|
Books > Earth & environment
"[A] glorious guide to the miracle of life's sound." -The New York
Times Book Review A lyrical exploration of the diverse sounds of
our planet, the creative processes that produced these marvels, and
the perils that sonic diversity now faces We live on a planet alive
with song, music, and speech. David Haskell explores how these
wonders came to be. In rain forests shimmering with insect sound
and swamps pulsing with frog calls we learn about evolution's
creative powers. From birds in the Rocky Mountains and on the
streets of Paris, we discover how animals learn their songs and
adapt to new environments. Below the waves, we hear our kinship to
beings as different as snapping shrimp, toadfish, and whales. In
the startlingly divergent sonic vibes of the animals of different
continents, we experience the legacies of plate tectonics, the deep
history of animal groups and their movements around the world, and
the quirks of aesthetic evolution. Starting with the origins of
animal song and traversing the whole arc of Earth history, Haskell
illuminates and celebrates the emergence of the varied sounds of
our world. In mammoth ivory flutes from Paleolithic caves, violins
in modern concert halls, and electronic music in earbuds, we learn
that human music and language belong within this story of ecology
and evolution. Yet we are also destroyers, now silencing or
smothering many of the sounds of the living Earth. Haskell takes us
to threatened forests, noise-filled oceans, and loud city streets,
and shows that sonic crises are not mere losses of sensory
ornament. Sound is a generative force, and so the erasure of sonic
diversity makes the world less creative, just, and beautiful. The
appreciation of the beauty and brokenness of sound is therefore an
important guide in today's convulsions and crises of change and
inequity. Sounds Wild and Broken is an invitation to listen,
wonder, belong, and act.
The Forth Rail Bridge is one of the world's great engineering
feats, and one of its most well-known. When it opened in 1890, the
cantilevered bridge had one of the world's longest spans, at 541
metres. Its distinctive and innovative design marks it as an
important milestone in bridge construction during the period when
railways came to dominate long-distance land travel. Spanning the
estuary of one of the country's great rivers, the Forth Bridge
revolutionised travel within Scotland, and it continues to carry
and freight more than 130 years after its official opening. This
view of the Forth Rail Bridge features the Gresley A4 Class Pacific
Plover locomotive and was painted by Terence Cuneo (1907-1996) for
British Railways in 1952. Cuneo withstood gales of over 50 mph as
he sketched the scene from a girder above the track.
This Handbook provides a comprehensive overview of how water,
energy and food are interconnected, comprising a coherent system:
the nexus. It considers the interlinkages between natural
resources, governance processes seeking coherence among water,
energy and food policies, and the adoption of transdisciplinary
approaches in the field. With contributions covering a broad range
of disciplinary perspectives and cross-cutting themes, the Handbook
has a well-balanced mix of conceptual chapters and empirical
studies. It includes a state-of-the-art analysis of the concepts
and experiences in implementing the nexus in different policy
environments, providing examples of successful integrated
decision-making across the domains of water, energy and food.
Offering a global perspective on water, energy and food security,
the Handbook contains insights into achieving both national
development goals and the Sustainable Development Goals. Chapters
further highlight how to understand the concepts of the nexus in
practice, impacts of the nexus in governance, policy and business,
and methods and tools to strengthen the nexus. Interdisciplinary
and thorough, this Handbook will be critical reading for
environmental management, public policy and human geography
scholars. It will also be a useful tool for policymakers looking
for successful examples of policy coherence towards an integrated
management of water, energy and food resources.
Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful
introductions to major fields in the social sciences, business and
law, expertly written by the world's leading scholars. Designed to
be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of
the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject
areas. Professor Fikret Berkes provides a unique introduction to
the social and interdisciplinary dimensions of biodiversity
conservation. Examining a range of approaches, new ideas,
controversies and debates, he demonstrates that biodiversity loss
is not primarily a technical issue, but a social problem that
operates in an economic, political and cultural context. Berkes
concludes that conservation must be democratized in order to
broaden its support base and build more inclusive constituencies
for conservation. Key features include: focus on Indigenous
peoples' rights, knowledge and practices discussion of commons
governance, co-management and responsibility exploration of the
history of conservation and the nature stewardship traditions a
broad view of conservation that encompasses the well-being of
humans as well as ecosystems Taking an interdisciplinary social
science approach that includes conservation science concepts, this
Advanced Introduction will benefit students of environmental
studies, geography, ecology and conservation. It will also be a
useful resource for conservation organizations.
Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful
introductions to major fields in the social sciences, business and
law, expertly written by the world's leading scholars. Designed to
be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of
the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject
areas. Providing a concise overview of resilience in the context of
unprecedented global environmental change, this Advanced
Introduction addresses the intertwined systems of people and
nature. It explores ecological resilience, incorporating social
science approaches and concepts, and identifies and discusses
innovative ways of planning for an increasingly unpredictable
future. Key Features: Identifies practical resilience-building
strategies applicable to multiple areas Provides an
interdisciplinary discussion of the fundamentals of social and
ecological resilience Proposes new ways of dealing with complex
environmental problems which present fundamental challenges to
conventional science and technology Highlights knowledge and issues
concerning the resilience of Indigenous peoples across the globe,
and the lessons that may be learned Examining the concept of
resilience rooted in historical analysis, from Greenland's Vikings
to the collapse of Maya civilization, this insightful Advanced
Introduction will be essential reading for students and scholars of
environmental studies, ecological economics, environmental and
human geography, political studies, socio-economics, sociology and
social policy. It includes key concepts for practitioners in the
areas of climate change, development studies, disaster management,
and natural resources management.
Shale Gas and Fracking: The Science Behind the Controversy explains
the relevant geological principles before examining the
peer-reviewed evidence and presenting it through a simple and
compelling illustrated narrative. Each chapter focuses on a
particular controversy, such contamination of well water with gas
from fracking, and follows a similar format: starting with the
principles; then detailing peer-reviewed case studies for
earthquakes, radioactivity, and climate change; and concluding with
a judgment of the general risks involved. Shale Gas and Fracking:
The Science Behind the Controversy provides readers with the
unbiased information they need to make informed decisions on the
controversial issue of fracking.
The Affair of Rennes is a nest of enigmas that has baffled and
enthralled readers in equal measure for more than fifty years. From
a minor riddle of local history about a tiny village in the south
of France, it has become a global phenomenon, inspiring countless
articles, books, documentaries and even movies. Yet the core
questions at the heart of the story have remained unsolved. Until
now. In The Map and the Manuscript: Journeys in the Mysteries of
the Two Rennes, author Simon M. Miles retraces his steps on a
twenty-year investigation into the Affair and describes a series of
breakthroughs which have broken the seals on this intriguing
puzzle. For the first time, knowledge that has been carefully
hidden from view for decades, and even longer, is revealed. The
anonymous author of a strange surrealist poem is unmasked, and his
identity proves to be the key to unlocking the riddles which have
remained resolutely sealed. From the mysterious parchments, to the
enigmatic book written by a local priest in the nineteenth century,
to the persistent claims of alignments between significant sites in
the landscape, the Affair of Rennes gives up its secrets in this
book. Richly illustrated with 140 maps, charts, photographs and
diagrams, The Map and the Manuscript marks a new era in
understanding one of the great unsolved, mysteries of the twentieth
century.
