Anthropocene: Environmental Chemistry of the World Made by Humans

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This book discusses the Anthropocene, sometimes called “the recent age of man” from the viewpoint of environmental chemistry. The first chapter discusses the Anthropocene specifically. It begins with a discussion of the evidence that the Anthropocene is in fact coming into being and what might be termed the “big squeeze” into the Anthropocene. Earth’s natural capital, including its ability to provide materials, energy, hospitable living conditions, and the capacity to accept wastes, is discussed. The Earth System is defined along with the possibility for abrupt changes in it caused by human activities. The chapter discusses boundaries and tipping points that are leading to the Anthropocene along with human influences on cycles of matter, including the carbon cycle, which is being modified by transfer of fossil fuel carbon to the atmosphere as greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, and the substantial alteration of the nitrogen cycle by chemical fixation of atmospheric elemental nitrogen to ammonia and other forms of chemically reactive nitrogen. Two related aspects of the Anthropocene, the provision of adequate supplies of water and of food, which requires water for its production, are presented. The chapter concludes with the Ten Commandments of Sustainability, measures that humankind should be taking to avoid the Anthropocene developing unsustainably and to deal with the changes that will certainly take place as the Anthropocene epoch evolves.
Chapter 2, “Environmental Chemistry and the Five Spheres of the Environment,” defines and explains environmental chemistry, a critical discipline in understanding and dealing with the Anthropocene. The chapter discusses how the environment may be viewed as being composed of five mutually interacting spheres, the hydrosphere , the atmosphere , the geosphere , the biosphere , and the anthrosphere . Related to environmental chemistry and a key discipline in dealing with its effects is the emerging discipline of green chemistry, defined and briefly explained in this chapter. The chapter also discusses the particular importance of biogeochemical cycles in the environment.
Chapter 3, “The Anthrosphere,” covers the anthrospheric segment of the environment in some detail. Among the specific topics covered in this chapter are the crucial anthrospheric infrastructure, industrial ecology and industrial ecosystems in the anthrosphere, metabolic processes in industrial ecosystems, attributes of successful industrial ecosystems, life cycles in industrial ecosystems, and environmental impacts of anthrospheric systems. The last part of the chapter discusses green chemistry, sustainable chemical science and technology defined in Chapter 2, as it applies to the anthrosphere including the following topics: green chemistry as related to industrial ecology, predicting and reducing hazards with green chemistry, atom economy and the E factor in green chemistry, catalysts and catalysis in green chemistry, biocatalysis with enzymes, energizing chemical reactions and process intensification, solvents and alternate reaction media, feedstocks and reagents, and the role of green chemistry in occupational health.