Sandscapes: Writing the British Seaside reflects on the unique topography of sand, sandscapes, and the seaside in British culture and beyond. This book brings together creative and critical writings that explore the ways sand speaks to us of holidays and respite, but also of time and mortality, of plenitude and eternity. Drawing together writers from a range of backgrounds, the volume explores the environmental, social, personal, cultural, and political significance of sand and the seaside towns that have built up around it. The contributions take a variety of forms including fiction and nonfiction and cover topics ranging from sand dunes to sand mining, from seaside stories to shoreline architecture, from sand grains to global sand movements, from narratives of the setting up of bed and breakfasts to stories of seaside decline. Often a symbol of aridity, sand is revealed in this book to be an astonishingly fertile site for cultural meaning.

The Amish relationship to the environment is much more complicated than you might think. The pastoral image of Amish communities living simply and in touch with the land strikes a deep chord with many Americans. Environmentalists have lauded the Amish as iconic models for a way of life that is local, self-sufficient, and in harmony with nature. But the Amish themselves do not always embrace their ecological reputation, and critics have long questioned the portrayal of the Amish as models of environmental stewardship. In Nature and the Environment in Amish Life, David L. McConnell and Marilyn D. Loveless examine how this prevailing notion of the environmentally conscious Amish fits with the changing realities of their lives. Drawing on 150 interviews conducted over the course of 7 years, as well as a survey of household resource use among Amish and non-Amish people, they explore how the Amish understand nature in their daily lives and how their actions impact the natural world. Arguing that there is considerable diversity in Amish engagements with nature at home, at school, at work, and outdoors, McConnell and Loveless show how the Amish response to regional and global environmental issues, such as watershed pollution and climate change, reveals their deep skepticism of environmentalists. They also demonstrate that Amish households are not uniformly lower in resource use compared to their rural, non-Amish neighbors, though aspects of their home economy are relatively self-sufficient. The first comprehensive study of Amish understandings of the natural world, this compelling book complicates the image of the Amish and provides a more realistic understanding of the Amish relationship with the environment.

A prominent scientist and scholar documents and explains the thoughts, actions, and legacies of spiritual ecology's pioneers from ancient times to the present, demonstrating how the movement may offer the last chance to restore a healthy relationship between humankind and nature. An internet search for "Spiritual Ecology" and related terms like "Religion and Nature" and "Religion and Ecology" reveals tens of millions of websites. Spiritual Ecology: A Quiet Revolution offers an intellectual history of this far-reaching movement. Arranged chronologically, it samples major developments in the thoughts and actions of both historic and contemporary pioneers, ranging from the Buddha and St. Francis of Assisi to Wangari Maathai's Green Belt Movement and James Cameron's 2010 epic film Avatar. This foundational book is unique in that it provides a historical, cross-cultural context for understanding and advancing the ongoing spiritual ecology revolution, considering indigenous and Asian religious traditions as well as Western ones. Most chapters focus on a single pioneer, illuminating historical context and his/her legacy, while also connecting that legacy to broader concerns. Coverage includes topics as diverse as Henry David Thoreau and the Green Patriarch Bartholomew's decades-long promotion of environmentalism as a sacred duty for more than 250 million members of the Orthodox Church worldwide. For more information, visit www.spiritualecology.info. Clear, concise, and captivating essays on well-known, as well as little-known, pioneers in spiritual ecology Chapter-long treatment of each individual's contributions, allowing for in-depth coverage An extensive resource guide, including films and websites An appendix listing approximately 100 pioneers in spiritual ecology

Public experience with risk communication differs greatly from country to country in Europe and there has been little opportunity for the transfer of experience and learning between countries. This is especially true for the many new European States, including the countries in transition from centralised to market economies. This book presents case studies on risk communication. One of its unifying concepts is the role of risk communication in the risk management process. Technical and philosophical introductions to risk communication and risk management and research in risk communication are given. The case studies themselves occupy the central portion of the book, each one covering a particular hazard, risk or situation seen from a particular point of view. The issue of the special circumstances for environmental and health risk communication in central and eastern Europe is also addressed through a separate presentation and discussion of an appropriate case study. A different approach to risk communication is taken by examining how it forms part of the risk management process at the local level. Research into risk perception, a field that forms an important foundation for many aspects of risk communication, is summarised and practical guidelines for risk communication are reviewed. These include discussions on how to carry out public information programmes and methods for increasing public involvement in risk management decisions.

