Publications related to Human impact on the environment

The Effect of Rivers on Energy Balance at the Neighborhood Scale. A comparative analysis of four Rhodanian sites in France and Switzerland

Sergi Aguacil Moreno, Martine Laprise, Sara Sonia Formery Regazzoni, Emmanuel Rey

This research aims to compare the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of new neighbourhood projects near the Rhône River in France and Switzerland. The study considers the influence of the river on energy demand and resilience to climate change of 12 project-ba ...

Wrocław University of Science and Technology Publishing House2024

On the influence of flow-front orientation on stringer stiffened composite panels in water impacts

Véronique Michaud

Water impacts form the critical load case for high-performance carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) racing craft. Such events produce a peaked, non-uniform pressure distribution that travels along a hull panel as it is immersed. Current design standards ...

2024

Urban boundary-layer flows in complex terrain: Dynamic interactions during a hot and dry summer season in Phoenix, Arizona

Aldo Brandi

Anthropogenic modification of natural landscapes to urban environments impacts land-atmosphere interactions in the boundary layer. Ample research has demonstrated the effect of such landscape transitions on development of the urban heat island (UHI), but c ...

Wiley2024

Reuse of cut concrete slabs in new buildings for circular ultra-low-carbon floor designs

Corentin Jean Dominique Fivet, Numa Joy Bertola, Célia Marine Küpfer

The study explores an original idea that responds to the urgent need to reduce the detrimental environmental impacts of load-bearing floor construction in new buildings by reusing saw-cut reinforced concrete (RC) pieces salvaged from soon-to-be demolished ...

2024

Parity in bacterial communities and resistomes: Microplastic and natural organic particles in the Tyrrhenian Sea

Florian Frédéric Vincent Breider, Sylvain Coudret

Petroleum-based microplastic particles (MPs) are carriers of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) in aquatic environments, influencing the selection and spread of antimicrobial resistance. This research characterized MP and natural organic particle (NOP) ...

2024

Spatial Modeling for Building Design Evaluation: from Visual Landscape Quality Assessment to Devaluation Risk Estimation

Adam Robert Swietek

Zoning reform is a crucial tool for cities to adapt to contemporary challenges. However, its implementation remains challenging. Property owners, with a vested interest in the value of their neighborhoods, are sensitive to local developments and the potent ...

EPFL2024

Gas Sensing with Rotary-Wing Nano Aerial Vehicles

Chiara Ercolani

Harmful chemical compounds are released daily in warehouses, chemical plants and during environmental emergencies. Their uncontrolled dispersion contributes to the pollution of the atmosphere and threatens human and animal lives. When gas leaks occur, the ...

EPFL2024

Impact of anthropogenic emission control in reducing future PM2.5 concentrations and the related oxidative potential across different regions of China

Athanasios Nenes, Yuan Yuan

Affected by both future anthropogenic emissions and climate change, future prediction of PM2.5 and its Oxidative Potential (OP) distribution is a significant challenge, especially in developing countries like China. To overcome this challenge, we estimated ...

Elsevier2024

Embodied Carbon Premium for Cantilevers

David Michael Volpe Ruggiero, Paola Costanza Miglietta

This study addresses the critical need for sustainable architectural designs within the context of climate change and the significant role the built environment plays in greenhouse gas emissions. The focus of this paper is on understanding the influence of ...

2024

Need for harmonized long-term multi-lake monitoring of African Great Lakes

Natacha Tofield-Pasche

To ensure the long-term sustainable use of African Great Lakes (AGL), and to better understand the func-tioning of these ecosystems, authorities, managers and scientists need regularly collected scientific data and information of key environmental indicato ...

Elsevier Sci Ltd2023

Rapid transformation of wildfire emissions to harmful background aerosol

Athanasios Nenes, Spyros Pandis

Wildfires are a significant source of organic aerosol during summer, with major impacts on air quality and climate. However, studies in Europe suggest a surprisingly low (less than 10%) contribution of biomass burning organic aerosol to average summertime ...

Nature Portfolio2023

Perceived impacts of the Fridays for Future climate movement on environmental concern and behaviour in Switzerland

Claudia Rebeca Binder Signer, Livia Bianca Fritz, Ralph Hansmann

Calling for increased action on climate change, Fridays for Future (FFF) quickly gained momentum around the world and became highly visible through strikes and protests in more than 150 countries. Considering its scale and magnitude, questions about the im ...

2023

Atlas Narratives of Anthropogenic Transformations across the Vietnamese Mekong Delta's Urban-Rural Territories: Water Ecosystems as Subject for the Social Ecological Transition

Sylvie Tram Nguyen

Well beyond the impact of climate change, anthropogenic modifications of the Vietnam Mekong Delta's ecosystems have resulted in environmental degradation and subsequent loss in ecosystems. The environmental impacts include but are not limited to accelerate ...

EPFL2023

Addressing chemical pollution in biodiversity research

Kristin Schirmer, Ahmed Tlili, Colette vom Berg

Climate change, biodiversity loss, and chemical pollution are planetary-scale emergencies requiring urgent mitigation actions. As these "triple crises" are deeply interlinked, they need to be tackled in an integrative manner. However, while climate change ...

WILEY2023

Chronic warming and dry soils limit carbon uptake and growth despite a longer growing season in beech and oak

Charlotte Grossiord, Yann Vitasse, Margaux Clara Lou Didion-Gency

Progressively warmer and drier climatic conditions impact tree phenology and carbon cycling with large consequences for forest carbon balance. However, it remains unclear how individual impacts of warming and drier soils differ from their combined effects ...

Oxford Univ Press Inc2023

Effects of simulated secondary organic aerosol water on PM 1 levels and composition over the US

Athanasios Nenes, Spyros Pandis

Water is a key component of atmospheric aerosol, affecting many aerosol processes including gas-to-particle partitioning of semi-volatile compounds. Water related to secondary organic aerosol (SOAW) is often neglected in atmospheric chemical transport mode ...

Copernicus GmbH2023

Fulfilling Riverscape – a creative interdisciplinary approach

Giovanni De Cesare, Paolo Perona, Sylvie Tram Nguyen

Hydrological, water technological, managerial and human induced processes affect aquatic, amphibian and terrestrial organisms and their habitats, far beyond the main channel of a river. This Riverscape includes diverse riparian habitats which vary in space ...

2023

Integration of Life Cycle Impact Assessment in Energy System Modelling

François Maréchal, Jonas Schnidrig, Manuele Domenico Margni, Justine Brun

The Paris agreement is the first-ever universally accepted and legally binding agreement on global climate change. It is a bridge between today’s and climate-neutrality policies and strategies before the end of the century. However, government and private ...

2023

Investigation of the effects of the Greek extreme wildfires of August 2021 on air quality and spectral solar irradiance

In August 2021, a historic heatwave was recorded in Greece which resulted in extreme wildfire events that strongly affected the air quality over the city of Athens. Saharan dust was also transferred over Greece on certain days of the same period due to the ...

Copernicus Publications2023

Reuse of Load-Bearing Timber Elements - Case Study of a Lookout Tower in Lausanne, Switzerland

Corentin Jean Dominique Fivet, Jonas Warmuth, Edisson Xavier Estrella Arcos, Julius Natterer, Benoît Pascal Kälin

The construction industry is jeopardizing Earth’s environment; current mitigation efforts do not suffice; and additional sustainable strategies are required. One such strategy consists of reusing structural building elements over multiple service lives. In ...

Curran Associates, Inc.2023