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Books > Earth & environment > The environment > General
Future Risks and Risk Management provides a broad perspective on risk, including basic philosophical issues concerned with values, psychological issues, such as the perception of risk, the factors that generate risks in current and future technological and social systems, including both technical and organizational factors. No other volume adopts this broad perspective. Future Risks and Risk Management will be useful in a variety of contexts, both for teaching and as a source book for the risk professional needing to be informed of the broader issues in the field.
Governments, big business and communities are coming under increased pressure to develop low carbon energy supply technologies. Within the context of the climate change debate a delicate balance has to be reached between local environmental protection and our need for reliable low carbon energy. This books brings together ten years of research conducted by the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research and uses a range of case studies from carbon capture and storage to on-shore wind farms to explore the complex nature of disputes between a wide variety of stakeholder groups. Topics covered include: the importance of context the relationship between risk and trust sense of place role of the media An invaluable resource for researchers and readers in local or national government, industry or community groups who wish to deepen their understanding of controversy around low carbon technology and how to overcome it.
Genetically Engineered Marine Organisms: Environmental and Economic Risks and Benefits provides a comprehensive, multidisciplinary overview of the environmental, economic, and regulatory implications of advances in marine biotechnology. The book has been specifically designed to bridge the gap between the rapidly advancing marine biotechnology industry and the government agencies that are responsible for risk assessment and regulation. Editors Raymond Zilinskas and Peter Balint have brought together experts in risk assessment, marine ecology, biotechnology, economics, and the law, to provide a unique way of examining complex issues in marine biotechnology. The contributors present innovative and challenging recommendations for protecting public health and the environment, while encouraging the development of beneficial new products in the field of marine biotechnology. As an added feature, each chapter includes a comprehensive, up-to-date bibliography. Genetically Engineered Marine Organisms: Environmental and Economic Risks and Benefits will prove invaluable to students, researchers and public employees involved with risk assessment. The book will appeal to industry personnel involved with the preparation of marine biotechnology products; scientists and administrators involved with applied research in marine biotechnology; policy analysts concerned with the economics of marine fisheries; and university personnel who focus on the interaction of risk, technology, and public policy.
If architectural judgment were a city, a city of ideas and forms, then it is a very imperfect city. When architects judge the success or failure of a building, the range of ways and criteria which can be used for this evaluation causes many contentious and discordant arguments. Proposing that the increase in number and intensity of such arguments threatens to destabilize the very grounds upon which judgment is supposed to rest, this book examines architectural judgment in its historical, cultural, political, and psychological dimensions and their convergence on that most expressive part of architecture, namely: architectural character. It stresses the value of reasoned judgment in justifying architectural form -a judgment based on three sets of criteria: those criteria that are external to architecture, those that are internal to architecture, and those that pertain to the psychology of the architect as image-maker. External criteria include, philosophies of history or theories of modernity; internal criteria include architectural character and architectural composition; while the psychological criteria pertain to 'mimetic rivalry', or rivaling desires for the same architectural forms. Yet, although architectural conflicts can adversely influence judgment, they can at the same time, contribute to the advancement of architectural culture.
'In this excellent book, Ecott's evocative telling makes me want to go to this weird and wonderful place.' - PAUL THEROUX 'I never want to leave the remote island world so atmospherically, precisely educed between the covers of this book. Ecott's prose has the power of tides, his perception is as searching as the Atlantic wind, and he has the soul of a natural-born naturalist. A masterpiece.' - JOHN LEWIS-STEMPLE Following the natural cycle of the year, The Land of Maybe captures the essence of 'slow life' on the 18 remote, mysterious islands which make up the Faroes in the North Atlantic. Closer to the UK than Denmark, this fast disappearing world is home to a close-knit society where just 50,000 people share Viking roots and a language that is unlike any other in Scandinavia. We follow the arrival of the migratory birds, the over-wintering of the sheep and the way food is gathered and eaten in tune with the seasons. Buffeted by the weather and the demands of a volatile natural environment, people still hunt seabirds and herd pilot whales for a significant portion of their basic food needs. This is not a travelogue, but a deeper exploration of how 'to be' in a tough landscape; a study of a people and a way of life that represents continuity and a deep connection to the past. The Land of Maybe offers not just a refuge from the freneticism of modern life, but lessons about where we come from and how we may find a balance in our lives.
