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Books > Earth & environment > Earth sciences > General
For Introductory Earth Science Courses This package includes MasteringGeology (TM) Ideal for undergraduates with little or no science background, Earth Science provides a student-friendly overview of our physical environment that offers balanced, up-to-date coverage of geology, oceanography, astronomy, and meteorology. The authors' texts have always been recognized for their readability, currency, dynamic art program, delivery of basic principles, and instructor flexibility. The Fourteenth Edition incorporates a new active-learning approach, a fully updated and mobile visual program, and MasteringGeology-the most complete, easy-to-use, engaging tutorial and assessment tool available. This program will provide an interactive and engaging learning experience for your students. Here's how: * Teach with an active learning path. Chapters have been broken up into small manageable sections that help students actively analyze information, assess their progress and think about Earth science. * Use art that teaches. Each chapter contains 5-7 SmartFigures. SmartFigures are illustrations that use Quick Response (QR) codes to link students to lecture-style videos. Also found in each chapter and accessed by QR codes are Mobile Field Trips, where students virtually accompany Michael Collier on adventures to explore different landscapes. * Cultivate an active learning environment that helps students achieve a deeper understanding of the text. * Personalize learning with MasteringGeology. This package includes MasteringGeology, an online homework, tutorial, and assessment program designed to work with this text to engage students and improve results. Interactive, self-paced tutorials provide individualized coaching to help students stay on track. With a wide range of activities available, students can actively learn, understand, and retain even the most difficult concepts. MasteringGeology should only be purchased when required by an instructor. Please be sure you have the correct ISBN and Course ID. Instructors, contact your Pearson representative for more information.
This book offers a study of the three evolutions in a circle (cosmos, life, and knowledge) with the aim of discussing human social behavior, a metaphor of the general behavior of nature (from which man derives) within the fluctuating equilibrium between the opposite tendencies to cohesion and shredding; a circularity revealing an indefinite and probably never conclusive run-up of human beings to the knowledge of nature; an analysis that demonstrates any theoretical/practical impossibility to formulate absolute certainties, since it depicts a situation in which man finds himself hovering between a rational way of living and the contradictory modus operandi of mythos. All that, within a society where the powerful communication and transportation technologies give rise to conflicts and fragmentations, where anyone's will to self-distinguishing is enhanced by highlighting any small difference and obscuring any large similarity. The main difference between this book and existing ones stems from its interdisciplinary nature, particularly because it establishes a close connection between three, apparently so different disciplines-cosmology, life sciences, and sociology-compared with respect to their increasing complexity laws, giving rise to always more chaotic configurations.
Spatial Analysis for Radar Remote Sensing of Tropical Forests is based on the authors' extensive involvement in Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) mapping projects, targeting the health of an earth ecosystem with great relevance for climate change studies: the tropical forests. The subject is developed from a vantage point provided by analysis in a combined space, scale (frequency), time, wavelength, polarization domain. The combination of space and scale offers the capability to zoom in and out like a virtual microscope to the resolution in tune with the underlying ecological phenomenon. It also enables statistical measures (correlations) related to the forest spatial distribution in case of backscatter, or to the canopy height variations in case of interferometric observations. The time dimension brings into play measures of the ecosystem dynamics, such as the flooding extent in the swamp forests, deforestation or degradation events. Wavelength and polarization agility extend the abovementioned capabilities by radar observations that are in tune with particular characteristics of the forest and terrain layers. The book's spotlight is on radar spatial random fields, these being populated by either backscatter observations or elevation data from interferometric SAR. The basic tenet here is that the spatial statistic of the fields measured by the wavelet variance (in stationary or non-stationary situations) carries fingerprints of the forest structure. Features: Uniquely focused on specific techniques that provide multi-resolution spatial and temporal analysis of forest structure characteristics and changes. Examines several large and important international remote sensing projects aimed at documenting entire tropical ecosystems. Provides novel wavelet methods for tropical forest structural measures. As the first book on this topic, this composite approach appeals to both students learning through important case studies and to researchers finding new ideas for future studies.
