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Books > Earth & environment > Geography > Physical geography > General
“Nowhere in the world do people hold mountains in so much regard
as in Japan,” writes Fukada Ky?ya in the afterword to this book.
“Mountains have played a part in Japanese history since the
country's beginnings, and they manifest themselves in every form of
art. For mountains have always formed the bedrock of the Japanese
soul.” In One Hundred Mountains of Japan, Fukada pays tribute to
his favourite mountains. Originating as a series of magazine
articles about a personal selection of mountains, the work became
an instant classic when it was first published in book form in
1964. More recently, Japan’s national broadcasting company has
turned the original Nihon Hyakumeizan into a memorable TV series.
Consisting of one hundred short essays, each celebrating one
notable mountain and its place in Japan’s traditions, the book is
an elegantly written eulogy to the landscape, literature and
history that define a people. Fukada was bemused by his book’s
success: “In the end, the one hundred mountains represent my
personal choice and I make no claims for them beyond that.” Yet,
half a century after he set down those words, his mountains have
become an institution. Marked on every hiking map, his Hyakumeizan
are today firmly embedded in the mountain traditions they grew out
of. Now available in English translation, One Hundred Mountains of
Japan will serve as a guide for a new cohort of hikers and
mountaineers. It also opens up new territories for students of
Japan’s literature, folklore, religions, and mountaineering
history – in short, for mountain-lovers everywhere.
The 'Grossglockner', Austria's highest mountain at 3,789m, is one
of the most important summits of the Eastern Alps - and not only
because it is so important for alpine tourism. At the end of the
18th Century, it had been explored and nobody less than Arch Bishop
Salm-Reiffenscheidt-Krautheim was the first to ascend in 1800.
Today, with more than 5000 ascents per year, it is a very popular
destination for climbers. But even for those who do not want to
climb, the fascination of this mountain is hard to escape. There is
no better way to investigate than from the 'Grossglockner' High
Alpine roads. The road leads across both mountain passes Fuscher
Toerl and Hochtor, crossing the main Alpes from Salzburg to
Carinthia, with turnoffs to the Edelweiss peak and the
Kaiser-Franz-Josef-height. The road as an adventure trip and its
12% ascent has to be well managed. Who would be more capable to
report about all this than Stefan Bogner, the master of the
automobile photo books? With fuel in his blood and a sensitive feel
for history, but also with accelerator and brake, he provides a
portrait of one of the most exciting and most visited Alpine roads.
Text in English and German.
How have our interactions with animals shaped Calgary? What can we
do to ensure that humans and animals in the city continue to
co-exist, and even flourish together? This wide-ranging book
explores the ways that animals inhabit our city, our lives and our
imaginations. Essays from animal historians, wildlife specialists,
artists and writers address key issues such as human-wildlife
interactions, livestock in the city, and animal performers at the
Calgary Stampede. Contributions from some of Calgary's iconic arts
institutions, including One Yellow Rabbit Performance Theatre,
Decidedly Jazz Danceworks, and the Glenbow Museum, demonstrate how
animals continue to be a source of inspiration and exploration for
fashion, art, dance, and theatre. The full-colour volume is
beautifully illustrated throughout with archival images, wildlife
photography, documentary and production stills, and original
artwork.
In Going to Extremes writer, presenter and Oxford geography don
Nick Middleton visits Oymyakon in Siberia, where the average winter
temperature is -47 degrees and 40% of the population have lost
their fingers to frostbite while changing the car wheel. Next he
travels to Arica Chile where there have been fourteen consecutive
years without a drop of rain and so fog is people's only source of
water. Going from the driest to the wettest, he visits Mawsynram in
India which annually competes for the title with its neighbour
Cherrapunji. However, Nick discovers even here, that during the dry
season, there is water shortage and one entrepreneur has started
selling it bottled. Finally his journey takes him to Dalol in
Ethiopia known as the 'hell hole of creation' where the temperature
remains at 94 degrees year round. Here Nick will join miners who
work all day with no shade, limited water and no protective
clothing. The book and series consider how and why people lives in
these harsh environments. How does Nick's body react to these
contrasting extremes? He looks at the geographical and
meteorological conditions. He meets local characters and discovers
the history of these settlements to find out how they ever became
populated. He looks at the way both the population, and the flora
and fauna, have adapted physically to the climate, and also
considers the psychological impact of living under such conditions.
Explore the latest scientific research behind the ancient forms and
patterns of sacred sites around the world, and discover the
long-lost mystical connection our ancestors had with our planet.
Since ancient times humans have honoured places of power in the
landscape to gain healing, wisdom and access the world of spirit.
