MODULE 5 CIVIL ENGINEERING AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

Objectives

To understand the relationship of Civil Engineering to Environmental Science.

To familiarize with the different branches of Environmental Science in relation to Civil
Engineering.
To know the current situation of the world in terms of its Environmental Condition.

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

Environmental Science is a field that deals with the study of interaction between human systems and natural systems.

It is defined as a branch of biology focused on the study of relationships of the natural world and the relationships between organisms and their
environments.

It is an integrated study of factors that influence the environment and environmental systems, especially the interaction of the physical, chemical, and
biological components of the environments.

It deals with subjects like understanding of the earth’s processes, evaluating alternative energy systems, pollution control and mitigation, natural
resources management and the effects of global climate change.

It is a study that takes physical, biological, chemical sciences to study the environment and discover solutions to environmental problems.

Human Systems- refers to the populations of the earth.

Natural Systems- involves the earth itself and life.

ASPECTS

Environmental Study - the study of social sciences to understand human interactions with the environment

Environmental Engineering - analyzing and deducing problems with the environment and the effect of man-made programs on the environment

COMPONENTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

Atmospheric Sciences is the study of the earth's atmosphere and its various inner-working
physical processes.
Atmospheric Sciences - has been extended to the field of PLANETARY SCIENCE and the
study of the atmospheres of the planets and natural satellites of the solar system.

Climatology is the study of atmospheric changes (both long and short-term) that define
average climates and their change over time, due to both natural and anthropogenic climate
variability.

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Meteorology - includes atmospheric chemistry and atmospheric physics with a major focus on
WEATHER FORECASTING.

Aeronomy - is the study OF THE UPPER LAYERS OF THE ATMOSPHERE, where dissociation and ionization are important.

Ecology- is a branch of biology that studies the interactions among ORGANISMS and their BIOPHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT, which includes both
biotic and abiotic components. Topics of interest include the biodiversity, distribution, biomass, and populations of organisms, as well as cooperation
and competition within and between species.

Ecosystems - dynamically interacting systems of organisms, the communities they make up, and the non-living components of their environment.

Environmental Chemistry - scientific study of the chemical and biochemical phenomena that occur in natural
places. It can be defined as the study of the SOURCES, REACTIONS, TRANSPORT, EFFECTS, and FATES
OF CHEMICAL species in the air, soil, and water environments; and the EFFECT OF HUMAN activity and
BIOLOGICAL activity on these.

Geosciences - the study of the earth. It investigates the past, measures the present and the models the future behavior of our planet.

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AND ITS HISTORY

Environmental management - presents the work of academic researchers and professionals outside universities - presenting a wide spectrum of
viewpoints and approaches.

Environmental management- offers research and opinions on use and conservation of natural resources, protection of habitats and control of
hazards

History

1900 - First air pollution studies

1902 - First water quality standard
1908 - First US drinking water chlorination
1925 - First mathematical model of water pollution
1948 - First federal Clean Water Act
1970 - Earth Day
1970s - All the modern environmental laws
1980s - Hazardous waste laws

ENVIRONMENTAL PERSPECTIVES

The way we treat our environment is determined by how we view it.

How the Environment is Measured]

Sampling- 3-DIMENSIONAL PROBLEM that makes representativeness even more complicated.

OBJECTIVES

Clean or dirty
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Offsite vs onsite.

Pollution release or transport rates or distance.

Exposure
Time trends
Time variability
Analysis - chemistry prevailed and what was typically measured was pretty fundamental
- general parameter of interest for a number of reasons called “biochemical oxygen demand” (BOD).

Data Analysis
The 2-parts of data analysis are:
1) organizing it; and
2) understanding it.

Organizing environmental data properly helps one to understand it. Organizing it consists of storing it properly and displaying it effectively.

Understanding it involves comparing it to regulatory standards and concentration thresholds believed to create impacts such as health effects, fish
kills, ecosystem damage, or aesthetic effects. Further understanding is gained by applying environmental knowledge about how the chemical should
behave based on its solubility and things like that.

Environmental Regulation

Clean Water Act

Through this law, water pollution is managed by controlling wastewater discharges. Every pipe in the US must have a permit to discharge under
Clean Water Act regulations. Each permit is reviewed by the agency in terms of what the receiving water can handle and still meet its designated
water quality standards.

Clean Air Act

The Clean Air Act was the first modern comprehensive environmental law. It was passed in 1970. The Clean Air Act established nationwide
standards for ambient air quality, called NAAQS (National Ambient Air Quality Standards). It also spurred hundreds of regulations for all emissions,
old and new. Air quality management has some unique elements compared to water quality management.

Safe Drinking Water Act

The Safe Drinking Water Act regulates the output quality of those utilities and requires that they keep a certain level of chlorine in their distribution
pipes to prevent recontamination enroute to your house.

Hazardous Waste Laws

RCRA (Resources Conservation and Recovery Act) - manages new haz waste as it is generated and cleans up old haz waste problems at operating
facilities, like landfills and factories.

CERCLA (Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act, aka Superfund) - cleans up “abandoned” haz waste.