Residential Exposure Assessment: A Source Book is the result of a multiyear effort known as the Residential Exposure Assessment Project (REAP) which was initiated by the Society for Risk Analysis and the International Society of Exposure Analysis. This textbook is the primary product of the REAP and it contains contributions from over 30 professionals from a variety of disciplines such as chemistry, biology, physics, engi neering, industrial hygiene, toxicology, pharmacology, and environmental law, reflecting the diverse knowledge and resources necessary to assess and manage potential exposures occurring in and around the home. Expert working groups were organized for each of the 13 chapters to address such issues as U. S. legislation relevant to products used in and around the residence, methods for measuring and modeling exposures across multiple pathways and routes, and distributional data available for key residential exposure factors. This volume is a compendium of information about predictive methods and tools, monitoring methods, data sources, and key variables that characterize exposures in the residential setting. It presents approaches for doing exposure assessments in and around all types of residences. The purpose of the Source Book is to provide a resource for use in educational programs and for "practitioners" of residential exposure assessment. Accordingly, this book is intended for risk assessors, exposure assessors, students, initi ates new to the concept of risk assessment, industrial hygienists assessing health hazards in the home, engineers, and monitoring specialists."

The Waste Crisis Explore modern solutions to the most critical issues in waste management policy and design In The Waste Crisis: Roadmap for Sustainable Waste Management in Developing Countries, an accomplished team of sustainability researchers deliver a concise insight of modern waste management practices that acts as a handbook for waste management professionals. Along with flow charts and example problems, the authors offer readers the information necessary to support decision making based on country, city size, population, waste generation volume, type, geographical location, and more. The book begins with an overview of current waste management practices, including waste generation, collection, processing, composting, recycling, and disposal. It moves on to a series of case studies from over ten countries and presentations of sustainable waste management strategies. The Waste Crisis: Roadmap for Sustainable Waste Management in Developing Countries concludes with a series of practical and effective final recommendations for future best practices. It also includes: Practical discussions of material flow, cost-effective material recovery, anaerobic digestion, composting, recycling, disposal, training, and human capacity building Comprehensive explorations of unique and robust decision-making strategies for designers, policy makers, and regulators In-depth treatments of ready-to-implement waste management systems perfect for systems designers The Waste Crisis: Roadmap for Sustainable Waste Management in Developing Countries is an indispensable resource for waste, recycling, and resource management professionals. It s also perfect for waste management system designers and decision makers seeking a one-stop guide to issues of sustainability in the developing world.

Temporary and Tactical Urbanism examines a key set of urban design strategies that have emerged in the twenty-first century. Such projects range from guerrilla gardens and bike lanes to more formalised temporary beaches and swimming pools, parklets, pop-up plazas and buildings and container towns. These practices enable diverse forms of economic, social and artistic life that are usually repressed by the fixities of urban form and its management. This book takes a thematic approach to explore what the scope of this practice is, and understand why it has risen to prominence, how it works, who is involved, and what its implications are for the future of city design and planning. It critically examines the material, social, economic and political complexities that surround and enable these small, ephemeral urban interventions. It identifies their short-term and long-term implications for urban intensity, diversity, creativity and adaptability. The book's insights into temporary and tactical urbanism have particular relevance in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has highlighted both the need and the possibility of quickly transforming urban spaces worldwide. They also reveal significant lessons for the long-term planning and design of buildings, landscapes and cities.

investigates the relationship between mining, mine closure and housing policy in post-apartheid South Africa argues that the dependencies created by the mining industry and mine housing policies while a mine is operational causes serious societal problems when it closes applies the concepts of place attachment, asset-based development and social disruption will be of interest to students and scholars researching the social impacts of mining and the extractive industries, social geography and sustainable development, as well as policymakers and practitioners working with mine closure or social impact assessments.

