This report indicates that the benefits that accrue to a building and its occupants from a consideration of solar radiation are greatest when the 'passive solar component' is seen in perspective, as a natural part of an integrated approach to climatically interactive low-energy building design.

The matsutake mushroom continues to be a highly sought delicacy, especially in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean cuisine. Matsutake Worlds explores this mushroom through the lens of multi-species encounters centered around the matsutake's notorious elusiveness. The mushroom's success, the contributors of this volume argue, cannot be accounted for by any one cultural, social, political, or economic process. Rather, the matsutake mushroom has flourished as the result of a number of different processes and dynamics, culminating in the culinary institution we know today.

Environmental Data Analysis with MATLAB, Third Edition, is a new edition that expands fundamentally on the original with an expanded tutorial approach, more clear organization, new crib sheets, and problem sets providing a clear learning path for students and researchers working to analyze real data sets in the environmental sciences. The work teaches the basics of the underlying theory of data analysis and then reinforces that knowledge with carefully chosen, realistic scenarios, including case studies in each chapter. The new edition is expanded to include applications to Python, an open source software environment. Significant content in Environmental Data Analysis with MATLAB, Third Edition is devoted to teaching how the programs can be effectively used in an environmental data analysis setting. This new edition offers chapters that can both be used as self-contained resources or as a step-by-step guide for students, and is supplemented with data and scripts to demonstrate relevant use cases.

If Women Rose Rooted has been described as both transformative and essential. Sharon Blackie leads the reader on a quest to find their place in the world, drawing inspiration from the wise and powerful women in native mythology, and guidance from contemporary role models who have re-rooted themselves in land and community and taken responsibility for shaping the future. Beautifully written, honest and moving, If Women Rose Rooted is a passionate song to a different kind of femininity, a rallying, feminist cry for the rewilding of womanhood; reclaiming our role as guardians of the land.

Covering the 17th century to the contemporary era, this chronological overview of the role of the environment provides many insights into one of the most important aspects of American history. Environmental issues such as deforestation, water pollution, extinction of indigenous animal species, and climate change have long existed in the United States. Fortunately, the American people and their government have demonstrated a willingness to address environmental concerns. Chronology of Americans and the Environment encompasses more than four centuries of dynamic and transformational environmental change that illustrate the central importance of the environment, natural resources, and "nature" throughout American history. The author provides a chronological overview of the significant events, major figures, and public policy developments throughout the history of our relationship with the environment, illustrating the sequence of historical events, cultural ideas, and trends that have led Americans to take action to protect the environment and public health. This book also touches upon prehistoric occurrences and events prior to the arrival of European explorers that provide context for Native American ideas and attitudes toward nature. Primary source accounts give a fascinating window into the ideas and experiences of those who have been instrumental in or witness to key events in U.S. environmental history Provides a chronology of events, key figures, ideas, and political developments that define Americans' relationship with the environment Includes various photographs and illustrations to accompany topics in the text A bibliography containing general titles, monographs, and websites provides sources for further research

The Power Makers - the producers of our electricity - must meet the demands of their customers while also addressing the threat of climate change. There are widely differing views about solutions to electricity generation in an emission constrained world. Some see the problem as relatively straight forward, requiring deep cuts in emissions now by improving energy efficiency, energy conservation and using only renewable resources. Many electricity industry engineers and scientists see the problem as being much more involved.

"The Power Makers Challenge: and the need for Fission Energy "looks at why using only conventional renewable energy sources is not quite as simple as it seems. Following a general introduction to electricity and its distribution, the author quantifies the reductions needed in greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector in the face of ever increasing world demands for electricity. It provides some much needed background on the many energy sources available for producing electricity and discusses their advantages and limitations to meet both the emission reduction challenge and electricity demand.

By analyzing the three main groups of energy sources: renewable energy, fossil fuels and fission energy (nuclear power), readers can assess the ability of each group to meet the challenge of both reducing emissions and maintaining reliable supply at least cost. It is written for both non-technical and technical readers."

We barely talk about them and seldom know their names. Philosophy has always overlooked them; even biology considers them as mere decoration on the tree of life. And yet plants give life to the Earth: they produce the atmosphere that surrounds us, they are the origin of the oxygen that animates us. Plants embody the most direct, elementary connection that life can establish with the world. In this highly original book, Emanuele Coccia argues that, as the very creator of atmosphere, plants occupy the fundamental position from which we should analyze all elements of life. From this standpoint, we can no longer perceive the world as a simple collection of objects or as a universal space containing all things, but as the site of a veritable metaphysical mixture. Since our atmosphere is rendered possible through plants alone, life only perpetuates itself through the very circle of consumption undertaken by plants. In other words, life exists only insofar as it consumes other life, removing any moral or ethical considerations from the equation. In contrast to trends of thought that discuss nature and the cosmos in general terms, Coccia's account brings the infinitely small together with the infinitely big, offering a radical redefinition of the place of humanity within the realm of life.

