viii
Indeed, pollution and pathogens do not respect political boundaries. Humans are
creating channels for the spread of diseases by decreasing the natural barriers
between themselves and the usual hosts, that is, the animals, in which pathogens are
naturally circulating.
Consequences of environmental alterations are different at different scenarios.
After going through many literatures and walking through many countries, cities,
and streets, we would like to share our learning in the form of this book, so that the
knowledge baton can be passed on to the future generations.
The general saying “one solution does not suit all circumstances” holds well for
environmental health also. Furthermore, with the changing scenarios, new solutions
would arise.
At the time of completion of this book, the world was facing a severe challenge
from COVID-19, imposing restrictions and declaring self-quarantine to safeguard
millions from the invisible virus. This situation has reduced air pollution, noise pollution, and to some extent water pollution due to reduction in manufacturing as well
as trade activity.
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the reduction in other diseases related to
the environment! Traffic accidents have reduced, social distancing has reduced
spreading of other infectious diseases, closure of pubs has reduced alcoholism, and
travel restriction has helped to reduce waste burden in tourist places. People around
the world have reacted to the situation and old theories have been tested with new
theories and practices.
COVID-19 has surprised the world wherein the developed countries, which have
better built environment and medical infrastructure along with strong knowledge
base, have suffered more compared to the developing ones. That means we need to
learn much more than what we already know and respond to many such problems
that humankind may face in the future.
We envisage that this book will catalyze success wherein people at different
capacities can take better decisions or recommend a better possible solution to decision makers for betterment of human lives.
To help readers understand the interrelated concepts of fundamental science to
that of many applied solutions, the book is written in two volumes. Volume I concentrates on fundamentals of sciences related to environmental health while Volume
II concentrates on coping with environmental health by mitigation and adaptation
strategy.
We would like to thank all past authors whose work is cited in this book apart
from anonymous proposals and book reviewers who showed us the way we travelled over the last 2 years.
The preface would be incomplete without our acknowledgement to Springer
Nature Switzerland AG whose continued encouragement and guidance have made
us work towards this book.
Bangalore, India
Ramesha Chandrappa
Loughborough, Leicestershire, UK
Diganta Bhusan Das
(December 2020)
Preface
Indeed, pollution and pathogens do not respect political boundaries. Humans are
creating channels for the spread of diseases by decreasing the natural barriers
between themselves and the usual hosts, that is, the animals, in which pathogens are
naturally circulating.
Consequences of environmental alterations are different at different scenarios.
After going through many literatures and walking through many countries, cities,
and streets, we would like to share our learning in the form of this book, so that the
knowledge baton can be passed on to the future generations.
The general saying “one solution does not suit all circumstances” holds well for
environmental health also. Furthermore, with the changing scenarios, new solutions
would arise.
At the time of completion of this book, the world was facing a severe challenge
from COVID-19, imposing restrictions and declaring self-quarantine to safeguard
millions from the invisible virus. This situation has reduced air pollution, noise pollution, and to some extent water pollution due to reduction in manufacturing as well
as trade activity.
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the reduction in other diseases related to
the environment! Traffic accidents have reduced, social distancing has reduced
spreading of other infectious diseases, closure of pubs has reduced alcoholism, and
travel restriction has helped to reduce waste burden in tourist places. People around
the world have reacted to the situation and old theories have been tested with new
theories and practices.
COVID-19 has surprised the world wherein the developed countries, which have
better built environment and medical infrastructure along with strong knowledge
base, have suffered more compared to the developing ones. That means we need to
learn much more than what we already know and respond to many such problems
that humankind may face in the future.
We envisage that this book will catalyze success wherein people at different
capacities can take better decisions or recommend a better possible solution to decision makers for betterment of human lives.
To help readers understand the interrelated concepts of fundamental science to
that of many applied solutions, the book is written in two volumes. Volume I concentrates on fundamentals of sciences related to environmental health while Volume
II concentrates on coping with environmental health by mitigation and adaptation
strategy.
We would like to thank all past authors whose work is cited in this book apart
from anonymous proposals and book reviewers who showed us the way we travelled over the last 2 years.
The preface would be incomplete without our acknowledgement to Springer
Nature Switzerland AG whose continued encouragement and guidance have made
us work towards this book.
Bangalore, India
Ramesha Chandrappa
Loughborough, Leicestershire, UK
Diganta Bhusan Das
(December 2020)
Preface