The Affair of Rennes is a nest of enigmas that has baffled and
enthralled readers in equal measure for more than fifty years. From
a minor riddle of local history about a tiny village in the south
of France, it has become a global phenomenon, inspiring countless
articles, books, documentaries and even movies. Yet the core
questions at the heart of the story have remained unsolved. Until
now. In The Map and the Manuscript: Journeys in the Mysteries of
the Two Rennes, author Simon M. Miles retraces his steps on a
twenty-year investigation into the Affair and describes a series of
breakthroughs which have broken the seals on this intriguing
puzzle. For the first time, knowledge that has been carefully
hidden from view for decades, and even longer, is revealed. The
anonymous author of a strange surrealist poem is unmasked, and his
identity proves to be the key to unlocking the riddles which have
remained resolutely sealed. From the mysterious parchments, to the
enigmatic book written by a local priest in the nineteenth century,
to the persistent claims of alignments between significant sites in
the landscape, the Affair of Rennes gives up its secrets in this
book. Richly illustrated with 140 maps, charts, photographs and
diagrams, The Map and the Manuscript marks a new era in
understanding one of the great unsolved, mysteries of the twentieth
century.
This Handbook provides a critical analysis of the evolution of the
contemporary niche tourism phenomenon. By framing discussions
around sustainable development thinking, concepts and practical
applications, each chapter provides specific reflections on niche
tourism trends, successes and/or failures, and the challenges and
opportunities that destinations that pursue tourism as a vehicle
for sustainable development face around the world. The Handbook
includes a blend of academic and practitioner contributors
providing a balance of theoretical, conceptual and empirical
elaborations on the topic, with case studies from across the globe.
It covers a broad range of critical thematic areas, including:
nature-based tourism, rural tourism, heritage and culture based
tourism, dark tourism, spiritual, religious and wellness tourism,
and social and inclusive tourism. Chapters also examine the latest
developments in niche tourism, including the impact of Covid-19.
This invigorating and comprehensive study of niche tourism will
benefit sustainable tourism scholars, as well as tourism
researchers and students more broadly. It will also be useful to
policy makers and tourism practitioners seeking a better
understanding of this increasingly important field.
The most modern, scientific approach to teaching our changing
planet, at the most valuable price in the market. Geology is
everywhere in our daily lives. We are surrounded by materials and
resources extracted from the Earth, our climate is changing at
alarming rates, and hazards due to Earth's processes are leading to
major catastrophes. We will be reliant upon a population of
informed citizens to make and vote for policies that protect our
Earth, and change that will keep our planet habitable. Therefore,
understanding our Earth has never been more important.
Understanding Earth leads the way by fully integrating the study of
climate science into the core intro geology curriculum. Through
strategic placement of the climate science chapters at the
beginning of the geomorphology content, we offer a text that places
our changing climate as a key force shaping the rest of our
discussion on Earth's surficial processes. Understanding Earth is
now supported by Achieve Read & Practice, the most affordable
digital solution in the market. It's easy to use and streamlined,
with just the ebook and adaptive quizzing engine LearningCurve,
which prepares students with core foundational concepts so they
arrive prepared for class. Instructors receive performance
analytics to identify class strengths, areas for improvement, and
competencies.
This ground-breaking Handbook uniquely focuses on the business of
sustainability, offering a fresh insight and practical solutions to
the challenges that businesses face in making human activity
sustainable. It is organized into four distinctive themes that cut
across levels of analysis and illustrate a rich set of solution
contexts that will guide future research. The Handbook on the
Business of Sustainability offers a comprehensive review of
research and empirical evidence on sustainable business, exploring
the importance of private sector engagement and implementation.
World leading scholars cover the key areas such as organization,
execution and the measurement of outcomes and social impact. The
insightful case studies also provide critical context and
complement the chapters highlighting emerging practices and
solutions for the successful application of sustainability
initiatives in business. The Handbook will be an invaluable
resource for academics, practitioners, and policymakers to reflect
on the 'concept and practice' of articulating and strategizing in
order to achieve sustainability targets.