Updated in line with the 18th edition of the wiring regulations. This book is an essential guide to the City & Guilds 2391-50 and 51: Initial Verification and Certification of Electrical Installation and Periodic Inspection and Testing, also C&G 2391-52: an amalgamation of Initial Verification and Periodic Inspection and Testing of electrical installations. There is a full coverage of technical and legal terminology used in the theory exams; including the structure of exam questions and their interpretation. By running through examples of realistic exam questions in a step-by-step fashion, this book explains how to decode the questions to achieve the most suitable response from the multiple-choice answers given. This book is ideal for all electricians, regardless of their experience, who need a testing qualification in order to take the next step in their career.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is presented as a solution to the greatest challenges of our time, from global pandemics and chronic diseases to cybersecurity threats and the climate crisis. But AI also contributes to the climate crisis by running on technology that depletes scarce resources and by relying on data centres that demand excessive energy use. Is AI Good for the Planet? brings the climate crisis to the centre of debates around AI, exposing its environmental costs and forcing us to reconsider our understanding of the technology. It reveals why we should no longer ignore the environmental problems generated by AI. Embracing a green agenda for AI that puts the climate crisis at centre stage is our urgent priority. Engaging and passionately written, this book is essential reading for scholars and students of AI, environmental studies, politics, and media studies and for anyone interested in the connections between technology and the environment.

The book focuses on low carbon construction materials such as stabilised compressed earth blocks (CEB's) and rammed earth (RE). The content has been divided into four broad themes which includes an introduction to earth construction & stabilised earth, stabilised compressed earth blocks and masonry, stabilised rammed earth, and energy, carbon emissions, sustainability and case studies. It provides basic introduction to earthen materials and earthen structures, particularly with reference to the contemporary work on stabilised earth products for structural applications in buildings. The illustrations in the form of graphs, tables and photographs help the reader to get a grip over the CEB and RE construction. The book illustrates many case studies and examples of CEB and RE buildings. The knowledge on structural characteristics of CEB and RE especially with reference to the durability of such earthen products, and the structural design aspects is uniquely dealt. The embodied energy, embodied carbon, and the impact on construction sector touching upon sustainability of buildings is another unique feature of the book. This volume will be a useful guide for the research community, teachers, engineers, architects, building professionals, practicing engineers, students and individuals aspiring to build low carbon and sustainable buildings.

This book offers essential information on geospatial technologies for water resource management and highlights the latest GIS and geostatistics techniques as they relate to groundwater. Groundwater is inarguably India's single most important natural resource. It is the foundation of millions of Indian farmers' livelihood security and the primary source of drinking water for a vast majority of Indians in rural and urban areas. The prospects of continued high rates of growth in the Indian economy will, to a great extent, depend on how judiciously we can manage groundwater in the years to come. Over the past three decades, India has emerged as by far the single largest consumer of groundwater in the world. Though groundwater has made the country self-sufficient in terms of food, we face a crisis of dwindling water tables and declining water quality. Deep drilling by tube wells, which was once part of the solution to water shortages, is now in danger of becoming part of the problem. Consequently, we urgently need to focus our efforts on the sustainable and equitable management of groundwater. Addressing that need, this book presents novel advances in and applications of RS–GIS and geostatistical techniques to the research community in a precise and straightforward manner.

This book provides a plethora of information about global arsenic (As) contamination and the challenges for environment. Arsenic is a naturally occurring metalloid that is widely distributed in water, soil, air and biota from natural and anthropogenic sources. Arsenic has been found in drinking water in over 100 countries worldwide, which caused a major public health issue including: cardiovascular disorders, diabetes, and cancers of various organs - these are some of the general health effects of As exposure. Exposure of plants to As, even at very low concentrations, can cause many morphological, physiological, and biochemical changes. The recent research on As in the water-soil-plant-human systems indicates that As toxicity to plants varies with As speciation in plants, type of plant species and with other soil factors controlling As accumulation in plants. In recent years, the development of efficient green chemistry methods for detoxification of trace metal poisoning has become a major focus of researchers. It has been investigated in order to find an eco-friendly and recyclable technique for the removal of As contamination from the natural resources. Understanding the significance of As hazard and roles of sustainable or eco-friendly approaches in its mitigation, we intend to bring forth a comprehensive volume "Global Arsenic Hazard - Ecotoxicology and Remediation" highlighting the various prospects involved in current scenario. We are hopeful that this comprehensive volume will furnish the requisite of all those who are working or have interest in the proposed topic.

