Economic Losses and Environmental Damage in the Law of Ship-Source Pollution

2012 ◽  
pp. 343-369
Keyword(s):  
Economic Losses ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
The Law

scholarly journals Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for Wildland Fires: Sensing, Perception, Cooperation and Assistance

Drones ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 15
Author(s):  
Moulay A. Akhloufi ◽  
Andy Couturier ◽  
Nicolás A. Castro
Keyword(s):  
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles ◽  
Wildland Fire ◽  
Fire Intensity ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
Unmanned Aerial Systems ◽  
Wildland Fires ◽  
Natural Risk ◽  
Aerial Vehicles

Wildfires represent a significant natural risk causing economic losses, human death and environmental damage. In recent years, the world has seen an increase in fire intensity and frequency. Research has been conducted towards the development of dedicated solutions for wildland fire assistance and fighting. Systems were proposed for the remote detection and tracking of fires. These systems have shown improvements in the area of efficient data collection and fire characterization within small-scale environments. However, wildland fires cover large areas making some of the proposed ground-based systems unsuitable for optimal coverage. To tackle this limitation, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and unmanned aerial systems (UAS) were proposed. UAVs have proven to be useful due to their maneuverability, allowing for the implementation of remote sensing, allocation strategies and task planning. They can provide a low-cost alternative for the prevention, detection and real-time support of firefighting. In this paper, previous works related to the use of UAV in wildland fires are reviewed. Onboard sensor instruments, fire perception algorithms and coordination strategies are considered. In addition, some of the recent frameworks proposing the use of both aerial vehicles and unmanned ground vehicles (UGV) for a more efficient wildland firefighting strategy at a larger scale are presented.

scholarly journals Economic Impacts on Human Health Resulting from the Use of Mercury in the Illegal Gold Mining in the Brazilian Amazon: A Methodological Assessment

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (22) ◽  
pp. 11869
Author(s):  
Leonardo Barcellos de Bakker ◽  
Pedro Gasparinetti ◽  
Júlia Mello de Queiroz ◽  
Ana Claudia Santiago de Vasconcellos
Keyword(s):  
Human Health ◽  
Gold Mining ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Brazilian Amazon ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
Statistical Life ◽  
Life Years ◽  
Methodological Assessment

Artisanal small-scale gold mining (ASGM) in the Amazon results in the dumping of tons of mercury into the environment annually. Despite consensus on the impacts of mercury on human health, there are still unknowns regarding: (i) the extent to which mercury from ASGM can be dispersed in the environment until it becomes toxic to humans; and (ii) the economic value of losses caused by contamination becomes evident. The main objective of this study is to propose a methodology to evaluate the impacts of ASGM on human health in different contexts in the Brazilian Amazon. We connect several points in the literature based on hypotheses regarding mercury dispersion in water, its transformation into methylmercury, and absorption by fish and humans. This methodology can be used as a tool to estimate the extent of environmental damage caused by artisanal gold mining, the severity of damage to the health of individuals contaminated by mercury and, consequently, can contribute to the application of fines to environmental violators. The consequences of contamination are evaluated by dose-response functions relating to mercury concentrations in hair and the development of the following health outcomes: (i) mild mental retardation, (ii) acute myocardial infarction, and (iii) hypertension. From disability-adjusted life years and statistical life value, we found that the economic losses range from 100,000 to 400,000 USD per kilogram of gold extracted. A case study of the Yanomami indigenous land shows that the impacts of mercury from illegal gold mining in 2020 totaled 69 million USD, which could be used by local authorities to compensate the Yanomami people.

Foetal wastage in food animals slaughtered at Nsukka Municipal abattoir, Nigeria

2021 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 205-212
Author(s):  
F. O. Abonyi ◽  
O. E. Ikejiofor ◽  
K. I. Idika
Keyword(s):  
Visual Observation ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
Physiological Status ◽  
Pregnancy Status ◽  
Enugu State ◽  
Food Animals ◽  
The Law

This study was conducted to evaluate foetal/pregnancy losses following slaughtering of food animals at Nsukka Municipal Abattoir Enugu State, Nigeria over a period of three months (April to June). The pregnancy status of each animal was determined tentatively by visual observation and by palpation of the exposed uterus after slaughtering. Attempts were made to recover embryos from dams with structures suggestive of pregnancy by flushing. Foetuses were recovered from slaughtered cattle, goats and pigs. The ages of recovered foetuses were determined and grouped according to the stage of gestation. A total of 2711 animals were slaughtered within the study period which comprised 1303 (48.06%) cattle, 756 (27.89%) pigs and 652 (24.05%) goats. The percentages of female animals slaughtered were 19.41, 49.74 and 91.26 for cattle, pigs and goals, respectively. Of these figures, 7.43%, 8.78% and 40.34% of cows, sows and does were pregnant, respectively. Similarly of the 78 uteri flushed, 4, 10 and 7 embryos were recovered from cattle, pigs and goats. The slaughtering of these pregnant animals resulted in loss of 605 foetuses; 417 goats, 174 pigs and 14 cattle, respectively. This amounts to possible economic losses of N5, 946,000.00 or $37,396.23. Reasons advanced for slaughtering of these pregnant animals included financial needs, scarcity and or high cost of feed and ignorance of the physiological status of the animals. It was concluded from the study that to reduce foetal losses in Nsukka area, educating the farmers, provision of portable pregnancy diagnostic facilities and enforcing the law prohibiting slaughtering of pregnant animals are vital.

