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‘Steve Brusatte, the author of The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs, brings mammals out from the shadow of their more showy predecessors in a beautifully written book that . . . makes the case for them as creatures who are just as engaging as dinosaurs.’ – The Sunday Times, ‘Best Books For Summer’ 'In this terrific new book, Steve Brusatte . . . brings well-known extinct species, the sabre-toothed tigers and the woolly mammoths, thrillingly back to life' – The Times The passing of the age of the dinosaurs allowed mammals to become ascendant. But mammals have a much deeper history. They – or, more precisely, we – originated around the same time as the dinosaurs, over 200 million years ago; mammal roots lie even further back, some 325 million years. Over these immense stretches of geological time, mammals developed their trademark features: hair, keen senses of smell and hearing, big brains and sharp intelligence, fast growth and warm-blooded metabolism, a distinctive line-up of teeth (canines, incisors, premolars, molars), mammary glands that mothers use to nourish their babies with milk, qualities that have underlain their success story. Out of this long and rich evolutionary history came the mammals of today, including our own species and our closest cousins. But today’s 6,000 mammal species - the egg-laying monotremes including the platypus, marsupials such as kangaroos and koalas that raise their tiny babies in pouches, and placentals like us, who give birth to well-developed young – are simply the few survivors of a once verdant family tree, which has been pruned both by time and mass extinctions. In The Rise and Reign of the Mammals, palaeontologist Steve Brusatte weaves together the history and evolution of our mammal forebears with stories of the scientists whose fieldwork and discoveries underlie our knowledge, both of iconic mammals like the mammoths and sabre-toothed tigers of which we have all heard, and of fascinating species that few of us are aware of. For what we see today is but a very limited range of the mammals that have existed; in this fascinating and ground-breaking book, Steve Brusatte tells their – and our – story.
WITH A FOREWORD BY TIM HARFORD Which nations have North Korean embassies? Which region has the highest number of death metal bands per capita? How many countries have bigger economies than California? Who drives on the 'wrong' side of the road? And where can you find lions in the wild? Revelatory, thought-provoking and fun, Brilliant Maps is a unique atlas of culture, history, politics and miscellanea, compiled by the editor of the iconic Brilliant Maps website. As visually arresting as Information is Beautiful and as full of surprising facts and figures as any encyclopaedia, Brilliant Maps is a stunning piece of cartography that maps our curious and varied planet. For graphic design enthusiasts, compulsive Wikipedia readers and those looking for the sort of gift they buy for someone else and wind up keeping for themselves, this book will change the way you see the world and your place in it.
THE EXTRAORDINARY LIFE STORY OF Adventurers the world over have been inspired by the achievements of Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man ever to set foot on the summit of Mount Everest. In this candid, wry, and vastly entertaining autobiography, Hillary looks back on that 1953 landmark expedition, as well as his remarkable explorations in other exotic locales, from the South Pole to the Ganges. View From The Summit is the compelling life story of a New Zealand country boy who daydreamed of wild adventures; the pioneering climber who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth after scaling the world's tallest peak; and the elder statesman and unlikely diplomat whose groundbreaking program of aid to Nepal continues to this day, paying his debt of worldwide fame to the Himalayan region. More than four decades after Hillary looked down from Everest's 29,000 feet, his impact is still felt -- in our fascination with the perils and triumphs of mountain climbing, and in today's phenomenon of extreme sports. The call to adventure is alive and real on every page of this gripping memoir.
