Asst. Prof. Dr.

Tamer Atabarut
Bogazici University, Bebek, Istanbul,Turkey
atabarut@boun.edu.tr

Environmental Engineering
Definition
Twofold interaction

Introduction
It is a fact that environmental pollution and
sustainability issues are getting more interest, due
to two major factors;
Improvement

of life standards (progress in

medicine, industrialization, communication)
Community awareness (environmental
consciousness)

Introduction
a) Improvement of life standards
- Dramatic increase in population
- Deterioration of natural resources
- Increase of discharges & waste disposal to the
receiving bodies
- Adverse effect in ecological equilibrium

Population Trend
Growth up to 10 billion by 2050

Source: UNFPA, the United

Nations Population Fund.

Population Trend
World's Emerging Middle Class

Consumption is Growing

Living in Urban Agglomerates

Megacity growth

Migration toward

urban areas.
By 2050, 2/3 of

world population
will live in urban
areas

Introduction
Environmental Pollution (Land, Air and Water

Pollution)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vP3pbh_-pu8

Introduction
What is environmental pollution?
What are the reasons of environmental pollution?
What are the consequences of environmental pollution?
How can we prevent & control environmental pollution?

SOURCES & TYPES of

ENVIRONMENTAL
POLLUTION
TYPES

SOURCES

Air Pollution

Natural disasters

Water Pollution

Emissions from industry and vehicles

Soil Pollution

Wastewaters from industry and settlements

Noise & Vibration Pollution

Solid wastes from industry and settlements

Visual or Aestetical nuisance

etc

Introduction
b) Community awareness
Environmental pollution is not a new problem, but
rising awareness of the civil society is making todays
one of the major concerns.
In mythology feces of Augias

1828- In the poem of Cologne- pollution of Rhene

1868- Bylaw against pollution in Massachusetts, USA

Introduction
Three interrelated forces drive worldwide demand for
public access to environmental information:
the urgency and scope of environmental problems,
the increasingly active character of civil society, and
the revolution in information and communication

technologies.

Introduction
Given that the Earth's growing population places

greater and greater pressure on already diminishing

resources, environmental communication and
education may slow down this process and pave the
way for a more sustainable future.
The responsibility of companies, corporations and
institutions to their stakeholders is probably more
important today than ever before. This is because
the lack of responsibility in companies may cause
severe detoriation on the earth.

Food & housing

SOCIAL

(Fundemental requirement)

Production & Manufacturing

(Civilisation)

ECONOMIC

Rapid Population Increase

(Increase in demand Socio-economic Problems)

Industrial Development
(More Production and Waste Generation
Environmental Problems)
ENVIRONMENT

Industrial Pollution

(Integrated Environmental Management)

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Milestones in SD
1970
First Earth Day on 22nd of April held as a national
teach-in on the environment.
An estimated 20 million people participate in peaceful
demonstrations across the United States.
It was a grass-root movement.
www.earthday.net

Milestones in SD
1972
The UN Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment,

draws worldwide attention to environmental issues and leads to

creation of environment departments by governments around
the world (ie.UNEP).

The Stockholm conference is seen as the start of major global

meetings on environment and development.

The conference declares, The capacity of the earth to produce

vital renewable resources must be maintained and, wherever

practicable, restored or improved.

Indian Prime Minister Indira Ghandi says that poverty is the

greatest polluter.

Why?

Milestones in SD
Due to the fact that the poor have to exploit the

environment to meet immediate needs.

This makes a strong link between
environment and

development issues

helping to set the scene

development concept.

for

the

sustainable

Milestones in SD
1987
The Brundtland Report, Our Common Future, by the World

Commission on Environment and Development, popularizes the

term sustainable development.
The report defined sustainable development in this way:
Humanity has the ability to make development sustainableto
ensure that it meets the needs of the present without comprising
the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
It says that development must be environmentally, economically
and socially sustainable. The Brundtland Commission calls for a
new era of economic growth in the poor nations, but adds
that this must be based on policies that sustain and expand the
environmental resource base.

Milestones in SD
1987
The Brundtland Report marks one of the most

important turning points in modern environmental

history, as the debate begins to shift from mainly
identifying crises and demanding new laws to punish
polluters (react and cure) to trying to design
development itself to be less harmful to the
environment (anticipate and prevent.)

Milestones in SD
1987
The Brundtland Commission chose the phrase

environment and development to highlight the

fact that much of the world lived in poverty and needed
more development to allow people decent living
standards.
In the highly industrialized north, the debate is mainly

about how to reduce impacts of current development.

Milestones in SD
1992
Rio Summit: The United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development is held in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil. The conference includes the
Earth Summit, the largest meeting of world
leaders in history.
The conference releases Agenda 21, a blueprint
for making development socially, economically,
and environmentally sustainable.