'Gow reinvents what it means to be a guardian of the
countryside.'-Guardian 'This authentic, impassioned
manifesto-cum-memoir will hopefully have a major impact on what is
likely to be a long-running controversy.'-The Spectator 'Gow has a
fire in his belly. We need more like him.'-BBC Wildlife Magazine A
Waterstones Best Nature Writing Book of 2020 'Bringing Back the
Beaver is a hilarious, eccentric and magnificent account of a
struggle . . . to reintroduce a species crucial to the health of
our ecosystems.'-George Monbiot Bringing Back the Beaver is
farmer-turned-ecologist Derek Gow's inspirational and often
riotously funny first-hand account of how the movement to rewild
beavers into the British landscape became the single most dramatic
and subversive nature conservation act of the modern era. Since the
early 1990s - in the face of outright opposition from government,
landowning elites and even some conservation professionals - Gow
has imported, quarantined and assisted the reestablishment of
beavers in waterways across England and Scotland. With a foreword
by bestselling author of Wilding, Isabella Tree, Bringing Back the
Beaver makes a passionate case as to why the return of one of
nature's great problem solvers will be critical as part of a
sustainable fix for the UK's growing flooding problems, whilst
ensuring the creation of essential landscapes that enable the
broadest spectrum of Britain's wildlife to thrive. 'It is wonderful
to see that beavers are now officially back on the list of native
species, having been absent for so long . . . far too long!'-Dame
Judi Dench
Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful
introductions to major fields in the social sciences, business and
law, expertly written by the world's leading scholars. Designed to
be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of
the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject
areas. This insightful Advanced Introduction explores the key
attributes of cities, identifying their five basic characteristics;
innate complexity, the agglomeration of activities, inter-city
connectivities, the projection of power, and relations to states.
Peter J. Taylor gives a broad and engaging overview of how these
characteristics work and relate to each other, supplemented by ten
short city insights which offer readers specific examples of cities
and themes. Key features include: analysis of cities as the
creative nodes of societies discussion of both contemporary and
historical cities exploration of the different spaces created by
cities and states identification of the demands of cities in
relation to climate change. This Advanced Introduction will be a
valuable guide for scholars and advanced students of urban studies,
cities, urban geography, urban sociology, and social and cultural
geography.
The importance of subnational welfare measures, and their complex
embeddedness in wider multilevel governance systems, has often been
underplayed in both urban studies and social policy analysis. This
Handbook gives readers the analytical tools to understand urban
social policies in context and bridges the gap in research. It
provides a novel perspective of social policy analysis, answering
the common debates such as: what is the role of local institutions
in welfare provisions? Do they exert an influence beyond their
jurisdiction? What difference can we trace among different types of
locales (e.g. urban vs. rural)? How does the role of cities change
in different national regulatory systems? Chapters disentangle the
interplay between jurisdictions, politics, policy instruments and
contexts in the spatial construction of social policies. Thanks to
the impressive selection of contributors, the volume discusses
urban social policies with broad geographical coverage including
cases from Europe, North America, South America and Asia, and
provides cursory references to the COVID-19 pandemic in different
policy fields. This book will be of interest to a broad range of
students in different fields from welfare to urban studies, as well
as those interested in multilevel governance and policy analysis.
Scholars interested in comparative social policy, but also in
social innovation, public administration and political science,
will also find this book a good companion.
This book is an introduction to the works of a collective of
academics on social innovation and socio-political transformation.
It offers a critique of the dominance of market-based logics and
extractivism in the age of neoliberalism. Calling for systemic
change, the authors invite the reader to engage in the analysis and
practice of socially innovative initiatives and, by doing so,
contribute to the co-construction of a sustainable,
solidarity-based and regenerative society. This book will not only
be an inspiration for many academics and researchers broadly
interested in social innovation, but also for social movements and
their protagonists challenging the dominance of the status quo. In
addition, it will appeal to policymakers and politicians who want
to appreciate contemporary ways of thinking and gain inspiration on
how to better meet the needs of the communities they serve.
Contributors: L. Albrechts, I. Andre, I. Calvo Mendieta, S.
Cameron, L. Cavola, D. Coimbra de Souza, G. Cotella, A. Da Rosa
Pires, S. De Blust, P.M. Delladetsimas, M. Edwards, B.