Drawing critically on the UN concept of 'human security', this book offers a transformative understanding of security in responding to the Mediterranean refugee crisis. From a range of arts, humanities and social science disciplines, and through case studies incorporating key governmental, NGO and refugee perspectives, the book critiques the major geopolitical, economic and social issues of the crisis. It documents the prioritization of population management techniques that are underpinned by conventional territorial logics of security, before reflecting on the alternative priorities of human security that can facilitate an active human rights framework and a more holistic and humanitarian interventionism. In advancing a human security approach to the crisis, the book insists upon our interconnected global sense of precarity, interrogates the human consequences of the endless cycles of conflict and displacement, and challenges the impoverished thinking of statist security agendas that divide the world into zones of sanctuary and abandonment. Of broad appeal and relevance across the social sciences, from geography and migration studies to international relations and critical security studies, this book will also be a timely read for people working for NGOs and policy makers looking for a more holistic response to the ongoing refugee crisis. Contributors include: T. Bicchieri, A. Bilgic, J. Bloomer, M. Brehony, R. Browne, M. Brunicardi, V. Cirefice, C. Dorrity, L. Elliott, D. Estrada-Tanck, D. Gasper, T.J. Hughes, J. Hyndman, G. Kearns, V. Ledwith, J. Morrissey, A. Mountz, K. Reilly, C. Wilcock
This thoroughly revised second edition provides an up-to-date account of essential EU climate mitigation law, analysing an area that remains one of the most dynamic fields of EU law. Special attention is paid to the energy sector and to the impact of climate law on broader legal issues, such as energy network regulation and human rights. Written by leading scholars of EU climate law from the University of Groningen, the book addresses the relevant directives and regulations, examining their implementation and impact on current policy and academic debate. Chapters guide the reader through key topics including the EU emissions trading system, renewable energy consumption, and carbon capture and storage. Key features of the second edition include: A clear and accessible introduction to EU climate mitigation law Comprehensive coverage of the climate targets and instruments of the EU Special focus on the relationship between climate law and energy law New classroom questions to stimulate further discussion and debate Educational design based on reviews by climate law students and lecturers. Combining educational design and analytical accuracy, this book will be an indispensable guide for both students and professionals. It is highly recommended for courses on EU climate mitigation law, as well as climate law, energy law, environmental law and EU law.
A revised and updated edition of the landmark work the New York Times hailed as "a call to action for every developer, building owner, shareholder, chief executive, manager, teacher, worker and parent to start demanding healthy buildings with cleaner indoor air." For too long we've designed buildings that haven't focused on the people inside-their health, their ability to work effectively, and what that means for the bottom line. An authoritative introduction to a movement whose vital importance is now all too clear, Healthy Buildings breaks down the science and makes a compelling business case for creating healthier offices, schools, and homes. As the COVID-19 crisis brought into sharp focus, indoor spaces can make you sick-or keep you healthy. Fortunately, we now have the know-how and technology to keep people safe indoors. But there is more to securing your office, school, or home than wiping down surfaces. Levels of carbon dioxide, particulates, humidity, pollution, and a toxic soup of volatile organic compounds from everyday products can influence our health in ways people aren't always aware of. This landmark book, revised and updated with the latest research since the COVID-19 pandemic, lays out a compelling case for more environmentally friendly and less toxic offices, schools, and homes. It features a concise explanation of disease transmission indoors, and provides tips for making buildings the first line of defense. Joe Allen and John Macomber dispel the myth that we can't have both energy-efficient buildings and good indoor air quality. We can-and must-have both. At the center of the great convergence of green, smart, and safe buildings, healthy buildings are vital to the push for more sustainable urbanization that will shape our future.
In this authoritative book, leading international experts examine the use of scenario analyses and modelling in environmental assessments, highlighting their potential uses in making evidence-based decisions to address the risks and adverse impacts of rapid environmental change such as global warming and the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. In addition to theoretical and conceptual issues, contributors analyse the latest research on the applications of scenarios and models, and discuss the opportunities and challenges in using them for policy relevant research and action. Chapters include in-depth case studies from Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North and South America as well as those with a global or regional focus, providing a comprehensive review of the available tools and frameworks for conducting environmental assessments in diverse contexts. This book offers a roadmap for strengthening the science policy interface for environmental decision-making. Environmental Assessments will be crucial reading for scholars, postgraduate students, practitioners and policy makers working in ecological economics and ecology, biodiversity and ecosystem services, climate change and natural resources. It will be particularly useful for those working for international and intergovernmental agencies, national governments, businesses and NGOs looking to make informed decisions about responses to environmental change.
