Prehistoric North Americans lived on, in, and surrounded by nature. As a result, everything they were resulted from this co-existence. From interpersonal relations to supernatural beliefs, from housing size and function to the food they ate and clothing they wore, the life of Native Americans before the arrival of Europeans was intimately intertwined with the environment. What is known about these societies is often sketchy at best, having survived largely through archaeological remains and oral tradition. Scholars have tried to understand Native American history on its own terms, trying to understand who and what they were in reality - a complex, diverse multitude of populations that defined themselves entirely through what they saw, heard, and experienced everyday - their natural environment. Nature and the Environment in Pre-Columbian American Life provides an overview of all aspects of how native peoples interacted with the environment: How did prehistoric North Americans use their knowledge of the environment to hunt and gather for food, or raise crops? What was the interaction between humans and animals? How did Native Americans find entertainment and leisure in their environments? How and where did people live in conjunction with and often in spite of the elements? This accessible resource provides an excellent introduction for those needing a first step to researching the daily lives of Native Americans in the centuries before the arrival of Europeans.

This is a tale of human obsession, one intrepid tuna, the dedicated fisherman who caught and set her free, the promises and limits of ocean science and the big truth of how our insatiable appetite for bluefin transformed a cottage industry into a global dilemma. In 2004, an enigmatic charter captain named Al Anderson caught and marked one Atlantic bluefin tuna off New England’s coast with a plastic fish tag. Fourteen years later that fish – dubbed Amelia for her ocean-spanning journeys – died in a Mediterranean fish trap, sparking Karen Pinchin’s riveting investigation into the marvels, struggles, and prehistoric legacy of this remarkable species. Over his fishing career Al marked more than sixty thousand fish with plastic tags, an obsession that made him nearly as many enemies as it did friends. His quest landed him in the crossfire of an ongoing fight between a booming bluefin tuna industry and desperate conservation efforts, a conflict that is once again heating up as overfishing and climate change threaten the fish’s fate. Kings of Their Own Ocean is an urgent investigation that combines science, business, crime, and environmental justice. As Pinchin writes, ‘as a global community, we are collectively only ever a few terrible choices away from wiping out any ocean species.’ Through her exclusive access and interdisciplinary, mesmerizing lens, readers will join her on boats and docks as she visits tuna hot spots and scientists from Portugal to Japan, New Jersey to Nova Scotia, and glimpse, as the author does, rays of dazzling hope for the future of our oceans.

This empirical study provides an introduction to the dynamics of regulatory federalism and is the first book to focus on the major surface mining regulations. A broad spectrum of contributors, most with first-hand experience, describe the forces that have shaped the implementation of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act since 1972. They offer varying perspectives for understanding interest group conflicts, technological and market considerations, intergovernmental procedures and problems. They describe the forces shaping the policy implementation process at the federal, state, and local level. This case study is intended for political scientists, public administrators, citizen activists and experts, historians, and students dealing with mining and regulatory policy.

The edited collection opens with an overview of policy formation and implementation in the United States, drawing upon theoretical studies of pluralism, federalism, interest group politics, and intergovernmental dynamics. The case study defines the legislative and administrative history of surface mining regulation; the impact of interest groups, courts, and the states on the implementation of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act; the influence of the coal industry and of environmental interests, federal and state relations, and the intergovernmental process.

First published in 1997, this volume addressed the growing preoccupation of scientists at the time had in environmental phenomena, such as global warming, ozone layer depletion, acid rains, fresh water and ocean pollution, desertification, deforestation and the loss of bio-diversity. The crucial and pressing nature of these issues spawned says the author a new wave of research in environmental economics. The volume provides broad surveys of the developments in the economics of the environment and reports on the developing set of environmental problems, analytical tools and economic policies. The importance of the developing approach was that environmental problems are no longer isolated from all other economic dimensions. Throughout the volume they are analysed in an open, generally non-competitive economy with transnational or global externalities. The first part deals with the relationship between the environment, economic growth and technological innovation. The second part analyses the optimal design of environmental taxation, while the third part considers the international dimension of environmental policy.