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.

In this clear, concise, comprehensively revised and up-to-date introduction to environmental ethics, Robin Attfield guides the student through the key issues and debates in this field in ways that will also be of interest to a wide range of scholars and researchers. The book introduces environmental problems and environmental ethics and surveys theories of the sources of the problems. Attfield also puts forward his own original contribution to the debates, advocating biocentric consequentialism among theories of normative ethics and defending objectivism in meta-ethics. The possibilities of ethical consumerism and investment are discussed, and the nature and basis of responsibilities for future generations in such areas as sustainable development are given detailed consideration. Attfield adopts an inclusive, cosmopolitan perspective in discussions of global ethics and citizenship, and illustrates his argument with a discussion of global warming, mitigation, adaptation and global justice. The revised edition features a new chapter on climate change, new treatments of animal issues, ecofeminism, environmental aesthetics, invasion biology and virtue ethics, and new applications of the precautionary principle to fisheries, genetic engineering and synthetic biology. The glossary and bibliography have been updated to assist understanding of these themes. The text uses a range of devices to aid understanding, such as summaries of key issues, and guides to further reading and relevant websites. It has been written particularly with a view to the needs of students taking courses in environmental ethics, and will be of interest to students and scholars of philosophy, ethics, geography, religion and environmental studies.

* 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

The critical situation in which our planet finds itself is no longer in doubt. Some things are already collapsing while others are beginning to do so, increasing the possibility of a global catastrophe that would mean the end of the world as we know it. As individuals, we are faced with a daily deluge of bad news about the worsening situation, preparing ourselves to live with years of deep uncertainty about the future of the planet and the species that inhabit it, including our own. How can we cope? How can we project ourselves beyond the present, think bigger and find ways not just to survive the collapse but to live it? In this book, the sequel to How Everything Can Collapse, the authors show that a change of course necessarily requires an inner journey and a radical rethinking of our vision of the world. Together these might enable us to remain standing during the coming storm, to develop a new awareness of ourselves and of the world and to imagine new ways of living in it. Perhaps then it will be possible to regenerate life from the ruins, creating new alliances in differing directions - with ourselves and our inner nature, between humans, with other living beings and with the earth on which we dwell.

Uranium, the most atomically unstable natural element on earth, has a unique place in the global geopolitics of resources. It provides energy to millions of people and its isotopes are used to power spacecraft and in nuclear medicine. But it is also at the heart of many of the planet's most deadly threats, including nuclear devastation and radioactive waste. Its mining has caused bitter conflict with indigenous peoples and its testing in nuclear weapons has left a toxic legacy. Yet the nonproliferation regime which aims to phase out nuclear weapons and manage the risks of nuclear energy is at risk of unravelling. In this book, Anthony Burke explores the geopolitical intrigue around uranium and the dilemmas of justice and security to which its development has given rise. The twenty-first century, he cautions, will be a time of reckoning and new reserves of political will must be found to manage the impact of this extraordinary mineral. Only by cooperating to achieve multilateral disarmament and greater international control over nuclear power can we ward off nuclear catastrophe and harness the potential of nuclear energy to help address, rather than create, some of the world's most pressing problems.

This book is a novel contribution to a field dominated by conventional approaches to project management, it is about narratives in megaprojects. Some of the questions examined in this original new book include: * What are narratives? * Why are they important in megaprojects? * How are they formed and used in megaprojects? * How do promotors of and protestors against megaprojects craft narratives to their advantage? * What strategies can project managers employ to effectively use narratives in megaprojects? Built from longitudinal research studies in combination with internationally recognised teaching materials, this book will provide readers with a theoretical understanding of narratives and projects, as well as practical international case studies, including HS2, the Eden Project, the Sochi Olympics, Hyderabad and Chennai Metros, Westconnex and Tideway, to support their understanding. The authors explain the different types of narrative, how and why they are important in general and in relation to a megaproject and its life-cycle, but also how to craft narratives in different situations, and how they are changed and maintained over a project life-cycle. Narratives in Megaprojects doubles as a text supporting more advanced courses on project management or aspects thereof, and as a reflection of the state of the art in this particular perspective on megaprojects. It is essential reading for all students and professionals in Project Management, Construction, Infrastructure and Executive Leaders involved in megaprojects and infrastructure delivery.

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.

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.

-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.)