A beautiful little guide to one of life's simple pleasures - pebble spotting. Where science meets mindfulness. Learn to appreciate their beauty, discover the amazing journey that brought them to you, search for the rare ones. Leave no stone unturned. Turn a day on the beach or a seaside holiday stroll into a treasure hunt with this lovely little guide to identifying pebbles. Pebble spotting is one of life's simple joys. There's nothing quite like searching the rocks on a beach until that special one catches your eye - a perfect shape, a gorgeous colour, an intriguing pattern. But what is it? Use this beautifully illustrated little guide to find out, and to discover your pebble's fascinating life story and secrets. It could be even more special than you thought... Geologist and passionate pebble spotter Clive Mitchell has created a charming and wonderfully browsable book that is a perfect companion to a day out or holiday, or an idle moment at home. This book contains entries on 40 different types of pebble, complete with detailed facts about the composite rock's structure and where to find them, with examples including: Flint Feldspar veins Spotted slates Serpentinite Granite ovoids The rare rhomb porphyry - the holy grail of pebble hunting The book includes a space to ruminate on your own findings, taking note of the treasures that you pick up along the way and discovering the secrets of the stones beneath your feet. The Pebble Spotter's Guide is the perfect introduction to everything you didn't know there was to know about the mindful pleasure of pebble spotting and the wonder of pebbles. Simply sit on a beach or next to a stream for 10 minutes and find amazing treasures at your feet; there is much to discover.
Golf Road Ballater plus the story of a lost bus garage. 'Golf Road, Ballater' is the second book in my series of Ballater roads and streets as I remember them in my youth.
Elgar Research Agendas outline the future of research in a given area. Leading scholars are given the space to explore their subject in provocative ways, and map out the potential directions of travel. They are relevant but also visionary. The power of borders emerges not only from their institutional and legal nature but also from their symbolic and identity-forming significance. This innovative Research Agenda uncovers links between different levels of border-making processes, or bordering, from the political to the cognitive, and connects everyday processes and experiences of border-making to the wider social world. Grounded in their original research, contributors offer a variety of discussions on future directions for border studies, including two areas which may prove particularly fruitful; firstly, the question of the broader political salience of borders and secondly, the ways in which the border studies paradigm increasingly connects ontological and ethical questions to processes of border-making. Taken together, these address the question of how everyday bordering practices and discourses can be productively linked to different aspects of social relations. This timely book will be an invigorating read for those studying borders across a wide range of disciplines including human geography, political science, sociology, anthropology, history, international law as well as the humanities, notably art, media studies and philosophy.
Providing a critical overview of transnationalism as a concept, this Handbook looks at its growing influence in an era of high-speed, globalised interconnectivity. It offers crucial insights on how approaches to transnationalism have altered how we think about social life from the family to the nation-state, whilst also challenging the predominance of methodologically nationalist analyses. Encompassing research from around the world, leading international researchers examine transnational migration, culture, state practices, organisations and institutions. Chapters draw attention to conceptual concerns around the topic, including the spatiality and temporality of transnationalism, connections to the life course, and the articulation of affect and emotion across borders. The Handbook further explains the transnational dimensions of different forms of migration, including labour migrations and student mobilities, and emphasises why and how transnational networks and circulations matter. An engaging foundation for students and scholars seeking to enhance their understanding of transnationalism, this Handbook offers agenda-setting arguments that will be beneficial to researchers of migration and mobilities, human geography, sociology, anthropology, international relations and cultural studies. It will also be an interesting read for practitioners working in migration, migrant rights and transnational organising and activism.
Part of the Elgar Series on Central Banking and Monetary Policy, this book explores the relationship between central banking, monetary policy and the economy at large. It focuses on the specific relationship between central banking, monetary policy and the environment as central banks wake up to new realities. The book examines not only the impact of changes in interest rates on the environment, but also the impact that the environment and climate change have on monetary policy. New green policies are proposed for central banks to implement as they move forward and navigate the pitfalls of climate change. Scholars and students interested in central banking, monetary policy and the environment will appreciate this take on Central Banking, Monetary Policy and the Environment.
