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Books > Earth & environment
In this book Wick Griswold will focus on the key events, places and
people relevant to the Connecticut River. The narrative will begin
in the colonial era spanning to the post-industrial age, beginning
with Dutch traders and their defeat in a bloodless war by the
English agriculturalists. Wick will chronicle the history of this
multifaceted river, from canals, to the fishing industry, to
transportation.
This book reviews advances in understanding of the past ca. two
million years of Earth history - the Quaternary Period - in the
United States. It begins with sections on ice and water - as
glaciers, permafrost, oceans, rivers, lakes, and aquifers. Six
chapters are devoted to the high-latitude Pleistocene ice sheets,
to mountain glaciations of the western United States, and to
permafrost studies. Other chapters discuss ice-age lakes, caves,
sea-level fluctuations, and riverine landscapes. With a chapter on
landscape evolution models, the book turns to essays on geologic
processes. Two chapters discuss soils and their responses to
climate, and wind-blown sediments. Two more describe volcanoes and
earthquakes, and the use of Quaternary geology to understand the
hazards they pose. The next part of the book is on plants and
animals. Five chapters consider the Quaternary history of
vegetation in the United States. Other chapters treat forcing
functions and vegetation response at different spatial and temporal
scales, the role of fire as a catalyst of vegetation change during
rapid climate shifts, and the use of tree rings in inferring age
and past hydroclimatic conditions. Three chapters address
vertebrate paleontology and the extinctions of large mammals at the
end of the last glaciation, beetle assemblages and the inferences
they permit about past conditions, and the peopling of North
America. A final chapter addresses the numerical modeling of
Quaternary climates, and the role paleoclimatic studies and
climatic modeling has in predicting future response of the Earth's
climate system to the changes we have wrought.
Aims and Scope Growing social and economic needs exert major
pressures on landscapes, challenging preserved landscape values and
the regional significance of places. As a result, the scope
oflandscape management has broadened and diversifiedin response to
international calls for greater landscape protection, and to
existing and new challenges, such as thoserelating to climate
change adaptation and ecosystem services. Within this context,
landscape impact assessment and more in general landscape planning
have been regarded as effective mechanisms for promoting and, at
the same time, as the basis of sustainable landscape development.
Set within the European context, thisbookaims to provide
acontemporary review of landscape impact assessment theory and
practice, looking at both the project and planning level. It
coversthe overall process, content and scope of landscape impact
assessment, including the main principles for good practice.
Thisbook also provides guidance on a rangeof methods and techniques
for different aspects of landscape impact assessment and public
participation needs; and explains the advantages of close
co-ordination between landscape impact assessment and landscape
planning, especially in land use planning. Finally, a selection of
case studies reviewing different aspects and practices of landscape
impact assessment are reviewed. This book will be of interest to
professionals involved in the day-to-day application of landscape
impact assessment, as well as scholars and teachers working in the
broad area of landscape planning andmanagement. The authors of
thisbook have vast experiencein the research and practice of
environmental assessment and landscape management.
This book will explore our forests as the most readily available
and renewable source of carbon as well as the building block of
chemicals, plastics, and pharmaceuticals as the next 100 years
gradually push consumers toward alternate sources of chemicals.
Meeting these needs from trees requires that new chemistry be
developed so that plant materials is converted to commodity
chemicals. This focused discussion on ongoing global efforts at
creativity using forest and biomass based renewable materials will
include six different mechanisms for bringing about change on this
very innovative topic.
""Waves in Ocean Engineering"" covers the whole field of wave
studies of interest to applied oceanographers and ocean engineers.
It has considerable relevance to coastal engineering.
The book is split into 12 sections, the first of which is devoted
to the practical applications of wave studies and to the history of
wave research. The rest of the book covers the measurement of
waves, including remote sensing; the analysis and interpretation of
wave data; estimating the properties of the extreme "Design Wave,"
as well as of the generality of waves for fatigue calculations;
waves in finite depth, wave generation by wind and wave forecasting
models; non-linear effects, and errors and uncertainties in wave
data.
