Revised and updated for the 2nd edition, this textbook provides an analysis and investigation of the most essential areas of environmental economic theory and policy, including international environmental problems. The approach is based on standard theoretical tools, in particular equilibrium analysis, and aims to demonstrate how economic principles can help to understand environmental issues and guide policymakers. Current topics including climate change, overfishing and integrated approaches to environmental policies are carefully analyzed in this framework, and a multitude of practical examples from various parts of the world is presented. Addressing undergraduate and graduate students, this book is a must read for everybody interested in a better understanding of environmental economics.

The studies in this dissertation aim at advancing our scientific understandings about physical processes involved in the aerosol-cloud-precipitation interaction and quantitatively assessing the impacts of aerosols on the cloud systems with diverse scales over the globe on the basis of the observational data analysis and various modeling studies. As recognized in the Fifth Assessment Report by the Inter-government Panel on Climate Change, the magnitude of radiative forcing by atmospheric aerosols is highly uncertain, representing the largest uncertainty in projections of future climate by anthropogenic activities. By using a newly implemented cloud microphysical scheme in the cloud-resolving model, the thesis assesses aerosol-cloud interaction for distinct weather systems, ranging from individual cumulus to mesoscale convective systems. This thesis also introduces a novel hierarchical modeling approach that solves a long outstanding mismatch between simulations by regional weather models and global climate models in the climate modeling community. More importantly, the thesis provides key scientific solutions to several challenging questions in climate science, including the global impacts of the Asian pollution. As scientists wrestle with the complexities of climate change in response to varied anthropogenic forcing, perhaps no problem is more challenging than the understanding of the impacts of atmospheric aerosols from air pollution on clouds and the global circulation.

This book, authored by a well-known researcher and expositor in meteorology, focuses on the direct link between molecular dynamics and atmospheric variation. Uniting molecular dynamics, turbulence theory, fluid mechanics and non equilibrium statistical mechanics, it is relevant to the fields of applied mathematics, physics and atmospheric sciences, and focuses on fluid flow and turbulence, as well as on temperature, radiative transfer and chemistry. With extensive references and glossary this is an ideal text for graduates and researchers in meteorology, applied mathematics and physical chemistry.

"Coal and Peat Fires: A Global Perspective "is a compelling collection of research conducted by scientists and engineers around the world. It presents the scientific and industrial communities as well as the interested lay reader with studies about prehistoric as well as historic coal and peat fires and magnificent illustrations of such fires and related research from countries around the world-a totally new contribution to science. The second of four volumes in the collection, "Photographs and Multimedia Tours "features stunning photographs from around the world, including Australia, Canada, Northern China, India, Borneo, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Russia, the United States, and more. This essential reference also includes a companion website with a collection of slide presentations and videosabout coal and peat fires.
Authored by world-renowned experts in coal and peat firesGlobal in scope-countries from all of the world are representedBeautiful full-color illustrations and online materials including research data banks, an interactive online world map of coal and peat fires, multi-media presentations, and videos bring the contents to life"

Few topics cut across the soil science discipline wider than research on soil carbon. This book contains 48 chapters that focus on novel and exciting aspects of soil carbon research from all over the world. It includes review papers by global leaders in soil carbon research, and the book ends with a list and discussion of global soil carbon research priorities.

Chapters are loosely grouped in four sections:
Soil carbon in space and time
Soil carbon properties and processes
Soil use and carbon management
Soil carbon and the environment

A wide variety of topics is included: soil carbon modelling, measurement, monitoring, microbial dynamics, soil carbon management and 12 chapters focus on national or regional soil carbon stock assessments. The book provides up-to-date information for researchers interested in soil carbon in relation to climate change and to researchers that are interested in soil carbon for the maintenance of soil quality and fertility. Papers in this book were presented at the "IUSS Global Soil C Conference "that was held at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA."

This book presents valuable insights on a vast array of topics in the field of environmental studies. The works published in the book were presented within the scope of the 2013 Sopot Forum of Young Scientists. The Forum is an annual event which provides a platform for young researchers to present their work and exchange ideas with their peers. The aim of the forum is to make science more popular, so the speakers talked about their work in a way that was easily understandable. The book contains actual scientific papers on their own topics of interest. The papers represent different areas of environmental sciences, from biology to physics. The main umbrella topic for this book is "WHERE THE WORLD IS HEADING" and the papers are constructed in such a way as to try to answer this from each contributor's individual perspective.

