Nigeria’s petroleum industry is the lynchpin of its economy. While oil has been the source of immense wealth for the nation, that wealth has come at a cost. Nigeria’s main oilproducing region of the Niger River Delta has experienced tremendous environmental degradation as a result of decades of oil exploration and production. Although there have been numerous historical works on Nigeria’s oil industry, there have been no in-depth analyses of the historical roots of environmental degradation over the full range of time from the colonial period to the present. This thesis contends that the environmental degradation of Nigeria’s oil producing region of the Niger Delta is the direct result of the persistent non-implementation of regulatory policies by post-independence Nigerian governments working in collusion with oil multinationals. Additionally, the environmental neglect of Nigeria’s primary oil-producing region is directly traceable back to the time of colonial rule. Vital to this argument is the view that the British colonial state created the economic institutions which promoted Nigerian economic dependency after independence was achieved in 1960. The weakness of Nigeria’s post-colonial dependent system is exposed presently through the continued neglect of regulatory policies by successive post-colonial Nigerian governments.

No description available.

published_or_final_version / Asian Studies / Master / Master of Arts

Australia is experiencing widespread ecosystem degradation, including dryland salinity, erosion and vegetation loss. Approximately 1 million hectares (5.5%) of the south-west agricultural zone of Western Australia is affected by dryland salinity and is predicted to rise to 5.4 million hectares by 2050. Such degradation is associated with many environmental outcomes that may impact on human health, including a decrease in primary productivity, an increase in the number of invasive species, a decrease in the number of large trees, overall decrease in biodiversity, and an increase in dust production. The resulting degradation affects not only farm production but also farm values. This study examines the effects of such severe and widespread environmental degradation on the physical and mental health of residents. Western Australia has an extensive medical record database which links individual health records for all hospital admissions, cancer cases, births and deaths. For the 15 diseases examined in this project, the study area of the south west of Western Australia (excluding the capital city of Perth) contained 1,570,985 morbidity records and 27,627 mortality records for the 15 diseases examined in a population of approximately 460,000. Environmental data were obtained from the Western Australian Department of Agriculture?s soil and landscape mapping database. A spatial Bayesian framework was used to examine associations between these disease and environmental variables. The Bayesian model detected the confounding variables of socio-economic status and proportion of the population identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. With the inclusion of these confounders in the model, associations were found between environmental degradation (including dryland salinity) and several diseases with known environmentally-mediated triggers, including asthma, ischaemic heart disease, suicide and depression. However, once records of individuals who had been diagnosed with coexistent depression were removed from the analysis, the effect of dryland salinity was no longer statistically detectable for asthma, ischaemic heart disease or suicide, although the effects of socio-economic status and size of the Aboriginal population remained. The spatial component of this study showed an association between land degradation and human health. These results indicated that such processes are driving the degree of psychological ill-health in these populations, although it remains uncertain whether this 4 is secondary to overall coexisting rural poverty or some other environmental mechanism. To further investigate this complex issue an instrument designed to measure mental health problems in rural communities was developed. Components of the survey included possible triggers for mental health, including environmental factors. The interview was administered in a pilot study through a telephone survey of a small number of farmers in South-Western Australia. Using logistic regression a significant association between the mental health of male farmers and dryland salinity was detected. However, the sample size of the survey was too small to detect any statistically significant associations between dryland salinity and the mental health of women. The results of this study indicate that dryland salinity, as with other examples of ecosystem degradation, is associated with an increased burden of human disease.

Prepared by James Silliman, Peter Hazelwood, Arid Lands Information Center.

This thesis argues that western societies are caught in a paradox: Individuals and groups are increasingly concerned about the harmful effects humanity is having on the earth's health, while at the same time environmental degradation increases and societies are doing relatively little to stop environmentally harmful actions. Chapter 1 explores the deeper roots of our current situation, arguing that westerners are caught up in a harmful ideology that prioritizes economic growth and material prosperity at all costs, which means that steps to protect the environment will not be undertaken if these steps will have negative (or even neutral) impacts on economic growth. Suggesting a theocentric (God-centered) alternative to this harmful ideology, chapter 2 defends the expression of openly religious perspectives in the public political discussions of environmental crises but also emphasizes the responsibility of all participants to dialogue in a respectful, civil manner and to be open to truths coming from marginal perspectives. Finally, chapter 3 gives a number of concrete suggestions for public policies that can address the roots of ecological degradation and engage citizens who are ready and willing to take steps to reduce their environmental footprint.