In the first decade of the 21st century, five rising powers
(Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) formed an
exclusive and informal international club, the BRICS. Although
neither revolutionaries nor extreme revisionists, the BRICS
perceive an ongoing global power shift and contest the West's
pretensions to permanent stewardship of the existing economic
order. Together they have exercised collective financial
statecraft, employing their expanding financial and monetary
capabilities for the purpose of achieving larger foreign policy
goals. This volume examines the forms and strategies of such
collective financial statecraft, and the motivations of each
individual government for collaborating through the BRICS club.
Their cooperative financial statecraft takes various forms, ranging
from pressure for "inside reforms" of either multilateral
institutions or global markets, to "outside options" exercised
through creating new multilateral institutions or jointly pushing
for new realities in international financial markets. To the
surprise of many observers, the joint actions of the BRICS are
largely successful. Although each member has its unique rationale
for collaboration, the largest member, China, controls resources
that permit it the greatest influence in intra-club
decision-making. The BRICS cooperate due to both common aversions
(for example, resentment over being perennial junior partners in
global economic and financial governance and resistance to
infringements on their autonomy due to U.S. dollar dominance and
financial power) and common interests (such as obtaining greater
voice in international institutions, as the IMF). The group seeks
reforms, influence, and enhanced leadership roles within the
liberal capitalist global system. Where blocked, they experiment
with parallel multilateral institutions in which they are the
dominant rule-makers. The future of the BRICS depends not only on
their bargaining power and adjustment to market players, but also
on their ability to overcome domestic impediments to sustainable
economic growth, the basis for their international influence.
This updated and revised edition of a widely acclaimed and
successful text for undergraduates examines topology of recent
compact surfaces through the development of simple ideas in plane
geometry. Containing over 171 diagrams, the approach allows for a
straightforward treatment of its subject area. It is particularly
attractive for its wealth of applications and variety of
interactions with branches of mathematics, linked with surface
topology, graph theory, group theory, vector field theory, and
plane Euclidean and non-Euclidean geometry.
Examines topology of recent compact surfaces through the
development of simple ideas in plane geometryContains a wealth of
applications and a variety of interactions with branches of
mathematics, linked with surface topology, graph theory, group
theory, vector field theory, and plane Euclidean and non-Euclidean
geometry
Retaining the introductory flavor of the now classic First Edition,
this revision includes all the latest techniques in the field. New
information on methods of radio tag harnessing, new sections on
satellite tracking techniques and new types of data analysis are
all included. Still the only comprehensive, up-to-date,
introduction to this fundamental technique for wildlife and
behavioral biologists.
* A unique guide to the subject
* Full coverage of the very latest techniques in both terrestrial
and satellite tracking
* Detailed, practical guidance in how to fit tags, track animals,
source and evaluate equipments and techniques and analyse resulting
data
When environmentalists fail to persuade us that there is an
imminent threat of environmental disaster, they typically invoke
the "precautionary principle" in order to justify their calls for
more regulation. This work challenges the claim that the
precautionary principle (PP) is an appropriate guide to public
policy decisions. The fundamental problem is that it is impossible
to prove a negative, so the PP can be used to justify any
regulation limiting emissions of any substance. Taken in its
extreme form, the PP would end civilisation. In its more practical
form, the PP is about taking a hyper-cautious approach to emissions
of substances into the environment. This means imposing very strict
controls on the licensing of new technologies and cutting back
drastically on emissions of substances into the environment.
Although not as devastating as Leggett's philosophically dubious
proposal, this more practical approach has serious drawbacks The
opening brace of papers discusses the dubious philosophical
foundations of PP, and consider the consequences of applying it in
various policy contexts relating to scientific controversies.
Paleomagnetism is the study of the fossil magnetism in rocks. It
has been paramount in determining that the continents have drifted
over the surface of the Earth throughout geological time. The
fossil magnetism preserved in the ocean floor has demonstrated how
continental drift takes place through the process of sea-floor
spreading. The methods and techniques used in paleomagnetic studies
of continental rocks and of the ocean floor are described and then
applied to determining horizontal movements of the Earth's crust
over geological time. An up-to-date review of global paleomagnetic
data enables 1000 million
years of Earth history to be summarized in terms of the drift of
the major crustal blocks over the surface of the Earth.