1. Land Resources, Land Use and Projected Land Availability for Alternative Uses in the EC.- 1.1. Introduction.- 1.2. Land Use Structure.- 1.3. Climate and Soils.- 1.4. Slope Characteristics of Land.- 1.5. Assessing Future Land Requirements for Major Uses in the EEC.- 1.6. Projected Land Use Changes.- 1.7. Concluding Remarks.- 2. Trends in the Transformation of European Agriculture.- 2.1. Introduction.- 2.2. Types of Agriculture in Europe.- 2.3. Agricultural Regions in Europe.- 2.4. Conclusions.- 3. Future Land Use Patterns in Europe.- 3.1. Introduction.- 3.2. Land Use Patterns in Europe.- 3.3. New Technologies and Changing Land Use Patterns.- 3.4. Climate Change and Soil Degradation in Relation to Changing Land Use Patterns.- 3.5. Future Land Use Changes in Europe.- 3.6. Concluding Remarks.- 4. The Role and Impact of Biophysical Determinants on Present and Future Land Use Patterns in Europe.- 4.1. Introduction.- 4.2. Major Determinants of Land Use Patterns in Europe.- 4.3. Effect of Biophysical Parameters on Crop Growth.- 4.4. Land Assessment Based on the Physical Potential of the Land.- 4.5. Concluding Remarks.- 5. Atmospheric Methane: Estimates of Its Past. Present and Future and Its Role in Effecting Changes in Atmospheric Chemistry.- 5.1. Introduction.- 5.2. The Greenhouse Effect.- 5.3. Chemical Interferences.- 5.4. Climatic Implications.- 5.5. The Global Methane Budget.- 5.6. Biogenic Sources.- 5.7. Methane of Non-biological Origin.- 5.8. Pre-industrial Methane Emissions.- 5.9. Future Trends.- 5.10. Concluding Remarks.- 6. Perspectives on a Changing Hydroclimate: Land Use Implications.- 6.1. Introduction.- 6.2. The Hydrological Cycle.- 6.3. Interdependency of Catchment Hydrology and Land Use.- 6.4. Environmental Manipulation.- 6.5. Influence of Climatic Change.- 6.6. Sustainable Interaction between Society and the Water Cycle.- 6.7. Matrices to Clarify the Impacts of Changes.- 6.8. Conclusion.- 7. Dynamics in Land Use Patterns: Socio-economic and Environmental Aspects of the Second Agricultural Land Use Revolution.- 7.1. Introduction.- 7.2. Development and Sustainability: A Methodological Framework.- 7.3. Land Use and Economics: An Historical Orientation.- 7.4. Agricultural Land Use and the Environment.- 7.5. Overproduction in the Agricultural Sector: An International Perspective.- 7.6. Strategic and Scientific Options for Co-evolutionary Development.- 8. Climatic Change and Land Use Impact in Europe.- 8.1. Introduction.- 8.2. European Climate-Vegetation-Soil Relationships.- 8.3. Major Future Shifts of Biomes and Land Use.- 8.4. Climate Related Acidification, Eutrophication and Aridification.- 9. Climatic Changes and Land Use Potential in Europe.- 9.1. Introduction.- 9.2. Specific Approaches.- 9.3. A Summary of Possible Effects of Climatic Change on Agricultural Potential in Europe.- 9.4. Potential Technological and Management Responses.- 9.5. Conclusions.- 10. Environmental Constraints on Agricultural Production.- 10.1. Introduction.- 10.2. Materials and Methods Applied.- 10.3. Results of the Experiments.- 10.4. Measures to Prevent Leaching.- 10.5. Conclusion.- 11. Potential Effects of Climate and Land Use Changes on the Water Balance Structure in Poland.- 11.1. Introduction.- 11.2. Methods of Assessing the Heat and Water Balance Structure.- 11.3. Scenarios of Heat and Water Balance Components.- 11.4. Conclusions.- 12. Soil Erosion, Soil Degradation and Climatic Change.- 12.1. Introduction.- 12.2. Soil Erosion in Western Europe.- 12.3. Establishing Information on Erosion and Degradation.- 12.4. Land Degradation: The World Problem.- 12.5. Soil Erosion and Climatic Change.- 13. Salinization Potential of European Soils.- 13.1. Introduction.- 13.2. Salinization of Groundwater and Soils.- 13.3. Major Aspects of Soil Salinity.- 13.4. Future Potential for Salt-affected Soils in Europe.- 13.5. Prevention and Monitoring of Secondary Salinization.- 14. Changes in Rates of Weathering and Erosion Induced by Acid Emissions and Ag...

