The humid tropics contain some of the world's richest, most diverse, most important and most threatened environments. This book draws on recent work by geographers, biologists, ecologists, geologists and climatologists to present a complete and integrated appraisal of the natural environment of all the humid tropical regions of the world.
The most complete textbook on this key subject.
Fully illustrated throughout with photographs and diagrams.
Informative case studies and examples.
Considers the physical environment as a whole and stresses the link between the elements.

The idea of this book is to present the up-to-date research results on Nitrate Esters as explosive materials. It covers many aspects including the material structures, nitrating agent, chemical synthesis devices, preparation technology, and applications etc. In particular, this work sheds light on the comprehensive utilization and thorough destruction of the used Nitrate Easters which is crucial for preventing repeated pollution. This is a highly informative and instructive book providing insight for the researchers working on nitrating theory, energetic materials and chemical equipments.

Reeds Cloud Handbook is a quick-access, easy-to-use guide to identifying cloud types and how to predict what each cloud type can tell us about the weather and predict how it will change. This concise pocket reference will appeal to those who spend time outdoors and wants to better understand the weather, with its principal focus for sailors and also anyone going walking, fishing, cycling etc. This portable handbook will give you the essential information about common and unusual cloud types, how they form and what weather patterns are associated with them. Fully illustrated with colour photography and clear diagrams, this cloud identification guide includes sections on different weather patterns and how clouds form, different clouds according to where they appear in the sky, related features and different forms of fog. Each entry gives guidance on how and when to spot different cloud types and effects, and how the clouds relate to wind and rain patterns.

INTRODUCTION TO AEROSOL MODELLING Introduction to Aerosol Modelling: From Theory to Code An aerosol particle is defined as a solid or liquid particle suspended in a carrier gas. Whilst we often treat scientific challenges in a siloed way, aerosol particles are of interest across many disciplines. For example, atmospheric aerosol particles are key determinants of air quality and climate change. Knowledge of aerosol physics and generation mechanisms is key to efficient fuel delivery and drug delivery to the lungs. Likewise, various manufacturing processes require optimal generation, delivery and removal of aerosol particles in a range of conditions. There is a natural tendency for the aerosol scientist to therefore work at the interface of the traditional academic subjects of physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics and computing. The impacts that aerosol particles have are linked to their evolving chemical and physical characteristics. Likewise, the chemical and physical characteristic of aerosol particles reflect their sources and subsequent processes they have been subject to. Computational models are not only essential for constructing evidence-based understanding of important aerosol processes, but also to predict change and impact. Whilst existing textbooks provide an overview of theoretical frameworks on which aerosol models are based, there is a significant gap in reference material that provide training in translating theory into code. The purpose of this book is to provide readers with exactly that. In following the content provided in this book, you will be able to reproduce models of key processes that can either be used in isolation or brought together to construct a demonstrator 0D box-model of a coupled gaseous-particulate system. You may be reading this book as an undergraduate, postgraduate, seasoned researcher in the private/public sector or as someone who wishes to better understand the pathways to aerosol model development. Wherever you position yourself, it is hoped that the tools you will learn through this book will provide you with the basis to develop your own platforms and to ensure the next generation of aerosol modellers are equipped with foundational skills to address future challenges in aerosol science.

This book covers different aspects of gas injection, from the classic pressure maintenance operation to enhanced oil recovery (EOR), underground gas storage (UGS), and carbon capture and storage (CCS). The authors detail the unique characteristics and specific criteria of each application, including: material balance equations phase behaviour reservoir engineering well design operating aspects surface facilities environmental issues Examples, data, and simulation codes are provided to enable the reader to gain an in-depth understanding of these applications. Fundamentals and Practical Aspects of Gas Injection will be of use to practising engineers in the fields of reservoir engineering, and enhanced oil recovery. It will also be of interest to researchers, academics, and graduate students working in the field of petroleum engineering.

Mountains, Climate and Biodiversity A comprehensive and up-to-date synthesis for students and researchers Mountains are topographically complex formations that play a fundamental role in regional and continental-scale climates. They are also cradles to all major river systems and home to unique, and often highly biodiverse and threatened, ecosystems. But how do all these processes tie together to form the patterns of diversity we see today? Written by leading researchers in the fields of geology, biology, climate, and geography, this book explores the relationship between mountain building and climate change, and how these processes shape biodiversity through time and space. In the first two sections, you will learn about the processes, theory, and methods connecting mountain building and biodiversity In the third section, you will read compelling examples from around the world exploring the links between mountains, climate and biodiversity Throughout the 31 peer-reviewed chapters, a non-technical style and synthetic illustrations make this book accessible to a wide audience A comprehensive glossary summarises the main concepts and terminology Readership: Mountains, Climate and Biodiversity is intended for students and researchers in geosciences, biology and geography. It is specifically compiled for those who are interested in historical biogeography, biodiversity and conservation.