The first edition of McElhinny's book was heralded as a "classic
and definitive text." It thoroughly discussed the theory of
geomagnetism, the geologic
reversals of the Earth's magnetic field, and the shifting of
magnetic poles. In the 25 years since the highly successful first
edition of Palaeomagnetism and Plate Tectonics (Cambridge, 1973)
the many advances in the concepts, methodology, and insights into
paleomagnetism warrant this new treatment. This completely updated
and revised edition of Paleomagnetism: Continents and Oceans will
be a welcome resource for a broad audience of earth scientists as
well as laypeople curious about magnetism, paleogeography, geology,
and plate tectonics.
Because the book is intended for a wide audience of geologists,
geophysicists, and oceanographers, it balances the mathematical and
descriptive aspects of each topic.
* Details the theory and methodology of rock magnetism, with
particular emphasis onintrepreting crustal movements from
continental and oceanic measurements
* Outlines Earth history for the past 1000 million years, from the
Rodinia super-continent through its breakup and the formation of
Gondwana to the formation and breakup of Pangea and the
amalgamation of Eurasia
* Provides a comprehensive treatment of oceanic
paleomagnetism
* Provides a set of color pateogeographic maps covering the past
250 million years
* Written by two internationally recognized experts in the field
The goals of wind wave research are relatively well defined: to be
able to predict the wind wave field and its effect on the
environment. That environment could be natural (beaches, the
atmosphere etc.) or imposed by human endeavour (ports, harbours,
coastal settlements etc.). Although the goals are similar, the
specific requirements of these various fields differ
considerably.
This book attempts to summarise the current state of this
knowledge and to place this understanding into a common frame work.
It attempts to take a balanced approach between the pragmatic
engineering view of requiring a short term result and the
scientific quest for detailed understanding. Thus, it attempts to
provide a rigorous description of the physical processes involved
as well as practical predictive tools.
"Global Change Scenarios of the 21st Century" informs readers of
conceivable environmental changes in the next hundred years.
Integrated scenarios are used to communicate large amounts of
information about different aspects of the global environmental
system, together with society's role within this system. Uniquely,
the scenarios are generated by an integrated computer model, IMAGE
2.1, which enhances consistency and provides a framework for
linking environmental and social aspects of global change.
The book is divided into four parts, the volume begins by
describing the model used to generate these scenarios, explaining
its current features. This is followed by scenarios of changing
climate, energy and food use, land cover, acidification, sea level
and many other indicators of global change up to 2100. The long
term consequences of actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are
then explored in a section which uses the concepts of 'safe
landing' and 'safe emission corridors' to address the connection
between the long-term climate protection and short-term emission
reductions. The final sections examines how the complicated and
crucial issue of how complex global scenario information can be
communicated to policy makers.
European explorers were captivated by the seemingly endless bounty
of natural resources on Cape Cod Bay. One Englishman declared that
the codfish were so thick one "could" walk on their backs. Early
settlers quickly learned how to harness the bay's resources and
excelled at shore whaling, shipping and salt making. But as these
new industries flourished, the native Wampanoag, who helped the
fledgling colony to take root, nearly vanished. Author Theresa
Mitchell Barbo's skillful narrative weaves together the natural and
cultural histories of the bay, highlighting some of the region's
diverse milestones- from the drafting of the Mayflower Compact in
1620 to the establishment of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant 350
years later. "Cape Cod Bay: A History of Salt & Sea" inspires
new appreciation for this storied and stunning seascape, and
underscores the importance of new efforts to preserve the bay's
unique ecosystem.
Appreciating that coastal areas are under threat from misuse and
overuse worldwide, this book reviews the need for marine
conservation, summarizes general measures for ocean and coastal
conservation, and explains the rationale for establishing marine
protected areas. The second half of the book is a guideline for
designing and implementing protected areas in order to make them
viable and long-lasting in their effectiveness.
This set of conference papers covers such topics as: the need for
water to maintain life; the atmospheric water vapour in all layers
of the troposphere; the measurement of cloud water contents and the
partitionof its liquid and solid phases; and land and ocean
nutrients.
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