Milestones in SD
2000.Millennium Development Goals: At the United
Nations Millennium Summit, the UN General
Assembly approves eight Millennium Development
Goals, all of which are interrelated, and one of which
calls for ensuring "environmental sustainability.

Milestones in SD
2000. The UN Global Compact is launched. It is a both
a policy platform and a practical framework for
companies that are committed to sustainability and
responsible business practices.
The UN Global Compact aims to advance two
complementary objectives:
Mainstream the ten principles in business activities
around the world
Catalyze actions in support of broader UN goals,
including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

Milestones in SD
The UN Global Compact's ten principles in the areas

of human rights, labour, the environment and

anti-corruption enjoy universal consensus and are
derived from:
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The International Labour Organization's Declaration on

Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work

The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development
The United Nations Convention Against Corruption

Milestones in SD
2005. Kyoto Protocol enters into force, legally binding
developed country parties to goals for greenhouse gas
emission reductions, and establishing the Clean
Development Mechanism for developing countries.
2012. Rio +20: 40 years after Stockholm and 20 years
after the Earth Summit, the global community
reconvenes in an effort to secure agreement on
greening world economies through a range of smart
measures for clean energy, decent jobs and more
sustainable and fair use of resources.
www.uncsd2012.org/rio20/

Sustainability
In todays world, sustainability, green or going
green are often used interchangeably to describe
concepts and practices.
The definition of the word varies, however, most
people agree it contains the following main
components:
improving economic efficiency,
ii. protecting and restoring ecological systems, and
iii. enhancing the well-being of all people.
i.

Sustainability
Corporate sustainability reporting has a long history

going back to environmental reporting.

The first environmental reports were published in the late
1980s by companies from the chemical industry which had
serious image problems. The other group of early reporters
was a group of engaged SME with very advanced
environmental management systems.
The European development in the 1990s was influenced by
EMAS and the growing number of EMAS Statements.
At the end of the 1990s more and more companies started
to enlarge their environmental reports to include social
issues, and sustainability reporting developed.

Sustainability reporting
Voluntary reporting of corporations is thus used both as a

response to public pressure and as a proactive attempt to shape

perceptions and enhance the corporate image (Hooghiemstra,
2000).
Clearly, the voluntary nature of environmental disclosures makes
it tempting for businesses to skew the environmental
information they disseminate (Watson et al., 2003), which may
be the reason why corporate environmental reports tend to
contain good intentions rather than measurable objectives
("Corporate storytelling", 2004).
The danger inherent in such practices is that they may unduly
raise the public's expectations of a company's performance and
create a faade of environmental concern, which is hardly
sustainable in the longer term (Schlegelmilch and Pollach, 2005).

GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE

Introduction
Many people consider that Global Climate
Change is the greatest environmental threat of the
21st Century.
However, during the 80s and early 90s scientists
has argued about the causes and effects of Global
Climate Change.

Introduction
The topic of climate change is like a puzzle with many

different pieces such as;

oceans,
the atmosphere,
ecosystems,
polar ice,
natural and human influences.

Scientists have been working on this puzzle for many

years.

Introduction
While there are still gaps in our knowledge, most

experts feel we have the puzzle is complete enough

to show that human activities are having an adverse
effect on our planet.

Introduction
Lets have a look to a short video about global
warming by the National Geographics.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJAbATJCugs&featur
e=fvw

Public awaraness
Do you think global warming will harm?
a. Plant & animal species.

b. Future generations of people.

c. People in developing countries.
d. People in industrialised countries.
e. Your community.

Your family.
g. You.
f.

 This inverted pyramid shows the percent of those

polled who said they think global warming will hurt

each group.
The closer the question got to the person answering
the survey, the less severe they thought the impacts of
global warming were likely to be

Difference
GLOBAL WARMING
is the increase of the
Earths average surface
temperature due to a
build-up of greenhouse
gases in the atmosphere.

CLIMATE CHANGE
is a broader term that
refers to long-term
changes in climate,
including average
temperature and
precipitation.

Observations give a collective picture of a warming world and

other changes in the climate system.
Global-average surface temperature increased by about 0.6 C over

20th century
Over last 50 years night-time minimum temperatures increased by
about 0.2 C per decade
10% reduction in snow cover ice since late 1960s
Reduction of about two weeks in annual duration of lake and river ice
over 20th century
Widespread retreat of mountain glaciers

 Northern Hemisphere spring and summer sea-ice extent decreased

by 10-15% since 1950s

40% decline in late summer Arctic sea-ice thickness in recent
decades
Global-average sea level has increased by 10-20 cm in the last
decade
0.5-1% per decade increase in Northern Hemisphere mid-latitude
precipitation in the last decade
2-4% increase in frequency of heavy precipitation events in
Northern Hemisphere mid- and high-latitudes in the last decade

What changes climate?