This book, as a part of a series of CERES publications, provides a multi-regional and cross-sectoral analysis of food and water security, especially in the era of climate risks, biodiversity loss, pressure on scarce resources, especially land and water, increasing global population, and changing dietary preferences. It includes both conceptual research and empirically-based studies, which provides context-specific analyses and recommendations based on a variety of case studies from Africa, Middle East, and Asia regarding the fostering of long-term resilience of food and water security. The core approach of the volume consists of: assessing the structural drivers affecting the vulnerability of food and water security, under the persistence of current trends; identifying the best solutions and practices to enhance the climate resilience for food and water security; and fostering climate adaptation and biodiversity protection for food and water security.

This book presents essential insights on the interaction between rising risks and raising the bar for resilience during the climate crisis. Its timeliness lies in applying important findings on risk and resilience to runaway climate change. When risk and resilience are brought together in the context of climate catastrophes, three key messages emerge. The first is that accounting for the root causes of these calamities, and not just their symptoms, is essential to slowing the spike in these events. It is therefore vital to link carbon emissions from human activity to the sharp rise in climate disasters globally. The second is that growth economics and policy must factor in the failure of governments and businesses to tackle spillover harm from economic activities, as seen dramatically with global warming. With climate risks rising, this calls for a fundamental revision in the teaching and practice of business and economics. And third, prevention must become a far bigger part of resilience building, with greater preparedness for more intense destruction built into interventions. This emphasis on prevention deems disaster recovery as not just returning to how things were but building back better.

Global Physical Climatology, Second Edition, provides an introduction to the science of climate and climate change that spans the atmosphere, ocean, and land surface, and the interactions among them. It begins with a basic introduction to the climate system, and then introduces the physics of the climate system, including the principles and processes that determine the structure and climate of the atmosphere, ocean, and land surface. More advanced topics apply the basic knowledge introduced to understanding natural variability of the climate in both the present and past, the sensitivity of climate to external forcing, explanations for the ice ages, and the science of human-induced climate change. The physical principles and computer models necessary for understanding past climate and predicting future climate are also discussed. This book is recommended for upper division undergraduates and graduates in meteorology, atmospheric science, oceanography, and other environmental fields. It is also suitable for students with a background of at least one year of college physics and calculus as well as researchers in academia, government (military, NOAA, NWS), and policymakers.

Animal husbandry is strongly influenced by weather and climate. Climate change/variability imposes multiple stresses in animals and thus vital to understand the impact of environmental stress on livestock production and reproduction. Among the environmental variables affecting livestock, heat stress seems to be one of the more intriguing factors making difficult animal reproduction and production. Information and knowledge on animal responses to the environment continues to be in process, managing livestock to reduce the impact of adverse weather and climate remains a challenge. Responding to the challenges of global warming necessitate a paradigm shift in the practice of agriculture and in the role of livestock within the farming system. The key thematic issues on environment stress and livestock production includes: early warning system, multiple stress research, exploitation of genetic potential of native breeds, suitable breeding programme and nutritional intervention research. Livestock farmers should have key roles in determining what adaptation and mitigation strategies they support if these have to sustain livestock production in changing climate. The integration of new technologies into the research and technology transfer systems potentially offers many opportunities to further the development of climate change adaptation strategies. This publication is therefore a multi-authored attempt to present the scientific fraternity high quality resource material in the field of climate change and livestock production. Attempts were made to discuss the adaptive mechanism that the animal exhibits to counteract the adverse effects of heat stress. In addition to the adaptive mechanisms, several management and feeding practices have also been established as tested methods for reduction of stress effects in livestock. It also highlights the challenges the livestock industry faces in maintaining the delicate balance between animal welfare and production. This book is a comprehensive resource for the researchers, teachers and students to understand stress, stress management and livestock productivity so as to sustain animal production in the Country under projected climate change scenario.

This volume gathers the latest advances and innovations in the field of structural health monitoring, as presented at the 8th Civil Structural Health Monitoring Workshop (CSHM-8), held on March 31-April 2, 2021. It discusses emerging challenges in civil SHM and more broadly in the fields of smart materials and intelligent systems for civil engineering applications. The contributions cover a diverse range of topics, including applications of SHM to civil structures and infrastructures, innovative sensing solutions for SHM, data-driven damage detection techniques, nonlinear systems and analysis techniques, influence of environmental and operational conditions, aging structures and infrastructures in hazardous environments, and SHM in earthquake prone regions. Selected by means of a rigorous peer-review process, they will spur novel research directions and foster future multidisciplinary collaborations.