Galvan-Lopez, M. Garcia, H. Gulinck, P. Healey, J. Hillier, F.
Hillmann, B. Jessop, M. Kaethler, G. Karametou, C. Kesteloot, A.Z.
Khan, J.-L. Klein, A. Kuhk, M. Loopmans, D. MacCallum, M. Macharia,
A. Martens, F. Martinelli, A. Mehmood, K. Miciukiewicz, E. Midheme,
K. Morgan, E. Morlicchio, F. Moulaert, A. Novy, S. Oosterlynck, A.
Paidakaki, C. Parra, M. Pradel, J. Pratschke, P. Rego, A. Rehman
Cheema, C. Rodrigues, J. Schreurs, R. Segers, L. Servillo, N.-L.
Sum, E. Swyngedouw, C. Tornaghi, P. Van den Broeck, B. Van Dyck, H.
Verschure, T. Werquin, P. Widyatmi Putri
Climate change is a major challenge facing modern society. The
chemistry of air and its influence on the climate system forms the
main focus of this book. Vol. 2 of Chemistry of the Climate System
takes a problem-based approach to presenting global atmospheric
processes, evaluating the effects of changing air compositions as
well as possibilities for interference with these processes through
the use of chemistry.
The International Bestseller ‘Somehow, the elephants got into my
soul, and it became my life’s work to see them safe and happy.
There was no giving up on that vision, no matter how hard the road
was at times.’ Françoise Malby-Anthony is the owner of a game
reserve in South Africa with a remarkable family of elephants whose
adventures have touched hearts around the world. The herd’s
feisty matriarch Frankie knows who’s in charge at Thula Thula,
and it’s not Françoise. But when Frankie becomes ill, and the
authorities threaten to remove or cull some of the herd if the
reserve doesn’t expand, Françoise is in a race against time to
save her beloved elephants . . . The joys and challenges of a life
dedicated to conservation are vividly described in this charming
and moving book. The search is on to get a girlfriend for orphaned
rhino Thabo – and then, as his behaviour becomes increasingly
boisterous, a big brother to teach him manners. Françoise realizes
a dream with the arrival of Savannah the cheetah – an endangered
species not seen in the area since the 1940s – and finds herself
rescuing meerkats kept as pets. But will Thula Thula survive the
pandemic, an invasion from poachers and the threat from a mining
company wanting access to its land? As Françoise faces her
toughest years yet, she realizes once again that with their wisdom,
resilience and communal bonds, the elephants have much to teach us.
'Enthralling' – Daily Mail
Exam Board: Pearson Edexcel Level: AS/A Level Subject: Geography
Our study resources are the smart choice for those studying Pearson
Edexcel AS/A Level Geography. This book will help students to:
Organise their study with the one-topic-per-page format Speed up
revision with summary notes in short, memorable chunks Track
revision progress with at-a-glance check boxes Check their
understanding and exam skills with worked examples Develop exam
techniques with exam-style practice questions and full answers.
Renewable energy technologies produce many measurable benefits,
such as a clear reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. However, it
is also apparent that these methods of energy production come with
costs. Discussing renewable energy developments within an economic
context, this pertinent Handbook provides a comprehensive view of
the present and future dimensions of renewable energy use. Divided
into six authoritative parts, the Handbook employs economic
evaluation to provide an analysis of the benefits and costs of
renewable energy, allowing authors to extrapolate potential policy
changes. Chapters address the conceptual, methodological and
empirical dimensions of renewable energy, providing a broad
coverage of key topics while maintaining a clear policy-oriented
philosophy. With a structured application of energy economics to
renewable energy issues, this enlightening Handbook will be
beneficial for environmental and energy policy makers. It will also
be an interesting read for academics within such fields as policy
regulation, energy economics and environmental economics.
|
You may like...
Broken Land
Daylin Paul
Hardcover
R710
Discovery Miles 7 100
|