In this book, expert author Paul Devereux draws on the evidence
from the disciplines of sacred geometry, archaeology,
archaeoastronomy and archaeoacoustics to map out the hidden meaning
in ancient sites and landforms. Through this thoroughly-researched
and comprehensive key to the ancient patterns of sacred sites and
landscapes around the world, you'll discover how our ancestors were
intimately connected with the land in mind, body and spirit. This
title covers: power places - investigating magnetic and other
natural forces at sacred sites; understanding shamanic landscapes -
the meaning of the Nazca lines and other giant ground markings; the
new science of archaeoacoustics - echo and 'ringing' stones found
at prehistoric sites; and, cognitive archaeology - a new approach
to archaeology and its radical findings. Featuring the latest
scientific and archaeological research, and containing satellite
imagery, maps and diagrams that provide new insights into ancient
sites, "Sacred Geography" allows you to see the landscape through
the eyes of our ancestors and reconnect with the natural world once
more.
This is the third edition of well-received upper-level text by a leading soils geologist. The text discusses field applications such as the use of soils in recognizing climate change, estimating the age of geological deposits, and dealing with environmental problems such as acid rain. In this third revision Birkeland incorporates the considerable amount of new research that has taken place since the last edition in 1984, expands the sections on applications and paleosols, and adds new "how to" appendices on soil descriptions.
This text provides an overview of the physical and biological
processes that shape California's rivers and watersheds. It
introduces relevant basic principles of hydrology and geomorphology
and applies them to an understanding of the differences in
character of the state's many rivers. It then builds on this
foundation by evaluating the impact on waterways of different land
use practices-logging, mining, agriculture, flood control,
urbanization, and water supply development. Water may be one of
California's most valuable resources, but it is far from being one
we control. In spite of channels, levees, lines and dams, the
state's rivers still frequently flood, with devastating results.
Almost all the rivers in California are dammed or diverted; with
the booming population, there will be pressure for more
intervention. The author argues that Californians know little about
how their rivers work and, more importantly, how and why land-use
practices impact rivers. The forceful reconfiguration and
redistribution of the rivers has already brought the state to a
critical crossroads. This text forces an evaluation of our use of
the state's rivers and offers a foundation for participating in
This book is intended as a useful handbook for professionals and
researchers in the areas of Physical Oceanography, Marine Geology,
Coastal Geomorphology and Coastal Engineering and as a text for
graduate students in these fields. With its emphasis on boundary
layer flow and basic sediment transport modelling, it is meant to
help fill the gap between general hydrodynamic texts and
descriptive texts on marine and coastal sedimentary processes. The
book commences with a review of coastal bottom boundary layer flows
including the boundary layer interaction between waves and steady
currents. The concept of eddy viscosity for these flows is
discussed in depth because of its relation to sediment diffusivity.
The quasi-steady processes of sediment transport over flat beds are
discussed. Small scale coastal bedforms and the corresponding
hydraulic roughness are described. The motion of suspended sand
particles is studied in detail with emphasis on the possible
suspension maintaining mechanisms in coastal flows. Sediment pickup
functions are provided for unsteady flows. A new combined
convection-diffusion model is provided for suspended sediment
distributions. Different methods of sediment transport model
building are presented together with some classical models.
'Groundwater Pumping Tests is a practical book details concepts,
techniques, field work, case studies, and microcomputer
models-information designed to improve accuracy and reliability.
Too frequently, groundwater pumping test design and analysis ignore
well storage capacity, delayed gravity yield, well partial
penetration, and aquitard storativity impacts without proving them
negligible. As a result, erroneous conclusions are reached
concerning aquifer system hydraulic characteristics, boundaries,
and discontinuities. Pumping test data often is filtered
arbitrarily without adequate justification in attempts to match
inappropriate aquifer models and field conditions. Antecedent water
level trends and water level adjustments for changes in barometric
pressure and surface water stages frequently are ignored in
calculating drawdown and recovery. Finally, manual graphic analysis
supplemented with microcomputer programs is, to an excessive
extent, being replaced by fully automatic microcomputer analysis
without critical examination of interpretative methods in program
algorithms and their limitations. This book will focus needed
attention on the facets mentioned above.
In the quarter-century since his first book, Killing the Hidden
Waters, was published in 1977, Charles Bowden has become one of the
premier writers on the American environment, rousing a generation
of readers to both the wonder and the tragedy of humanity's
relationship with the land. Revisiting his earliest work with a new
introduction, "What I Learned Watching the Wells Go Down," Bowden
looks back at his first effort to awaken people to the costs and
limits of using natural resources through a simple and obvious
example-water. He drives home the point that years of droughts,
rationing, and even water wars have done nothing to slake the
insatiable consumption of water in the American West. Even more
timely now than in 1977, Killing the Hidden Waters remains, in
Edward Abbey's words, "the best all-around summary I've read yet,
anywhere, of how our greed-driven, ever-expanding urban-industrial
empire is consuming, wasting, poisoning, and destroying not only
the resource basis of its own existence, but also the vital,
sustaining basis of life everywhere."
