• Environmental Engineering Research
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• 제20권4호
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• pp.356-362
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• 2015

Many burial sites were constructed in a short time to prevent the rapid spread of foot and mouth disease in infected livestock carcasses in Korea. More than 4,700 carcass burial sites were constructed in 2011. Approximately seven million poultry and 3.5 million livestock, including cattle and swine, were buried on farmland. Some burial sites were suspected of leachate leakage and were excavated and carcasses redisposed in a bioaugmentation process. This study performed interviews in order to understand the economic issues related to carcass burial and redisposal. The internal data from local government and the assumption data from online sites were analyzed to evaluate the costs; the focus was on burial site construction. The results showed that the local government paid $4.7 and $10.9 per carcass for traditional burial and redisposal. The comparable costs shown online were $4.5. This study found that the standard operating procedures should be carried out to reduce environmental impact and avoid additional costs. We estimated that the cost could be reduced by the advance preparations of materials against the emergency situations such as catastrophe of epidemics. In addition, the innovative technology for the stabilization of carcasses should be established through a future study.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• 제33권5호
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• pp.705-712
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• 2009

The state changes of ocean covered over 70% of earth surface are one of the greatest factor of weather catastrophe. Recently weather extraordinary events are followed by steep increase of sea water temperature and scientists in various fields are studying and warning the weather changes. In this paper, floating buoy is developed to monitor ocean environments via Orbcomm satellite and a method is proposed to increase measurement accuracy of sea water temperature with common low price temperature sensor. Experimental results are presented to illustrate the usability and effectiveness of the developed system. A web-based real time monitoring system is built to monitor ocean environmental information such as sea and air temperature, salinity according to the position of buoy through the internet for user convenience.

• 한국환경보건학회지
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• 제37권4호
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• pp.237-249
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• 2011

The Chernobyl accident was a terrible catastrophe for humanity. Scientists are in concurrence about an increase of thyroid cancer incidence among children, but not among adults, because even areas less contaminated by radiation have also reported an increase in the incidence of thyroid cancer. In this case, the rise might be due to a screening effect. There is no convincing evidence that the incidence of leukemia and solid cancer has increased among the exposed populations, but it still remains a controversial issue. Additionally, apparent evidence of decreased fertility and increased hereditary effects have not been observed in the general population. WHO suggested 4,000 people could have died or may die in the future among emergency workers and residents of the most contaminated areas, while Greenpeace insists there will be 93,080 victims around the world. The radiation dose due to Chernobyl was mainly low, so if its health effects are to be found, more long-term and welldesigned research will be needed.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• 제18권2호
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• pp.90-117
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• 2019

How is science advice integrated in environmental policymaking? This is an increasingly pertinent question that is being raised since the nuclear catastrophe of Fukushima, Japan, in 2011. Global re-evaluation of energy policies and climate mitigation measures include discussions on how to better integrate science advice in policymaking, and at the same time keeping science independent from political influence. This paper addressed the policy discourse of setting up a national CO2 reduction target in Japanese policymaking between 2009 and 2012. The target proposed by the former DPJ government was turned down, and Japan lacked a clear strategy for long-term climate mitigation. The analysis provides explanations from a quantitative actor-network perspective. Centrality measures from social network analysis for policy actors in an environmental policy network of Japan were calculated to identify those actors that control the discourse. Data used for analysis comes from the Global Environmental Policy Actor Network 2 (GEPON 2) survey conducted in Japan (2012-13). Science advice in Japan was kept independent from political influence and was mostly excluded from policymaking. One of the two largest discourse coalitions in the environmental policy network promoted a higher CO2 reduction target for international negotiations but favored lowering the target after a new international agreement would have been set. This may explain why Japan struggled to commit to long-term mitigation strategies. Applying social network analysis to quantitatively calculate discourse coalitions was a feasible methodology for investigating "discursive power." But limited in discussing the "practice" (e.g. meetings, telephone, or email conversations) among the actors in discourse coalitions.