Travel & Tourism is by any measure a massive modern day industry - in the same league as cars, oil, telecommunication and agriculture. It drives trillions of dollars in GNP, underpins millions of jobs, makes international business function and is the essence of leisure and happiness. In short it has to be one of the most significant sectors of the world economy. Yet all too often its role and potential is underestimated when it comes to global and national socio-economic policy and practice. This book explores why the industry is misperceived and how it can take its rightful leadership place in the transformation to the new green economy. Green Growth and Travelism: Letters from Leaders is the first hard hitting publication to look practically into these issues by taking the views of 46 government, industry and civil society thought leaders on the challenges, opportunities and solutions. First the authors explore Green Growth as the new geopolitical paradigm to respond to the big social, economic, environment and climate challenges of today and the population driven resource challenges of tomorrow. They then analyze how Travelism - the Travel and Tourism value chain - transport, hospitality and the various industries that support our inexorable urge to move around this planet - can more effectively contribute to a positive long-term societal transformation. Taking this viewpoint, the 'Letters from Leaders' provides real evidence of the actions, viewpoints and hopes of those at the frontline. With a foreword from Maurice Strong, architect of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit and Agenda 21, it includes contributions by thought leaders from inside and outside the sector such as Lyonchhen Jigmi Y. Thinley (Prime Minister of Bhutan), Thomas Enders (CEO of EADS), Tony Tyler (Director General & CEO IATA), Taleb Rifai (Secretary General UNWTO), Sir Richard Branson (Chairman Virgin Group), Shanzhong Zhu (Vice Chairman CNTA), Akbar Al Baker (CEO Qatar Airways), Marthinus Van Schalkwyk (Minister Tourism South Africa), Gerald Lawless (Executive Chairman Jumeirah Group), James Hogan (President & CEO Etihad Airways), Patricia Francis (Executive Director ITC), David P. Scowsill (President & CEO, WTTC), Giovanni Bisignani (Chairman WEF Global Agenda Council ATT), Supachai Panitchpakdi (Secretary-General, UNCTAD), Raymond Benjamin (Secretary General, ICAO) and Gloria Guevara (Secretary Tourism, Mexico) and a host of others. Researched at Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia and Oxford Brookes University, UK.
Shipping and port systems are vital to societies and lifestyles around the world. In the late twentieth century, however, assumptions concerning the robustness of these systems were severely shaken by economic shocks triggered by oil crises. This volume explores how many of the consequent uncertainties have been resolved, and how adapted systems have been shaped to meet the challenges of the new millennium. To explore these issues, contributors focus on issues such as: * economic integration of emerging economies - in particular China * sectors as diverse as the high-speed ferry and offshore oil industries * pollution problems generated by shipping Contributors' investigations, such as those into the homogenisation of the container industry and the port cluster concept and 'model' vessels for the offshore oil industry, make for a rewarding book that will be of interest to academics working in many fields including transport studies, marine and coastal studies and economic geography. Professional organizations and policy-makers will also appreciate the book.
"This excellent study combines considerable institutional and policy detail with an assured analysis of government and private sector agent interactions." . Modern and Contemporary France "One of the main conclusions the reader of this] book can draw is that the best specialists of French contemporary political movements come from the Anglo-Saxon academic world." . H-Net: Humanities and Social Science Reviews OnLine ..". a most welcome contribution to the development of environmental policy] ... Overall, this book is well worth buying, both from an individual and from an institutional perspective. It is excellent value for money and an excellent source of information on environmental policy development and practice that allows one's knowledge to be pushed beyond the traditional Anglo-American axis." . Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy " A] solid, insightful, fair-minded survey of French environmental policies" . Choice Drawing on an extensive range of political, legal and sociological materials, the author presents and evaluates environmental policy-making in France at a time when environmental problems are growing in complexity and gravity. He highlights the range of inputs to the policy process - including popular movements, green parties, interest group representation, EU legislation and international treaties - and evaluates the diverse nature of the outcomes which lead him to conclude that because new developments involve not only changes in policy content but also adaptation of policy style, environmental demands are progressively changing the shape of politics itself."