GLOBAL CLIMATE EMERGENCY

Global Warming - is the long-term rise in the average temperature of the Earth's climate system.

It is a major aspect of climate change, and has been demonstrated by direct temperature measurements and by measurements of various effects of
the warming.

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Global Temperature Rise

The planet's average surface temperature has risen about 2.0 degrees Fahrenheit (1.1 degrees Celsius) since the late 19th century, a change driven
largely by increased carbon dioxide and other human-made emissions into the atmosphere.

Warming Oceans

The oceans have absorbed much of this increased heat, with the top 700 meters (about 2,300 feet) of ocean showing warming of more than 0.4
degrees Fahrenheit since 1969.

Shrinking Ice Sheets

The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have decreased in mass. The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have decreased in mass. Data from
NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment show Greenland lost an average of 286 billion tons of ice per year between 1993 and 2016, while
Antarctica lost about 127 billion tons of ice per year during the same time period. The rate of Antarctica ice mass loss has tripled in the last decade.

Glacial Retreat

Glaciers are retreating almost everywhere around the world

— including in the Alps, Himalayas, Andes, Rockies, Alaska and Africa.

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Decreased Snow Cover

Satellite observations reveal that the amount of spring snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere has decreased over the past five decades and that
the snow is melting earlier.

Sea Level Rise

Global sea level rose about 8 inches in the last century. The rate in the last two decades, however, is nearly double that of the last century and is
accelerating slightly every year

Declining Arctic Sea Ice

Both the extent and thickness of Arctic sea ice has declined rapidly over the last several decades

Extreme Events

Glaciers are retreating almost everywhere around the world — including in the Alps, Himalayas, Andes, Rockies, Alaska and Africa.

The number of record high temperature events in the United States has been increasing, while the number of record low temperature events has
been decreasing, since 1950. The U.S. has also witnessed increasing numbers of intense rainfall events.

Ocean Acidification

Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the acidity of surface ocean waters has increased by about 30 percent. This increase is the result of
humans emitting more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and hence more being absorbed into the oceans. The amount of carbon dioxide absorbed
by the upper layer of the oceans is increasing by about 2 billion tons per year.

Natural Climate Solutions

Energy

The world must quickly implement massive energy efficiency and conservation practices and must replace fossil fuels with low-carbon renewables
and other cleaner sources of energy if safe for people and the environment. We should leave remaining stocks of fossil fuels in the ground and
should carefully pursue effective negative emissions using technology such as carbon extraction from the source and capture from the air and
especially by enhancing natural systems. Wealthier countries need to support poorer nations in transitioning away from fossil fuels. We must swiftly
eliminate subsidies for fossil fuels and use effective and fair policies for steadily escalating carbon prices to restrain their use.

Short-lived pollutants

We need to promptly reduce the emissions of short-lived climate pollutants, including methane, black carbon (soot), and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).
Doing this could slow climate feedback loops and potentially reduce the short-term warming trend by more than 50% over the next few decades
while saving millions of lives and increasing crop yields due to reduced air pollution. The 2016 Kigali amendment to phase down HFCs is welcomed.

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Nature

We must protect and restore Earth's ecosystems. Phytoplankton, coral reefs, forests, savannas, grasslands, wetlands, peatlands, soils, mangroves,
and sea grasses contribute greatly to sequestration of atmospheric CO2. Marine and terrestrial plants, animals, and microorganisms play significant
roles in carbon and nutrient cycling and storage. We need to quickly curtail habitat and biodiversity loss, protecting the remaining primary and intact
forests, especially those with high carbon stores and other forests with the capacity to rapidly sequester carbon (proforestation), while increasing
reforestation and afforestation where appropriate at enormous scales. Although available land may be limiting in places, up to a third of emissions
reductions needed by 2030 for the Paris agreement (less than 2°C) could be obtained with these natural climate solutions.

Food

Eating mostly plant-based foods while reducing the global consumption of animal products, especially ruminant livestock, can improve human health
and significantly lower GHG emissions (including methane in the “Short-lived pollutants” step). Moreover, this will free up croplands for growing
much-needed human plant food instead of livestock feed, while releasing some grazing land to support natural climate solutions. Cropping practices
such as minimum tillage that increase soil carbon are vitally important. We need to drastically reduce the enormous amount of food waste around the
world.

Excessive extraction of materials and overexploitation of ecosystems, driven by economic growth, must be quickly curtailed to maintain long-term
sustainability of the biosphere. We need a carbon-free economy that explicitly addresses human dependence on the biosphere and policies that
guide economic decisions accordingly. Our goals need to shift from GDP growth and the pursuit of affluence toward sustaining ecosystems and
improving human well- being by prioritizing basic needs and reducing inequality.

Population

Still increasing by roughly 80 million people per year, or more than 200,000 per day, the world population must be stabilized—and, ideally, gradually
reduced—within a framework that ensures social integrity. There are proven and effective policies that strengthen human rights while lowering
fertility rates and lessening the impacts of population growth on GHG emissions and biodiversity loss. These policies make family-planning services
available to all people, remove barriers to their access and achieve full gender equity, including primary and secondary education as a global
norm for all, especially girls and young women.

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