• 한국환경보건학회지
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• 제45권4호
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• pp.326-339
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• 2019

Objectives: Minamata disease was an environmental health disaster of worldwide notoriety that occurred in Japan. The acknowledged patients total roughly 3,000, and the relieved victims currently include 77,099 cases. Still, many cases await acknowledgment or relief. The humidifier disinfectant issue is an environmental health catastrophe that took place in Korea. Over 9.98 million products spanning 43 brands of humidifier disinfectant have been sold and 835, cases have been recognized to date as relevant victims by the government. So far, 2,144 cases have been relieved by the fund of the producing companies. Four million consumers and 560,000 victims are estimated. Finding hints as to how to develop solutions in terms of fact-finding and prevention are the objectives of this study. Methods: Fields visits, interviews, and workshops as well as reference reviews have been conducted. A comparison was attempted to show the similarities and differences between the two disasters on 38 items. Results: Apparent similarities in the two disasters are the failure of industrial safety measures and governmental safety systems as well as relief systems for the victims. No comprehensive investigation was performed for all of the affected areas in Japan and all of the consumers in Korea. Both governments have tried to hide the faults and responsibilities of the companies and minimize the scale of the victims. Only after the government was changed through a general election did the new governments apologize and attempt to find political and social solutions through special relief laws. Conclusions: Over the process of each event, in the beginning, debates took place regarding the cause and the heath damages involved. For both, medical and toxicological relations are the keys while afterward finding a social solution became the subsequent issue.

• Advances in environmental research
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• 제9권4호
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• pp.275-284
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• 2020

We provide the first study on the occurrence of microplastics in Dal lake, Kashmir, India. Microplastics act as catastrophe that trigger many environmental problems. The key origins of microplastics are larger plastics, which split into smaller plastics after UV light disintegration. There is relatively little work carried out on the existence of microplastics. The present work has been undertaken on the occurrence of microplastics at four pre-selected sites (surface water) in Dal lake, Kashmir. The samples were taken to the laboratory to dissolve organic matter by using H2O2 (6%). To speed up the organic digestion; the treated mixture was heated on a hot plate at 70℃. The mixture was then subjected to density separation. The supernatant obtained was observed under the microscope (10X) and measurements were taken. At site-I, the microplastics ranged from 2-3 mm, site-II 5-6 mm, site-III 3-4 mm, site-IV 4-5 mm in thickness, indicating the presence of microplastics in the lake. The presence of microplastics indicated that the lake has undergone an anthropogenic change over a period of time. Our research highlights the value of enhancing the quality of the drainage system and sewage disposal. This work can be helpful to recognize successful microplastic control management techniques and possible threats associated with the Dal lake. So far, no such data on the presence of microplastics in Kashmir lakes is available.

• 문화기술의 융합
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• 제4권3호
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• pp.247-252
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• 2018

환경의 문제는 전세계적으로 인류가 꼭 해결해야 할 문제로 급박하게 다가오고 있다. 특히 우리나라는 중국과의 지정학적인 위치로 인한 대기, 해양 오염의 직접적인 피해를 입고 있으며, 국내적으로도 공기, 물, 토양, 기상 등으로 인한 수많은 오염 가능성에 노출되어 있다. 이런 상황 속에서 국가 환경관련 관리 도메인/서비스(시스템) 간 연계성 단절로 인해 환경오염이나 재해 발생시 신속한 원인 규명 및 상황 대처 능력이 취약하고, 중복 투자 발생 등의 과제를 안고 있다. 스마트 환경재해 관리를 위한 서비스 플랫폼 개발은 국가 차원의 스마트 환경재해 관리 및 환경관련 계측 및 자동측정 데이터의 국가적인 표준 프로토콜 정의를 통하여 융복합적인 스마트 환경관리를 통해 환경재해를 조기에 감지하고, 신종 복합 환경재해를 예측할 수 있는 방안이 될 것이다.

• 국제학술발표논문집
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• The 9th International Conference on Construction Engineering and Project Management
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• pp.579-586
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• 2022

Modular building is a fast-growing construction method, mainly due to its ability to drastically reduce the amount of time it takes to construct a building and produce higher-quality buildings at a more consistent rate. However, while modular construction is relatively safer than traditional construction methods, workers are still exposed to hazards that lead to injuries and fatalities, and these hazards could be controlled using emerging smart technologies. Currently, limited information is available at the intersection of modular construction, safety risk, and smart safety technologies. This paper aims to investigate what aspects of modular construction are most dangerous for its workers, highlight specific risks in its processes, and propose ways to utilize smart technologies to mitigate these safety risks. Findings from the archival analysis of accident reports in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Fatality and Catastrophe Investigation Summaries indicate that 114 significant injuries were reported between 2002 and 2021, of which 67 were fatalities. About 72% of fatalities occurred during the installation phase, while 57% were caused by crushing and 85% of crash-related incidents were caused by jack failure/slippage. IoT-enabled wearable sensing devices, computer vision, smart safety harness, and Augment and Virtual Reality were identified as potential solutions for mitigating identified safety risks. The present study contributes to knowledge by identifying important safety trends, critical safety risk factors and proposing practical emerging methods for controlling these risks.