The purpose of this book is to bridge the gap between the traditional Geomechanics and Numerical Geotechnical Modelling with applications in science and practice. Geomechanics is rarely taught within the rigorous context of Continuum Mechanics and Thermodynamics, while when it comes to Numerical Modelling, commercially available finite elements or finite differences software utilize constitutive relationships within the rigorous framework. As a result, young scientists and engineers have to learn the challenging subject of constitutive modelling from a program manual and often end up with using unrealistic models which violate the Laws of Thermodynamics. The book is introductory, by no means does it claim any completeness and state of the art in such a dynamically developing field as numerical and constitutive modelling of soils. The author gives basic understanding of conventional continuum mechanics approaches to constitutive modelling, which can serve as a foundation for exploring more advanced theories. A considerable effort has been invested here into the clarity and brevity of the presentation. A special feature of this book is in exploring thermomechanical consistency of all presented constitutive models in a simple and systematic manner.

Flood Risk Change: A Complexity Perspective focuses on the dynamic nature of flood risks and follows a systemic approach - including environmental, socioeconomic and socio-technical factors for modeling and managing flood risk change. Readers will gain a more complete picture of the topic for understanding the complexity of flood risk change, both from human and natural causes of flooding. The book includes a mix of theory (introduction to complex system science from the flood risk management perspective) and case studies. It features maps and figures focusing on the system components as well as on the dynamic interactions between the drivers of change. Researchers studying flood risk, environmental engineering, disaster risk reduction, and land use, as well as those in industry and responsible for policy, will find this an invaluable resource.

The 15th Franco-Japanese Symposium of Oceanography "Marine Productivity, Perturbations and Resilience of Socio-Ecosystems," organized by the long-standing partners Societe franco-japonaise d'Oceanographie de France and Societe franco-japonaise d'Oceanographie du Japon, reviewed the impacts of natural (storms, typhoons, earthquakes, tsunamis, etc.) and man-made (pollution, buildings in coastal areas, aquaculture, tourism, sports, diving, etc.) perturbations inflicted on coastal and marine environments. The Symposium examined the resilience of affected socio-ecosystems along with governance responses for these global/local environments. This book collects 43 selected papers, written by experts from numerous universities and research institutes in both countries. It addresses the needs of marine sciences researchers (natural and social sciences), decision-makers and coastal zone managers, and other stakeholders involved in coastal and marine socio-ecosystems.

This work examines the waters of marine ports as unique integrated aquatic ecosystems. It regards marine ports as entities comprising components of natural and anthropogenic origin, including pelagic, periphytal and benthal subsystems. Using selected Black and Azov Sea ports as examples, the book discusses the hydrodynamics and water exchange, which are weakened in ports compared with open coastal zones. It reflects consequences of the presence of hydrobionts and the accumulation of organic matter, which are promoted by the variety of hard substrata and the absence of fishery. The book is divided into five main chapters. The first chapter describes the general characteristics of the marine ports at the northern coast of the Black and Azov Seas and their shipping channels. Chapters 2 to 4 discuss the main abiotic and biotic peculiarities of the pelagial, periphytal and benthal subsystems of those marine ports, and chapter 5 deals with tropho-dynamic processes in their ecosystems. A concluding section reflects recommendations how the ecosystems of ports in non-tidal seas may be ameliorated.

Climate change is a major challenge facing the modern world. The chemistry of air and it's influence on the climate system forms the main focus of this monograph. The book presents a problem-based approach to presenting global atmospheric processes, evaluating the effects of changing air composition as well as possibilities for interference within these processes and indicates ways for solving the problem of climate change through chemistry. The new edition includes innovations and latest research results.

The Howgill Fells in Cumbria, represent one of the most erosionally active landscapes in Britain. The bedrock geology, folded Silurian mudstones, is not especially well seen. The direct effects of Pleistocene glaciation are limited and not as well developed as in the neighbouring Lake District, although glacial meltwaters did have an important impact. However, it is in its post-glacial landscape that the Howgills are exceptional. The steep hillslopes of the headwater valleys are riddled by networks of erosional gullies, many active during the last few thousand years but now stabilised, others actively erosional now. The gully systems feed sediment downslope, locally forming large tributary-junction alluvial fans, elsewhere creating braided reaches within the stream channels.The Holocene sequence of hillslope gully erosion, alluvial fan deposition, and stream terrace aggradation and dissection is exceptionally well exhibited by numerous exposed sections through the sedimentary sequences. The modern active gully systems have been monitored for more than thirty years. The results of this long-term study illustrate two fundamental aspects of process geomorphology: first, the importance of coupling, i.e. linkages, within the geomorphic system, and secondly, the significance of magnitude/frequency relationships. Essentially, the Howgills form an excellent field laboratory for the study of modern processes and landforms as well as retaining the evidence for reconstructing the erosion/deposition sequence of the last few thousand years.The book is organised in two sections. A series of thematic chapters is followed by chapters dealing with details of recommended field excursions. The first excursion is a car-based excursion around the margins of the Howgills but the other excursions are all hiking excursions into the interior of the Howgills. One of the joys of the interior of the Howgills is that they form an upland block, within which there is no settlement, there are no roads and virtually no walls. You have to hike in to see, study and learn!The book is copiously illustrated by maps, diagrams and colour photographs.