Elgar Research Agendas outline the future of research in a given area. Leading scholars are given the space to explore their subject in provocative ways, and map out the potential directions of travel. They are relevant but also visionary. This timely Research Agenda explores and proposes critical lines of research to support understanding of the conditions under which urban tourism contributes to the development of urban systems, and what can be done to create and conserve these conditions. Chapters highlight conceptual discussions, concrete case studies and policy reviews to address the issues surrounding the economic, environmental and social impacts of tourism on cities. Analysing the trends that have characterized urban tourism in the past, the Research Agenda looks ahead to those that may influence it in the future, including the impact of Covid-19. Chapters further offer a thorough conceptualization and innovative definitions of the phenomenon of urban tourism. The critical issue of the sustainability of tourism development in cities is also discussed in depth. The Research Agenda provides a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of the urban tourism debate, making it a critical read for urban studies and tourism scholars. The detailed case studies from across four continents will also be beneficial to policymakers and urban planners dealing with tourism development.
A positive vision is emerging - a community-based, but globally linked and co-ordinated society, a global human family looking after each other and the Earth. eGaia describes starting points and next big steps where the starting points join and link up. It clarifies the vision, gives background, organising principles, and a light fictional picture of a sustainable world.
This report analyses the adaptive capacity in agricultural water management, adaptation in agriculture to water variability and extreme events, (floods and droughts), mitigation, (water and energy) and uncertainty about further climate change.
This timely book addresses what it is to be a planner in a changing world: a world in need of transformation in the way planning is done in order to tackle social problems and ecological crises. Nicholas Low argues for the need to revalue public planning, sensitive to the social context in which it takes place. Aiming to define the social and political basis of planning, the book highlights how our neo-liberal world has lost touch with the importance of a well-resourced, impartial, professional and permanent public service to democracy. It does so by exploring the role of planning in long-term social and economic change, different understandings of social power and class and how human-nature relationships might influence ecological governance. Planning scholars, particularly those focusing on urban and environmental planning, will find this book an inspiring and accessible read, integrating a wide range of social theories with social and ecological justice.
Economies around the world have arrived at a critical juncture: to continue to grow fuelled by fossil fuels and exacerbate climate change, or to move towards more sustainable, greener, growth. Choosing the latter is shown to help address climate change, as well as present new economic opportunities. This Handbook provides a deeper understanding of the concept of green growth, and highlights key lessons from the experience of green transformations across the world following a decade of ambitious stimulus packages and green reforms. With comprehensive chapters from key researchers in the field drawn from across the globe, the Handbook on Green Growth offers up to date and original analysis of the many facets of the phenomenon of green growth. Is economic growth desirable? When can economic growth and environmental policies work together? What are the key factors that will achieve green growth? What will be the multiple impacts of green growth? And, what have been the experiences of economies that have undertaken a green transformation? This Handbook will be a key resource for students and academics interested in economics, environmental and ecological studies, as well as for those specialising in environmental policy. It will also be a valuable tool for policy makers concerned about the dual objectives of stimulating economic growth and addressing environmental damage.
This important book focuses on how newly emerging institutions for future generations can contribute to tackling large scale global environmental problems, such as threats to biodiversity and climate change. It is especially timely given the new global impetus for decarbonisation, as well as the huge growth of climate litigation and climate protest movements, often led by young people. Global environmental crises and reactions against short-term thinking have spawned new institutions aimed at giving a voice to future generations in policy-making, such as dedicated commissioners. This book looks at why we need such institutions using approaches from ethics, human rights, sustainable development, intergenerational justice and administrative law. How to design such institutions to maximise their effectiveness, operating principles for such institutions, and case studies from around the world are canvassed. A range of reform proposals are also explored, including mainstreaming future generations' voices in parliamentary processes, commissioners for future generations, human rights-based bodies and deliberative assemblies. This collection brings together philosophers, political and social scientists, lawyers and practitioners. It provides both an introduction to the field and a scholarly in-depth set of studies. It will appeal to academics, policymakers and civil society.
