Human Impacts On Urban Subsurface Environments

摘要

This special issue assesses the effects of human activities on the urban subsurface environment, an important aspect of human life in the present and future but not yet fully evaluated. This is especially true in Asian coastal cities where population numbers and densities have expanded rapidly and uses of the subsurface environment have increased. The primary goal of the papers presented here is to evaluate the relationships between the developmental stage of cities and various subsurface environmental problems, including extreme subsidence, groundwater contamination, and subsurface thermal anomalies. The sustainable use of groundwater and subsurface environments is addressed within the contributions to provide for better future development and human well-being.rnThe special issue comprises one overview paper and 15 original papers on the effects of human activities and climate changes on groundwater - the primary component of the subterranean environment. Most global environmental studies have long been focused on the environmental issues above ground such as air pollution, global warming, seawater pollution, and decreasing biodiversity. Subsurface environmental issues are also important for human life in the present and future, but have been largely ignored because of the invisibility of the phenomena and difficulty of the evaluations.