In 2009, Rolling Stone named Joe Romm to its list of "100 People Who Are Changing America." Romm is a climate expert, physicist, energy consultant, and former official in the Department of Energy. But it's his influential blog, one of the "Top Fifteen Green Websites" according to Time magazine, that's caught national attention. Climate change is far more urgent than people understand, Romm says, and traditional media, scientists, and politicians are missing the story. Straight Up draws on Romm's most important posts to explain the dangers of and solutions to climate change that you won't find in newspapers, in journals, or on T.V. Compared to coverage of Jay-Z or the latest philandering politician, climate change makes up a pathetically small share of news reports. And when journalists do try to tackle this complex issue, they often lack the background to tell the full story. Despite the dearth of reporting, polls show that two in five Americans think the press is actually exaggerating the threat of climate change. That gives Big Oil, and others with a vested interest in the status quo, a huge opportunity to mislead the public. Romm cuts through the misinformation and presents the truth about humanity's most dire threat. His analysis is based on sophisticated knowledge of renewable technologies, climate impacts, and government policy, written in a style everyone can understand. Romm shows how a 20 percent reduction in global emissions over the next quarter century could improve the economy; how we can replace most coal and with what technologies; why Sarah Palin wears a polar bear pin; and why controversial, emerging technologies like biochar have to be part of the solution. The ultimate solution, Romm argues, is bigger than any individual technology: it's citizen action. Without public pressure, Washington and industry don't budge. With it, our grandkids might just have a habitable place to live. "The Web's most influential climate-change blogger" and "Hero of the Environment 2009" --Time Magazine "I trust Joe Romm on climate." --Paul Krugman, New York Times "America's fiercest climate-change activist-blogger" and one of "The 100 People Who Are Changing America" -- Rolling Stone "One of the most influential energy and environmental policy makers in the Obama era" -- U.S. News & World Report "The indispensable blog" --Thomas Friedman, New York Times "One of the most influential energy and environmental policy makers in the Obama era" -- U.S. News & World Report "The indispensable blog" --Thomas Friedman, New York Times

Atmospheric Satellite Observations: Variation Assimilation and Quality Assurance provides an invaluable reference for satellite data assimilation. Topics covered include linear algebra, frequently used statistical methods, the interpolation role of function fitting, filtering when dealing with real observations, minimization in data assimilation systems, 3D-Var and the inverse problem it solves, 4D-Var and adjoint techniques, and much more. The book concludes with satellite observation of hurricanes.

The chapters of the book have been selected and arranged in such a manner as to lead the students through the entire gamut of rainfed agriculture supported by suitable examples and diagrams. The topics covered are most relevant in view of growing interests in rainfed agriculture technologies. The focus is on new concept and approaches in dryland and rainfed lands; rainfed farming-introduction, characteristics, distribution and problems; efficient management of rainfed crops; water harvesting and moisture conservation; study of mulches and antitranspirants; principles of intercropping; concept of watershed resource management; drought and its management; soil erosion-definition, nature and extent of erosion; stress physiology; scope of agro-horticultural, agro-forestry and silvi-pasture in dryland agriculture etc. Rainfed agriculture is practiced in most of the arid and semiarid areas of India. About 67 % of arable land in India (143.2 m ha) is rainfed. In terms of production rainfed agriculture accounts for production of more than 40 per cent of total food grains, nearly 75 per cent of oilseeds, 90 per cent of pulses and 70 per cent of cotton. Most of the rainfed lands are typified by highly fragile natural resource base; the rainfall is low; soils are often coarse textured, sandy, inherently low in fertility, organic matter and water holding capacity; and are easily susceptible to wind and water erosion. Deterioration of natural resources is the main issue threatening sustainable development of rainfed agriculture, more so in the Third World Countries. India will have to produce 300 million tonnes of food grains to feed 1.5 billion populations (approx.) in the coming years. This target cannot be realized from irrigated areas alone as we have irrigation potential for 178 million hectares only. Therefore, we will have to evolve an appropriate technology for dry land farming. On the other hand, we can say that second 'Green Revolution' in Indian agriculture can be in rainfed/dryland agriculture.

This textbook provides a comprehensive yet accessible treatment of weather and climate prediction, for graduate students, researchers and professionals. It teaches the strengths, weaknesses and best practices for the use of atmospheric models. It is ideal for the many scientists who use such models across a wide variety of applications. The book describes the different numerical methods, data assimilation, ensemble methods, predictability, land-surface modeling, climate modeling and downscaling, computational fluid-dynamics models, experimental designs in model-based research, verification methods, operational prediction, and special applications such as air-quality modeling and flood prediction. This volume will satisfy everyone who needs to know about atmospheric modeling for use in research or operations. It is ideal both as a textbook for a course on weather and climate prediction and as a reference text for researchers and professionals from a range of backgrounds: atmospheric science, meteorology, climatology, environmental science, geography, and geophysical fluid mechanics/dynamics.