In addition to describing core concepts and principles, this book reveals professional methodologies and tools used by national agencies and private corporations to predict sites' potential for wind and solar power generation. Each chapter focuses on a different issue, showing readers the corresponding methodology, as well as examples of how to apply the techniques described. These techniques are explained with step-by-step guides that demonstrate how environmental variables in complex terrains can be characterized and forecasted.The authors present an adaptive finite element mass-consistent model, which computes a diagnostic wind field in the three-dimensional area of interest using observed wind data from measurement stations - data which is then interpolated using a physical model of the wind field in the boundary layer. An ensemble method is presented based on the perturbation of the numerical weather prediction models' results. The book goes on to explain solar radiation characterization and forecasting. Solar radiation and electrical power generation temporal and spatial variability are discussed and modelled. Different statistical methods are presented in order to improve solar radiation forecasting using ground measurement, numerical weather predictions (NWPs) and satellite-derived data. This book is focused on both probabilistic and point forecast explaining different models and methodologies to improve the forecasting. The results obtained from various simulations around the world are presented in tables. Finally, the book explains a possible methodology to develop a Solar Map taking into account solar radiation, terrain surface conditions and cast shadows. As such, the book provides an overview of the concepts, principles and practices involved in the treatment of environmental variables related to solar radiation or wind fields, especially when complex terrains are involved, offering useful resources for students and researchers alike. It also equips professionals with the methodologies and tools needed to construct environmental variable maps and conduct forecasting for solar radiation and wind fields.

A complete, forward-thinking guide to environmental community relations procedures and program development
The Practical Guide to Environmental Community Relations offers a comprehensive hands-on framework for working successfully with community residents and other stakeholders to prevent, resolve, or minimize conflicts on environmental issues. Featuring detailed checklists, forms, and worksheets, the book equips you with ready-to-use knowledge and skills in key areas of environmental community relations development:
* Community assessment--how to identify stakeholders and concerns, determine assessment parameters, conduct interviews, analyze data, and report findings
* Communications--how to develop a powerful communications program through written materials, personal communications, and focused media strategy, and how the essential principles of technical, crisis, and risk communication fit within the context of community relations
* Community relations techniques--how to manage public meetings, tours, availability sessions, and other events, plus advice on how to create and run Community Advisory Panels (CAPs)
* Community relations programs--how to plan and implement programs effectively, including establishing common goals and working with stakeholders constructively to achieve positive results
* Environmental regulations--including RCRA, CERCLA/SARA, NCP, NPDES, EPCRA, and Clean Air Act Accidental Release Prevention and Risk Management Programs
* Cutting-edge issues--investigation and cleanup of contaminated sites, permitting of facilities, federal facilities programs, environmental justice, and more

Complete with mini-case studies revealing important do's and don'ts of community outreach in action, this accessible guide is a vital resource for private and public sector professionals working in environmental and facilities management, community relations, public affairs, and law.

