scholarly journals Deterioration of Sandstone in the Historical and Contemporary Sea Walls upon the Impact of the Natural and Man-Made Hazards

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (15) ◽  
pp. 6892
Author(s):  
Rina (Irena) Wasserman

The contemporary sea walls built in the pedestrian seashore zone in the City of Acre, Israel, were sided with porous calcarenite sandstone, so-called ‘kurkar’. Kurkar stone has been broadly used as a durable building material in Acre and Jaffa, the Eastern Mediterranean offshore cities, since ancient times. Therefore, the contemporary urban architectural plans obligate kurkar siding in the modern structures erected beside the Old City of Acre. However, a rapid deterioration of kurkar siding had occurred in the contemporary sea walls during only a few years. In contrast, the Historic walls built of kurkar dimensional stone have been still sound. The current study has evaluated the factors and causes of kurkar deterioration in the modern seawalls. It was revealed that the main reason for deterioration was adhering the kurkar siding with cement mortar and the next exposure of adhered siding to the humid and salt-enriched offshore environment with high air pollution.

Author(s):  
Hong Chen ◽  
Yang Xu

The impact of environmental regulation has been an important topic. Based on the Chinese Custom Database and China City Statistical Yearbook, this paper investigates the effect of environmental regulation on export values and explores potential mechanisms and heterogeneous effects. Taking advantage of China’s first comprehensive air pollution prevention and control plan, the Air Pollution Control in Key Zones policy, as a quasi-natural experiment, we employ the difference-in-differences method to examine the causal relationship between environmental regulation and exports. We find the statistically significant and negative effect of environmental regulation on exports at the city level. Moreover, we find that the potential mechanism is the change in export values caused by firm entry and exit, especially by exiters, rather than the change in the number of exporting firms in the city caused by firm entry and exit. In addition, we find the heterogeneous effects of environmental regulation based on the differences of environmental policy across cities and the Broad Economic Categories classification.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivo Suter ◽  
Lukas Emmenegger ◽  
Dominik Brunner

<p>Reducing air pollution, which is the world's largest single environmental health risk, demands better-informed air quality policies. Consequently, multi-scale air quality models are being developed with the goal to resolve cities. One of the major challenges in such model systems is to accurately represent all large- and regional-scale processes that may critically determine the background concentration levels over a given city. This is particularly true for longer-lived species such as aerosols, for which background levels often dominate the concentration levels, even within the city. Furthermore, the heterogeneous local emissions, and complex dispersion in the city have to be considered carefully.</p><p>In this study, the impact of processes across a wide range of scales on background concentrations over Switzerland and the city of Zurich was modelled by performing one year of nested European and Swiss national COSMO-ART simulations to obtain adequate boundary conditions for gas-phase chemical, aerosol and meteorological conditions for city-resolving simulations. The regional climate chemistry model COSMO-ART (Vogel et al. 2009) was used in a 1-way coupled mode. The outer, European, domain, which was driven by chemical boundary conditions from the global MOZART model, had a 6.6 km horizontal resolution and the inner, Swiss, domain one of 2.2 km. For the city scale, a catalogue of more than 1000 mesoscale flow patterns with 100 m resolution was created with the model GRAMM, based on a discrete set of atmospheric stabilities, wind speeds and directions, accounting for the influence of land-use and topography. Finally, the flow around buildings was solved with the CFD model GRAL forced at the boundaries by GRAMM. Subsequently, Lagrangian dispersion simulations for a set of air pollutants and emission sectors (traffic, industry, ...) based on extremely detailed building and emission data was performed in GRAL. The result of this nested procedure is a library of 3-dimensional air pollution maps representative of hourly situations in Zurich (Berchet et al. 2017). From these pre-computed situations, time-series and concentration maps can be obtained by selecting situations according to observed or modelled meteorological conditions.</p><p>The results were compared to measurements from air quality monitoring network stations. Modelled concentrations of NO<sub>x</sub> and PM compared well to measurements across multiple locations, provided background conditions were considered carefully. The nested multi-scale modelling system COSMO-ART/GRAMM/GRAL can adequately reproduce local air quality and help understanding the relative contributions of local versus distant emissions, as well as fill the space between precise point measurements from monitoring sites. This information is useful for research, policy-making, and epidemiological studies particularly under the assumption that exceedingly high concentrations become more and more localised phenomenon in the future.</p>


