (energy, industry, agriculture and environment) in this region, life quality and bio-diversity. Unfortunately, existing literature still lack appropriate long-term and large-scale sustainability solutions as being based on “Business as Usual” without consideration to other possible and yet feasible alternatives.

Seawater desalination constitutes an important source for water supply for all sector activities and the population in the bordering the Arabian Gulf, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Red Sea. Desalination has advantages and disadvantages that may depend on the region, location, technology, impact and amount of fresh water production. Apart from the energy requirements for desalination, there are also other negative impacts in terms of waste management, fish production and quality of marine life in general. However, these impacts can be mitigated or even eliminated, by solutions other than those currently available.

Desalination poredictions in MENA region

The earth’s surface went through enormous large-scale and long-term shaping and re-shaping evolution history that resulted in todays earth’s “face”. In the last million years these shaping and re-shaping processes of the earth’s surface were continuously fueled by dominant erosion processes of natural origin that carved land-areas, holes and trajectories for coastal, surface and groundwater systems, e.g. rivers, lakes, coastal deltas and shores, fjords, water-falls, forests, natural parks, caves and other major geological formations. However, modern man-made interferences are becoming increasingly important, primarily because of increasing activities and processes on the earth’s surface in particular urbanization, mining and global warming. Recent climate changes, for example, are imposing extreme daily and seasonal variations in atmospheric temperature, gradual warming of oceans, seas and surface water systems with feedback impacts on atmospheric, oceanographic and hydrospheric erosion processes. These processes are brought about by the action of more dynamic air and water masses on different scales ranging from micro, local, regional and global scales, e.g. dynamic changes in speed and velocity of wind and water waves, also heating, freezing and de-freezing cycles “expansion and contraction” and geothermal processes.

Erosion is the main source of nutrients supporting the formation of vegetation cover, animal and evolution of bio-diversity and the very origin of natural agricultural production through photo-synthesis and associated biogeochemical, geophysical and geochemical machinery of the functioning and metabolism of global eco-systems. However, modern pollution and waste because of industry, agriculture and household have severe negative impacts of all life forms on the earth’s surface.

Global warming is not only a matter of increasing temperature, ice melting, increasing sea water level and enhanced abnormalities in weather conditions. Changes in temperature, though might seem, as little as few degrees, will bring about major changes in the functioning and metabolism is global aquatic, ecological and land-water systems. Fish population in world oceans and seas will suffer major dynamic changes, in term of population, species and catch composition. Fish species will be forced to large-scale migration to adapt themselves for new living in suitable waters and some fish species are expected to disappear. Such major changes in fish species will also have other impacts on global ecology of other animal species.

http://www.publicaffairs.ubc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/CheungGraphic_web.jpg

Water is the natural environment for the life quality of fish and hence water quality is of prime importance for fish production and the quality of fish as well. Even in aquatic eco-systems, one can simply say “what goes around comes around”. Understanding how to improve the conditions in fish farming in terms of production and quality have very much to do with understanding the functioning and metabolism in natural aquatic systems. There are key issues that are essential to be understood about water quality in aquatic systems (fresh, brackish and marine), in particular the physical (e.g. density, stratification and mixing as well as turbidity, mineral particulate, light transmission) and chemical (e.g. pH, solubility of gases such as oxygen, carbon di-oxide, ammonia, salt concentration, dissolved matter, organic and inorganic particulates) properties and characteristics in these waters at different temperatures. The physical and chemical conditions of water determine to large extent the water quality status, along with toxic anthropogenic compounds that originates from pollution and water from industrial, agricultural and household sources. The impacts of all these conditions, factors and properties on water quality, the response and feedback effects on fish in terms of production and quality are to large extent summarized in the following document, it can be used as a guide for fish farmers.

http://www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/AS/AS-503.html

It is an amazing journey to understand the evolution and existence of our cosmos, a universe formed from billions of galaxies and each one containing hundreds of billions of stars. It is a stunning fact, the enormous size of our universe and the multitude of stars and star-systems that can be found in our universe. The solar system with its only life on earth is just like a drop of water in world oceans.