Academic writing on environmental communication proliferated in the 1990's. A few of us had been calling for such work and making initial investigations throughout the 1980's, but the momentum in the field built slowly. Spurred by coverage in the mass media, academic publishers finally caught the wave of interest. In this exciting new volume, the editors demonstrate more fully than ever before how environmental rhetoric and technical communication go hand in hand. The key link that they and their distinguished group of contributors have discovered is the ancient concern of communication scholars with public deliberation. Environmental issues present technical communicators with some of their greatest challenges, above all, how to make the highly specialized and inscrutably difficult technical information generated by environmental scientists and engineers usable in public decision making. The editors encourage us to accept the challenge of contributing to environmentally conscious decision making by integrating technical knowledge and human values. For technical communicators who accept the challenge of working toward solutions by opening access to crucial information and by engaging in critical thinking on ecological issues, the research and theory offered in this volume provide a strong foundation for future practice.

Spatial Planning Systems of Britain and France brings together a wide selection of comparative essays to highlight the fundamental similarities and differences between the spatial planning in Great Britain and France: two countries that are near neighbours and yet have developed very different modes of planning in terms of their structure, practical application and underlying philosophies. Drawing on the outcomes of the Franco-British Planning Study Group and with a foreword by Vincent Renard of the Ecole Polytechnique in Paris, the book offers a comparative investigation of the basic contexts for planning in both countries, including its administrative, economic, financial and legal implications, and then move on to illustrate themes such as urban policy and transport planning through detailed analysis and case studies. From these investigations the book brings together planning concepts from both a national and European perspective, looking particularly at two current issues: the effects of urban growth on small market towns and the use of Public-Private partnerships to implement development projects. Spatial Planning Systems of Britain and France will prove invaluable to policy makers and practitioners in both countries at a time when national policy is beginning to look towards practice in other countries. The book is published simultaneously in English and French opening up a wider debate between the English-speaking and francophone worlds.

Improved efficiency and effectiveness in the construction industry provide huge potential savings. Various forms of relational contracting such as partnering, alliancing, public private partnership (PPP), and joint venture are good examples of this. Relational Contracting for Construction Excellence presents the principles of relational contracting, practicalities and a series of short case studies. Principles begins with the fundamentals then covers development in major countries, definitions of relational contracting, their benefits, difficulties, critical success factors and key performance indicators. Practice includes the relational contracting approach and process in general, and significant factors which make workshops successful, at whatever stage of the process. A number of real-life case studies from the UK, USA, Australia, and Hong Kong are provided. Since the book draws on a combination of practical consultancy works and university research, a wide range of readers will find it useful, i.e. from industrial practitioners to undergraduate students.

This book explains how and why large oil-producing corporations have affected government institutions, energy policy, and politics in the United States—and suggests how their influence can be reduced. Big oil is the leading factor in U.S. energy politics today; the largest oil-producing companies also constitute a formidable force and interest group in American politics. This book examines why oil is so important and how the prominence of huge corporations—often working in the absence of countervailing forces—has affected government institutions, policy (with a focus on energy policy), and politics in the United States. Analyzing big oil's influence on political outcomes, particularly through campaign contributions and lobbying, this book shows how strong corporate power affects political participation. The book documents how the influence of big oil flows in all directions, intricately connecting U.S. policies at all levels—foreign policy, federal, state, and even local—regarding oil exploration, development, production, and transportation. Readers will come away with a clear understanding of how these multi-tiered relationships between oil corporations and governments work to the advantage of corporations—and to the disadvantage of states and the citizens they represent.

This book argues that the performance-based work in the featured case studies contributes to the construction of food democracy where the public takes back decision-making in shaping the food system. It explores how contemporary artists translate scientific research about local and global agricultural issues into life stories that inform and engage their audiences and, in so doing, transform passive food consumers into proactive food citizens. The pairing of performing and farmscapes (complex webs of farmlands and storylines) enables artists to use embodied practices to encourage audiences to imagine a just and sustainable agri-food system and to collaborate on making it a reality. The book arranges the case studies on a trajectory that moves from projects that foreground knowledge acquisition to ones that emphasize social engagement by creating conversations and coalitions between farming and nonfarming communities to a final one that pairs protest art and political activism to achieve legally-binding changes in the agricultural landscape.