2021 ◽  
pp. 137-150
Author(s):  
Daniel-Joseph MacArthur-Seal

The sub-chapter traces major military and political developments in the eastern Mediterranean in 1918–1920, beginning with the arrival of British and Allied forces in Istanbul. It sketches out the political debate over the future of the city and wider Ottoman Empire through the series of Allied diplomatic meetings that set out the terms of what would become the Treaty of Sèvres. The chapter also summarises developments in Anatolia following the Greek occupation of Izmir in May 1919, the reaction to which crystalized the emerging nationalist movement in Anatolia, and in southern Russia and the Caucasus, where Bolshevik and White Russian forces competed for control with non-Russian national movements. Finally, it outlines the political debate over the future of Egypt and the impact of the revolution of 1919, one of a growing number of anti-colonial uprisings which Britain was forced to contend with in the period.


Author(s):  
R. A. Golikov ◽  
V. V. Kislitsyna ◽  
D. V. Surzhikov ◽  
A. M. Oleshchenko ◽  
M. A. Mukasheva

Introduction. Th e study of the infl uence of air pollution on the health of the population of industrial cities is an urgent task of preventive medicine.The purpose of the study— assessment of risk for population health of the city of Novokuznetsk, associated with the receipt in atmospheric air of polluting substances from SC «Kuznetsk TPP».Materials and methods.The paper presents the results of risk assessment for the health of the population of Novokuznetsk from the impact of atmospheric emissions of coal thermal power plant. Risks were calculated in accordance with the «Guidelines for the assessment of public health risks from exposure to chemicals that pollute the environment».Results.It was found that sulfur dioxide, coal ash, nitrogen dioxide had the largest share in the index of non-carcinogenic hazard of emissions. Th e maximum hazard index of carcinogenic substances was detected in hexavalent chromium. Th e greatest risk of immediate action, manifested in the development of refl ex reactions, was detected at two points of exposure to concentrations; it was determined by the infl uence of coal ash. In the formation of the risk of chronic intoxication, coal ash, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, nitrogen oxide had the greatest impact; the greatest risk was detected at three points. Th e hazard coeffi  cients of the concentrations ranged from 2.04×10–4 to 6.723. The maximum index of danger equal to 29.31, corresponded to the residential district of Lenin square. Th e highest levels of carcinogenic risk identifi ed at three points were determined by exposure to hexavalent chromium.Conclusion.Th e work identifi ed environmentally disadvantaged neighborhoods of the city. It is shown that the main contribution to the formation of non-carcinogenic risk of health disorders of the city’s population is made by nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide, coal ash, sulfur dioxide. Th e main carcinogen is hexavalent chromium. Th e total values of risks expressed in the multiplicities of excess of acceptable risk, for most points exceed 1, indicating a signifi cant impact of emissions on the health of the population. A set of atmospheric protection measures aimed at reducing risks to public health is recommended. 


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 256-261
Author(s):  
Dinda One Mulyaningtyas ◽  
I Ketut Widnyana ◽  
Sang Putu Kaler Surata

Number of vehicles moving in the city of Denpasar is quite dense and has the potential to produce high carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbon (HC) exhaust gases which can be fatal to human health. The research objective is to analyze the level of air pollution in the city of Denpasar and analyze the factors that cause pollution from motorized vehicles. To calculate the volume of traffic using the application traffic counter on an android phone. The research method uses trend analysis and multiple linear regression analysis. The growth of CO pollutants in the city of Denpasar increased with a growth value of 0.88 to 3.25 per year so that in 2021 the level of CO is predicted to be between 32.41% to 81.52%. Likewise, HC levels increase with a growth value of 0.85 - 1.59 per year so that in 2021 HC levels are predicted between 2,670 ppm to 24,383 ppm. The vehicles age and engine combustion system have a strong correlation in producing CO and HC values; while brand, engine capacity and mileage correlate very weak. The conclusion is that newer vehicles and the latest combustion systems produce lower CO and HC levels.