This volume brings together contributions from world renowned researchers and practitioners in the field of geotechnical engineering. The chapters of this book are based on the keynote and invited lectures delivered at the 7th International Conference on Recent Advances in Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics. The book presents advances in the field of soil dynamics and geotechnical earthquake engineering. A strong emphasis is placed on proving connections between academic research and field practice, with many examples, case studies, best practices, and discussions on performance-based design. This volume will be of interest to research scholars, academicians and industry professionals alike.

This definitive guide provides advanced students and researchers with a detailed yet accessible overview of all of the central topics of meteor science. Leading figures from the field summarise their active research on themes ranging from the physical composition of meteoroids to the most recent optical and radar observations and ongoing theoretical developments. Crucial practical issues are also considered, such as the risk posed by meteoroids - to spacecraft, and on the ground - and future avenues of research are explored. Taking advantage of the latest dynamical models, insights are offered into meteor flight phenomena and the evolution of meteoroid streams and complexes, as well as describing the in-depth laboratory analysis of recovered material. The rapid rate of progress in twenty-first-century research makes this volume essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand how recent developments broaden our understanding of meteors, meteoroids and their origins.

It is widely accepted in the scientific community that climate change is a reality, and that changes are happening with increasing rapidity. In this second edition, leading climate researcher Barrie Pittock revisits the effects that global warming is having on our planet, in light of ever-evolving scientific research. Presenting all sides of the arguments about the science and possible remedies, Pittock examines the latest analyses of climate change, such as new and alarming observations regarding Arctic sea ice, the recently published IPCC Fourth Assessment Report, and the policies of the new Australian Government and how they affect the implementation of climate change initiatives. New material focuses on massive investments in large-scale renewables, such as the kind being taken up in California, as well as many smaller-scale activities in individual homes and businesses which are being driven by both regulatory and market mechanisms. The book includes extensive endnotes with links to ongoing and updated information, as well as some new illustrations. While the message is clear that climate change is here (and in some areas, might already be having disastrous effects), there is still hope for the future, and the ideas presented here will inspire people to take action. Climate Change: The Science, Impacts and Solutions is an important reference for students in environmental or social sciences, policy makers, and people who are genuinely concerned about the future of our environment.

This book comprises select proceedings of the Indian Geotechnical Conference 2020 (IGC2020) focusing on emerging opportunities and challenges in the field of transportation geotechnics, scour and erosion, offshore geotechnics, and environmental geotechnology. The contents will be useful to researchers, educators, practitioners and policy makers alike.

This book provides an overview on the latest advances in the synthesis, properties and applications of geopolymers reinforced with natural fibres such as pulp fibre, cotton, sisal, flax and hemp. The influence of adding various natural fibres and nanofillers on the mechanical properties of these composites is discussed. Potential challenges and future directions of these composites are highlighted and addressed. The content of this book caters to students, researchers and academics who are interested in the synthesis and applications of geopolymers composites.

Climate change is now upon us. While mitigation is essential to reduce the future severity of climate change, it will take time and some effects will inevitably continue for centuries. Consequently, more attention is now being directed to adaptation as a means of reducing losses. As the importance of adaptation becomes more apparent, there is need for wider appreciation and understanding of the concept and its potential, as well as the obstacles to its effective deployment. This reader, the first of its kind, gathers some of the most significant writings on adaptation to climate change from the past two decades. Following an introduction tracing the evolution of adaptation from a biological concept into a policy objective, the book is divided into five parts: * Adaptation Theory * Adaptation, Vulnerability and Resilience * Adaptation and Disaster Risk * Adaptation and Development * Adaptation and Climate Change Policy This is the ideal collection for students, policymakers, researchers, activists and NGOs, and all people who need a solid grounding in all aspects of climate change adaptation.

Theoretical foundations of atmospheric remote sensing are electromagnetic theory, radiative transfer and inversion theory. This book provides an overview of these topics in a common context, compile the results of recent research, as well as fill the gaps, where needed. The following aspects are covered: principles of remote sensing, the atmospheric physics, foundations of the radiative transfer theory, electromagnetic absorption, scattering and propagation, review of computational techniques in radiative transfer, retrieval techniques as well as regularization principles of inversion theory. As such, the book provides a valuable resource for those who work with remote sensing data and want to get a broad view of theoretical foundations of atmospheric remote sensing. The book will be also useful for students and researchers working in such diverse fields like inverse problems, atmospheric physics, electromagnetic theory, and radiative transfer.