Physics has contributed enormously to uncover and explain the fundamental forces governing our universe and all the matter composing it. The contribution of physics in astronomy was made possible through, when physics suddenly could say something about the fate of the universe. An amazing journey fueled by the scientific style of Albert Einstein in a dynamic community of elite researchers that had the ability to strip away all the complications and figure out the fundamental laws of physics in the world of complex unknown features.

Asbestosis is known to affect the tissue of lungs as a consequence of the inhalation and retention of asbestos fibers. This usually occurs after high intensity and/or long-term exposure to asbestos from mining, manufacturing, handling, or removal of asbestos. This is, also, the case for people in houses or areas contaminated by asbestos.  Sufferers may experience severe dyspnea (shortness of breath) and are at an increased risk for certain malignancies, including lung cancer but especially mesothelioma.

As the damage to lungs occur from contaminated air, early investigation were carried out through measurements of asbestos levela in air samples, which is suspected to have caused asbestos-related lung problems.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wy-p_DvM6Jw&feature=youtu.be

Life on earth, and its origin, has been a puzzle and still. Classically humans believed that the essential “elements” upon which the constitution and fundamental powers of anything are based are: Earth, Air, Fire and Water. In the past the concept of Energy was unknown to humans though fire was very much needed for life. It is as early as in stone-ages where humans discovered how to make fire, it came by accident. People at that time both appreciated and hated fire, however from that time humans went on to explore the whole range of energy forms, including production and consumption. Full benefits of Water and Energy resources for life on earth required/requires the other two “elements”, i.e. earth and air. However, there are specific requirement for the properties and qualities of earth and air for the life to exist. Even for humans, the full benefits of energy and water were/are only possible through earth and air with given specifications and qualities.

Through science and technology the classical four “elements” were developed and expanded to an enormous amount and spectra of knowledge that allowed all possible application and inventions. The most common feature of modern educated and intelligent humans and stone-age illiterate humans is how to solve the dilemma of mastering energy and water in sustainable matter. The difference is illiterate and ancient humans discovered energy “fire” by an accident but intelligent and modern humans will, at some stage, consume all energy resources on earth to a level that makes further life on earth difficult.  Are we gradually moving to stone-ages?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChxvN4WjxWg&feature=youtu.be

The rosy festival of continuous prosperity growth has recently been challenged by the theory of “Peak Oil”, which concludes that the amount fossil energy (oil, gas and coal) being extracted from the earth will shortly start an irreversible decline.  We will be increasingly dependent on other energy sources to power our civilization, if not to say our long-term survival.

Assessment of the global energy resources, consumption and trends in global energy-mix with consideration to increasing global population shows that energy per capita will decrease. This will have negative impacts on GDP “Gross Domestic Product” and probable escalation in the costs of raw material, e.g. fertilizer and the diesel fuel or electricity for water pumps that are essential for agriculture and production of food. We will be, therefor, moving fast not only towards energy poverty but also towards global economic recession, pushing many countries and population towards increasing poverty, e.g. shortage of water, food and housing.

http://www.paulchefurka.ca/WEAP2/WEAP2.html

Efficient heating and cooling technologies with little or no carbon dioxide within residential, commercial and public buildings can dramatically reduce the world energy consumption and thereby considerable saving can be achieved. This can generate positive feedback effects on energy prices, global warming and life quality. This will promote more sustainable developments worldwide.

However, strong policy and awareness actions on all levels, sectors and stakeholders are needed to bring coherent solutions in the fragmented building sectors. In this context, increased technology RD&D is necessary to bring about new and affordable solutions that are suitable for different climate zones along with the environmental, cultural, social and economic conditions during the life-cycle financial benefits.

http://www.renewableenergymagazine.com/article/new-report-sees-potential-for-dramatic-energy