Wasn't That a Mighty Day: African American Blues and Gospel Songs on Disaster takes a comprehensive look at sacred and secular disaster songs, shining a spotlight on their historical and cultural importance. Featuring newly transcribed lyrics, the book offers sustained attention to how both Black and white communities responded to many of the tragic events that occurred before the mid-1950s. Through detailed textual analysis, Luigi Monge explores songs on natural disasters (hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, and earthquakes); accidental disasters (sinkings, fires, train wrecks, explosions, and air disasters); and infestations, epidemics, and diseases (the boll weevil, the jake leg, and influenza). Analyzed songs cover some of the most well-known disasters of the time period from the sinking of the Titanic and the 1930 drought to the Hindenburg accident, and more. Thirty previously unreleased African American disaster songs appear in this volume for the first time, revealing their pertinence to the relevant disasters. By comparing the song lyrics to critical moments in history, Monge is able to explore how deeply and directly these catastrophes affected Black communities; how African Americans in general, and blues and gospel singers in particular, faced and reacted to disaster; whether these collective tragedies prompted different reactions among white people and, if so, why; and more broadly, how the role of memory in recounting and commenting on historical and cultural facts shaped African American society from 1879 to 1955.

'John Feffer is our 21st-century Jack London' - Mike Davis In a post-Trump world, the right is still very much in power. Significantly more than half the world's population currently lives under some form of right-wing populist or authoritarian rule. Today's autocrats are, at first glance, a diverse band of brothers. But religious, economic, social and environmental differences aside, there is one thing that unites them - their hatred of the liberal, globalised world. This unity is their strength, and through control of government, civil society and the digital world they are working together across borders to stamp out the left. In comparison, the liberal left commands only a few disconnected islands - Iceland, Mexico, New Zealand, South Korea, Spain and Uruguay. So far they have been on the defensive, campaigning on local issues in their own countries. This narrow focus underestimates the resilience and global connectivity of the right. In this book, John Feffer speaks to the world's leading activists to show how international leftist campaigns must come together if they are to combat the rising tide of the right. A global Green New Deal, progressive trans-European movements, grassroots campaigning on international issues with new and improved language and storytelling are all needed if we are to pull the planet back from the edge of catastrophe. This book is both a warning and an inspiration to activists terrified by the strengthening wall of far-right power.

Earth Observation for Flood Applications: Progress and Perspectives describes the latest scientific advances in Earth Observation. With recent floods around the world becoming ever more devastating, there is a need for better science enabling more effective solutions at a fast pace. This book aims at stretching from the current flood mapping to diverse real data so as to estimate the flood risk and damage. Earth Observation for Flood Applications: Progress and Perspectives includes three parts containing each a separate but complementary topic area under floods. Each chapter unfolds various applications, case studies, and illustrative graphics. In terms of flood mapping and monitoring, the usage of multi-sensor satellite data, web-services information, microwave remote sensing methods are discussed in depth. So, this book is a valuable resource for scientists, researchers, and students in the area of earth observation.

Environmental Systems Science: Theory and Practical Applications looks at pollution and environmental quality from a systems perspective. Credible human and ecological risk estimation and prediction methods are described, including life cycle assessment, feasibility studies, pollution control decision tools, and approaches to determine adverse outcome pathways, fate and transport, sampling and analysis, and cost-effectiveness. The book brings translational science to environmental quality, applying groundbreaking methodologies like informatics, data mining, and applications of secondary data systems. Multiple human and ecological variables are introduced and integrated to support calculations that aid environmental and public health decision making. The book bridges the perspectives of scientists, engineers, and other professionals working in numerous environmental and public health fields addressing problems like toxic substances, deforestation, climate change, and loss of biological diversity, recommending sustainable solutions to these and other seemingly intractable environmental problems. The causal agents discussed include physical, chemical, and biological agents, such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), SARS-CoV-2 (the COVID-19 virus), and other emerging contaminants.