'Dust is a book with an extraordinary global story to tell, but - and - also with an ethical argument to advance. Robert Macfarlane Combining history and science, a sweeping look at the smallest substance and the biggest challenges facing people and the planet __________ Dust may seem inconsequential, so tiny and mundane as to slip below the threshold of thought. Yet within the next one hundred years, life on Earth will be profoundly changed by heat and drought - and that means dust. In this ground-breaking book, Jay Owens argues that dust is a legacy of twentieth-century progress and a toxic threat to life in the twenty-first. Dust: The Modern World in a Trillion Particles tells the gripping story of how the relentless drive for profit and power has turned the world to powder. Combining history and science, travel and nature writing, Owens shows how the modern world was made through environmental devastation - and then brushed the consequences under the carpet. From particle air pollution and nuclear fallout to desertification, dried-up seas and melting glaciers, we've profoundly altered the planet we live on. The cost to human health - and to the natural world - proves immense. From the California desert and the Dust Bowl in Oklahoma to the desiccated remains of the Aral Sea and the edge of the Greenland ice sheet, we are shown that some of the planet's most remote and forgotten places are central to the modern world. With clarity and insight, Dust: The Modern World in a Trillion Particles helps us understand our legacy and discovers the big ideas found within the smallest particles. __________
Contemporary soil science and conservation methods of effective forestry Forests and the soils that serve as their foundation cover almost a third of the world's land area. Soils influenced by forest cover have different properties than soils cultivated for agricultural use. Ecology and Management of Forest Soils provides a clear and comprehensive overview of the composition, structure, processes, and management of the largest terrestrial ecosystem. From composition and biogeochemistry to dynamics and management, this essential text enables readers to understand the vital components of sustainable, long-term forest soil fertility. The interaction of trees, animals, microbes, and vegetation alter the biology and chemistry of forest soils-these dynamics are also subject to human management, requiring conservationists to be conversant in the philosophy and methods of soil science. Now in its fifth edition, this classic text includes new coverage of uptake of organic nitrogen in forests, 15N retention studies, the effects of N additions on C accumulation, evidence-based examples of the dynamics of soils, and more. Extensive updates and revisions to topics such as spatial implications of megafires, long-term organic matter accumulation, soil characterization, and molecular soil measurement techniques reflect contemporary research and practices in the field. This informative overview of forest soils integrates clear and accurate descriptions of central concepts and logically organized chapters to provide readers with foundational knowledge of major soil features, processes, measurement techniques, and management methods. This authoritative survey of the management and ecology of forest soils: Offers full-color photographs and illustrations, real-world examples and case studies, and clear overviews to each topic Presents up-to-date and accessible coverage of contemporary forest science literature and research Addresses topical issues relevant to areas such as ecology, forest management, conservation, and government policy Provides a comprehensive, global perspective on forest soils, from tropical to temperate to boreal Presents balanced coverage of soil science principles and their practical application to forest management Ecology and Management of Forest Soils offers students in areas of soil science and forestry, natural resource and environmental management, ecology, agronomy, and conservation an invaluable overview of the field, while providing forestry professionals an efficient and current work of reference.
We all know that safety should be an integral part of the systems that we build and operate. The public demands that they are protected from accidents, yet industry and government do not always know how to reach this common goal. This book gives engineers and managers working in companies and governments around the world a pragmatic and reasonable approach to system safety and risk assessment techniques. It explains in easy-to-understand language how to design workable safety management systems and implement tested solutions immediately.
Inside the epic quest to find life on the water-rich moons at the outer reaches of the solar system Where is the best place to find life beyond Earth? We often look to Mars as the most promising site in our solar system, but recent scientific missions have revealed that some of the most habitable real estate may actually lie farther away. Beneath the frozen crusts of several of the small, ice-covered moons of Jupiter and Saturn lurk vast oceans that may have existed for as long as Earth, and together may contain more than fifty times its total volume of liquid water. Could there be organisms living in their depths? Alien Oceans reveals the science behind the thrilling quest to find out. Kevin Peter Hand is one of today's leading NASA scientists, and his pioneering research has taken him on expeditions around the world. In this captivating account of scientific discovery, he brings together insights from planetary science, biology, and the adventures of scientists like himself to explain how we know that oceans exist within moons of the outer solar system, like Europa, Titan, and Enceladus. He shows how the exploration of Earth's oceans is informing our understanding of the potential habitability of these icy moons, and draws lessons from what we have learned about the origins of life on our own planet to consider how life could arise on these distant worlds. Alien Oceans describes what lies ahead in our search for life in our solar system and beyond, setting the stage for the transformative discoveries that may await us.