Das MINOS-Projekt untersucht, ob grosse Windkraftanlagen in der deutschen Nord- und Ostsee Schweinswale, Seehunde oder Meeresvogel beeintrachtigen oder gefahrden. Das Buch soll die Ergebnisse darstellen und dabei einzelne Fragestellungen in Kapiteln und nicht nach den Teilprojekten betrachten. Die Vorstellung von Methoden und deren Diskussion soll nur insoweit erfolgen, wie sie fur das Verstandnis der Ergebnisse notwendig ist bzw. in den Projekten, in denen ein grosser Schwerpunkt auf der Methodenentwicklung / deren Vergleich liegt. Die Themen werden in einer Kapitelfolge angeordnet, die von der gross- zur kleinskaligen Betrachtung reicht, sowohl in raumlicher als auch zeitlicher Dimension. Am Ende stehen die Ergebnisse zu den Auswirkungen am einzelnen Tier.
Perpetually covered in ice and snow, the mountainous Antarctic Peninsula stretches southwardd towards the South Pole where it merges with the largest and coldest mass of ice anywhere on the planet. Yet far from being an otherworldly "Pole Apart," the region has the most contested political history of any part of the Antarctic Continent. Since the start of the twentieth century, Argentina, Britain, and Chile have made overlapping sovereignty claims, while the United States and Russia have reserved rights to the entire continent. The environment has been at the heart of these disputes over sovereignty, placing the Antarctic Peninsula at a fascinating intersection between diplomatic history and environmental history. In Frozen Empires, Adrian Howkins argues that there has been a fundamental continuity in the ways in which imperial powers have used the environment to support their political claims in the Antarctic Peninsula region. British officials argued that the production of useful scientific knowledge about the Antarctic helped to justify British ownership. Argentina and Chile made the case that the Antarctic Peninsula belonged to them as a result of geographical proximity, geological continuity, and a general sense of connection. Despite various challenges and claims, however, there has never been a genuine decolonization of the Antarctic Peninsula region. Instead, imperial assertions that respective entities were conducting science "for the good of humanity" were reformulated through the terms of the 1959 Antarctic Treaty, and Antarctica's "frozen empires" remain in place to this day. In arguing for imperial continuity in the region, Howkins counters the official historical narrative of Antarctica, which rests on a dichotomy between "bad" sovereignty claims and "good" scientific research. Frozen Empires instead suggests that science, politics, and the environment have been inextricably connected throughout the history of the Antarctic Peninsula region-and remain so-and shows how political prestige in the guise of conducting "science for the good of humanity" continues to influence international climate negotiations.
This book is a collection of the lectures, held at the International Summer School ISSAOS-2000 in L'Aquila (Italy), given by invited lecturers coming from both Europe and the USA. The goal of the book is to provide a broad panorama of spaceborne remote sensing techniques, at both microwave and visible-infrared bands and by both active and passive sensors, for the retrieval of atmospheric and oceanic parameters. A significant emphasis is given to the physical modeling background, instrument potential and limitations, inversion methods and applications. Topics on international remote sensing programs and assimilation techniques into numerical weather forecast models are also touched. The main purpose of the book is to offer to young scientists, Ph.D. or equivalent students, and to all who would like to have a broad-spectrum understanding of spaceborne remote sensing capabilities, introductory material to each remote sensing topic written by the most qualified experts in the field.
TThis book illustrates recent advances in applications of partial order theory and Hasse diagram techniques to data analysis, mainly in the socio-economic and environmental sciences. For years, partial order theory has been considered a fundamental branch of mathematics of only theoretical interest. In recent years, its effectiveness as a tool for data analysis is increasingly being realized and many applications of partially ordered sets to real problems in statistics and applied sciences have appeared. Main examples pertain to the analysis of complex and multidimensional systems of ordinal data and to problems of multi-criteria decision making, so relevant in social and environmental sciences. Partial Order Concepts in Applied Sciences presents new theoretical and methodological developments in partial order for data analysis, together with a wide range of applications to different topics: multidimensional poverty, economic development, inequality measurement, ecology and pollution, and biology, to mention a few. The book is of interest for applied mathematicians, statisticians, social scientists, environmental scientists and all those aiming at keeping pace with innovation in this interesting, growing and promising research field.