The Joint Arctic Weather Stations were five meteorological and scientific monitoring stations constructed at Resolute, Eureka, Mould Bay, Isachsen, and Alert with the cooperation of the Canadian Department of Transport's meteorological branch and the United States Weather Bureau. From 1947 to the early 1970s as few as four Canadians and four Americans worked and lived at each of the four satellite stations, observing and collecting scientific data.This is the first systematic account of the Joint Arctic Weather Stations, a project that profoundly shaped state activates and scientific inquiry in the Arctic Archipelago. Drawing on extensive archival evidence, unpublished personal memoirs, and interviews with former employees, The Joint Arctic Weather Stations analyzes the diplomatic, scientific, social, military, and environmental dimensions of the program alongside each station as a nexus of state planning and personal agency. Contrary to previous scholarship, The Joint Arctic Weather Stations reveals that Canadian officials sought-and achieved-a firm policy that afforded effective control of Canada's Arctic while enjoying the advantages of American contribution to the joint meteorological program. It explores the changing ways science was conducted over time and how the details of everyday life at remote stations, from the climate to leisure activities to debates over alcohol, hunting, and leadership, shaped the program's effectiveness. An exploration of the full duration of the Joint Arctic Weather Stations from high-level planning and diplomacy to personal interactions in the stations makes this book an essential exploration of collaborative polar science in the North American Arctic.

This book is about innovation ecosystems, Clusters of Innovation (COI) and the Global Networks of Clusters of Innovation (GNCOI) they naturally form. What is innovation and why is it important to us? Innovation is nothing less than the ability for constructive response and adaptation to change. The cause and catalyst for that change is frequently identified as technology and its unceasing pressure to improve on existing solutions and address unmet needs. The last decade has painfully demonstrated that exogenous environmental shocks are also sources of change that call for innovative responses, ranging from the obvious challenges such as global warming and Covid-19 to the more subtle social and political perturbations of our time. Entrepreneurs, in collaboration with venture investors and major corporations can create a flywheel of constructive engagement, a cluster of Innovation, that helps build the resiliency of our communities to adsorb and rebound from these shocks. The process is enhanced when actively supported by government, universities, and other elements of the ecosystem. This book provides the tools for understanding this value creation process and the means to enhance it, in both emerging and mature innovation ecosystems. This book provides a framework for understanding innovation in mature and emerging innovation ecosystems to a wide swath of professionals and academics, from senior executives of major corporations, government leaders, public policy makers, and consultants, to academics, researchers, and educators.

This book aims to explore basic principles, concepts and applications of geochemistry. Topics include chemical weathering, impacts on living beings and water, geochemical cycles, oxidation and redox reactions in geochemistry, isotopes, analytical techniques, medicinal, inorganic, marine, atmospheric, and environmental applications, as well as case studies. This book helps in understanding the chemical composition of the earth and its applications. It also includes beneficial effects, bottlenecks, solutions, and future directions in geochemistry.

The Philosophy of Matter is a journey in thinking through the material fate of the earth itself; its surfaces and undercurrrents, ecologies, environments and irreparable cracks. With figures such as Spinoza, Gilles Deleuze and Michel Serres as philosophical guides and writings on New Materialism, Posthumanism and Affect Theory as intellectual context, Rick Dolphijn proposes a radical rethinking of some of the basic themes of philosophy: subjectivity, materiality, body (both human and otherwise) and the act of living. This rethink is a work of imagination and meditation in order to conceive of "another earth for another people". It is a homage to courageous thinking that dares to question the religious, capitalist and humanist realities of the day. A poetic philosophy of how to live in troubling times when even the earth beneath us feels unstable, Dolphijn offers a way to think about the world with depth, honesty and glimpses of hope.

Stress Tolerance in Horticultural Crops: Challenges and Mitigation Strategies explores concepts, strategies and recent advancements in the area of abiotic stress tolerance in horticultural crops, highlighting the latest advances in molecular breeding, genome sequencing and functional genomics approaches. Further sections present specific insights on different aspects of abiotic stress tolerance from classical breeding, hybrid breeding, speed breeding, epigenetics, gene/quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping, transgenics, physiological and biochemical approaches to OMICS approaches, including functional genomics, proteomics and genomics assisted breeding. Due to constantly changing environmental conditions, abiotic stress such as high temperature, salinity and drought are being understood as an imminent threat to horticultural crops, including their detrimental effects on plant growth, development, reproduction, and ultimately, on yield. This book offers a comprehensive resource on new developments that is ideal for anyone working in the field of abiotic stress management in horticultural crops, including researchers, students and educators.

