Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
5 km N
Temperature (°C)
Warm
Hot
FIGURE 12.12
Satellite image of the urban heat island, New York City, USA. (From NASA http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/
IOTD/view.php?id=6800)
required to create sustainable watersheds. The disruptions of matter and energy created
by the processes examined in this chapter are interrelated with each other and linked to
geology and contamination through the flows of water and air and the transport of soil.
Many human engineering inputs are necessary. We cannot have urban areas without
roads, but we can find ways to design them better and reduce their negative impacts. For
instance, the use of porous pavement in areas not requiring a high load bearing capacity
can reduce runoff and increase infiltration. As the examples in this chapter have shown,
the prerequisites for achieving sustainability are to identify the reducible impacts and
then select the proper time and location for injecting the appropriate feedback into the
system. Opting not to produce a contaminant in a production process is one example of
constructive negative feedback. Locating a production facility that must use contaminants
in a less vulnerable geologic environment is another.
The next chapter explores the options available for preventing pollution through a vari-
ety of source control methods for point and nonpoint sources.
References
Beyadi, A. 2010. Environmental cost of soil erosion amounts to one-third of GDP. Tanzania Daily
News , May 24.
Brooker, M.P. 1985. The ecological effects of channelization. The Geographical Journal 151:63-69.
Chagnon, S. 1978. Urban effects on severe local storms at St. Louis. Journal of Applied Meteorology
17:578-586.
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