Since the publication of the bestselling second edition 5 years
ago, vast and new globally-relevant geographic datasets have become
available to cartography practitioners, and with this has come the
need for new ways to visualize them in maps as well as new
challenges in ethically disseminating the visualizations. With new
features and significant updates that address these changes, this
edition remains faithful to the original vision that cartography
instruction should be software agnostic. Discussing map design
theory and technique rather than map design tools, this book
focuses on digital cartography and its best practices. This third
edition has completely new sections on how to deal with maps that
go viral and the ethics therein; new presentation ideas; new
features such as amenities, climate data, and hazards; the new
Equal Earth projection; and vector tile design considerations. All
chapters are thoroughly updated with new illustrations and new
sections for datasets that didn't exist when the second edition was
published, as well as new techniques and trends in cartography. New
in the third edition: A true textbook, written with a friendly
style and excellent examples explaining everything from layout
design to fonts and colors, to specific design considerations for
individual feature types, to static and dynamic cartography issues.
Thoroughly updated with new features such as points of interest,
climate data, hazards, and buildings; new projections such as the
Equal Earth projection and the Spilhaus projection; and vector tile
design considerations such as label placement techniques and tricks
for making world-class basemaps. Includes over 70 new map examples
that display the latest techniques in cartography. Reflects on new
developments in color palettes; visualization patterns; datums; and
non-static output media such as animation, interaction, and
large-format cinematic techniques, that weren't available for the
second edition. Defines and illustrates new terms that have made
their way into the profession over the last few years such as story
maps, flow maps, Dorling cartograms, spec sheets, bivariate
choropleths, firefly cartography, Tanaka contours, and
value-by-alpha. In this third edition, author Gretchen Peterson
takes a "don't let the technology get in the way" approach to the
presentation, focusing on the elements of good design, what makes a
good map, and how to get there, rather than specific software
tools. She provides a reference that you can thumb through time and
again as you create your maps. Copiously illustrated, the third
edition explores novel concepts that kick-start your pursuit of
map-making excellence. The book doesn't just teach you how to
design and create good maps, it teaches you how to design and
create superior maps.
This textbook covers all important aspects of mountain glaciers,
from their formation and their importance as water reservoirs to
the threat posed by current global warming. Glaciers themselves can
also pose a threat to humans and represent a natural hazard in
populated mountain areas in the form of ice avalanches and glacial
lake outbursts. In addition, however, they are also important
landscape formers and have helped to shape large parts of the
present-day relief of the Earth, which is one of the classic fields
of work of geomorphology and geology. In the individual chapters,
the current state of research is presented in a comprehensible
manner and illustrated with concise examples, photos and graphics.
The book offers a compact introduction for all students of
geosciences, curious mountaineers and laymen interested in nature.
Significant changes are affecting coastlines around the world due
to economic pressures and climate change. This book addresses the
social, cultural and political context of the process of managed
coastal realignment, the strategic abandonment of the coast, as a
means of coping with these changes. With a specific focus on the
Blackwater Estuary in Essex, Stuart Oliver analyses the cultural
and social implications of managed retreat and proposes managed
realignment as a practical way in which society can rethink itself,
addressing the new realities of the environment and a move towards
developing a more sustainable relationship with it.
The world is currently experiencing changes in climate and
environment that often lead to natural disasters. Nearly three
million people worldwide may have been killed in the past 20 years
by natural disasters. In total, 90% of the natural disasters and
95% of all disaster-related deaths occur in the developing
countries. Recently such problems have accelerated due to LULC
change, biodiversity degradation, increased tourism, urbanization
and climate change. This book, consisting of 27 chapters, explores
the topics of climate, environment and natural disasters in
developing countries. It is essential to discuss these diverse
issues in the field of geography as it encompasses
interdisciplinary topics. The range of issues on national, regional
and local dimensions is not only confined to geography but also
concerned to other disciplines as well. Therefore, this book is a
valuable source for scientists and researchers in allied fields
such as climatology, disaster management, environmental science,
hydrology, agriculture, and land use studies, among other areas.
Furthermore, this book can be of immense help to the planners and
decision-makers engaged in dealing with the problems of climate,
environmental change and natural disasters in developing countries.
This handbook presents a timely and comprehensive overview of
theory, data, methods and research findings that connect human
population dynamics and environmental context. It presents regional
summaries of empirical findings on migration and environmental
connections and summarizes environmental impacts of migration -
such as urbanization and deforestation. It also offers background
on the health implications of environmental conditions such as
climate change, natural disasters, scarcity of natural resources,
as well as on resource scarcity and fertility, gender
considerations in population and environment, and the connections
between population size, growth, composition and carbon emissions.
This handbook helps readers to better understand the complexities
within population-environment connections, in addition to some of
the opportunities and challenges within environmental demography.
As such this collection is an invaluable resource for students,
researchers, and policy analysts in the areas of demography,
migration, fertility, health and mortality, as well as
environmental, global and development studies.
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