A fascinating study of the environmental history of Australia, New Zealand, and the islands of the Pacific, from the time of the dinosaurs to the present day. Of interest to students and academics alike, this book provides a much-needed synthesis of the recent literature on the environmental history of Australia and Oceania. Part of ABC-CLIO's Nature and Human Societies series, this book maps out the key trends in the region's environmental history, charting the creation of the Australian continent from the ancient land mass of Gondwanaland to the arrival of humans. Especially fascinating are the chapters highlighting how successive waves of human migration created environmental havoc throughout the region, leading to the collapse of the Easter Island civilization and the spread of nonindigenous flora and fauna. From the controversies over the reasons why creatures such as the marsupial lion and the giant kangaroo became extinct to such contemporary problems as deforestation and global warming, this book contains sobering lessons for us all. A chronology covers key phenomena and events in the region's environmental history from before the dinosaurs to the present day Includes an annotated bibliography detailing the major works on the history of the region's environment

This study of environmentla impact assessment includes four Sections. Section 1 discusses the current state of implementation of the directives on environmental impact assessment and environmental hazards. It also includes a paper on the Dutch integral environmental zoning project. Section 2 deals with EIA approaches and techniques. First, the phases of an EIA study and the risk analysis methods are described. Then, Danish experiences in EIA,, environmental planning in the Ruhr area and pollution abatement in oil refineries and inorganic chemical industries are illustrated. Finally, a decision support system for EIA is presented. Section 3 is devoted to environmental indicators and indices. A first paper investigates the fundamental problems related to the notions of environmental indicator and measurement scale. The assessment of air, surface water, ground water and soil quality indicators and indices is then discussed in detail. The last two papers of this section deal with ecotoxicological risk indicators for environmental chemicals and industrial plant risk indicators, respectively. Finally, Section 4 discusses the economical and sociological dimensions of EIA. The book should be of value to scientists and technicians involved in environmental impact, environmental compatibility and environmental audit studies.

Over the past five decades, the European Union (EU) has developed into the most legally and politically authoritative regional organization in the world, wielding significant influence across a wide range of issue areas. European Union and Environmental Governance focuses on the growing global role of EU environmental and sustainable development policies in Europe and around the world.

Written in a concise and accessible manner, this book introduces and examines the major European and global environmental issues, debates, and policies and provides a critical, evidence-based evaluation of the achievements and shortcomings to date in EU environmental and sustainability governance. Providing both an historical overview and a discussion of the major future legal, political and economic challenges to the realization of EU goals related to better environmental governance, the authors offer a comprehensive introduction to this key issue.

This book will be useful reading for students of global environmental politics, comparative environmental politics and policy, international organizations, European politics, and environmental studies.

Although enormous industrial advances were made in the USSR, the country still lagged behind the West in the post-industrial age. What the Soviets could not build or manufacture, they had to get from the West. The final outcome was a culture developed in which there was no regard for consumerism and no respect for the environment. The author traces the development of the Soviet malaise, but warns that a future authoritarian regime could still revive the technological race. Conversely, he also replies to the academic debate on the excesses of modern technology in the West, with a sharp criticism of feminist and post-modernist perspectives.

This book highlights the positive and negative impacts that hemp fibre and textiles have on environment, while studying the effects of climate change on the growth of fibre hemp. Human-induced climate change challenge the availability of textile fibres, whereas today's apparel industry leaves behind a substantial environmental footprint. Sustainable hemp textiles can lighten it. The book describes the environmental impact of hemp and how climate change influences future hemp growth. Hemp is considered in most literature as a sustainable alternative for the commonly used fibres polyester and cotton. However, most research does not go farther than the environmental impacts of hemp, and there is currently a lack of knowledge/literature that examines the possibilities of hemp growth under changing climate conditions.