The University of Arizona AzRISE (Arizona Research Institute for Solar Energy) and Tucson Electric Power solar test yard is currently undergoing renovations to upgrade and standardize the data acquisition capabilities throughout the yard. Test yard improvements have enabled increased data collection reliability through state-of-the-art and environmentally-robust data logging and real-time analysis. Enhanced capabilities include 10 msec max. data resolution, precision PV backside temperature monitoring of both individual and strings of modules, measurement of both AC and DC outputs as well as GHI and POA irradiance, active data backup to eliminate data intermittency, and robust Ethernet connectivity for data collection. An on-site weather station, provides wind speed and direction, relative humidity, and air temperature data. The information collected is accessed remotely via web server and includes raw performance and environmental conditions as well as extracted figures of performance for systems under test. Complementing the UA's existing accelerated environmental-testing chamber, the new test yard acquisition capabilities have enabled high fidelity system and sub-system-level operational testing under a range of field-level test conditions. The combined facilities, thus, provide a full-spectrum testing resource for photovoltaic performance and degradation analysis. Specific measurement characteristics and sample data collected from a polysilicon module test string are utilized to illustrate test yard capabilities.

Through studying the adoption of groundwater abstraction technology in the twentieth century in La Mancha, this research investigates the historical role of the state in the development of modern groundwater-fed irrigation in Spain between the 1940s and 1985. By focusing on the Mancha Occidental aquifer and the Las Tablas de Daimiel wetland, this study also scrutinizes how the adoption of groundwater abstraction technology led by the state fed back into the environment through ecosystem degradation and groundwater scarcity at the local and regional level. By examining the historical links between technology adoption, statecraft and ecological change, this study explores the different ways through which the state has taken a prominent role in producing groundwater-fed irrigation socio-ecologies. Additionally, it traces the socio-political mechanisms involved in the progressive desiccation of the Las Tablas de Daimiel wetland and its transformation into a burning dryland.

Many people worldwide are forced to leave their homes because of serious degradation of environmental conditions, natural disasters and depletion of natural resources. Growing impacts of climate change and global warming on the environment and human mobility are becoming increasingly worrying, creating a need for protection of those environmentally displaced persons. Although there has been a great attention paid to this phenomenon, the category of so-called "environmental refugees" still continues unrecognized by the international community. The paper examines the circumstances under which environmental migration occurs, its causes and consequences. It deals with state obligations rising from the international environmental law, especially those related to climate change. It deals with the terminology related to the environmentally displaced persons, such as environmental migrants, environmental refugees or environmentally displaced persons. It presents their classification and defines the key terms. The paper also mentions cases of environmental migration in the world and their possible solution, highlighting the need for prevention and adaptation. Most of the paper is dedicated to the analysis of the legal status and rights of environmentally displaced persons. The paper analyses the...

Doctor Legum - LLD / Water is at the very core of sustainable development, critical for a thriving people, planet and prosperity. Water is regarded as a public good which is fundamental for health and life. Water is so important that it was debated as being a basic human right on many international platforms. Water access has plagued many parts of the world for a long period of time. In recent years, there have been increasingly urgent warnings of a global water crisis, as the human species consistently uses more water than is sustainably available. The international community tried to work towards overcoming these water-related issues by establishing the then Millennium Development Goals (hereafter referred to as MDGs), with MDG7.C focusing on access to safe drinking water. Even though MDG7.C was achieved in part, issues still remained regarding water access and quality. Sustainable Development Goal 6 (hereafter referred to as SDG 6) was then introduced and the scope of SDG6 is much wider than its predecessor, since the water access and scarcity problems are still prevalent today. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development includes a dedicated goal on water and sanitation that sets out to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. SDG6 expands the MDG focus on drinking water to now cover the entire water cycle, including the management of water, wastewater and ecosystem resources, with water at the very core of sustainable development. The goal has, in essence, extended to include a much broader spectrum of issues that need to be solved which, in essence, unravels even more challenges along the way. As a result, it is imperative to determine whether SDG6 can allow for actual sustainable development in terms of freshwater resources. Thus, this thesis will discuss the advent of the Sustainable Development Goals (hereafter referred to as SDGs), in particular SDG6, as well as analyse how SDG6 impacts on International Environmental Law, with particular emphasis on International Freshwater Law. The main aim of this research is to determine whether the creation and implementation of SDG6 can result in overall freshwater sustainability and whether this can result in the furtherance of sustainable development.