Suns output
Incoming solar radiation is the main climate driver.
Its energy output increased about 0.1% from 1750 to 1950,

increasing temperatures by 0.1C in the first part of the 20th

century.
But since 1979, the data show no long-term change in total
solar energy, even though Earth has been warming.

What changes climate?

Earths orbit
Repetitive cycles in Earths orbit that occur over tens of

thousands of years can influence the angle and timing

of sunlight.

What changes climate?

Drifting continents/ plate movement

In the distant past, drifting continents make a big

difference in climate over millions of years by changing

ice caps at the poles and by altering ocean currents,
which transport heat and cold throughout the ocean
depths.

What changes climate?

Volcanic eruptions
Huge volcanic eruptions can cool Earth by injecting

ash and tiny particles into the stratosphere.

What changes climate?

Greenhouse gases
Changes in the concentration of greenhouse gases,

which occur both naturally and as a result of human

activities, also influence Earths climate.

Greenhouse effect

Greenhouse gases (GHG)

Nitrous oxide

Carbon dioxide
Methane

Water

Sulfur hexafluoride

Greenhouse gases (GHG)

CO2 comes from a variety of sources. For example, plants take up

carbon dioxide in the air to make wood, stems, and leaves, and then
release it back into the air when the leaves fall or the plants die. The
concern today is that fossil fuel use is putting huge amounts of CO2 in
the atmosphere at a rate faster than the climate system can adapt to.

In addition, the warming resulting from CO2 and other greenhouse

gases also has the effect of increasing evaporation. This adds water
vapor to the atmosphere as well.

Water vapor is the most important gas in the natural greenhouse

effect, contributing 60% of the effect to carbon dioxides 26%. And in

fact, satellites have detected an increase in atmospheric moisture over
the oceans at a rate of 7% per degree C of warming since 1988. This
additional water vapor amplifies the warming effect.

What will happen?

In general, there may be always natural variability, and some places and
some years may be warmer or cooler than average.
However, summers will get hotter, not only because of higher temperatures
but also because humidities will increase. That means that heat waves, like
the one that killed 35,000 people killed in Europe in 2003, will become more
common.
If you consider as positive result, winters will be warmer in many places,
reducing heating bills And the number of days with frosts is likely to
decrease.

- Increased risk of floods, potentially displacing tens of millions of people, due to

sea level rise and heavy rainfall events, especially in Small Island States and lowlying deltaic areas.
- For instance: Bangladesh is projected to lose about 17% of its land area with a
sea level rise of one meter.

Global-average temperature and sea level rise

Global-average surface temperature projected to increase by 1.4 C to

5.8 C by 2100
Rate of warming likely unprecedented in at least last 10,000 years
Land areas will warm more than the global average
Global average precipitation will increase over 21st century

Very likely to be more intense precipitation events

Snow cover and sea-ice extent projected to decrease further
Glaciers and icecaps projected to continue widespread retreat

Global mean sea-level projected to increase by 9 cm to 88 cm by 2100

Adverse than beneficial impacts on biological and socioeconomic systems

Food production needs to

double to meet the needs
of an additional 3 billion
people in the next 30
years

Climate change is projected to decrease

agricultural productivity in the tropics and subtropics for almost any amount of warming.

Wood fuel is the only source of

fuel for one third of the worlds
population.
Wood demand will double in
the next 50 years.
Forest management will
become more difficult due to an
increase in pests and fires.

Climate change is
projected to decrease
water availability in
many arid- and semiarid regions

One third of the worlds population is now subject to

water scarcity
Population facing water scarcity will more than double
over the next 30 years.

Estimated 10-15% of the worlds

species could become extinct over the
next 30 years

Biodiversity underlies all ecological

goods and services.
Climate change will exacerbate the loss of
biodiversity.

Developing countries are the most

vulnerable to climate change
Impacts are worse - already more flood and drought prone and a

large share of the economy is in climate sensitive sectors

Lower capacity to adapt because of a lack of financial,

institutional and technological capacity and access to knowledge

Climate change is likely to impact disproportionately upon the

poorest countries and the poorest persons within countries,

exacerbating inequities in health status and access to adequate
food, clean water and other resources.
Net market sector effects are expected to be negative in most

developing countries.

References
http://ozone.unep.org/teap/
http://www.atmosresearch.com/ESR%202002.pdf
http://www.cifor.cgiar.org/
http://www.euro.who.int/en/home

www.oecd.org
http://epa.gov/climatechange/index.html
http://ec.europa.eu/clima/news/index_en.htm
http://www.ipcc.ch

References

http://www.sustainability-reports.com/
http://www.enviroreporting.com/
http://www.sustreport.org/
www.sustainability-index.com
www.globalreporting.org
www.oecd.org/dataoecd/58/34/44077822.pdf
www.sternreview.org.uk
http://www.ceres.org
http://vimeo.com/4417955
www.bitc.org.uk/reporting
www.CorporateRegister.com
http://reporting.sustainability.com

Thank you for your attention.