Peter Brimblecombe – författare

First published in 1987, Peter Brimblecombe's book provides an engaging historical account of air pollution in London, offering a fascinating insight into the development of air pollution controls against a changing social and economic background. He examines domestic and industrial pollution and their effects on fashions, furnishings, buildings and human health. The book ends with an intriguing analysis of the dangers arising from contemporary pollutants and a glimpse of what the future may hold for London.

First published in 1987, Peter Brimblecombe's book provides an engaging historical account of air pollution in London, offering a fascinating insight into the development of air pollution controls against a changing social and economic background. He examines domestic and industrial pollution and their effects on fashions, furnishings, buildings and human health. The book ends with an intriguing analysis of the dangers arising from contemporary pollutants and a glimpse of what the future may hold for London.

The interaction of living materials with inanimate materials via physical and chemical reactions poses an acute danger for the longevity of our cultural heritage, as long as it exists in the material form and not in that of the invincible word. Thus our concern for cultural heritage must reach the same level as our current concern for the conservation of the natural environment, both through public education and through the development of guidelines for scientists, restorers, and conservators. To this end, this volume explores the status of scientific and humanistic approaches to our cultural heritage and the disequilibria in research and related disciplines. Particular areas discussed include the processes of aging and decay, the durability of material objects, the acceleration of the patina and decay processes in cultural materials through environmental and biological hazards, and the techniques that are both available now and under development for protecting, conserving, and restoring our cultural heritage. This volume is a multidisciplinary attempt to set up dialogue between those who do research and those who practice conservation and restoration. It will be of interest to anyone interested in cultural heritage and, in particular, to those art historians, archeologists, architects, communication scientists, chemists, biologists, mineralogists, and physicists who are also seeking to bridge this gap. Goal of this Dahlem Workshop: to evaluate processes that contribute to change in objects, cultural materials, and artifacts, and to find appropriate ways of conserving them.

This book is about the atmosphere and mankind's influence on it. Although air chemistry is probably one of the oldest branches of chemistry, it is now the focus of considerable public interest. The second edition of this extremely popular text has been rewritten and all information updated, to keep pace with this important and fast moving science. In the early chapters of his book, Dr Brimblecombe discusses the geochemical, biological and maritime sources of the trace gases. After dealing with the natural atmosphere, the book examines the sources of air pollution and its effects; all these scenarios are rewritten from the last edition to include all recent knowledge. The final chapters are concerned with the chemistry and evolution of the atmospheres of the planets of the Solar System; this has been revised in accordance with current understanding.

This introductory text explains the fundamentals of the chemistry of the natural environment and the effects of mankind's activities on the earth's chemical systems. Retains an emphasis on describing how natural geochemical processes operate over a variety of scales in time and space, and how the effects of human perturbation can be measured.Topics range from familiar global issues such as atmospheric pollution and its effect on global warming and ozone destruction, to microbiological processes that cause pollution of drinking water deltas.Contains sections and information boxes that explain the basic chemistry underpinning the subject covered.Each chapter contains a list of further reading on the subject area. Updated case studies.No prior chemistry knowledge required.Suitable for introductory level courses.

‘The Atlas of Climate Change Impact on European Cultural Heritage’ aims to reveal the links between climate science and the potential damage to our material heritage. While the vulnerability atlas shows overall patterns of threat, greater detail about the scientific basis of the project can be found in the appendices, which give some background to the underlying science.

Acid rain is still with us. Although it is a problem that people have worked diligently to solve, there are still many problem areas throughout the world. In reality the focus of acid rain research has shifted, and this book adds new vision to the topic. It contains papers, selected from Acid Rain 2005, the 7th International Conference on Acid Deposition, that take a broad perspective of the issues, emphasizing a number of themes: - the emission, concentration and deposition of pollutants - nitrogen and trace elements in ecosystems and their effects on forests, water and soil - studies of material damage and recovery - critical loads The book is aimed at scientists and researchers who are working in the area of acid rain and its effects, and on nutrient cycling. This latest research will be of value to those concerned with the mitigation of acid rain effects.

Pollution damages materials, but it has changed dramatically in the past century, with a reduction in the concentration of corrosive primary pollutants in urban atmospheres. At the same time, architectural styles and types of materials have changed, as we have moved to more organically rich, photochemically active atmospheres. Contemporary pollutants have a greater potential to degrade organic coatings and polymers, which are of great importance to modern structures.Urban Pollution and Changes to Materials and Building Surfaces examines a range of materials, discussing the ways in which they are likely to be damaged by contemporary urban pollutants, with an emphasis on the effects of air pollution. A chapter on graffiti is also included.The wide scope covered means that this volume is suitable for readers from a broad background. It should be of interest to scientists and policymakers dealing with the effects of urban pollution, as well as undergraduate and graduate students working in this area.This book, with its wealth of information, is of exceedingly good value for readers who seek to understand more on the changes of materials and building surfaces by urban pollution.

Episodes of air pollution throughout the 20th and 21st centuries have had a huge influence socially, economically and politically. From the Great Smog of London to the Kuwait Oil Fires, and from the ashes of Mount St Helens to air pollution in Beijing, this book chronicles their enduring legacies in medicine, science and public policy. Using technical information and insight from witnesses directly involved in the incidents, ten key episodes are brought together to allow comparison and analysis.Written for students, academics and professionals of atmospheric physics and chemistry, environmental science, public policy and other clinical disciplines, Air Pollution Episodes provides the unique opportunity to understand and learn from the most famous and sometimes devastating incidences of air pollution globally.

‘The Atlas of Climate Change Impact on European Cultural Heritage’ aims to reveal the links between climate science and the potential damage to our material heritage. While the vulnerability atlas shows overall patterns of threat, greater detail about the scientific basis of the project can be found in the appendices, which give some background to the underlying science.

Air pollution damages materials, but it has changed dramatically in the past century, with a reduction in the concentration of corrosive primary pollutants in urban atmospheres. At the same time, architectural styles and types of materials have changed, as we have moved to more organically rich, photochemically active atmospheres.Contemporary air pollutants have the potential to degrade organic coatings and polymers, which are of great importance to modern structures, while increasing amounts of fine diesel soot spoil the simple lines and smooth areas characteristic of many modern buildings.This book examines a range of materials, discussing the ways in which they are likely to be damaged by air pollutants. It should be of interest to scientists and policymakers dealing with the effects of urban air pollution.

There is a growing need for cooperation between disciplines, not only to deal with the burning problems of the present, but to study the interaction of societies and their ecosystems in the past. In the 1970s studies in Environmental History were largely confined to North America. Recent years have brought about a vast increase in the "amount, the quality and the scope of scholarship on historical interactions between human (social and economic) de­ velopment and the biosphere in Europe, both East and West. This broad interest in environmental history may have been heightened and sharpened by the dangers of unbridled technology and unlimited growth, which are becoming more and more manifest. However, for several reasons it is still difficult to become familiar with the different approaches to this new and interdisciplinary of study. Many fields of thought - biology, anthropology, field geography, sociology and history - are involved; the relevant books and articles are hard to find and a coherent theoretical framework is still lacking, because the key issues have yet to be submitted to a thorough scholarly debate. It is hoped that the pre­ sent volume will make a contribution towards overcoming those shortcomings.

This book looks at the sources and composition of the atmosphere and rainfall, with particular attention on acidifying components and those that affect ecosystems. It further widens the subject to look at trace metals. It includes papers on the impact of deposition on soils and forests and the recovery of the natural environment. Work on critical loads makes a contribution to understanding the degree to which deposition must be reduced to limit its impact.