• 한국지구과학회지
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• 제34권6호
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• pp.524-535
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• 2013

재난 리스크 모델을 활용하여 화산재 손실을 평가하기 위해서는 목적물별 손상함수가 정의되어야 한다. 손상함수란 목적물의 재해취약도를 정량화한 함수로, 공학 및 자연재해 연구 분야에서 널리 사용되고 있다. 특히 손상도, 취약성 곡선 등으로 연구되고 있는데, 학제간 연구를 수행하는 과정에서 혼란을 주기도 한다. 이에 본 연구는 손상함수의 유형을 정리하고, 손상함수를 구축한 사례를 소개하고자 한다. 손상함수는 일반적으로 과거 피해사례를 기반으로 구축된다. 국내에 화산재 피해사례가 없음을 고려할 때, 남한지역의 화산재 손상함수를 구축하기 위해서는 해외사례를 참고하여야 할 것이다. 한편 국외에서도 화산재에 대한 손상함수 연구는 다른 재난에 비해 적은데, 화산 피해사례도 적은편이다. 이에 본 연구는 극소수 피해자료를 활용하여 손상함수를 구축할 수 있는 방안을 제시하고, 뉴질랜드와 일본에서 보고된 실제 피해사례를 바탕으로 와이블함수 혹은 선형함수의 취약성 곡선을 구축하였다. 본 연구가 해외사례를 기반으로 손상함수를 구축하였음을 고려할 때, 본 연구에서 제시하는 손상함수를 이용하여 남한지역의 화산재 손실을 평가하기 위해서는 국내 목적물 특성 및 환경 조건에 맞게 손상함수를 보정할 필요가 있다.

• 자원환경지질
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• 제47권3호
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• pp.205-217
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• 2014

백두산 화산의 분화 가능성이 높아지면서, 백두산 화산 분화가 한반도를 비롯하여 지구촌에 미칠 사회경제적 영향에 대한 관심도 높아지고 있다. 백두산 화산이 분화할 경우 남한지역은 특히 화산재로 인한 직접 피해를 입게 되며, 이로 인한 2차 피해가 다양한 형태로 나타날 수 있다. 이에 이 연구는 백두산 화산 분화의 사회경제적 영향 평가에 있어 기초가 되는 직접 피해액 계산 방법을 고찰해 보고, 백두산 화산 분화 시나리오의 직접 피해액을 산정해 보고자 하였다. 직접 피해액 산정 방법으로는 재난 리스크 모델링 기술을 활용하였다. 현재까지 연구 결과에 의하면, 백두산 화산 분화 시 강원도 지역을 중심으로 화산재 피해를 입게 된다. 이에 강원도 지역을 중심으로 피해목적물 정보를 구축하였으며, 특히 강원도 전체 면적의 90% 이상을 차지하는 농업과 임업 분야를 중심으로 피해목적물 정보를 구축하고, 피해목적물별 손상함수를 정리하였다. 백두산 화산 분화 시나리오에 따른 화산재 두께 분포와 피해목적물의 공간 정보 및 자산 정보, 그리고 손상함수를 활용하여 피해액을 산출한 결과, 이 연구에서 참고한 겨울철 시나리오의 경우, 농업과 임업분야에서 각각 2,998억원(2010년 생산액의 20.4%)과 289억원(2010년 생산액의 9.0%)의 피해를 입는 것으로 나타났다. 농업분야에서 더 큰 피해를 입는 것을 알 수 있는데, 이 연구에 사용된 손상함수에 따르면, 농산물이 임산물보다 화산재에 더 취약하기 때문이다. 또한 강원도 지역은 농산물 생산액(2010년 기준 14,717억원)이 임산물 생산액(2010년 기준 3,223억원)보다 4.5배 이상 크다. 겨울철 시나리오의 경우, 피해액이 가장 큰 지역은 인제군, 강릉시 등으로 인제군은 비록 생산액은 많지 않으나 화산재 두께가 높이 쌓여(평균 8.5 mm) 큰 피해를 입힌 것으로 나타났다. 반면 고성군의 경우 20 mm 이상의 화산재 두께가 쌓이나 생산액이 적어 비교적 적은 피해를 보였다. 이와같이 산정된 직접 피해액은 투입산출모형과 같은 간접피해평가모형을 통해 간접 피해를 계산하는데 활용될 수 있다.