This edited volume is an up-to-date guide for students, policy makers and engineers on earthquake engineering, including methods and technologies for seismic hazard detection and mitigation. The book was written in honour of the late Professor Jai Krishna, who was a pioneer in teaching and research in the field of earthquake engineering in India during his decades-long work at the University of Roorkee (now the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee). The book comprehensively covers the historical development of earthquake engineering in India, and uses this background knowledge to address the need for current advances in earthquake engineering, especially in developing countries. After discussing the history and growth of earthquake engineering in India from the past 50 years, the book addresses the present status of earthquake engineering in regards to the seismic resistant designs of bridges, buildings, railways, and other infrastructures. Specific topics include response spectrum superposition methods, design philosophy, system identification approaches, retaining walls, and shallow foundations. Readers will learn about developments in earthquake engineering over the past 50 years, and how new methods and technologies can be applied towards seismic risk and hazard identification and mitigation.

Terrestrial mass movements (i.e. cliff collapses, soil creeps, mudflows, landslides etc.) are severe forms of natural disasters mostly occurring in mountainous terrain, which is subjected to specific geological, geomorphological and climatological conditions, as well as to human activities. It is a challenging task to accurately define the position, type and activity of mass movements for the purpose of creating inventory records and potential vulnerability maps. Remote sensing techniques, in combination with Geographic Information System tools, allow state-of-the-art investigation of the degree of potential mass movements and modeling surface processes for hazard and risk mapping. Similarly, through statistical prediction models, future mass-movement-prone areas can be identified and damages can to a certain extent be minimized. Issues of scale and selection of morphological attributes for the scientific analysis of mass movements call for new developments in data modeling and spatio-temporal GIS analysis.
The book is a product of a cooperation between the editors and several contributing authors, addressing current issues and recent developments in GI technology and mass movements research. Its fundamental treatment of this technology includes data modeling, topography, geology, geomorphology, remote sensing, artificial neural networks, binomial regression, fuzzy logic, spatial statistics and analysis, and scientific visualization. Both theoretical and practical issues are addressed.

This book presents an analysis of our current knowledge on the origin of the Earth's continental crust. There are two aspects to consider: tectonic and igneous processes. Tectonic aspects include sedimentary accretion, terrane accretion, and continental collision at continental margins, in association with plate subduction. These processes result in the formation of large mountain belts, the building up of which literally grows the continents. However, these tectonic aspects are concerned with material recycling within the crust, and hence do not contribute to volumetric growth of continental crust. Igneous processes concern separation of continental crust from the mantle and result in the volumetric growth of continental crust. Therefore, the main focus of this book is to systematically examine why and how the Earth's continental crust forms, by evaluating magmatic processes at island arcs where new continental crust forms.

In tropical latitudes, monsoons trigger regimes of strong seasonal rainfall over the continents. Over the West African region, the rainfall has shown a strong variability from interannual to decadal time scales. The atmospheric response to global sea surface temperatures is the leading cause of rainfall variability in the West African Sahel. This thesis explores changes in the leading ocean forcing of Sahelian rainfall interannual variability. It anaylzes the dynamical mechanisms at work to explain the non-stationary sea surface temperature-forced response of anomalous rainfall. The underlying multidecadal sea surface temperature background is raised as a key factor that favors some interannual teleconnections and inhibits others. Results of this thesis are relevant for improving the seasonal predictability of summer rainfall in the Sahel.

The debate on how mankind should respond to climate change is diverse, as the appropriate strategy depends on global as well as local circumstances.

As scientists are denied the possibility of conducting experiments with the real climate, only climate models can give insights into man-induced climate change, by experimenting with digital climates under varying conditions and by extrapolating past and future states into the future.