This volume explores connections between architecture and theatre, and encourages imagination in the design of buildings and social spaces. Imagination is arguably the architect's most crucial capacity, underpinning memory, invention and compassion. No simple power of the mind, architectural imagination is deeply embodied, social and situational. Its performative potential and holistic scope may be best understood through the model of theatre. Theatres of Architectural Imagination examines the fertile relationship between theatre and architecture with essays, interviews and entr'actes arranged in three sections: Bodies, Settings and (Inter)Actions. Contributions explore a global spectrum of examples and contexts, from ancient Rome and Renaissance Italy to modern Europe, North America, India and Japan. Topics include: the central role of the human body in design; the city as a place of political drama, protest and phenomenal play; and world-making through language, gesture and myth. Chapters also consider sacred and magical functions of theatre in Balinese and Persian settings; eccentric experiments at the Bauhaus and 1970 Osaka World Expo; and ecological action and collective healing amid contemporary climate chaos. Inspired by architect and educator Marco Frascari, the book performs as a Janus-like memory theatre, recalling and projecting the architect's perennial task of reimagining a more meaningful world. This collection will delight and provoke thinkers and makers in theatrical arts and built environment disciplines, especially Architecture, Landscape and Urban Design.

Updated to textbook form by popular demand, this second edition discusses diverse mathematical models used in economics, ecology, and the environmental sciences with emphasis on control and optimization. It is intended for graduate and upper-undergraduate course use, however, applied mathematicians, industry practitioners, and a vast number of interdisciplinary academics will find the presentation highly useful. Core topics of this text are: * Economic growth and technological development * Population dynamics and human impact on the environment * Resource extraction and scarcity * Air and water contamination * Rational management of the economy and environment * Climate change and global dynamics The step-by-step approach taken is problem-based and easy to follow. The authors aptly demonstrate that the same models may be used to describe different economic and environmental processes and that similar investigation techniques are applicable to analyze various models. Instructors will appreciate the substantial flexibility that this text allows while designing their own syllabus. Chapters are essentially self-contained and may be covered in full, in part, and in any order. Appropriate one- and two-semester courses include, but are not limited to, Applied Mathematical Modeling, Mathematical Methods in Economics and Environment, Models of Biological Systems, Applied Optimization Models, and Environmental Models. Prerequisites for the courses are Calculus and, preferably, Differential Equations.

Mexico underwent tremendous growth and transition during the twentieth century, transforming it from a rural country into an urban nation that formed part of a much wider global process of modernisation/westernisation. During this time, Mexican Modernist architecture came into its own, becoming recognised both nationally and internationally as a paradigmatic example of this new design approach. However, relatively little is still known about how Mexican Modernism was able to become a mature and confident movement so quickly, one with such strongly held convictions that they are still very much alive and well today, and which are still shaping and influencing Mexicos architectural forms, lifestyles, values and ideals. This book examines those elements that contributed to its making during the twentieth century. In so doing, it considers Mexican Modernism to be a direct product of its socio-cultural settings and so uses a cultural studies approach to identify the key drivers, or 'power structures', which were involved. Five power structures are investigated which relate to academic, economic/political, social, gender, and post-colonial status. Such power structures are analysed by looking in close detail at 13 of the most famous Mexican architects, documenting their ideas through their own verbal testimonies and their most interesting buildings. Those architects include: Jose Villagran Garcia, Luis Barragan and Juan O'Gorman from the first generation; Pedro Ramirez Vazquez, Agustin Hernandez and Abraham Zabludovsky from the second; Carlos Mijares, Ricardo Legorreta and Juan Jose Diaz Infante from the third; and finally, Enrique Norten, Clara de Buen, Alberto Kalach and Javier Sordo Madaleno from the fourth generation. This book's uniqueness lies in revealing the inter-relationships of the power structures that have controlled and constrained what Mexican architecture could achieve, offering a dissection of what happened within the profession. The book also criticizes the persistence of these same power structures today, and it voices the urgent need for a new kind of architecture for the future. It is essential reading for anyone studying Mexican architecture.

Gentrification is one of the most debilitating-and least understood-issues in American cities today. Scholars and community activists adjoin in Gentrification, Displacement, and Alternative Futures to engage directly and critically with the issue of gentrification and to address its impacts on marginalized, materially exploited, and displaced communities. Authors in this collection begin to unpack and explore the forces that underlie these significant changes in an area's social character and spatial landscape. Central in their analyses is an emphasis on racial formations and class relations, as they each look to find the essence of the urban condition through processes of demographic change, economic restructuring, and gentrification. Their original findings locate gentrification within a carefully integrated theoretical and political framework and challenge readers to look critically at the present and future of gentrification studies. Gentrification, Displacement, and Alternative Futures is a vital read for scholars and researchers, as well as planners and organizers hoping to understand the contemporary changes happening in our urban areas.