The central controversy running through this book is whether Mrs Thatcher's famous "green" speeches of 1988 marked a fundamental shift by the Conservative Government towards environmentalism, or whether they were merely political rhetoric, designed to rule out a temporary surge of popular support for the Green party. The conclusion arrived at is mixed: in some policy areas a definite shift has occurred, but in others it is "business as usual".

This book contains selected articles from the Second International Conference on Geotechnical Engineering-Iraq (ICGE-Iraq) held in Akre/Duhok/Iraq from June 22 to 23, 2021, to discuss the challenges, opportunities, and problems of geotechnical engineering in projects. Also, the conference includes modern applications in structural engineering, materials of construction, construction management, planning and design of structures, and remote sensing and surveying engineering. The ICGE-Iraq organized by the Iraqi Scientific Society of Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering (ISSSMFE) in cooperation with Akre Technical Institute / Duhok Polytechnic University, College of Engineering /University of Baghdad, and Civil Engineering Department/University of Technology. The book covers a wide spectrum of themes in civil engineering, including but not limited to sustainability and environmental-friendly applications. The contributing authors are academic and researchers in their respective fields from several countries. This book will provide a valuable resource for practicing engineers and researchers in the field of geotechnical engineering, structural engineering, and construction and management of projects.

Methods in Microbiology serial highlights new advances in the field with this new volume presenting interesting chapters. Each chapter is written by an international board of authors.

Crop plants growing under field conditions are constantly exposed to various abiotic and biotic stress factors leading to decreased yield and quality of produce. In order to achieve sustainable development in agriculture and to increase agricultural production for feeding an increasing global population, it is necessary to use ecologically compatible and environmentally friendly strategies to decrease the adverse effects of stresses on the plant. Selenium is one of the critical elements from the biological contexts because it is essential for human health; however, it becomes toxic at high concentrations. It has been widely reported that selenium can promote plant growth and alleviate various stresses as well as increase the quantity and quality of the yield of many plant species. Nonetheless, at high concentrations, selenium causes phytotoxicity. In the last decade, nanotechnology has emerged as a prominent tool for enhancing agricultural productivity. The production and applications of nanoparticles (NPs) have greatly increased in many industries, such as energy production, healthcare, agriculture, and environmental protection. The application of NPs has attracted interest for their potential to alleviate abiotic and biotic stresses in a more rapid, cost-effective, and more sustainable way than conventional treatment technologies. Recently, research related to selenium-NPs-mediated abiotic stresses and nutritional improvements in plants has received considerable interest by the scientific community. While significant progress was made in selenium biochemistry in relation to stress tolerance, an in-depth understanding of the molecular mechanisms associated with the selenium- and nano-selenium-mediated stress tolerance and bio-fortification in plants is still lacking. Gaining a better knowledge of the regulatory and molecular mechanisms that control selenium uptake, assimilation, and tolerance in plants is therefore vital and necessary to develop modern crop varieties that are more resilient to environmental stress. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the latest understanding of the physiological, biochemical, and molecular basis of selenium- and nano-selenium-mediated environmental stress tolerance and crop quality improvements in plants. It helps researchers to develop strategies to enhance crop productivity under stressful conditions and to better utilize natural resources to ensure future food security and to reduce environmental contamination. Finally, this book is a valuable resource for promoting future research into plant stress tolerance, and a reference book for researchers working on developing plants tolerant to abiotic and biotic stressors as well as bio-fortification and phytoremediation.

Society cannot increase beyond its ability to acquire natural resources or to dispose safely of pollutants. One need not be an ecologist or environmental scientist to understand the dangers implicit in an uncontrolled degradation of the environment. Calculating how many people each individual nation should have and determining the means by which politically various populations will be controlled calls for difficult decisions. This book provides a concrete, easily understood, and realistic analysis of the scientific and legal dimensions of environmental stability. Miguel A. Santos outlines the current international ecological crises and defines them as the most serious threat to international world order and ecological stability.

The book is divided into five sections beginning with an examination of the ecological characteristics of human population and a discussion of population policies in developing and developed nations. This section is followed by the construction of an analytic framework for the interaction of society with the environment. Further chapters provide an overview of natural resources and pollution and the criteria for determining the earth's carrying capacity for humans. The final section considers the problems and prospects of international law and environmental protection. Although written for ecologists, environmental scientists, demographers, political scientists, economists, and lawyers, this book is not limited to them. Anyone interested in the relationship between the environment and society will find this book instructive and provocative.