Life-cycle assessment is a methodology used to evaluate the environmental impacts of a product, process, or service during its life cycle, and risk assessment is a tool to evaluate potential hazards to human health and the environment introduced by pollutant emissions. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals call for, among other objectives, responsible consumption and production by decoupling environmental resource use and environmental impacts from economic growth and human well-being. Life-cycle assessment and risk assessment are both analytical system approaches that allow scientists and other decision makers to address these issues and objectives according to the current understanding of environmental mechanisms. This book is the first attempt to illustrate the existing interfaces between life-cycle assessment and risk assessment and to indicate options for further integration of both tools. The second edition: Focuses on sustainability Considers new developments in life-cycle assessment and environmental risk assessment over the last ten years at the international level Introduces broader concepts and discussions on integrative versus the complementary use of life-cycle and risk assessments Extends the scope of integrated life-cycle and risk assessments to critical raw materials Includes more case studies and discusses engineered nanomaterials Featuring contributions from leading experts, Integrated Life-Cycle and Risk Assessment for Industrial Processes and Products is a great reference for graduate students and professionals in environmental management and intends to catalyze communication between life-cycle assessment and risk assessment experts and scientists in academia, industry, and governmental agencies. The practical format of the book-illustrated with flowcharts, examples, exercises, and concrete applications-makes it a useful manual for analyzing situations and making decisions.
This book presents a novel way to enable people, regardless of their scale of influence, to take responsibility for global environmental problems including climate change. It introduces a new framework called Planetary Accounting, which allows the Planetary Boundaries, non-negotiable limits for the environment, to be translated into limits for human activity. It shows how such limits can be broken down into chunks that can be managed at different levels (from individual and community, to business and sector levels, to cities and regions), and at any level of government. The book begins by summarising the science of climate change and introducing the notion of the Anthropocene - the "human age". It highlights the importance of returning to and remaining within the Planetary Boundaries but shows that we can't realistically do so unless we have a new approach to environmental accounting. The book then outlines how Planetary Accounting furnishes this new approach by combining sustainability science, change theory, and environmental accounting to create a scalable framework for environmental management that encourages systemic and individual change. The details of the science of and our human contribution to ten critical human pressures are then presented, and the book concludes with a guide for those seeking to apply Planetary Accounting in practice. Planetary Accounting could form the scientific underpinning of behaviour change programs, guide the development of policy and regulations, and provide both the basis for environmental laws, and the foundation of future global environmental agreements. It has been 50 years since the first views from space showed a blue planet alone in our solar system. This book is an historic opportunity to provide humanity for the first time with sufficient information to begin implementing Planetary Accounting.
This book provides a comprehensive overview of the chemistry of CO2 in relation to surface interactions and photocatalytic transformation by UV radiation. The first part deals with the modelling of an anatase surface, its interaction with CO2, and the spontaneous exchange of oxygen atoms between the gas and solid phases. The book then naturally transitions to the photocatalytic reduction of CO2, achieved by adding UV radiation and traces of water to the experimental system, to produce methane and CO. This photocatalytic reduction is explained in detail and the implications for planetary chemistry (specifically concerning Mars), as well as Earth's atmospheric chemistry and global warming, are discussed.
A riveting look at how dog and humans became best friends, and the first history of dog domestication to include insights from indigenous peoples In this fascinating book, Raymond Pierotti and Brandy Fogg change the narrative about how wolves became dogs and in turn, humanity's best friend. Rather than describe how people mastered and tamed an aggressive, dangerous species, the authors describe coevolution and mutualism. Wolves, particularly ones shunned by their packs, most likely initiated the relationship with Paleolithic humans, forming bonds built on mutually recognized skills and emotional capacity. This interdisciplinary study draws on sources from evolutionary biology as well as tribal and indigenous histories to produce an intelligent, insightful, and often unexpected story of cooperative hunting, wolves protecting camps, and wolf-human companionship. This fascinating assessment is a must-read for anyone interested in human evolution, ecology, animal behavior, anthropology, and the history of canine domestication.