Cross-Cultural Risk Perception demonstrates the richness and wealth of theoretical insights and practical information that risk perception studies can offer to policy makers, risk experts, and interested parties. The book begins with an extended introduction summarizing the state of the art in risk perception research and core issues of cross-cultural comparisons. The main body of the book consists of four cross-cultural studies on public attitudes towards risk in different countries, including the United States, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, Sweden, Bulgaria, Romania, Japan, and China. The last chapter critically discusses the main findings from these studies and proposes a framework for understanding and investigating cross-cultural risk perception. Finally, implications for communication, regulation and management are outlined. The two editors, sociologist Ortwin Renn (Center of Technology Assessment, Germany) and psychologist Bernd Rohrmann (University of Melbourne, Australia), have been engaged in risk research for the last three decades. They both have written extensively on this subject and provided new empirical and theoretical insights into the growing body of international risk perception research.
Drawing on an extensive range of political, legal and sociological materials, the author presents and evaluates environmental policy-making in France at a time when environmental problems are growing in complexity and gravity. He highlights the range of inputs to the policy process - including popular movements, green parties, interest group representation, EU legislation and international treaties - and evaluates the diverse nature of the outcomes which lead him to conclude that because new developments involve not only changes in policy content but also adaptation of policy style, environmental demands are progressively changing the shape of politics itself.
Environmental Systems Engineering explains how to use new computerized tools to tackle problems in systems engineering. This book covers: expert systems, fuzzy logic, networks, process dynamics, control and statistical approaches to systems analysis. Computer simulation, mathematical models, and newer methods that apply artificial intelligence and neural networks to environmental problems are emphasized. Each book topic is supported by an interactive web site featuring computer graphics, teaching games and navigational aids. Topics are developed through the use of computer exercises using practical problems as examples.
New philosophies of environmental management are being put to the test in many countries.. New ideas are needed to replace or at least flank the old command and control approach, which has lost its credibility. One of the most interesting new avenues is co-operative environmental management, whereby public and private parties work together to tackle a problem. It is interesting because it seems to be well suited to handling complex environmental problems. This kind of management makes use of the policy instrument known as the Environmental Agreement. That tool is geared to the development of sustainable procedures for working out solutions. The Environmental Agreement provides scope to deal with some essential characteristics of current environmental problems. Indeed, one of the most vexing aspects of environmental problems is uncertainty, both in the ecological sphere and with respect to the economic effects of intervention. In short, this instrument takes the unknown into account."
'Poignant ... A meditation on life, love and the importance of nature' IRISH TIMES Thirty-four years ago, when they were in their twenties, Niall Williams and Christine Breen made the impulsive decision to leave their lives in New York City and move to Christine's ancestral home in the town of Kiltumper in rural Ireland. In the decades that followed, the pair dedicated themselves to writing, gardening and living a life that followed the rhythms of the earth. In 2019, with Christine in the final stages of recovery from cancer and the land itself threatened by the arrival of turbines just one farm over, Niall and Christine decided to document a year of living in their garden and in their small corner of a rapidly changing world. Proceeding month by month through the year, this is the story of a garden in all its many splendours, and a couple who have made their life observing its wonders.