China is the largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world and also suffers from devastating climate catastrophes. Increasingly, policymakers in China have come to realize that government alone cannot adequately prevent or defray climate-related disaster risks. This book contends that a better way to manage catastrophe risk in China is through private insurance rather than directly through the Chinese government. In addition, private insurance could function as a substitute for, or complement to, government regulation of catastrophe risks by causing policyholders to take greater precautions to reduce climate change risks. This book's unique contribution lies in explaining how private sector insurance could be harnessed to better protect China from climate change risks, addressing the shortcomings in China's private sector when it comes to the incentive and capacity to provide catastrophe insurance. Following the dual principles of insurers acting as private risk regulators and the government acting as a last resort, this book proposes a multi-layered public-private catastrophe insurance partnership in China. It uses a thorough combination of law and economics methodology to analyze these issues. Researchers, academics, and journalists writing on climate change in China will have a strong interest in this book, as will practitioners and policy-making bodies, Chinese government officials and agencies in insurance, finance and environmental regulation, private lawyers, private insurers, and global reinsurers.
When, as a young man in the 1880s, Benjamin Lundy signed up for duty aboard a square-rigged commercial sailing vessel, he began a journey more exciting, and more terrifying, than he could have ever imagined: a treacherous, white-knuckle passage around that notorious "graveyard of ships," Cape Horn. A century later, Derek Lundy, author of the bestselling "Godforsaken Sea" and an accomplished amateur seaman himself, set out to recount his forebear's journey. "The Way of a Ship" is a mesmerizing account of life on board a square-rigger, a remarkable reconstruction of a harrowing voyage through the most dangerous waters. Derek Lundy's masterful account evokes the excitement, romance, and brutality of a bygone era -- "a fantastic ride through one of the greatest moments in the history of adventure" ("Seattle Times").
This timely and incisive book combines an introduction to the core legal and policy issues presented by climate change with a deeper analysis of decisions that will define the path forward. Offering a guide to key terms, concepts, and legal principles in the field, this book will help readers develop a sophisticated perspective on issues central to climate change law and policy. Building a pathway to literacy in climate change policy, chapters provide an accessible overview of key energy regulations and laws governing energy projects, legal mechanisms to regulate GHG emissions, and the role of state and local governments in developing mitigation and adaptation policy, particularly in the building and transportation sectors. The authors highlight the relationship between human rights and climate change using the framework of human rights law, analyze the use of litigation to compel climate change mitigation and adaptation and suggest ways to achieve international cooperation. Providing a deep understanding of ongoing debates about the design and implementation of climate change law and policy, this book will be an essential resource for students and researchers of environmental and climate change law, governance, and regulation. It will also be useful for policymakers and practitioners in the field for its practical insights into future developments and solutions.
The Geography of Entrepreneurial Psychology summarizes existing research and relevant insights from psychology, economics, management, sociology and geography to provide an overview to a new and innovative interdisciplinary field, answering the critical question 'what is a vibrant startup culture?' Mapping recent empirical advances and analysing regional differences in macro-psychological factors associated with entrepreneurship, the book discusses the role of historical trajectories of regional differences, considering their significance to contemporary entrepreneurial and geographical psychology. Chapters turn to established psychological theories, such as McClelland's Human Motivation Theory and the Big Five personality traits, to measure entrepreneurship culture and its persistence between regions and cities, delivering key implications for practice, education and policy in entrepreneurship. Setting a crucial agenda for future research, this cutting-edge book is vital reading for students and researchers of entrepreneurship cultures, particularly those focusing on regional differences. Psychologists and geographers will also benefit from this book's multidisciplinary insights into spatial aspects of entrepreneurial psychology. |
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