This book introduces a trans-scale framework necessary for the physical understanding of breakdown behaviors and presents some new paradigm to clarify the mechanisms underlying the trans-scale processes. The book, which is based on the interaction of mechanics and statistical physics, will help to deepen the understanding of how microdamage induces disaster and benefit the forecasting of the occurrence of catastrophic rupture. It offers notes and problems in each part as interesting background and illustrative exercises. Readers of the book would be graduate students, researchers, engineers working on civil, mechanical and geo-engineering, etc. However, people with various background but interested in disaster reduction and forecasting, like applied physics, geophysics, seismology, etc., may also be interested in the book.
'AN ORIGINAL AND TIMELY ODYSSEY INTO OUR MYSTERIOUS UNDERWORLD . . . THRILLING PROOF THAT SCIENCE AND IMAGINATION SHARE THE GROUND BENEATH OUR FEET' Nicholas Crane, presenter of BBC2's Coast and Great British Journeys If you were to peel back the Earth's surface like an orange, then take a sly peek underneath, what extraordinary things would you see? Subterranea is where the world's remaining mysteries are yet to be found. For millennia, across nations and cultures, it has been a hotbed of fantastical stories. It's where humans have kept their most sacred treasures and their darkest secrets. It's where we have found evidence of our past and may, at some point, find an escape route for our uncertain future. But what would we find there today? From the underground cities of Cappadocia to smuggling tunnels on the US-Mexico border, caves full of tiny blind dragons and a seed vault located 1300km inside the Arctic circle, Subterranea demonstrates that the world below our feet is every bit as vivid and evocative as the world we see around us. Lavishly illustrated and replete with maps and photographs of little-explored locations, Subterranea is the unique, untold and utterly unforgettable story of our planet from the inside.
Comprehensive coverage of the whole Earth system throughout its entire existence and beyond Complete with a new introduction by the authors, this updated edition helps provide an understanding of the past, present, and future processes that occur on and in our Earth--the fascinating, yet potentially lethal, set of atmospheric, surface, and internal processes that interact to produce our living environment. It introduces students to our planet's four key interdependent systems: the atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere, focusing on their key components, the interactions between them, and environmental change. The book also uses geological case studies throughout, in addition to the modern processes. Topics covered in the Second Edition of Earth Environments: Past, Present and Future include: an Earth systems model; components systems and processes; atmospheric systems; oceanography; surface and internal geological systems; biogeography; and aspects of Earth's record. The book also discusses the impact of climate and environmental change in a final chapter that draws together Earth's systems and their evolution, and looks ahead to potential future changes in Earth's environments. Updated to include all the major developments since 2008 Features research boxes containing summaries based on recent key journal articles Includes a companion web site containing multiple choice revision quizzes for students, PowerPoint slides for lecturers, useful links, and more Presents further reading for each topic so that students can build their knowledge base to underpin their own undergraduate research project/dissertation Offers additional case studies in each chapter for enhanced reader understanding Earth Environments: Past, Present and Future is an excellent text for undergraduates in geosciences, environmental science, physical geography, natural hazards, and ecology.
This White Paper describes the state of astrobiology in Europe today and its relation to the European society at large. With contributions from authors in twenty countries and over thirty scientific institutions worldwide, the document illustrates the societal implications of astrobiology and the positive contribution that astrobiology can make to European society. The White paper has two main objectives: 1. It recommends the establishment of a European Astrobiology Institute (EAI) as an answer to a series of challenges relating to astrobiology but also European research, education and the society at large. 2. It also acknowledges the societal implications of astrobiology, and thus the role of the social sciences and humanities in optimizing the positive contribution that astrobiology can make to the lives of the people of Europe and the challenges they face. This book is recommended reading for science policy makers, the interested public, and the astrobiology community.
Plant Breeding Reviews presents state-of-the-art reviews on plant genetics and the breeding of all types of crops by both traditional means and molecular methods. Many of the crops widely grown today stem from a very narrow genetic base; understanding and preserving crop genetic resources is vital to the security of food systems worldwide. The emphasis of the series is on methodology, a fundamental understanding of crop genetics, and applications to major crops.
