Measures Of Environmental Performance And Ecosystem Condition

Author : National Academy of Engineering
Publisher : National Academies Press
ISBN 13 : 0309175739
Total Pages : 308 pages
Book Rating : 4.39/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Measures of Environmental Performance and Ecosystem Condition written by National Academy of Engineering and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1999-05-19 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Cleveland's Cuyahoga River caught fire in 1969, no environmental measurements were necessary to know the seriousness of the problem. Incidents like the Cuyahoga fire raise an important question: Can catastrophes-in-the-making be detected early enough to be prevented? For those in industry, such disasters point to the need for measures that can improve the environmental performance of processes, products, business practices, and linked industrial systems. In Measures of Environmental Performance and Ecosystem Condition, experts share their insights on environmental metrics. The volume explores the most productive relationship between measures of environmental performance and measures of ecosystem conditions. It reviews current approaches, evaluates structures for business decisionmaking, and includes a matrix for determining the environmental performance of industrial facilities. Case studies include: Development and application of a water-quality rating scheme for streams and reservoirs in the Tennessee Valley. Three years of successful experience with waste metrics at 3M. The book covers the range of environmental performance and condition metrics, from the use of material flow data to monitor environmental performance at the national level to the use of bioassays to measure the toxicity of industrial effluents. This book offers something for everyoneâ€"policymakers, executives, engineers, managers, and advocatesâ€"with a stake in the measurement of environmental performance and ecological conditions.

Author : National Academy of Engineering and National Research Council
Publisher : National Academies Press
ISBN 13 : 0309173000
Total Pages : 264 pages
Book Rating : 4.01/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Industrial Environmental Performance Metrics written by National Academy of Engineering and National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1999-08-24 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Industrial Environmental Performance Metrics is a corporate-focused analysis that brings clarity and practicality to the complex issues of environmental metrics in industry. The book examines the metrics implications to businesses as their responsibilities expand beyond the factory gateâ€"upstream to suppliers and downstream to products and services. It examines implications that arise from greater demand for comparability of metrics among businesses by the investment community and environmental interest groups. The controversy over what sustainable development means for businesses is also addressed. Industrial Environmental Performance Metrics identifies the most useful metrics based on case studies from four industriesâ€"automotive, chemical, electronics, and pulp and paperâ€"and includes specific corporate examples. It contains goals and recommendations for public and private sector players interested in encouraging the broader use of metrics to improve industrial environmental performance and those interested in addressing the tough issues of prioritization, weighting of metrics for meaningful comparability, and the longer term metrics needs presented by sustainable development.

Author : United States. Federal Emergency Management Agency
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 32 pages
Book Rating : 4.75/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Annual Report written by United States. Federal Emergency Management Agency and published by . This book was released on 1983 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Author : Laura E. Jackson
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 116 pages
Book Rating : 4.61/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Evaluation Guidelines for Ecological Indicators written by Laura E. Jackson and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Author : Shabeg S. Sandhu
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 9401149763
Total Pages : 593 pages
Book Rating : 4.61/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Monitoring Ecological Condition at Regional Scales written by Shabeg S. Sandhu and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 593 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program was created by EPA to develop the capability for tracking the changing conditions of our natural resources and to give environmental policy the advantages ofa sound scientific understanding of trends. Former EPA Administrators recognized early that contemporary monitoring programs could not even quantify simple unknowns like the number of lakes suffering from acid rain, let along determine if national control policies were benefiting these lakes. Today, adding to acidification impacts are truly complex problems such as determining the effects of climate change, of increases in ultraviolet light, toxic chemicals, eutrophication and critical habitat loss. Also today, the Government Performance and Results Act seeks to have agencies develop performance standards based on results rather than simply on levels of programmatic activities. The charge to EMAP of ecosystems is, therefore, the same today as it was a with respect to measuring the condition decade ago. We welcome the increasing urgency for sound scientific monitoring methods and data by efforts to protect and improve the environment. Systematic nationwide monitoring of natural resources is more than anyone program can accomplish, however. In an era of declining budgets, it is crucial that monitoring programs at all levels of government coordinate and share environmental data. EMAP resources are dwarfed by the more than $500 million spent on federal monitoring activities each year.

