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Books > Earth & environment > Earth sciences > General
Researchers in landscape archaeology use two different definitions
of landscape. One definition (landscape as territory) is used by
the processual archaeologists, earth scientists, and most
historical geographers within this volume. By contrast,
post-processual archaeologists, new cultural geographers and
anthropologists favour a more abstract definition of landscape,
based on how it is perceived by the observer. Both definitions are
addressed in this book, with 35 papers that are presented here and
that are divided into six themes: 1) How did landscape change?; 2)
Improving temporal, chronological and transformational frameworks;
3) Linking landscapes of lowlands with mountainous areas; 4)
Applying concepts of scale; 5) New directions in digital
prospection and modelling techniques, and 6) How will landscape
archaeology develop in the future? This volume demonstrates a
worldwide interest in landscape archaeology, and the research
presented here draws upon and integrates the humanities and
sciences. This interdisciplinary approach is rapidly gaining
support in new regions where such collaborations were previously
uncommon.
Climate Physics is a modern subject based on a space-era
understanding of the physical properties of the atmosphere and
ocean, their planetary-scale history and evolution, new global
measurement systems and sophisticated computer models, which
collectively make quantitative studies and predictions possible. At
the same time, interest in understanding the climate has received
an enormous boost from the concern generated by the realization
that rapid climate change, much of it forced by the relentless
increase in population and industrialization, is potentially a
serious threat to the quality of life on Earth. Our ability to
resist and overcome any such threat depends directly on our ability
to understand what physical effects are involved and to predict how
trends may develop. In an introductory course like that presented
here, we want to clarify the basics, topic by topic, and see how
far we can get by applying relatively simple Physics to the climate
problem. This provides a foundation for more advanced work, which
we can identify and appreciate at this level although of course a
full treatment requires more advanced books, of which there are
many.
Sand, salt, iron, copper, oil and lithium. They built our world, and
they will transform our future.
These are the six most crucial substances in human history. They took
us from the Dark Ages to the present day. They power our computers and
phones, build our homes and offices, and create life-saving medicines.
But most of us take them completely for granted.
In Material World, Ed Conway travels the globe - from the sweltering
depths of the deepest mine in Europe, to spotless silicon chip
factories in Taiwan, to the eerie green pools where lithium originates
- to uncover a secret world we rarely see. Revealing the true marvel of
these substances, he follows the mind-boggling journeys, miraculous
processes and little-known companies that turn the raw materials we all
need into products of astonishing complexity.
As we wrestle with climate change, energy crises and the threat of new
global conflict, Conway shows why these substances matter more than
ever before, and how the hidden battle to control them will shape our
geopolitical future. This is the story of civilisation - our ambitions
and glory, innovations and appetites - from a new perspective:
literally from the ground up.
Case Studies in Geospatial Applications to Groundwater Resources
provides thorough the most up-to-date techniques in GIS and
geostatistics as they relate to groundwater, through detailed case
studies that prove real-world applications of remote sensing
applications to this subject. Groundwater is the primary source of
fresh water in many parts of the world, while come regions are
becoming overly dependent on it, consuming groundwater faster than
it is naturally replenished and causing water tables to decline
unremittingly. India is the largest user of groundwater in the
world followed by China and the USA, with developing countries
using groundwater at an unsustainable rate. Systematic planning of
groundwater usage using modern techniques is essential for the
proper utilization, management and modeling of this precious but
shrinking natural resource. With the advent of powerful and
highspeed personal computers, efficient techniques for water
management have evolved, of which remote sensing, GIS (Geographic
Information Systems), GPS (Global Positioning Systems) and
Geostatistical techniques are of great significance. This book
advances the scientific understanding, development, and application
of geospatial technologies related to water resource management.
Case Studies in Geospatial Applications to Groundwater Resources is
a valuable reference for researchers and postgraduate students in
Earth and Environmental Sciences, especially GIS, agriculture,
hydrology, natural resources, and soil science, who need to be able
to apply the latest technologies in groundwater research in a
practical manner.
Wild Law weaves politics, legal theory, quantum physics and ancient wisdom into a fascinating and inspiring story about how to rediscover a viable role for the human species within the Earth community.
This title has been seminal in inspiring the global movement to recognise rights for Nature - a movement destined to shape the 21st Century as significantly as the human rights movements shaped the 20th Century. Wild Law reveals how the governance systems of contemporary civilisations legitimise and promote the disastrous exploitation and destruction of Earth and why an Earth-centred approach is essential to address climate change and the accelerating degradation of the ecological systems on which we depend. Cormac Cullinan explains how to begin transforming industrialized societies to ensure that the pursuit of
human wellbeing enhances the beauty, health and diversity of Earth instead of diminishing it.
This edition includes a new preface, postscript and the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth proclaimed on 22nd April 2010 by the People's World Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth.
A journey through the great mass-extinction events that have shaped our Earth: 'Deeply informed and readable' Nature In this vast sweep of our Earth’s history, Michael Benton brings the deep past to life as never before. Deploying the cutting-edge tools in biology, chemistry, physics and geology that are transforming our understanding of previous environmental cataclysms – including the incredible new discovery of a hitherto unknown extinction event – he uncovers not only their lethal effects but also the processes that brought about such large-scale destruction. Beginning with the oldest extinction, Benton investigates the Late Ordovician, which set the evolution of the first animals on an entirely new course; the late Devonian, brought on by global warming; the cataclysmic End-Permian, which wiped out over 90 per cent of all life on Earth; and, book-ending the age of the dinosaurs, the newly discovered Carnian Pluvial Event and the End-Cretaceous asteroid. He examines how global warming, acid rain, ocean acidification, erupting volcanoes and meteorite impact have affected conditions on Earth, the drastic consequences for global ecology, and how life in turn survived, adapted and evolved. This expert retelling of scientific breakthroughs allows us to link long-ago upheavals to our modern crises. As today’s climate scientists and political leaders grapple to understand these processes and our planet enters the sixth great extinction, these insights from the past may hold the key to survival.
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