Rapid urbanization in high rainfall areas of western Washington, western Oregon and northern Idaho has increased the potential for flooding. As a result, the area of permeable surfaces to dispose of excess water from precipitation has decreased. This lack of permeable surfaces places pressure on storm sewers and surface waters to move the excess precipitation water off-site. The purpose of this article is twofold: (1) to document public perceptions of the likelihood of increased flooding events in urban areas and (2) to evaluate a potential solution that could mitigate the flooding problem in developing urban areas. Public attitudes, aptitudes and understanding of the potential flood threat in urban areas were determined using seven specific questions in a mail-based survey instrument conducted in 2017. Population projection data were used to forecast future changes in the permeability of landscapes. Rain gardens to increase water infiltration into the ground and reduce excessive precipitation runoff were evaluated from feasibility and public acceptance standpoints. Study results showed that the public is increasingly concerned about future flooding events, understands the linkage between reduced permeability of soils to flooding and is willing to consider using rain gardens as a flood mitigation strategy. As a consequence of effective outreach programs and local subsidies, 3,980 rain gardens have been established in the Puget Sound region since 2012.

The process of ecosystem fragmentation causes three types of changes in the ecosystem: changes of abiotic, direct biotic and indirect biotic nature. Among these changes, some of them are the microclimatic alterations, edge effect, decrease of the gene flow and losses of biodiversity, among others. In this way, the present study aimed to evaluate the environmental quality of forest remnants in a highly urbanized area through environmental indicators and landscape metrics, such as total area, circularity index, shape of forest fragments, nuclear area, connectivity between them, use and occupation around and distance from the nearest neighbor. The indicators were evaluated according to the methodologies established in the literature and grouped into an index to determine the environmental quality of each forest remnant. The index consisted of the sum of the weighted values for each indicator, according to its classification. The results indicate that most forest remnants evaluated in the study area present medium environmental quality, which demonstrates the degree of edge effect to which they are submitted, and this emphasizes the need for appropriate management actions in these areas, in order to soften such external pressures and ensure long-term sustainability. In addition, it was also identified that the metrics related to the area are essentially important for the determination of the environmental quality of forest remnants.

According to the World Water Assessment Program, today, half the world's population lives in urban areas. Because of this, many of the world cities are growing exponentially and unchecked urban sprawl is spawning areas that lack water infrastructure. The vast majority of these people will be living in crowded informal settlements with inadequate, sometimes non-existent, water and sanitation services. The poor as always, are the first to suffer. Globally, an estimated 2,000 children (UNICEF) under the age of five die every day from diarrheal diseases and of these some 1,800 deaths are linked to water, sanitation and hygiene. Extending safe drinking water to the 180 million urban dwellers currently lacking it, will play a key role in improving the health and security of cities, protecting economies and ecosystems, and minimizing the risk of pandemics. With this in mind, this paper will cover an ongoing design process that started in 2012, for the development of water generating facilities to be implemented as independent, self-sufficient interventions within impoverished communities. Each one of the proposed buildings will use atmospheric water generators to produce water from the humidity in the air, which will be re-mineralized and stored for free access by the communities around them. A small percentage of the water produced will also be used to feed a mushroom and hydroponic vegetable farm within the building, designed to provide cheap and accessible nourishment to the neighborhood. Ultimately, a network of interdependent facilities could be placed around the informal settlements creating a hive that would function more as urban acupuncture than urban development, producing a financially feasible proposal designed to directly serve a community through architectural interventions that require minimal maintenance and the possibility of creating local jobs while helping solve the water and food crisis in informal settlements around the developing world.

Constructed wetland is a technically feasible, economically viable and environmentally sustainable natural technology that contributes at reducing greenhouse gases in the wastewater treatment. In this context, a pilot-scale subsurface horizontal-flow constructed wetland (HF-CW) was evaluated by using Thalia geniculata as native vegetation. The reactor operated with an average flow rate of 204 ± 66 L/ day of wastewater, with gravel support medium diameter of 2.8 ± 0.8 cm, porosity of n = 56.3 ± 3.5 and density of 1,666.7 ± 119.3 kg/m3, with 4.2 days as a hydraulic retention time. The HF-CW weighs approximately 2,600 kg, considering 1,108 kg of gravel, 850 kg of water and the weight of the container (carbon steel). The kinetic behavior was observed to be first order with k = −0.43 days−1, favoring the efficiency of biological oxygen demand removal up to 90%. During the experiments, it was shown that the bacterial biomass attached to the support material decreased its concentration from influent to effluent (33,000 to 2,000 mg/kg, mg of fixed biomass attached to each kg of gravel). For the electrical con- ductivity, color and turbidity, values were found to decrease in the order of 7.2 ± 4.8%, 86.7 ± 6.8% and 90.3 ± 5.8%, respectively. From the current experimental results, it was demonstrated that constructed wetlands, involving native species as vegetation, are highly efficient for the removal of basic pollutants.