The Quantitative Analysis Methods and Application of Environmental Impact on Railway Location

2014 ◽  
Vol 522-524 ◽  
pp. 778-782
Author(s):  
Rui Juan Zhang ◽  
Feng Han
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
Location Decision ◽  
Environmental Evaluation ◽  
Railway Line ◽  
Monetary Value ◽  
Line Construction ◽  
Protection Cost

Based on the protection cost method, shadow engineering method, and some other discounting methods, the economic losses caused by the environmental damage was equivalent to specific monetary value. And put these methods into the environmental evaluation problems of Xibao railway line construction. After application, it plays an important role in the multi-objective railway location decision-making.

Ethical dilemmas related to predictions and warnings of impending natural disaster

2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 243-252
Author(s):  
Kai-Lit Phua, PhD ◽  
J. W. Hue, BS
Keyword(s):  
Natural Disaster ◽  
Global Justice ◽  
Technical Assistance ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
Individual Autonomy ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
False Alarms ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Legal Proceedings

Scientists and policy makers issuing predictions and warnings of impending natural disaster are faced with two major challenges, that is, failure to warn and issuing a false alarm. The consequences of failure to warn can be serious for society overall, for example, significant economic losses, heavy infrastructure and environmental damage, large number of human casualties, and social disruption. Failure to warn can also have serious for specific individuals, for example, legal proceedings against disaster research scientists, as in the L’Aquila earthquake affair. The consequences of false alarms may be less serious. Nevertheless, false alarms may violate the principle of nonmaleficence (do no harm), affect individual autonomy (eg, mandatory evacuations), and may result in the “cry wolf” effect. Other ethical issues associated with natural disasters include the promotion of global justice through international predisaster technical assistance and postdisaster aid. Social justice within a particular country is promoted through greater postdisaster aid allocation to the less privileged.

Distinguishing between property damage and pure economic loss in negligence: a personality thesis

Legal Studies ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 481-514 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Witting
Keyword(s):  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Economic Loss ◽  
The Self ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
Property Damage ◽  
Economic Interests ◽  
Pure Economic Loss ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Law

The law of negligence favours redress for damage to property interests over redress for damage to mere economic interests. The question arises whether this preference can be justified. In endeavouring to answer it, the author surveys existing reasons given by courts and commentators for maintaining a distinction between property and economic interests. Each of these reasons, which collectively focus upon the ‘problematic’ nature of economic losses, is found to be either ad hoe in nature or without substantial explanatory power. However, it is submitted that the distinction is explicable on the basis that, whereas an individual's personality is partly constituted by the property that he or she owns, so that property can be seen as essential to the ways in which individuals constitute and define themselves, no such claim can be made with respect to mere abstract holdings of wealth. Although wealth permits the acquisition of property and participation in activities and experiences which might help to constitute and define the self in the future, the very fact that wealth has not been transposed into these things precludes it from being considered as important as actual holdings of property. The protection of property interests ought, therefore, to precede the protection of mere economic interests.

Signal Processing Techniques for Ultrasonic Waves to Measure Stresses in Oil Pipelines

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paulo Pereira ◽  
Cleudiane S. Santos ◽  
Auteliano A. dos Santos
Keyword(s):  
Impulse Response ◽  
Structural Integrity ◽  
Finite Impulse Response ◽  
Ultrasonic Waves ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
Infinite Impulse Response ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
Discrete Wavelet ◽  
Material Sources ◽  
Oil Pipelines

Ensuring the structural integrity of oil pipelines is vital to prevent environmental damage and economic losses. In that sense, it is important to know the magnitude of the stress in the pipe, which must be done using non-destructive techniques. Measuring stress using ultrasonic longitudinal critically refracted waves (LCR) has been applied to pipelines with very promising results. The technique is based on the acoustoelastic theory that relates speed variation of elastic waves traveling in the material with its state of strain. Nevertheless, the signals acquired from piezoelectric transducers in such application may show high levels of noise coming mainly from material sources (grain boundaries, irregularities). The noise makes the measurement of wave velocity difficult, resulting in imprecise evaluations of the stress in the pipeline. The aim of this study is to evaluate techniques for filtering digital signals of LCR waves propagating in an oil pipe fabricated with API 5L X70 steel. We analyzed the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of digitalized acquired signals in four circumstances: without treatment; signals treated with successive averages; treated with FIR (Finite Impulse Response) and IIR (Infinite Impulse Response) digital filters, and with the Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT). The results show that the signals treated with DWT present better SNR compared to the other techniques.

scholarly journals Current Environmental Regulation of the Alberta Oil and Gas Industry and Emerging Issues

1990 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 171
Author(s):  
Albert J. Hudec ◽  
Joni R. Paulus
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Regulation ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Insurance Coverage ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
Regulatory Structure ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Emerging Issues ◽  
The Law

As the environmental law regime in Alberta becomes increasingly detailed and stringent, participants in the oil and gas industry will face greater liability arising from environmental damage. This paper reviews the current provincial environmental regulatory structure as it applies to the oil and gas industry. Prospective developments in the law are also considered. The drafting of operating agreements, sale of oil and gas assets, and the liability of subsequent users are discussed in this context. Insurance coverage for environmental damage and the liability of lenders are also examined.

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