Effects of Climate Change on Indoor and Environmental Radioactivity

Dear Colleagues,

Natural and man-made radionuclides are widely distributed in indoor and natural environments. Our perception of these radionuclides changes with changing environments. In indoor environments and ecosystems, radionuclides are hazardous materials that can cause radiation exposure, while in natural environments, they can be used as chemical indicators and/or tracers to study various natural phenomena. Changes in indoor and environmental radioactivity can influence public health and ecosystem health, as well as scientific efforts to understand various processes in the environment.

Climate change is an ongoing environmental change at a global scale that can alter radioactivity distributions in diverse environments because it can affect the sources, transport characteristics, and behavior of radionuclides. Climate-change-induced variations in the atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, biosphere, geosphere, and anthrosphere can change the release, diffusion, advection, atmospheric chemistry, water chemistry, geochemistry, and biochemistry of radionuclides in environments, as well as bioaccumulation and biomagnification in ecosystems. Such changes can elevate radiation-induced health and environmental risks and modify background concentrations of radionuclides. Nevertheless, the effects of climate change on these risks have rarely been appreciated. It is therefore important to better understand the effects of climate-change-induced variations on indoor and environmental radioactivity and subsequent impacts to better protect public health and the sustainable development of ecosystems from radiation exposure.

This Special Issue aims to explore and understand links between climate change and radiation-induced risks in indoor and natural environments and assess their potential impact on human society and ecosystems to promote environmental and ecological sustainability. We welcome the submission of original research, reviews, mini reviews, and perspective articles on themes including but not limited to the following:

• Climate-change-induced variation in sources of natural and man-made radionuclides
• Identification of human activities and climate parameters influencing indoor and environmental radioactivity
• Impacts of climate change on indoor radioactivity and radiation-induced health risks
• Impacts of climate change on distributions, bioaccumulation, and biomagnification of radionuclides in terrestrial and marine environments
• Innovative monitoring and sustainable detection techniques of radioactivity in indoor and natural environments
• Sustainable applications of radionuclides to assess climate change impacts
• Sustainable applications of Artificial Intelligence to study radionuclides in indoor and natural environments
• Sources, transport, and behavior of radionuclides in indoor and natural environments

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Yong-ha Kim
Prof. Dr. Kanchan Maiti
Guest Editors

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• radionuclides
• climate change
• indoor radioactivity
• environmental radioactivity
• radiation-induced health risk
• radiation-induced environmental risk
• environmental sustainability