Human-Environmental Interactions: Everyday Stories in the Anthropocene

Dear Colleagues,

Although the term "Anthropocene" has still not been formalized as a new geologic epoch, scholars informally refer to this term to indicate a new geological system in which the intensity of human activity strongly impacted the balances of Earth Systems. Throughout human civilization, people have established and developed communities and societies in locations that allowed them to take advantage of the resources and strategic locations afforded by the action of natural and geological processes. However, the lack of scientific knowledge during the development of both past and modern urbanization and industrialization of our societies created negative effects on the whole environment where the processes that create the aforementioned benefits become hazards. Nonetheless, on the one hand, the exploitation of resources, the increase in emissions of greenhouse gases, and the introduction of pollutants, of both natural and anthropogenic origins, in Earth Systems are leading environmental issues and hazards in which biodiversity, climate, and public health and safety are at stake. On the other hand, due to the acceleration of global population growth and urbanization, human settlements are expected to be increasingly exposed to natural hazards. Global climate changes, intensified natural hazards, and extreme events drive new challenges globally for many countries and regions by affecting millions of people annually.

Accordingly, this Special Issue welcomes research and review papers on environmental sciences, physics, geophysics, biology, chemistry, and earth science applied to the Anthropocene epoch. In this context, particular attention will be given to contributions on, but not restricted to, the following topics:

• Field measurements of natural and artificial pollutants;
• Pollutants and biological effects in humans, animals, and plants;
• Analytical and Spectrometric methods for measurement and control in environmental sciences;
• Aqueous solution behavior of pollutants;
• Analysis of mine waste by physical, geochemical, and geophysical methods;
• Geochemistry, biogeochemistry, and environmental chemistry;
• Environmental mineralogy;
• Environmental, Health, and Urban Physics;
• Ecology, Ecotoxicology, and Environmental Biology;
• Palaeoclimatology, global warming, and climate change;
• Stratigraphy of the Anthropocene;
• Assessment and management of geological- and climate-related risk;
• Earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions through the ages;
• Natural and anthropogenic radioactivity;
• Land-use and climate change;
• Micro- and nano-plastic in the environment;
• Geophysics for natural risks;
• Coastal Dynamics;
• Air pollution.

Dr. Sebastiano Ettore Spoto
Dr. Sabatino Ciarcia
Dr. Francesco Crea
Dr. Sebastiano D’Amico
Dr. Rosanna Maniscalco
Dr. Ádám Nádudvari
Dr. Roberta Somma
Prof. Dr. Udo Zimmermann
Guest Editors

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