Mercury Stories: Understanding Sustainability Through a Volatile Element
Henrik Selin & Noelle Eckley Selin
Language: English
Environmental Environmental Science Environmental policy General Mercury; Sustainability; Minamata; Sustainability science; systems; interactions; interventions; system analysis; transitions; governance; coupled human-natural systems; social-environmental systems; Biogeochemical cycling; Minamata Convention; Pollution; Global change; Life-cycle analysis; Methylmercury; Human health; Pollution exposure; Medicine; Occupational health; History of medicine; Dental amalgam; Vaccination; Emissions; Coal; Air pollution; Energy; Best available technology (BAT); Fossil fuels; Products and processes; Innovation; Waste; Contaminated sites; Industry; Technology; Chemicals; Chlor-alkali; Batteries; Light bulbs; Gold; Artisanal and small-scale gold mining; ASGM; Mining; Certification schemes; Sustainable livelihoods; citizen action; stakeholders Political Science Public Policy Science Technology & Engineering
Publisher: MIT Press
Published: Oct 20, 2020
Description:
An interdisciplinary analysis of human interactions with mercury through history that sheds light on efforts to promote and achieve sustainability.In Mercury Stories, Henrik Selin and Noelle Eckley Selin examine sustainability through analyzing human interactions with mercury over thousands of years. They explore how people have made beneficial use of this volatile element, how they have been harmed by its toxic properties, and how they have tried to protect themselves and the environment from its damaging effects. Taking a systems approach, they develop and apply an analytical framework that can inform other efforts to evaluate and promote sustainability.