New Paradigms in Environmental Biomonitoring Using Plants highlights and explores the importance of biomonitoring methodologies and the latest updates in the field. The book presents a holistic approach toward the different aspects of biomonitoring, focusing mainly upon the inclusion of newly emerging concepts of environmental genomics, metabarcoding, and cheminformatics and biomarkers, among other technologies; helping to explore and establish a new outlook for biomonitoring frameworks. This book compiles all aspects of biomonitoring including traditional and modern techniques, using a multidimensional approach without focusing on any specific pollutant. Most biomonitoring programs implemented until now have focused more on traditional methods. This book covers new approaches to biomonitoring that could improve on the currently limited capabilities of existing schemes. The book highlights the possible scope for enriching existing datasets and characterizing biodiversity in situ in a far more complete way than has been possible previously. New Paradigms in Environmental Biomonitoring Using Plants will be important for researchers, academics, postgraduates and undergraduate students in environmental, plant, crop and soil sciences, to provide up-to-date and emerging technologies in biomonitoring for environmental assessment, leading to a new vision of biomonitoring. It will also be helpful for risk assessment professionals and stakeholders involved in planning the future biomonitoring programs.

Covid-19: Biomedical Perspectives, Volume 50 in the Methods in Microbiology series highlights new advances in the field, with this new volume presenting interesting chapters written by an international board of authors. Individual chapters in this new release include Sensitive methods for detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA, Treatment of COVID-19 using Chinese herbal medicine, Understanding how SARS-CoV-2 is evolving and its impact on COVID-19 animal models and vaccine evaluation, Methods in machine learning to identify COVID-19 literature, COVID-19 seasonal behavior and the mutational landscape of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, CRISPR use in Diagnosis and Therapy for COVID-19, and much more.

Climate change is anticipated to have a major impact on concrete structures through increasing rates of deterioration and the impact of extreme weather events. The repair of any damage will be highly labor-intensive and expensive. Self-healing cementitious materials can enable the construction industry to mitigate these effects and move toward greater sustainability, safety, and increased cost savings and efficiency. This book: Examines concrete structures based on various materials with self-repair capability and their implications for future use in sustainable projects. Discusses advantages and design strategies of self-healing concretes. Covers several effective and detailed self-repair methods, with comparative analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of each method. Examines the use of various materials, including polymers and nanomaterials. Reviews factors affecting performance, properties, and applications. Delves into future directions and opportunities. Written for researchers, advanced students, and industry professionals, Self-Healing Cementitious Materials: Technologies, Evaluation Methods, and Applications offers a detailed view of an important emerging technology in materials science, civil engineering, and related fields.

This book provides an empirical analysis of the concept of play as a form of spatial practice in urban public spaces. The introduced City-Play-Framework (CPF) is a practical urban analysis tool that allows urban designers, landscape architects and researchers to develop a shared awareness when opening up this window of possibility for adventure. Two case studies substantiate and illustrate the development process and testing of the framework in Canberra, Australia, and Potsdam, Germany. The appropriation of public spaces that transcend boundaries can facilitate an intrinsic connection between people and their immediate environment, towards a more joyful ontological state of human existence in which imagination, co-creation and a sense of agency are key elements of the design approach. The framework presents an alternative understanding of public spaces and public life, reflecting on theory and its implications for practice in a post-pandemic world in dense urban centres. A bridge between theory and practice, this book explores possibilities on what future design ought to be when openness and ambiguity are consciously integrated parts of practice and process. The book presents a valuable discussion on public space and play for academic audiences across a wide range of disciplines such as landscape architecture, urban design, planning, architecture and urban sociology, which is informative for future practice.

Already on the margins of an agrarian society, the marine fisherfolk of the South Indian state of Kerala are faced with a severe environmental problem: overfishing. The actions of trawlers and industrial fishing ships, it seems, have caused the resources on which they depend to dwindle rapidly. Yet what may appear to be a clear-cut case of cause, effect and responsibility turns out to be a complex issue. Local perceptions of the environment are deeply enmeshed with notions of morality, the self and people's understanding of their place in society. Overfishing is one of several environmental issues that bring into focus parallel knowledges, giving rise to contradictory views on what the problems are, whether changes are good or bad, and how they are to be remedied. As the fisherfolk confront the state, a discourse develops on what is innate to the environment, or "natural," and on what its malleability entails.

Based on ethnographic fieldwork among Hindus and Muslims in a coastal village, this book explores the fisherfolk's environmental knowledge, its transformation in a period of rapid socio-economic and political change as well as its role in dealing with the state and the science - putatively universal and objective - upon which the state's policies are claimed to be based. The book emphasises conversation as a cultural process, metaphors and figurative speech in the investigation of knowledge, as well as the use and limits of memory in conceptualising environmental change.

Gotz Hoeppe is an editor of the magazine "Spektrum der Wissenschaft" and a part-time lecturer in social anthropology at the University of Heidelberg. He studied ethnology, physics and astronomy in Gottingen, Albuquerque and Berlin and has done fieldwork in Papua New Guinea and India. The author of "Why the Sky is Blue" (forthcoming at Princeton University Press), Hoeppe now investigates the epistemic practices of astronomers.