Almost 50 years have passed since the famous papers of Hugo Rietveld from the late sixties where he describes a method for the refinement of crystal structures from neutron powder diffraction data. Soon after, the potential of the method for laboratory X-ray powder diffraction was discovered. Although the method is now widely accepted, there are still many pitfalls in the theoretical understanding and in practical daily use. This book closes the gap with a theoretical introduction for each chapter followed by a practical approach. The flexible macro type language of the Topas Rietveld software can be considered as the defacto standard.
Infrastructure is the key to creating a sustainable community. It affects our future well-being as well as the economic climate. Indeed, the infrastructure we are building today will shape tomorrow's communities. GeoMEast 2017 created a venue for researchers and practitioners from all over the world to share their expertise to advance the role of innovative geotechnology in developing sustainable infrastructure. This volume focuses on the role of soil-structure-interaction and soil dynamics. It discusses case studies as well as physical and numerical models of geo-structures. It covers: Soil-Structure-Interaction under static and dynamic loads, dynamic behavior of soils, and soil liquefaction. It is hoped that this volume will contribute to further advance the state-of-the-art for the next generation infrastructure. This volume is part of the proceedings of the 1st GeoMEast International Congress and Exhibition on Sustainable Civil Infrastructures, Egypt 2017.
A modern guide to environmental chemistry Chemistry of Environmental Systems: Fundamental Principles and Analytical Methods offers a comprehensive and authoritative review of modern environmental chemistry, discussing the chemistry and interconnections between the atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere and biosphere. Written by internationally recognized experts, the textbook explores the chemistries of the natural environmental systems and demonstrates how these chemical processes change when anthropogenic emissions are introduced into the whole earth system. This important text: Combines the key areas of environmental chemistry needed to understand the sources, fates, and impacts of contaminants in the environment Describes a range of environmental analytical methodologies Explores the basic environmental effects of energy sources, including nuclear energy Encourages a proactive approach to environmental chemistry, with a focus on preventing future environmental problems Includes study questions at the end of each chapter Written for students of environmental chemistry, environmental science, environmental engineering, geoscience, earth and atmospheric sciences, Chemistry of Environmental Systems: Fundamental Principles and Analytical Methods covers the key aspects and mechanisms of currently identified environmental issues, which can be used to address both current and future environmental problems.
The primary goals of this brief are to invoke alertness and solidarity among the public in earthquake prone areas of India, and to empower the community to prepare themselves to face and manage the aftermath of an earthquake. The work presented here sheds new light on the action plans to be taken by the common public and public agencies, before, during and after earthquakes to safeguard lives of people and minimize loss of assets. This carefully presented book articulates various factors related to earthquake preparedness, and develops guidelines and useful tips for communicating them to relevant stakeholders. The book has been divided into three parts: (i) the first providing background which explains earthquakes in general and seismicity of India (ii) the second explores earthquake preparedness intended for individuals, families and various stakeholders, and (iii) the final section which describes various strategies for communities to prepare themselves for a future earthquake.
Featuring a collection of informative and descriptive chapters, this book is essential reading for environmental scientists, environmental toxicologists and people from allied fields. The research and its outcomes presented here focus on pollution prevention approaches, clean technologies and toxic use reduction that has the potential for eliminating worker exposure to health risks; and creates healthy and sustainable ecosystems. Readers will discover ways to incorporate prevention in the design of industrial processes that help to eliminate harmful environmental effects while promoting the competitiveness of industries. Issues such as biological control agents for sustainable urban agriculture, safe water and soil health; waste management and utilization in food processing industries, and ranking of Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene and Xylene (BTEX) with respect to ozone formation are addressed in this book. Particular attention is given to interrelated issues associated with global warming and the use of genetically engineered organisms (GEM's) for combating pollution in extreme environments. The authors invite researchers to think through the critical analysis presented here and recommend future pathways for further research.
This book covers the approaches, applied methods and central participatory processes at the science-stakeholder interfaces embedded in the development of the "Earth System Knowledge Platform (ESKP)". The latter is an initiative of the German Helmholtz Association, synthesizing the expertise of the eight Helmholtz research institutions focusing on Earth System Sciences. The contributions showcase the approach of the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) within the ESKP initiative. Central focus is placed on the question as to which knowledge transfer processes can be employed to foster meaningful approaches based on science-stakeholder dialogues, data products, and/or modelling. The authors suggest that the tools and approaches for enhancing the vital contributions of science to addressing societal challenges warrant further investigation and development. |
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