But the nature of models is a purely representational one. A model is good if it is believed to represent the relevant processes of a natural system well. However, a model and its results, in particular in the case of climate models which interconnect countless hypotheses, is only to some extent testable, although an advanced infrastructure of evaluation strategies has been developed involving strategies of model intercomparison, ensemble prognoses, uncertainty metrics on the system and component levels. The complexity of climate models goes hand in hand with uncertainties, but uncertainty is in conflict with socio-political expectations. However, certain predictions belong to the realm of desires and ideals rather than to applied science. Today s attempt to define and classify uncertainty in terms of likelihood and confidence reflect this awareness of uncertainty as an integral part of human knowledge, in particular on knowledge about possible future developments. The contributions in this book give a first hand insight into scientific strategies in dealing with uncertainty by using simulation models and into social, political and economical requirements in future projections on climate change. Do these strategies and requirements meet each other or fail?

The debate on how mankind should respond to climate change is diverse, as the appropriate strategy depends on global as well as local circumstances. As scientists are denied the possibility of conducting experiments with the real climate, only climate models can give insights into man-induced climate change, by experimenting with digital climates under varying conditions and by extrapolating past and future states into the future. But the 'nature' of models is a purely representational one. A model is good if it is believed to represent the relevant processes of a natural system well. However, a model and its results, in particular in the case of climate models which interconnect countless hypotheses, is only to some extent testable, although an advanced infrastructure of evaluation strategies has been developed involving strategies of model intercomparison, ensemble prognoses, uncertainty metrics on the system and component levels. The complexity of climate models goes hand in hand with uncertainties, but uncertainty is in conflict with socio-political expectations. However, certain predictions belong to the realm of desires and ideals rather than to applied science. Today's attempt to define and classify uncertainty in terms of likelihood and confidence reflect this awareness of uncertainty as an integral part of human knowledge, in particular on knowledge about possible future developments. The contributions in this book give a first hand insight into scientific strategies in dealing with uncertainty by using simulation models and into social, political and economical requirements in future projections on climate change. Do these strategies and requirements meet each other or fail?

Gabriele Gramelsberger is Principal Investigator of the Collaborative Research Project is Principal Investigator of the Collaborative Research Project

Large-scale winds and currents tend to balance Coriolis and pressure gradient forces. The time evolution of these winds and currents is the subject of the quasi-geostrophic theory.
Chapter 1 presents concepts and equations of classical inertial fluid mechanics.
Chapter 2 deals with the equations of thermodynamics that close the governing equations of the fluids. Then, the motion is reformulated in a uniformly rotating reference frame.
Chapter 3 deals with the shallow-water model and the homogeneous model of wind-driven circulation. The chapter also describes a classical application of the Ekman layer to the atmosphere.
Chapter 4 considers the two-layer model, as an introduction to baroclinic flows, together with the concept of available potential energy.
Chapter 5 takes into account continuously stratified flows in the ocean and in the atmosphere.

Hurricanes menace North America from June through to November every year, each as powerful as 10,000 nuclear bombs. These megastorms will likely become more intense as the planet continues to warm, yet we too often treat them as local disasters and TV spectacles, unaware of how far-ranging their impact can be. As best-selling historian Eric Jay Dolin contends, we must look to our nation's past if we hope to comprehend the consequences of the hurricanes of the future. With A Furious Sky, Dolin has created a vivid, sprawling account of our encounters with hurricanes, from the nameless storms that threatened Columbus's New World voyages to the destruction wrought in Puerto Rico by Hurricane Maria. Weaving a story of shipwrecks and devastated cities, of heroism and folly, Dolin introduces a rich cast of unlikely heroes, such as Benito Vines, a nineteenth-century Jesuit priest whose innovative methods for predicting hurricanes saved countless lives and puts us in the middle of the most devastating storms of the past, none worse than the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, which killed at least 6,000 people, the highest toll of any natural disaster in American history. Dolin draws on a vast array of sources as he melds American history, as it is usually told, with the history of hurricanes, showing how these tempests frequently helped determine the nation's course. Hurricanes, it turns out, prevented Spain from expanding its holdings in North America beyond Florida in the late 1500s and they also played a key role in shifting the tide of the American Revolution against the British in the final stages of the conflict. As he moves through the centuries, following the rise of the United States despite the chaos caused by hurricanes, Dolin traces the corresponding development of hurricane science, from important discoveries made by Benjamin Franklin to the breakthroughs spurred by the necessities of World War II and the Cold War. Yet after centuries of study and despite remarkable leaps in scientific knowledge and technological prowess, there are still limits on our ability to predict exactly when and where hurricanes will strike and we remain vulnerable to the greatest storms on earth. A Furious Sky is, ultimately, a story of a changing climate and it forces us to reckon with the reality that, as bad as the past has been, the future will probably be worse unless we drastically re-imagine our relationship with the planet.