Location, Location, Location Should Be Environment, Environment, Environment : A Market-Based Tool to Simplify Environmental Considerations in Residential Real Estate

The most important rule of real estate (location, location, location) should be upgraded to the three E’s: environment, environment, environment. What we value in real estate is the natural and human environment of a site and its structures. A home is typically an American’s most significant asset; thus, environmental issues should be of interest, primarily because the effects of environmental degradation can cause devaluation while simultaneously imposing substantial expenses (such as cleanup, health care, and relocation) on the population. The real costs of ignoring the environment are life-threatening health and safety issues, including lung damage and cancer resulting from radon exposure, (which the EPA estimates kills 20,000 people per year), and indoor air pollution (from Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), for example), the effects of mold and polluted water, and heart and lung conditions related to poor air quality, result in thousands of premature deaths each year. Environmental issues include both anthropogenic sources and naturally occurring phenomena. The problem is that, for some buyers, sellers and professionals, obtaining accurate data is difficult. Many know there are issues, but they are unable to get straight-forward, manageable information. Some do not want to know of the issues, and others are overwhelmed. Complicating the matter for everyone is the reality that the laws related to disclosure and duties to prevent or mitigate harm vary significantly by jurisdiction, creating unpredictable rights and duties that range from caveat emptor to duties of reasonable inquiry. Consistency between jurisdictions is of greater importance than ever because of the mobility of the population. Even with guidance and reports from the EPA, the tools available to the majority of individuals seeking to make this most significant purchase, the real estate market does not address the health and safety risks caused by environmental degradation. Given this deficit in information, we propose a voluntary checklist to alert consumers, owners, and professionals of environmental issues that can impose significant costs for health care, remediation, and property devaluation. Knowledge of the issues should reduce disputes, and, over time, consumers may demand properties that are safer, with economic variables that are better quantified. That in turn should encourage sellers, builders and producers to satisfy the expectations of the consuming public with greener and more sustainable housing

Benthic Microalgal Production at Stellwagen Bank, Massachusetts Bay, USA

Benthic microalgal chlorophyll a and production were measured at 3 sites at Stellwagen Bank, a cold temperate continental shelf habitat in Massachusetts Bay, USA, during August 1991. Benthic microalgal chlorophyll a averaged 39.8 Mg M-2, vs average integrated phytoplankton chlorophyll a of 25.9 mg m-2. Gross benthic microalgal production, measured by oxygen exchange in clear and opaque benthic chambers, averaged 20.9 mg C m-2 h-1. This production was supported by average daily light fluxes to the bottom that never exceeded 1 % of surface incident radiation and were as low as 4.7 μE M-2 s-1. These results indicate that benthic microalgal production can be spatially extensive and quantitatively important in continental shelf ecosystems

Fluxes of water, sediments, and biogeochemical compounds in salt marshes

Tidal oscillations systematically flood salt marshes, transporting water, sediments, organic matter, and biogeochemical elements such as silica. Here we present a review of recent studies on these fluxes and their effects on both ecosystem functioning and morphological evolution of salt marshes. We reexamine a simplified model for the computation of water fluxes in salt marshes that captures the asymmetry in discharge between flood and ebb. We discuss the role of storm conditions on sediment fluxes both in tidal channels and on the marsh platform. We present recent methods and field instruments for the measurement of fluxes of organic matter. These methods will provide long-term data sets with fine temporal resolution that will help scientists to close the carbon budget in salt marshes. Finally, the main processes controlling fluxes of biogenic and dissolved silica in salt marshes are explained, with particular emphasis on the uptake by marsh macrophytes and diatoms

Location, Location, Location Should Be Environment, Environment, Environment : A Market-Based Tool to Simplify Environmental Considerations in Residential Real Estate

The most important rule of real estate (location, location, location) should be upgraded to the three E’s: environment, environment, environment. What we value in real estate is the natural and human environment of a site and its structures. A home is typically an American’s most significant asset; thus, environmental issues should be of interest, primarily because the effects of environmental degradation can cause devaluation while simultaneously imposing substantial expenses (such as cleanup, health care, and relocation) on the population. The real costs of ignoring the environment are life-threatening health and safety issues, including lung damage and cancer resulting from radon exposure, (which the EPA estimates kills 20,000 people per year), and indoor air pollution (from Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), for example), the effects of mold and polluted water, and heart and lung conditions related to poor air quality, result in thousands of premature deaths each year. Environmental issues include both anthropogenic sources and naturally occurring phenomena. The problem is that, for some buyers, sellers and professionals, obtaining accurate data is difficult. Many know there are issues, but they are unable to get straight-forward, manageable information. Some do not want to know of the issues, and others are overwhelmed. Complicating the matter for everyone is the reality that the laws related to disclosure and duties to prevent or mitigate harm vary significantly by jurisdiction, creating unpredictable rights and duties that range from caveat emptor to duties of reasonable inquiry. Consistency between jurisdictions is of greater importance than ever because of the mobility of the population. Even with guidance and reports from the EPA, the tools available to the majority of individuals seeking to make this most significant purchase, the real estate market does not address the health and safety risks caused by environmental degradation. Given this deficit in information, we propose a voluntary checklist to alert consumers, owners, and professionals of environmental issues that can impose significant costs for health care, remediation, and property devaluation. Knowledge of the issues should reduce disputes, and, over time, consumers may demand properties that are safer, with economic variables that are better quantified. That in turn should encourage sellers, builders and producers to satisfy the expectations of the consuming public with greener and more sustainable housing

Multiple modes of water quality impairment by fecal contamination in a rapidly developing coastal area: southwest Brunswick County, North Carolina

Fecal contamination of surface waters is a significant problem, particularly in rapidly developing coastal watersheds. Data from a water quality monitoring program in southwest Brunswick County, North Carolina, gathered in support of a regional wastewater and stormwater management program were used to examine likely modes and sources of fecal contamination. Sampling was conducted at 42 locations at 3–4-week intervals between 1996 and 2003, including streams, ponds, and estuarine waters in a variety of land use settings. Expected fecal sources included human wastewater systems (on-site and central), stormwater runoff, and direct deposition by animals. Fecal coliform levels were positively associated with rainfall measures, but frequent high fecal coliform concentrations at times of no rain indicated other modes of contamination as well. Fecal coliform levels were also positively associated with silicate levels, a groundwater source signal, indicating that flux of fecal-contaminated groundwater was a mode of contamination, potentially elevating FC levels in impacted waters independent of stormwater runoff. Fecal contamination by failing septic or sewer systems at many locations was significant and in addition to effects of stormwater runoff. Rainfall was also linked to fecal contamination by central sewage treatment system failures. These results highlight the importance of considering multiple modes of water pollution and different ways in which human activities cause water quality degradation. Management of water quality in coastal regions must therefore recognize diverse drivers of fecal contamination to surface waters