This work describes the remediation activities developed on the Urban Planning Area of the Avenida de Francia in Valencia city. This area is nowadays occupied by the world-famous City of Arts and Sciences and the Oceanographic Park but during the first decades of the 20th century it was a heavy industrial area. The contamination of the unsaturated zone was mainly due to heavy metals and affected both public and private grounds. Results obtained from the preliminary investigation studies as well as a description of the remediation techniques used are summarized.
This paper provides a detailed description of the findings and methodology related to the monitoring of microplastics in three lakes and one river of the Akmola Region in Kazakhstan. The concentration of microplastic particles and the analysis of water and sediment quality of the Yesil River and Kopa, Zerendinskoye, and Borovoe lakes have been analyzed. A total of 64 water samples were collected across the spring, summer, and autumn seasons, with subsequent analysis revealing a seasonal increase in microplastic concentrations. The average microplastic content ranged from 1.2 × 10−1 particles/dm3 in spring to 4.5 × 10−1 particles/dm3 in autumn. Lakes exhibited higher concentrations compared to the Yesil River. Correlation analysis highlighted a connection between microplastic content and turbidity, particularly notable during the spring season. Analysis of sediments revealed a decrease in microplastic concentrations from the coastal zone toward open waters sediments. Microplastic fibers were predominant in sediments (69.6%), followed by fragments (19.1%), films (7.4%), and granules (3.9%). Larger particles (>500 µm) were found in beach sediments, constituting an average of 40.5% of the total plastics found. This study contributes valuable insights into the spatial and temporal distribution of microplastics, emphasizing the need for ongoing monitoring and management strategies to address this environmental concern.
To develop climate change mitigation strategies, it is necessary to identify variables that facilitate the modeling of prospective scenarios. There are a large number of variables that must be analyzed in an integrated manner in order for scenarios to be proposed that include the particularities of a given area, measuring the possible effects of this phenomenon in terms of productivity. Identifying and analyzing variables and their variations over time enables fundamental predictions to understand the potential environmental impacts on ecosystems and human activity. Understanding these variables is important to support decision-making, policy development and implementing actions that help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and guarantee food security. This research study not only seeks to determine the technical variables, which are fundamental in predictive models, but also sets out to emphasize the importance of integrating social and economic aspects that can become decisive factors. Rural areas in Colombia, with the department of Cundinamarca used as a case study, have been affected in various ways by climate change [1]. This scenario represents a challenge that needs to be addressed in a prioritized manner to ensure food security and independence, economic development, sustainability, livestock and human health, among other aspects that precisely relate to the development of a region. To propose solutions, artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging as an innovative alternative that makes it possible to process large amounts of data and find patterns, correlations and trends that can provide an understanding of the variables’ behavior, as well as develop systems to adapt to climate change. Therefore, identifying variables to apply advanced AI models to forecast the effects of climate change in a given region is a fundamental step towards generating an efficient and accurate tool to establish mitigation actions in a region that, together with the implementation of policies and actions that promote sustainability, will strengthen communities’ current capacity for action. The variables identified include economic structure, access to technological resources, governance models, education levels, access to public services, poverty rate, demographics and crop price references. Through AI models and an in-depth analysis of available information, these types of models will become more precise for the implementation of early warning systems (EWS) and sustainable practices, as well as strengthen infrastructure. Historically in Colombia, rural areas are the most vulnerable to climate change given that they have fewer economic and technological resources that enable them to adapt to its impacts, with the most frequent phenomena being torrential rainfall, extreme flooding and forest fires; events associated with climate change. Peña Q, Andrés J, Arce B, Blanca A, Boshell V, J. Francisco, Paternina Q, María J, Ayarza M, Miguel A, & Rojas B, Edwin O. (2011). Trend analysis to determine hazards related to climate change in the Andean agricultural areas of Cundinamarca and Boyacá. Agronomía Colombiana, 29(2), 467-478. Retrieved January 09, 2024, from http://www.scielo.org.co/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0120-99652011000200014&lng=en&tlng=en.
The mouth of the Ebro River is located on a National Park at the eastern coast of Spain in the Mediterranean Sea. Funded by PIONEER European Project, seasonal collecting data campaigns during 1999-2000 have been developed to understand nutrients behaviour both in the river and in its plume. In this paper we show the results of two campaigns realised on April and July 1999. Profiles of salinity, temperature, nutrients and chlorophyll have been measured in different stations of its plume, with a new device that is able to take samples with high spatial accuracy in the superficial layer, just where the highest gradient in many parameters studied is found. As expected, results obtained show that the gradient of salinity was much stronger in the first meter of the water column. Results also show that the waters of Ebro River arrive with very high nutrients concentrations and, in the process of mixture with saline waters, losses respect the physical mixture are produced, specially in Reactive Soluble Phosphorus (RSP) and Total Dissolved Phosphorus (TDP), because the ecosystem in this area is phosphorus limited, while nitrate has a more conservative behaviour. Dramatic losses in the mixture for other nutrients (silica and nitrogen) in some of the most superficial points of the water column have also been detected, probably because of absorption and movement of phytoplankton cells, that also have lower levels (chlorophyll) in the most superficial point. These results have been found for both sampling campaigns (PIONEER-1 and PIONEER-2). Further studies are currently being done over samplings taken later in 1999 and 2000.
The organic fraction of municipal solid waste (MSW) in megacities is usually managed by composting. In this technique the decomposition and stabilization of organic matter occurs under thermophilic conditions. Currently, composting systems range from simple garden piles and bins to highly engineered computer controlled mechanized processes. Composting is used worldwide, currently treating 5.5% of total urban solid waste. Therefore, modeling aerobic processes becomes important since it is the basis for determining the optimal conditions of the system and a fundamental tool to define its relevance and quantify environmental impacts. However, biological processes such as composting require complex methods and specific software to predict the behavior of organic waste through mathematical models. In the case of the treatment of the organic fraction of urban solid waste, it is necessary to develop this type of models to enhance the recovery of the waste and determine the impacts associated with this technology. For this reason, modeling of organic waste processes is one of the priorities solid waste managing in megacities, where the development of technologies of greater complexity and magnitude is necessary due to the large population. Success in determining feasibility in a predictive model is based on the parameter calibration process. Model results are dependent on the accuracy of the input variables and the way in which the collection and statistical treatment of the information is be carried out. Despite this need, the information associated with the management of solid waste in megacities is often scarce and incomplete. This is usually due to the poor information systems available in many countries for recording all the stages involved in MSW management. Therefore, this research seeks the determination and standardization of the variables required for the mathematical modeling of aerobic processes of the organic fraction of solid waste in megacities. The proposal includes the definition of technical but also environmental, social, economic, administrative and financial variables for the case study of the megacity of Bogotá (Colombia).