In the present study, air quality analyses for ozone (O3) were conducted in Shiraz, a city in the south of Iran. The measurements were taken from 2011 through 2012 in two different locations to prepare average data in the city. The average concentrations were calculated for every 24 hours, each month and each season. Results showed that the highest concentration of ozone occurs generally in the afternoon while the least concentration was found in the morning and at midnight. Monthly concentrations of ozone showed the highest value in August and June while the least value was in December. The seasonal concentrations showed the least amounts in autumn while the highest amounts were in spring. Relations between the air pollutant and some meteorological parameters were calculated statistically using the daily average data. The wind data (velocity, direction), relative humidity, temperature, sunshine periods, evaporation, dew point, and rainfall were considered as independent variables. The relationships between concentration of pollutant and meteorological parameters were expressed by multiple linear regression equations for both annual and seasonal conditions using SPSS software. Root mean square error (RMSE) test showed that among different prediction models, stepwise model is the best option.

Population’s exponential growth along with drought has increased water resources limitation, especially in arid and semi-arid area. Therefore, the use of non-conventional water is an important tool for water resource management. If unconventional water has no negative impact on soil properties and water, it can be used for irrigation coupled with desertification projects. So, this paper tries to present the effect of irrigation with municipal wastewater, salt water, brackish water, and combination of salty water and wastewater on some soil properties including nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium in Qom plain. Soil samples were taken from agricultural land treated by wastewater, saline water, brackish water, combination of salty water, and wastewater and range land as control in five treatments from depths of 0-30 and 60-90 centimeter. The results showed that wastewater has increased the amount of N, P, and K to other treatments and control area. The concentration of potassium in surface layer of area treated by combination of salty water and wastewater with amount of 459.39 ppm has the most significant difference to control and other treatments. Also, the maximum amount of nitrogen was observed in sub layer of saline and brackish water treatment with amount of 0.08 percent.

There are many potential risks to human health from heavy metal contamination of vegetables resulting from wastewater irrigated sites. This study was carried out to assess the concentration of chromium (Cr) and the risk to human health by chromium through the intake of locally grown vegetables collected from wastewater irrigated agricultural fields. Twenty-seven samples of 9 (nine) different types of vegetables were analyzed by an Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (AAS) (Varian AAS 240 F S). The range of chromium concentration in wastewater irrigated vegetables was ND (Not detected) -4.14mg/kg. The highest mean concentration of chromium (4.14 mg/kg) was detected in radish. The mean concentration of chromium in all the vegetables was within the safe limits of WHO/FAO except radish which was much higher than the standard. Health risk index for chromium contamination in all vegetables was less than 1 for both adults and children which cause no risk to the local population. Among all vegetables tested, the highest intake value of chromium was from consumption of radish for both adults and children. The lower values of health risk index indicated chromium contamination in the wastewater irrigated vegetables that cause less negative impact on human health.

Surface ozone (Surface O3)is a secondary pollutant and there are only limited studies on ozone in South India. Studies have revealed a strong correlation between higher ozone levels and warmer days. Surface O3 along with its precursors like NO2, CO and CH4 are being measured at Kanyakumari (8.0780° N, 77.5410° E), TamilNadu, India and in this paper we present the summer time variation of ozone from 2010to 2014 . Surface O3 showed a clear diurnal variation, but an irregularity was observed during the night time for all the measuring days of Summer 2014.There was a formation of a well pronounced secondary peak in Surface O3 during 0230 hrs accompanied by relatively strong wind patterns. Since the normal diurnal variation cannot explain this phenomenon,this uncertain behavior is probably attributed tolow NOX titrations and the downward mixing of ozone in the ground layer.The daily mean of Surface O3showed an increasing trend in the study area during the summer monthsand a negative correlation was observed with its precursors. The correlation of Surface O3 with temperature and wind speed for the entire summer season was found as r= +0.68, p= 4.314E-05 and r= +0.63, p

A four year long research programme divided into four phases has been designed for the first time to assess the combined Noise-Air quality and combined exposure to Noise-Air pollution at the curbside open-air microenvironment of Kolkata city, India. The results and the findings of the different phases of study had already been published. The objective of the review work is to fuse the findings of the different phases of studies; to identify the factor(s) influences the degree of correlation between concentration of the air pollutant(s) and traffic noise level at the microenvironment of the city. Incidence of moderate to very strong positive Pearson’s correlation coefficients between concentration of the air pollutant(s) and traffic noise level indicated chances of correlated exposure to these environmental stressors at the microenvironment of the city. Average combined Noise-Air quality and combined exposure to Noise-Air pollution of the microenvironment of the city was very poor (0.17) to fair (0.50) and poor (-0.06) to excellent (3.33) respectively. The best combined Noise-Air quality and the best level of combined exposure to Noise-Air pollution at the microenvironment of the city was prominently evidenced in after-noon, in summer and under variable road geometry. However, the worst combined Noise-Air quality and the worst level of combined exposure to Noise-Air pollution at the microenvironment of the city was prominently evidenced in evening, in winter and under constant road geometry. A principal component analysis revealed that intensity of wind determines the degree of correlation between the environmental stressors at the microenvironment.

