Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) are toxic, degradation resistant, bio accumulative, and display wide spatial distribution which has been linked to mutagenic, reproductive and immunological disorders. In Stockholm Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) are toxic, degradation resistant, bio-accumulative, and display wide spatial distribution, which has been linked to mutagenic, reproductive, and immunological disorders. At the Stockholm Convention, a global treaty was signed to minimize and ultimately eliminate the release of POPs into the environment. The present compilation regarding POPs focusses on the sources, atmospheric behavior, terrestrial and aquatic food chain transfer, human exposure, and fate aspects of this important class of chemicals, including topical issues like temporal trends in contamination. Furthermore, the chemical characteristics of individual POPs are also addressed. Features: Provides better understanding of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and how they affect humans and ecosystems. Includes genesis, categories, environmental fate and behavior, and associated hazards. Reviews analytical techniques involved in detection, human exposure and management. Discusses environmental dynamics of POPs. Focuses on the comprehensive account of PCDD/Fs, PCBs, PAH and other organochlorine POPs, such as DDT, lindane, and dieldrin. This book is aimed at researchers, professionals and graduate students in Life Science, Occupational Health and Safety, Chemical Engineering and Environmental Engineering.

Special edition for the Mauritius International Meeting for the 10-year Review of the Barbados Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States

Most of the world’s population lives close to the coast and is highly dependent on coastal resources, which are being exploited at unsustainable rates. These resources are being subject to further pressures associated with population increase and the globalization of coastal resource demand. This is particularly so for the Asia-Pacific region which contains almost two thirds of the world’s population and most of the world’s coastal megacities. The region has globally important atmospheric and oceanic phenomena, which affect world climate such as the Asian Monsoon and the El-Niño Southern Oscillation phenomena. The Asia-Pacific region also has highly significant marine diversity but over the last few decades, coastal resources such as mangroves, coral reefs and fisheries have experienced large-scale depletion. The need to find appropriate management solutions to these and other coastal issues is made more complex by the need to take account of international scientific predictions for global climate change and sea-level rise which will further impact on these coasts. The idea for this book arose from a meeting of coastal scientists in Kobe, Japan in May 2003. The meeting was organized by the Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN), an inter-governmental network, comprising 21 member countries, for the promotion of global change research and links between science and policy making in the region.

Extreme weather and climate events, interacting with exposed and vulnerable human and natural systems, can lead to disasters. This Special Report explores the social as well as physical dimensions of weather- and climate-related disasters, considering opportunities for managing risks at local to international scales. SREX was approved and accepted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on 18 November 2011 in Kampala, Uganda.