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As a result of increasing concentrations of total nitrogen and total phosphorus, surface water chemical pollution and eutrophication is a problem of raising concern worldwide. Chemical quality of surface water gives an impression about different geochemical, geological, hydrological and biological processes, as well as intensity of anthropogenic load in river catchment area. The total length of Svete River is 123 kilometres, of which 75 kilometres are in the territory of Latvia. Main part of river?s drainage basin...

Air pollution has a negative impact on human health and the ecosystem as a whole. It causes a variety of diseases, such as asthma, various lung diseases, cardiovascular diseases, which particularly affect children and the elderly. The aim of the study is to determine how the preparation of melted snow samples for analysis influences concentrations of lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), nickel (Ni), vanadium (V), copper (Cu), manganese (Mn) in snow samples. For snow samples analysis ICP-OES spectrometer "iCAP 7000" is used. In s...

Air pollution in cities caused by traffic is an important environmental and health issue worldwide. Air pollution caused by traffic exceeds air pollution from other anthropogenic sources, such as industrial, various heat supply and residential areas. This study analyzes a wide range of pollutants in snowpacks at different intensity roads in one of the largest cities in Latvia in Jelgava. Snow samples are taken from three sampling points at distance of 1 m, 10 m, and 20 m from the roadway. In the study, various met...

Air pollution is one of the main factors that affects human health. It may affect our health in many ways both long and short term. Exposure time of air pollution increases the risk of respiratory diseases, such as pneumonia, lung cancer, and causes cardiovascular diseases. Air pollution affects different groups of individuals in various ways. An objective of this study was to investigate the level of pollution in snow blanket in Jelgava city after exposition of 7 days and to determine the cause of pollution in di...

More than half of the world population lives in cities. In 2030, 80% of the world population will live in urban areas, according to United Nations migration forecasts. People who are living in cities are exposed to air pollution. The concentration of air pollution is increased by traffic intensity. Increasing traffic intensity increases the number of automobile congestion in large cities. Therefore, there is a need to implement the measures for reducing air pollution in surroundings. Scientific studies show that e...

Industrialization and urbanization have led to environmental contamination with heavy metals worldwide. In urban environment, the large inputs of anthropogenic contaminants in atmosphere are arising from mobile sources and stationary sources.Taking samples from all depth of snow, data can be obtained from persistent snow cover to the sampling time. Snow samples were collected in each sampling plot taking from 1.0 to 1.5 kg of snow. The average depth of snow was between 6 and 10 cm. The aim of study was to determin...

The European Union has set a target to cut its greenhouse gas emission levels by 80% to 95% until 2050, if compared to 1990. Agricultural soil is an important carbon store and food provider in the world as well as greenhouse gas emission reducer via carbon sequestration. In order to assess the climate change mitigation effectiveness of the measures, it is necessary to obtain statistically significant data before and after the implementation. The greenhouse gas measurements from soil are commonly determined using s...

Lake Usma is unique with hundred years' old nature reserve and Natura 2000 territories in one part of the lake and developing the tourism industry in other part of the lake. During last ninety years, the water level of Lake Usma increased for approximately one meter, which caused coast erosion, changed soil ground water level in large territories around it and it is regarded to be a major factor for lake ecosystem functioning. To find sustainable management solution of Lake Usma, there is a necessity to understand...