Spatial distribution of emissions is a key element in assessing human exposure to air pollution through the use of dispersion modelling. The quality of the spatial emission mapping is crucial for the quality, applicability and reliability of modelled air pollution levels, estimated human exposure and incurred health effects and related costs, all very important information for policymakers in decisions of implementation of environmental policies and measures. Detailed information on spatial distribution of emissions allows for a more targeted regulation, implementing measures focussing on areas where emissions are highest, allowing for more cost-effective initiatives on local, regional and national scale. The purpose of the MapEIre project, funded by Ireland’s Environmental Protection Agency, is to develop a high-resolution spatial mapping of the Irish emission inventory. The work is state-of-the-art and combines a large amount of statistical data with detailed spatial information to allow for a complete spatial emission mapping on a 1 km by 1 km resolution.

When comparing the results from the MapEIre project with those of the previous studies, the impact of both methodological refinements and higher spatial resolution becomes very visible. A low resolution, such as the 50 × 50 km used in the official reporting, causes important variations to be obfuscated and, if used for air quality modelling, would introduce significant uncertainty. Methodological simplifi- cations can also have significant influence on the results, which has been illustrated in this paper using specific examples comparing the detailed MapEIre methodology with less detailed methodologies used in the previous studies.

The results from MapEIre represent a significant improvement over previous methodologies and will be a strong input for future air quality modelling.

The BTEX group (benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene and xylene) are known for their potential toxic, mutagenic and carcinogenic effects, especially in an indoor occupational environment, where these substances dissipate with greater difficulty. Thus, the present work evaluated the concentrations, mutagenicity and cytotoxicity of the BTEX group in the indoor air of workshops involving painting and varnishing. Samples were collected using air pumps from the outside of the open environment workshops and from the inside of each of the three workshops. The chemical analyses were carried out using gas chromatograph with mass spectrometry. The mutagenic and cytotoxicity potentials were determined using the Salmonella/microsome and WST/LDH assays, respectively. The concentrations of each constituent of the BTEX group were below the limits established by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and toluene presented the highest value. Moreover, these compounds did not induce mutagenic activity in the TA98 and TA100 Salmonella typhimurium strains either in the presence or in the absence of metabolization, and no cytotoxic effects were observed in the A549 human lung cells. These results may be related to the low BTEX values found in the occupational environment, as can be seen in some other studies. Nevertheless, at low concentrations, these compounds may cause toxicity by a pathway not investigated in this study or may have interacted with other non-monitored air constituents, reducing their toxicity. The present study sought to obtain more information and clarifications regarding occupational exposure to BTEX, contributing to the risk assessment of the workers exposed to these substances.

Modern societies rely on mass mobility, in particular by private car. Car numbers are growing worldwide due to economic and other factors. Nearly, all have engines that run on fossil fuels. Use of fossil fuels contributes to climate change (via CO₂-emissions) and local air pollution (primary NO_x- and PM₁₀-emissions). Both have profound environmental and health implications. The paper explores the technical and behavioural feasibility of zero-emission private car use in The Netherlands in 2030. Base year is 2010. The following research questions are addressed:

1. How much CO₂, NOx and PM₁₀ did passenger cars emit in 2010?

2. How much will this be in 2030?

3. What would these figures be if electric cars become mainstream in 2030?

4. What would the impact be of sustained urbanization on these emissions?

5. How would a greener power mix in electric power plants affect the emissions of CO₂, NO_x and PM₁₀ by electric cars?

A simulation model was used to quantify a rich set of scenarios. Many car manufacturers aim to produce more (fully) electric vehicles (FEVs) in the coming years. More FEV translates into less (growth in) consumption of fossil fuels and emissions. The remaining emissions are still on the high side. Urbanization may support a further reduction. It reduces car ownership and use and thereby the growth in car kilometres, fossil fuel consumption and emissions. Growing production of renewable energy gradually makes the power mix greener. The most extreme combination of scenarios enables society to reduce CO₂-emissions far beyond the −50% target in 2030 for the assumed car mobility scenario.

The feasibility of this outcome is rather uncertain. An extension of decades of neoliberal, market-first transport policy would very likely slow down the pace of the transition.