Climate change is a complicated issue with many factors playing role in its formation and distribution. Considering this complication, a comprehensive and holistic approach is needed for a better understanding and management of those factors. The causal frameworks are among systemic and integrated methods for addressing the causes of environmental problems and the relationships that exist between the environmental systems in order to propose proper solutions. The DPSIR model is a functional analysis framework that depicts the cause-effect relationships that exist in creating environmental problems. Tehran is one of the major megacities in the Middle East that faces environmental consequences of overpopulation and unplanned urban sprawl, and being located in an arid region, makes it vulnerable to rise of temperature and reduction of precipitation. In this research, by using the DPSIR framework, different aspects of climate condition of Tehran are analyzed and later with the help of this conceptual framework, strategies for controlling climate change are presented.

Today, ecotourism is a major tourist activity around the world. It is based on environment potential through which suitable utilization and conservation of sites under management practices including considering accurate planning, potential, and peoples’ preferences are realized. The present study was conducted to determine people’s recreational preferences using questionnaires to evaluate the ecotourism potentials (recreational activities that choice in questioner by visitors) for site selection and land use planning, and to analyze the functional relationships among zones in the MianKaleh wildlife sanctuary, south of the Caspian Sea in Mazandaran and Golestan Provinces of Iran. Recreational preferences of people were found to be bird watching, swimming, camping, sightseeing, horse riding, and boating. Multi Criteria Evaluation was used to assess the ecotourism potential. For land use planning, the Multi Objective Land Allocation function included environmental suitability maps, zone weighting, and a set of desirable areas for each zone. Post processing functions (filters, zone size, and distance to other zones) and functional relationship diagrams were applied to amend the zoning maps. The functional relationship diagram concept was applied to the amended maps for optimizing access and identifying the relationships among zones. Overall, the results revealed that MCE and MOLA methods are capable of evaluating and zoning the wildlife sanctuary. Furthermore, post-processing and functional relationship diagrams were effective in selecting recreational sites. The results of this research revealed the recreational potential of MianKaleh wildlife sanctuary. Land planning for ecotourism can now be implemented using the results of this study that will upgrade the conservation status in the area.

Bioremoval and bioreduction activities of hydrocarbon (diesel) isolation from environmental samples were studied by the activity of biosurfactant production, and calculating emulsification index, gravimetric, and FTIR analysis along with the estimation of bacterial biomass. Sample from soil near petrol, diesel pumps and water sample from Thesjaswini River near Padannakad, Kasaragod, Kerala, India, were used to screen the potential diesel oil utilizing bacteria. Among the bacterial isolates (Staphylococcus, Bacillus and Corynebacterium strains), Staphylococcus sp was the potent degraders of diesel oil. Staphylococcus strain was observed to be maximum diesel oil utilizing ability (73% emulsification index) and change in the functional groups of the compound (FTIR analysis). The strain showed optimal growth at 37oC with pH 7, agitation of 150 rpm and time period (5days). The results revealed the possibility to use these strain for the reduction of complex hydrocarbon in ecosystems where they accumulate and cause pollution problems. The highest rate of hydrocarbon degradation occurred when the bacterial strain is a biosurfactants producer. The selective strain produces biosurfactants which increase the interfacial area for contact to give improved uptake of hydrophobic substrates. Bacterial strains capable of degrading complex hydrocarbons, present in the environment, have a potential to be used as an effective tool for removing ecotoxic compounds. Furthermore, results indicated that the bacterial strain Staphylococcus sp could be potentially used in biodegradation of diesel oil in waste water and had a promising application in bioremediation of hydrocarbon contaminated environments.

The concentration of selected trace metals (Fe, Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn) in 30surface sediments were measured using Atomic Absorption Spectrometer to investigatethe spatial and seasonal variations of trace metals along Kanyakumari coast, India. Toassess the environmental risk of trace metals, enrichment factor, geo-accumulation index,pollution load index, and ecological risk index have been calculated. According to thepollution load index and geo-accumulation index (Igeo) values, Kanyakumari coastalsediments were unpolluted by Fe, Cu, Pb, and Zn, whereas moderately polluted by Cdwith low to moderate ecological risk. The existence of the high hydrodynamic conditionduring the southwest monsoon is more favorable to the transport of sediments andenhance the accumulation of metals, whereas during the northeast monsoon theaccumulation of metals is less. The baseline data for spatial distribution and seasonalvariation of trace metals and their controlling factors found in this study will be useful forpollution monitoring program along the Kanyakumari coast.

Air pollution is a challenging issue in some of the large cities in developing countries. Air quality monitoring and interpretation of data are two important factors for air quality management in urban areas. Several methods exist to analyze air quality. Among them, we applied the dynamic neural network (TDNN) and Radial Basis Function (RBF) methods to predict the concentrations of ground-level ozone in Karaj City in Iran. Input data included humidity, hour temperature, wind speed, wind direction, PM2.5, PM10 and benzene, which were monitored in 2014. The coefficient of determination between the observed and predicted data was 0.955 and 0.999 for the TDNN and RBF, respectively. The Index of Agreement (IA) between the observed and predicted data was 0.921 for TDNN and 0.9998 for RBF. Both methods determined reliable results. However, the RBF neural network performance had better results than the TDNN neural network. The sensitivity analysis related to the TDNN neural network indicated that the PM2.5 had the greatest and benzene had the minimum effect on prediction of ground-level ozone concentration in comparison with other parameters in the study area.