Energy production is a major topic of focus in climate change discussions. Power generation and distribution is, by far, Africa's biggest infrastructure challenge. Whether measured in generation capacity or electricity consumption, Africa's power infrastructure delivers only a fraction of the services found in other parts of the world. While increasing funding for infrastructure development is important, this must be accompanied by improvements to the quality and sustainability of infrastructure. Providing infrastructure that is economically efficient, socially inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable requires building-in concepts of quality throughout the project life cycle, from feasibility planning and design, through to appropriate technology, operation, and maintenance. Furthermore, Africa is likely to be significantly impacted by climate change, through increased weather events (both droughts and storms) and rising sea levels. Ensuring climate resilience implies additional investment costs, probably of between 10% and 15%. However, there would be later benefits, both financial and societal. Therefore, scientifically credible information is needed for building a climate-resilient energy infrastructure. However, due to uncertainty associated with the current knowledge of climate adaptation, it is rather difficult for decision-makers to justify additional investments when they are faced with allocation of limited financial resources among competing priorities.

Waste management has become an issue of growing global concern as urban populations continue to increase and consumption patterns change. The health and environmental implications associated with garbage disposal are mounting in urgency, particularly in developing countries. However, the growth of the solid-waste market, increasing resource scarcity and the availability of new technologies are offering opportunities for turning waste into a resource.

Around the world, extreme weather events are becoming increasingly \"the new normal\" and are expected to increase in the 21st century as a result of climate change. Extreme weather events have devastating impacts on human lives and national economies. This book examines ways to protect people from hazards using early warning systems, and includes contributions from experts from four different continents representing 14 different universities, 8 government agencies and two UN agencies. Chapters detail critical components of early warning systems, ways to identify vulnerable communities, predict hazards and deliver information. Unique satellite images illustrate the transnational impact of disasters, while case studies provide detailed examples of warning systems. With contributors from the fields of economics, ethics, meteorology, geography and biology, this book is essential reading for anyone interested in disaster risk reduction or climate change.

Pulsed laser deposited MgxZn1 − xO films grown on sapphire substrates exhibited wurtzite hexagonal structure at lower Mg concentrations (x < 0.20), whereas use of MgO substrates promotes cubic rocksalt structure. For x ≥ 0.20, single-phase cubic ZnMgO thin films with 〈200〉 orientation were realized on MgO substrates. However, the films grown on sapphire substrates exhibited single-phase cubic structure with 〈111〉 orientation only when x ≥ 0.4. We show that the optical bandgap of wurtzite ZnMgO films can be tuned from 3.27 eV to 3.80 eV. On the other hand cubic ZnMgO films exhibited larger bandgap values as high as 5.99 eV.

Groundwater is a significant source of irrigation water in Masis province of Armenia. In this sense, not only the availability of groundwater is important, but also its appropriate quality. For the study, 243 groundwater samples were collected from 27 monitoring wells during March–November, 2019, and different hydrochemical parameters were analyzed. The assessment of suitability of the groundwater for irrigation purposes was implemented by hydrochemical parameters (pH, EC and Cl−) and different indices (SAR, Na%, MH, RSC, PI) as well as by graphical representations. Some obtained data were studied by geo-statistical analysis, and their spatial variation in Masis province was given. For the combination and summarizing of various obtained data, Irrigation Water Quality Index (IWQI) method was used, which gave the groundwater quality for irrigation purposes by single value. Using the IWQI it was ascertained that the groundwater from confined aquifer had better irrigation properties than the groundwater from unconfined aquifer. Geo-statistical analysis of the IWQI showed that the spatial distribution of the groundwater in Masis province was divided into 3 zones: Class I, Class II and Class III. In Masis province, the main type of the unconfined aquifer groundwater belonged to the Class II, which is characterized as “good”, and of the confined aquifer groundwater - to the Class I, which is characterized as “excellent”. The unconfined aquifer groundwater with the worst irrigation properties is located by small areas in the southeast part of the province and the confined aquifer groundwater of such quality - in the southwest part of the studied territory. The long-term irrigation by such groundwater and the neglect of implementation of soil quality improvement measures can lead to negative changes in the soil, therefore in order to avoid soil degradation suitable preventive measures are needed.

The number of international environmental institutions, goals and agreements has increased greatly since the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in 1972. However, the results of this proliferation for environmental protection have been mixed. The upcoming "Rio +20" conference (2012), offers world leaders an opportunity to reaffirm the importance of achieving a sustainability agenda and to revisit their strategies for doing so. To inform this process it is crucial to learn from the ambitions, achievements and shortcomings on goal attainment to date. Drawing on the United Nations Environment Programme's fifth Global Environment Outlook report (GEO-5), this paper presents an evaluation of progress made on globally agreed environmental goals in relation to a series of biophysical trends. The analysis suggests a picture of patchy achievements rather than sustained progress. The most encouraging results have occurred where measurable targets were established on problems with relatively straightforward causes and courses of action. Key obstacles to the achievement of goals include a series of mismatches: between narrow objectives and the need for integrated approaches; between types of problems and types of solutions; between the fragmentation of governance and the need for collective action; between science and policy; between the responsibilities and resources of environmental institutions; and between complex systems and the desire for measurable outcomes. Overcoming these obstacles will require not only learning from past successes and failures but also adapting this knowledge to environmental, political and economic circumstances that have changed considerably over the past 40 years.

Successful and sustainable use of natural resources crucially depends on the ­continuous assessment and monitoring of the land resource status, their use mechanisms, and their impacts on future resource availability. Remote sensing observations are crucial to all these activities, especially those with finer resolutions in the 30–60 m range, and moderate resolutions in the 250 m to 1 km range. MODIS and ASTER are two key sensors, which provide such data. In this chapter, we consider the comprehensive needs for terrestrial observations including these and many other sensor systems along with in situ observations.

Developing countries situated mostly in latitudes that are projected for the highest climate change impact in the twenty-first century will also have a predictable increase in demand on energy sources. India presents us with a unique opportunity to study this phenomenon in a large developing country. This study finds that climate adaptation policies of India should consider the significance of air conditioners (A/Cs) in mitigation of human vulnerability due to unpredictable weather events such as heat waves. However, the energy demand due to air conditioning usage alone will be in the range of an extra ∼750,000GWh to ∼1,350,000GWh with a 3.7°C increase in surface temperatures under different population scenarios and increasing incomes by the year 2100. We project that residential A/C usage by 2100 will result in CO2 emissions of 592Tg to 1064Tg. This is significant given that India's total contribution to global CO2 emissions in 2009 was measured at 1670Tg and country's residential and commercial electricity consumption in 2007 was estimated at 145,000GWh.

Gender mainstreaming is essential when creating approaches and policies that are effective for men as well as women. The impacts of climate change are unlikely to be gender neutral, as its effects will increase the risk of the most vulnerable and least empowered group in the society. This study generates new information that highlights differences, and more specifically, the underlying dissimilar conditions and factors, that men and women may experience while facing the potential effects of climate change.