2019 ◽  
Vol 91 ◽  
pp. 02028
Author(s):  
Elena Korneeva ◽  
Muayad Sabri Sabri Mohanad ◽  
Anna Babanina ◽  
Egor Zaytsev ◽  
Sergey Poberezhskii

Since ancient times, limestone has been known as an inexpensive and reliable building material. The main problem of limestone materials in the construction of buildings is its reduced longevity due to various factors, such as wind and rain. These factors have a huge impact on the strength characteristics of the building material, so adherence to special recommendations is an important practical task. A review of literature on the problem of durability and the use of limestone is presented. With the help of experience, the strength of nummulite limestone is established. The analysis of the obtained data is made, as well as its comparison with the indices of other artificial and natural stones. The main methods of strengthening the structures made of limestone are considered at three different stages. Practical recommendations for minimizing the impact of negative factors on this material are given.


Author(s):  
Vera V. Kislitsyna ◽  
Dmitry V. Surzhikov ◽  
Yuliya S. Likontseva ◽  
Roman A. Golikov ◽  
Varvara A. Staiger

Introduction. The Kemerovo region is the largest coal-producing region in Russia, and coal mining hurts the environment. The earth's developed mineral deposits are sources of pollution of atmospheric air, water, and soil. They increase the risk to public health. The implementation of measures for the reclamation of disturbed land is an urgent problem. The study aims to assess the health of an industrial city from air pollution during the liquidation of mining operations, and reclamation works carried out at a coal mine. Materials and methods. The scientists assessed the distribution and impact of atmospheric emissions at 40 plotted points based on a map of the city of Kisilevsk in the Kemerovo region. We calculated the maximum and average annual concentrations of pollutants and identified the risk of chronic intoxication and carcinogenic risk. Scientists obtained risk values with acceptable levels. The risk values were determined, taking into account the background concentrations of substances. Results. The researchers revealed priority pollutants: inorganic dust, nitrogen dioxide, nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon (soot), carbon monoxide. There is no excess of the maximum average annual concentrations during the liquidation and reclamation at the coal mine for all pollutants. The combined values of the risk of chronic intoxication and carcinogenic risk do not exceed the acceptable level. The total values of the risk of chronic intoxication, taking into account the background concentrations of pollutants, exceed the proper level at all points of exposure. Conclusions. Activities for the elimination and reclamation of mine workings do not significantly impact the environment and the health of the population of the city of Kiselevsk.


2021 ◽  
pp. 100-108
Author(s):  
Daniel-Joseph MacArthur-Seal

The sub-chapter outlines the development of the First World War in the eastern Mediterranean from the evacuation of the Gallipoli peninsula to the signing of the Armistice of Moudros that took the Ottoman Empire out of the war. It examines how the growing Allied presence at Salonica instigated an uprising in the city that later took power at the Greek capital with British and French support. It assesses the impact of the Russian revolution on the Caucasus front, which led the Ottoman Empire, Britain, and local groups into a scramble for control of key towns and infrastructure. It then summarises how progress on the Palestine front, in conjunction with support for an uprising in the Hejaz, and a breakthrough in Macedonia forced the Ottoman Empire to sue for peace.


2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bujar Bajcinovci

Abstract Environmental air pollution is a global health concern, a complex phenomenon which is directly reflected on public health, economic and human development. Environmental air pollution has been drastically multiplied, followed by the beginning of the new Millennia in Prishtina, the capital city of the Kosovo. The new millennium began as a crucial activity for the city of Prishtina in terms of demographic, human geography, social and economic phenomena. The presented study aims to determine prevalent traffic and land morphology composition attributes, which have influenced and continue to have environmental impact in the city of Prishtina. According to the conceptual findings from the empirical observations, the heavy city traffic and the land morphology structure, determine the urban air pollution level. Prishtina is generally polluted due to its geomorphic position in relation to the power plants Kosovo A, and Kosova B. The impact of the above cited factors, is even bigger when the dominant winds prevail through valley, which encompasses the city. The findings from this paper propose the necessity of careful driven urban solutions.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document