International Environmental Cooperation and the Global Sustainability Capital Framework offers an integrated analysis of international environmental cooperation (IEC) and global sustainability. From a strategic management perspective, the book develops the Sustainability Capital Framework for IEC and global sustainability. The book provides an in-depth examination of the significance of state participation in international environmental agreements (IEAs), and analyzes the structure, life cycle, and evolution of IEAs. Through the Sustainability Capital Framework, the book delineates the core drivers, barriers, incentives, and critical success factors for IEC and global sustainability.

Environmental Resilience and Transformation in Times of COVID-19: Climate Change Effects on Environmental Functionality is a timely reference to better understand environmental changes amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated lockdowns. The book is organized into five themes: (1) environmental modifications, degradation, and human health risks; (2) water resources-planning, management, and governance; (3) air quality-monitoring, fate, transport, and drivers of socioenvironmental change; (4) marine and lacustrine environment; and (5) sustainable development goals and environmental justice. These themes provide an insight into the impact of COVID-19 on the environment and vice versa, which will help improve environmental management and planning, as well as influence future policies. Featuring many case studies from around the globe, this book offers a crucial examination of the intersectionality between climate, sustainability, the environment, and public health for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers in environmental science.

FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER,THE HIDDEN LIFE OF TREES 'A simultaneously stimulating and soothing blend of nature writing and science ... Strongly encourages tree hugging for our own, human sake' Guardian Summer Reads 2021 A powerful return to the forest, where trees have heartbeats and roots are like brains that extend underground. Where the colour green calms us, and the forest sharpens our senses. In The Heartbeat of Trees, renowned forester Peter Wohlleben draws on new scientific discoveries to show how humans are deeply connected to the natural world. In an era of climate change, many of us fear we've lost our connection to nature, but Wohlleben is convinced that age-old ties linking humans to the forest remain alive and intact. We just have to know where to look. Drawing on science and cutting-edge research, The Heartbeat of Trees reveals the profound interactions humans can have with nature, exploring: the language of the forest the consciousness of plants and the eroding boundary between flora and fauna A perfect book to take with you into the woods, The Heartbeat of Trees shares how to see, feel, smell, hear, and even taste the forest. Peter Wohlleben, renowned for his ability to write about trees in an engaging and moving way, reveals a wondrous cosmos where humans are a part of nature, and where conservation and environmental activism is not just about saving trees, it's about saving ourselves, too.

This unique and insightful work examines the importance of 'quality of life' for the city which has become a key component of urban competitiveness over the past 30 years. It argues that having a high or low 'quality of life' will have important consequences for the vitality and status of any city. Throughout the book, emphasis is placed upon the skilled, highly mobile and generally younger labour force who choose the city in which they want to work and live based on the 'quality of life' elements offered to them. Consequently, there is mounting pressure on today's cities and the firms in their economies to create environments that are attractive to the new-age of the workforce and the key resource in the economy. The book's eight substantive chapters explore this issue by each examining a distinct element that comprises 'quality of life', including the approach of economists to quality of life, links to urban competitiveness, the economy, urban amenities and attributes. Providing an original perspective on contemporary cities and their economies, The City and Quality of Life will be essential reading for city and company leaders who implement policy and wish to further understand the attributes of 'quality of life' for their citizens. It will also be useful for researchers, university professors and students in disciplines such as economics and finance, geography and urban studies.

Providing an in-depth exploration of the complexities of densification policy and processes, this book brings the important experiences of densification in Johannesburg into conversation with a range of cities in Africa, the BRICS countries and the Global North. It moves beyond the divisive debate over whether densification is good or bad, adding nuance and complexity to the calls from multilateral organisations for densification as a key urban strategy.   Using empirical work in a comparative frame, Densifying the City? examines how densification policies and processes have manifested often in unanticipated or contrary ways. It offers important insights into resident-led densification and the processes and motivations that drive these activities. This will be an invigorating read for urban studies and urban planning scholars looking to move beyond a basic understanding of densifying cities to understanding the strategy behind it and its successes. Urban policy makers will also appreciate the use of key case studies throughout the book.

Boundary Science and the Pursuit of Sustainable Development: Lessons from Global Public Goods Research on the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) Nexus addresses the problem of how global research can reorient itself to better address sustainable goals and objectives through the use of place-based observatories that support multi-dimensional modelling. The book will provide an overview of the impact of case studies and field trials in addressing critical questions of poverty reduction and sustainable development. This discussion will be followed by an examination of a theoretical framework for boundary science that elaborates upon the Nexus approach to environmental management.