Author : National Research Council
Publisher : National Academies Press
ISBN 13 : 0309068452
Total Pages : 199 pages
Book Rating : 4.51/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Ecological Indicators for the Nation written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2000-05-12 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Environmental indicators, such as global temperatures and pollutant concentrations, attract scientists' attention and often make the headlines. Equally important to policymaking are indicators of the ecological processes and conditions that yield food, fiber, building materials and ecological "services" such as water purification and recreation. This book identifies ecological indicators that can support U.S. policymaking and also be adapted to decisions at the regional and local levels. The committee describes indicators of land cover and productivity, species diversity, and other key ecological processesâ€"explaining why each indicator is useful, what models support the indicator, what the measured values will mean, how the relevant data are gathered, how data collection might be improved, and what effects emerging technologies are likely to have on the measurements. The committee reviews how it arrived at its recommendations and explores how the indicators can contribute to policymaking. Also included are interesting details on paleoecology, satellite imagery, species diversity, and other aspects of ecological assessment. Federal, state, and local decision-makers, as well as environmental scientists and practitioners, will be especially interested in this new book.

Author : Jiří J Klemeš
Publisher : Butterworth-Heinemann
ISBN 13 : 0128022337
Total Pages : 608 pages
Book Rating : 4.37/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Assessing and Measuring Environmental Impact and Sustainability written by Jiří J Klemeš and published by Butterworth-Heinemann. This book was released on 2015-01-20 with total page 608 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Assessing and Measuring Environmental Impact and Sustainability answers the question “what are the available methodologies to assess the environmental sustainability of a product, system or process? Multiple well-known authors share their expertise in order to give a broad perspective of this issue from a chemical and environmental engineering perspective. This mathematical, quantitative book includes many case studies to assist with the practical application of environmental and sustainability methods. Readers learn how to efficiently assess and use these methods. This book summarizes all relevant environmental methodologies to assess the sustainability of a product and tools, in order to develop more green products or processes. With life cycle assessment as its main methodology, this book speaks to engineers interested in environmental impact and sustainability. Helps engineers to assess, evaluate, and measure sustainability in industry Provides workable approaches to environmental and sustainability assessment Readers learn tools to assess the sustainability of a process or product and to design it in an environmentally friendly way

Author : National Academy of Engineering
Publisher : National Academies Press
ISBN 13 : 0309063558
Total Pages : 160 pages
Book Rating : 4.55/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Ecology of Industry written by National Academy of Engineering and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1998-09-03 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume provides insights into the environmental practices of five industry sectors: materials processing, manufacturing, electric utilities, and pulp and paper. The ecology of industry is presented in terms of systems of production and consumption, taking into account the flows of material, energy, capital, and information. The book examines ways to improve the environmental performance of these industries (and others, such as the service sector) and shows how decisions made by industry managers can leverage systemic environmental improvements elsewhere in the economy.

Author : Sven E. Jorgensen
Publisher : CRC Press
ISBN 13 : 9780203490181
Total Pages : 472 pages
Book Rating : 4.85/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Handbook of Ecological Indicators for Assessment of Ecosystem Health written by Sven E. Jorgensen and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2005-01-27 with total page 472 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The field of ecosystem health explores the interactions between natural systems, human health, and social organization. As decision makers require a sound, modular approach to environmental management and sustainable development, ecosystem health assessment indicators are increasingly used across any number of applications. The Handbook of Ecologic

Author : H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics, and the Environment
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780521525725
Total Pages : 294 pages
Book Rating : 4.21/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The State of the Nation's Ecosystems written by H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics, and the Environment and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2002-09-09 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We all rely on a familiar set of indicators - interest rates, unemployment, inflation, the Dow Jones index, and GDP, for example - to gauge the performance of national economies. No such measures are currently available to describe the environment. This book lays out a blueprint for periodic reporting on the condition and use of ecosystems in the United States. Developed by experts from businesses, environmental organizations, universities, and federal, state, and local government agencies, it is designed to provide policymakers and the general public with a succinct and comprehensive - yet scientifically sound and non-partisan - view of 'how we are doing'. This book should prove invaluable for decision makers in natural resource management and environmental policy in government and environmental organizations, businesses, and trade associations; academics with a research or teaching interest in environmental issues; and the general public interested in the continued well-being of American ecosystems.