No American state is more antistatist than Alaska. And no state takes in more federal money per capita, which accounts for a full third of Alaska’s economy. This seeming paradox underlies the story Stephen Haycox tells in Battleground Alaska, a history of the fraught dynamic between development and environmental regulation in a state aptly dubbed “The Last Frontier.” Examining inconvenient truths, the book investigates the genesis and persistence of the oft-heard claim that Congress has trampled Alaska’s sovereignty with its management of the state’s pristine wilderness. At the same time it debunks the myth of an inviolable Alaska statehood compact at the center of this claim. Unique, isolated, and remote, Alaska’s economy depends as much on absentee corporate exploitation of its natural resources, particularly oil, as it does on federal spending. This dependency forces Alaskans to endorse any economic development in the state, putting them in conflict with restrictive environmental constraint. Battleground Alaska reveals how Alaskans’ abiding resentment of federal regulation and control has exacerbated the tensions and political sparring between these camps— and how Alaska’s leaders have exploited this antistatist sentiment to promote their ownagendas, specifically the opening of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. Haycox builds his history andcritique around four now classic environmental battles in modern Alaska: the establishment of the ANWR is the 1950s; the construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline in the 1970s; the passage of the Alaska National Interests Lands Conservation Act in 1980; and the struggle that culminated in the Tongass Timber Reform Act of 1990. What emerges is a complex tale, with no clear-cut villains and heroes, that explains why Alaskans as a collective almost always opt for development, even as they profess their genuine love for the beauty and bounty of their state’s environment. Yet even as it exposes the potential folly of this practice, Haycox’s work reminds environmentalists that all wilderness is inhabited, and that human life depends—as it always has—on the exploitation of the earth’s resources.
The European Union faces several interlinked challenges: how to protect the environment and favour sustainability; how to reduce unemployment and foster competitiveness in a context of growing globalization; how to reduce regional disparities among and within me mb er countries. The recent policy debate has clarified that the above objectives are not a trade off if jointly tackled. In particular, win-win policy options are available to the European Union by an appropriate integration of regulation, macro policy, social policy, fiscal policy and environmental policy. Evidence shows that optimising on each single policy will not meet the needs of the European Union. On the contrary, an integrated approach will make it possible to reach the various objectives, as stated in the Treaty on European Union, in the 5th Environmental Action Programme, in the White Paper on Growth, Competitiveness and Employment. This integrated approach would im plement a genuine sustainable development policy."
This book is Open Access. A digital copy can be downloaded for free from Wiley Online Library. Exploring the links between Large Igneous Provinces and dramatic environmental impact An emerging consensus suggests that Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs) and Silicic LIPs (SLIPs) are a significant driver of dramatic global environmental and biological changes, including mass extinctions. Environmental changes caused by LIPs and SLIPs include rapid global warming, global cooling ('Snowball Earth'), oceanic anoxia events, mercury poisoning, atmospheric and oceanic acidification, and sea level changes. Continued research to characterize the effects of these extremely large and typically short duration igneous events on atmospheric and oceanic chemistry through Earth history can provide lessons for understanding and mitigating modern climate change. Large Igneous Provinces: A Driver of Global Environmental and Biotic Changes describes the interactions between the effects of LIPs and other drivers of climatic change, the limits of the LIP effect, and the atmospheric and oceanic consequences of LIPs in significant environmental events. Volume highlights include: Temporal record of large igneous provinces (LIPs) Environmental impacts of LIP emplacement Precambrian, Proterozoic, and Phanerozoic case histories Links between geochemical proxies and the LIP record Alternative causes for environmental change Key parameters related to LIPs and SLIPs for use in environmental change modelling Role of LIPs in Permo-Triassic, Triassic-Jurassic, and other mass extinction events The American Geophysical Union promotes discovery in Earth and space science for the benefit of humanity. Its publications disseminate scientific knowledge and provide resources for researchers, students, and professionals.
Emerging technologies have enhanced the various uses of geographic information systems. This allows for more effective analysis of available data to optimize resources and promote sustainability. Remote Sensing Techniques and GIS Applications in Earth and Environmental Studies is a critical reference source for the latest research on innovative methods for analyzing geographic data and utilizing sensor technologies for environmental monitoring. Featuring extensive coverage across a range of relevant perspectives and topics, such as land use, geospatial analysis, image interpretation, and site-suitability analysis, this book is ideally designed for engineers, professionals, practitioners, upper-level students, and academics actively involved in the various areas of environmental sciences. Topics Covered: Debris Flow Modelling Geochemical Studies Geospatial Analysis Image Interpretation Land Surface Temperature Estimation Land Use Natural Disaster Damage Assessment Risk Assessment Site-Suitability Analysis |
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