Global warming and population growth have resulted in an increase in the intensity of natural and anthropogenic stressors. Investigating the complex nature of environmental problems requires the integration of different environmental processes across major components of the environment, including water, climate, ecology, air, and land. Cumulative effects assessment (CEA) not only includes analyzing and modeling environmental changes, but also supports planning alternatives that promote environmental monitoring and management. Disjointed and narrowly focused environmental management approaches have proved dissatisfactory. The adoption of integrated modelling approaches has sparked interests in the development of frameworks which may be used to investigate the processes of individual environmental component and the ways they interact with each other. Integrated modelling systems and frameworks are often the only way to take into account the important environmental processes and interactions, relevant spatial and temporal scales, and feedback mechanisms of complex systems for CEA. This book examines the ways in which interactions and relationships between environmental components are understood, paying special attention to climate, land, water quantity and quality, and both anthropogenic and natural stressors. It reviews modelling approaches for each component and reviews existing integrated modelling systems for CEA. Finally, it proposes an integrated modelling framework and provides perspectives on future research avenues for cumulative effects assessment.

Environmental Life Cycle Assessment (ELCA) that was developed about three decades ago demands a broadening of its scope to include lifecycle costing and social aspects of life cycle assessment as well, drawing on the three-pillar or ‘triple bottom line’ model of sustainability, which is the result of the development of the Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA). LCSA refers to the evaluation of all environmental, social and economic negative impacts and benefits in decision-making processes towards more sustainable products throughout their life cycle. Combination of environmental and social life cycle assessments along with life cycle costing leads to life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA). This book highlights various aspects of life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA).

The book is comprised of practical environmental and socioeconomic information which can be used in planning and implementing CEAM studies. Such information has been compiled from CEAM practices in the USA, Canada, Australia, European, and many other countries. Considerable information on step-wise CEAM processes, along with connector methods and resource-related methods and tools for predicting, mitigating, and managing cumulative effects on key Valued Ecosystem Components (VECs), is included.

This volume reviews the current state of knowledge regarding the effects of low-frequency sound on marine mammals and makes recommendations for research. In addition, the book describes current federal regulations prescribed under the Marine Mammal Protection Act that govern the taking of marine mammals by scientific research activities, and it recommends changes to expedite the regulatory process dealing with scientific research activities.

This important Handbook is an essential guide to the state-of-the-art concepts, debates and innovative practices in the field of cumulative impact assessment. It helps to strengthen the foundations of this challenging field, identify key issues demanding solutions and summarize recent trends in forward progress, particularly through the use of illustrative case examples.

This up-to-date and comprehensive reference presents the fundamentals of environmental planning, incorporating theory, practice and case studies. The book includes balanced coverage and real world examples to illustrate the concepts. Political, ethical, and societal considerations are all addressed. Presents the fundamentals of environmental planning and methodological material for analysis. Real world examples are provided to illustrate concepts. Political, ethical and societal considerations are addressed. Coverage is balanced between theoretical and practical.

This comprehensively updated third edition explores the nature and role of environmental management and offers an introduction to this rapidly expanding and changing field. It focuses on challenges and opportunities, and core concepts including sustainable development. The book is divided into five parts: Part I (Introduction to Environmental Management): four introductory chapters cover the justification for environmental management, its theory, scope, goals and scientific background Part II (Practice): explores environmental management in economics, law and business and environmental management’s relation with environmentalism, international agreements and monitoring Part III (Global Challenges and Opportunities): examines resources, challenges and opportunities, both natural and human-caused or human-aggravated Part IV (Responses to Global Challenges and Opportunities): explores mitigation, vulnerability, resilience, adaptation and how technology, social change and politics affect responses to challenges Part V (The Future): the final chapter considers the way ahead for environmental management in the future. With its well-structured coverage, effective illustrations and foundation for further, more-focused interest, this book is easily accessible to all. It is an essential reference for undergraduates and postgraduates studying environmental management and sustainability, and an important resource for many students on courses including environmental science, environmental studies and human geography.

This book offers a detailed presentation of the principles and practice of life cycle impact assessment. As a volume of the LCA compendium, the book is structured according to the LCIA framework developed by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO)passing through the phases of definition or selection of impact categories, category indicators and characterisation models (Classification): calculation of category indicator results (Characterisation); calculating the magnitude of category indicator results relative to reference information (Normalisation); and converting indicator results of different impact categories by using numerical factors based on value-choices (Weighting). Chapter one offers a historical overview of the development of life cycle impact assessment and presents the boundary conditions and the general principles and constraints of characterisation modelling in LCA. The second chapter outlines the considerations underlying the selection of impact categories and the classification or assignment of inventory flows into these categories. Chapters three through thirteen exploreall the impact categories that are commonly included in LCIA, discussing the characteristics of each followed by a review of midpoint and endpoint characterisation methods, metrics, uncertainties and new developments, and a discussion of research needs. Chapter-length treatment is accorded to Climate Change; Stratospheric Ozone Depletion; Human Toxicity; Particulate Matter Formation; Photochemical Ozone Formation; Ecotoxicity; Acidification; Eutrophication; Land Use; Water Use; and Abiotic Resource Use. The final two chapters map out the optional LCIA steps of Normalisation and Weighting.

This book describes the principles of integrated assessment models (IAM) for climate change economics and introduces various computable models for different development mechanisms under climate change governance. The authors present several new models they have constructed based on the RICE framework, specifically the MRICES((multi-factor RICE)) and EMRICES models, which incorporate global economic interactions into the RICE framework, and the CINCIA model, which describes technological advances and industrial structure evolution, introducing the mechanism of evolutionary economics. The models discussed in the book help governments and policy-makers tackle climate change and take positive measures on climate governance as well as promote economic and social development to narrow the gaps between countries.