This open access book studies the migration aspirations and trajectories of people living in two regions in Morocco that are highly affected by environmental change or emigration, namely Tangier and Tinghir, as well as the migration trajectories of immigrants coming from these regions currently living in Belgium. This book departs from the development of a new theoretical framework on the relationship between environmental changes and migration that can be applied to the Moroccan case. Qualitative research conducted in both countries demonstrate how the interplay between migration and environmental factors is not as straightforward as it seems, due to its wider social, political, economic, demographic and environmental context. Findings show how existing cultures of migration, remittances, views on nature and discourses on climate change create distinct abilities, capacities and aspirations to migrate due to environmental changes. The results illustrate how migration and environmental factors evolve gradually and mutually influence each other. In doing so, this book offers new insights in the ways migration can be seen as an adaptation strategy to deal with environmental change in Morocco.

* Tells the story of Orange County's metamorphosis from 93,000 acres of failing farmland into an iconic Southern California landscape of beaches and modernist architecture * Draws on decades of archival research, interviews with key Irvine Company figures and family members, and the authors' own experience as Company employees * Brings to life an unforgettable cast of characters responsible for Orange County's transformation, from the Irish immigrant turned prospector patriarch to an heiress who fought the company board and US government-and won * Traces the roots of the environmental movement-and the aggressive development that inspired it-to the activities of the Irvine Company * Ideal reading for developers, planners, architectural preservationists and historians, and anyone interested in the history of America's most famous county

This book provides a didactic overview of techniques for inferring information from soil spectroscopic data, and the codes in the R programming language for performing such analyses. It is intended for students, researchers and practitioners looking to infer soil information from spectroscopic data, focusing mainly on, but not restricted to, the infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum. Little prior knowledge of the R programming language or digital soil spectra is required. We work through the steps to process spectroscopic data systematically.

This book provides reflection on the increasingly blurry boundaries that characterize the human-animal relationship. In the Anthropocene humans and animals have come closer together and this asks for rethinking old divisions. Firstly, new scientific insights and technological advances lead to a blurring of the boundaries between animals and humans. Secondly, our increasing influence on nature leads to a rethinking of the old distinction between individual animal ethics and collectivist environmental ethics. Thirdly, ongoing urbanization and destruction of animal habitats leads to a blurring between the categories of wild and domesticated animals. Finally, globalization and global climate change have led to the fragmentation of natural habitats, blurring the old distinction between in situ and ex situ conservation. In this book, researchers at the cutting edge of their fields systematically examine the broad field of human-animal relations, dealing with wild, liminal, and domestic animals, with conservation, and zoos, and with technologies such as biomimicry. This book is timely in that it explores the new directions in which our thinking about the human-animal relationship are developing. While the target audience primarily consists of animal studies scholars, coming from a wide range of disciplines including philosophy, sociology, psychology, ethology, literature, and film studies, many of the topics that are discussed have relevance beyond a purely theoretical one; as such the book also aims to inspire for example biologists, conservationists, and zoo keepers to reflect on their relationship with animals.

Icons of Sound: Voice, Architecture, and Imagination in Medieval Art brings together art history and sound studies to offer new perspectives on medieval churches and cathedrals as spaces where the perception of the visual is inherently shaped by sound. The chapters encompass a wide geographic and historical range, from the fifth to the fifteenth century, and from Armenia and Byzantium to Venice, Rome, and Santiago de Compostela. Contributors offer nuanced explorations of the intangible sonic aura produced in these places by the ritual music and harness the use of digital technology to reconstruct historical aural environments. Rooted in a decade-long interdisciplinary research project at Stanford University, Icons of Sound expands our understanding of the inherently intertwined relationship between medieval chant and liturgy, the acoustics of architectural spaces, and their visual aesthetics. Together, the contributors provide insights that are relevant across art history, sound studies, musicology, and medieval studies.

-London-based case studies are discussed in the broader context of metropolitan cities worldwide, providing generalizable as well as specific lessons and examples -Interviews across several fields: international architects, government planners, deputy prime ministers, community organizers, etc. -Targeted toward students as well as a wide range of urban practitioners (planners, politicians, architects, government officials, etc.)