Technological Nexus to Enhance Environmental Safety, Security and Sustainability

Dear Colleagues,                          

It is well known that pollutants, such as domestic waste, industrial discharge, chemicals, returned pharmaceutics, microplastics, pesticides, etc., entering the environment, modify the chemical-physical parameters of habitats, chemical composition, and structure of biocenosis; they also interfere with the natural circulation of substances in the biosphere and render negative impacts on biota and natural processes. The pollutants penetrate into water, the food supply-chain and forages, and ambient air, thus impacting living organisms and human health. Anthropogenic activities have reached significantly high levels, thereby provoking stressed water quality for our planet and changes in the heat-energy balance in certain regions, which in turn can adversely impact the climate. The relation between the environment and the security of humans and nature due to incidental, accidental, or intentional events has been the subject of several recent investigations. The security of environment (being transnational) is a critical dimension of peace, overall security, and human rights. Environmental safety and security are quintessential to future sustainability. Therefore, it is critical to study how the pollutants provoke changes in environment, have negative interactions towards the well-being of human health, plants and animals, impact air and water quality, and negatively impact our future sustainability and the scientific and policy steps that are necessary to enhance environmental safety, security, and sustainability. At present, major cities worldwide are in a state of continuous expansion and economic transformation. Booming global economic growth is a double-edged sword, as it enhances the standard of living, yet it presents enormous challenges for environmental ecology and associated infrastructure needed to sustain well-being for the long-term. This dichotomy may be humanity’s grand challenge for the 21st century – viz. sustaining living standards and simultaneously availing the benefits of economic development to the large fraction of humanity, while preserving the ecological integrity of the environment. Hence, our entire human civilization confronts a series of critical challenges that represent direct impacts of anthropogenic pollution on our onward existence, including our future industrial and social development. The subject is unfolding and needs immediate attention by scientific community for our survival and going forward.

The goal of this Special Issue is to form a repository of current and diverse work investigating the various aspects of environmental safety, security and sustainability, by soliciting reviews, original research and emerging innovations that present

(a) studies about the nature of contaminants, extent to which the pollutants are harmful to human being, what we can do to protect humanity, and how to scientifically quantify the risks and uncertainties.
(b) studies pertaining to environmental security, vulnerabilities, and technologies to counter such security challenges.
(c) pollution monitoring and sensing/detection using innovative platforms and internet of (every) thing.
(d) nexus of technologies, foresight tools and multi-criteria decisions support analysis and risk assessment to understand and bridge knowledge gaps
(e) policies, management issues, and resources management to enhance environmental sustainability.

Prof. Dr. Ashok Vaseashta
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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• Environmental Sustainability
• Environmental Safety
• Environmental Security
• Sustainable development
• Ecosystem of Innovations
• Technology Foresight
• Ecological Chemistry
• Pollution Monitoring
• IoT in Sensing for Sustainable Management
• Contamination Mitigation
• Resources Management
• Policy and Governance