From the beginning of time, the physical characteristics of the world around us have shaped the way we think and live. Early cultures felt closer to nature than society does today, and the most vivid imagery of the physical world is to be found often in ancient myths from throughout the world.

First published in 1984, The Mediterranean Region considers the broad economic and political problems facing the region from a variety of perspectives. The book features the work of international experts on the Mediterranean region. It discusses the changing legal environment and covers the Law of the Sea as applied to the Mediterranean, and the position of the Arab countries in the region. Chapters are also devoted to exploring the different policies of Russia, the United States, and Europe, towards the Mediterranean. The Mediterranean Region is a detailed contribution to research and understanding of the area.

This book brings together contributions from experts in water management, scientists, researchers, academics and lecturers, sharing experiences and successes in this field. It is devoted to a wide range of water resources management issues, including water quality to water quantity, considering all impacts of water issues in the environment. The book presents international approaches to the latest developments in both the fundamental bases and the applicability of state-of-the-art knowledge that can be effectively used for solving a variety of large problems in integrated water resources management. The main focus of the book is on water pollution - physical, chemical, biological, and geographical pollution, hydrology problems, and limnology tasks.

The chapters in this book explore the range of physical and social attributes that have shaped and re-shaped our landscapes through time. International authors have contributed the latest results of investigating ancient landscapes (or "palaeolandscapes") in diverse settings of tropical forests, deserts, river deltas, remote islands, coastal zones, and continental interiors. The case studies embrace a liberal approach of combining archaeological evidence with other avenues of research in earth sciences, biology, and social relations. The chapters offer new perspectives on what the world's palaeolandscapes looked like, how people lived in these places, and how communities have engaged with long-term change in their natural and cultural environments though successive centuries and millennia. This book reaches across archaeology, ecology, geography, and broader studies of human-environment relations that will appeal to general readers. Specialists and students in these fields will find extra value in the primary datasets and in the new ideas and perspectives. It also provides unique examples from the past, toward understanding the workings of sustainable landscape systems.

First published in 1982, The English Medieval Landscape was written to recreate and analyse the development of the major elements of the medieval landscape. Illustrated with maps and photographs, the book explores the nature of the English landscape between 1066 and 1485, from farms and chases to castles, monastic settlements, villages, roads, and more. The English Medieval Landscape will appeal to those with an interest in medieval history and British social history.

Originally published in 1964, and extensively illustrated with figures and charts, this volume gives an overview of both physical and human geography of the former USSR. The role that the geography of the country has played in shaping historical events and political forces is discussed, as is its role in the economy of the Soviet Union. The geography is examined by topics and regional differences explained within this framework. The book looks at some of the major problems posed by geographical conditions and how they have been tackled and as far as data allows, the success or failure of measures has been assessed.

Freshwater is our planet's most precious resource, and also the least conserved. Freshwater makes up only 3 percent of the total water on the planet, and yet the majority (1.9 percent) is held in a frozen state in glaciers, icebergs, and polar ice fields. This leaves approximately one-half of 1 percent of the total volume of water on the planet as freshwater available in liquid form. This book traces the complex history of the steady growth of humankind's water consumption, which today reaches some 9.7 quadrillion gallons per year. Along with a larger population has come the need for more drinking water, larger farms requiring extensive irrigation, and more freshwater to support business and industry. At the same time, such developments have led to increased water pollution. Three detailed case studies are included. The first looks at massive water systems in locations such as New York City and the efforts required to protect and transport such resources. The second shows how growth has affected freshwater quality in the ecologically unique and geographically isolated Lake Baikal region of eastern Russia. The third examines the success story of the privatized freshwater system in Chile and consider how that country's water sources are threatened by climate change.

First published in 1969, Water, Earth, and Man, was written to demonstrate the advantages of adopting a unified view of the earth and social sciences. The book considers the connection between an understanding of physical environments and an understanding of social environments. It explores the hydrologic cycle and highlights the significance of the relationship between natural environments and the activities of humankind, drawing together physical and human geography to produce a highly detailed study.

This second edition, enhanced with more than 30 new figures, provides an up-to-date overview of physical geography suitable for all those with a personal or professional interest in environmental processes, climate change and understanding of the Earth's landforms and dynamics. The text provides explanations of processes, enabling the reader to understand the interconnected nature of the Earth's system, and has been updated to include new developments and case studies with insights from satellite observations and data analysis using artificial intelligence. The book begins by outlining the nature of the Earth system, concepts around environmental thresholds and feedbacks, planetary boundaries for human survival, and humans as a dominant driver of environmental change. The second chapter examines features associated with plate tectonics, the role of weathering and erosion in shaping landscapes, and soil functions and management. Chapter 3 deals with the climate system, describing drivers of the major atmospheric and oceanic circulation systems, the natural greenhouse effect, and regional climate and weather experienced for different zones across the planet. The global carbon cycle and long-term climate change are considered in Chapter 4 before moving on to tackle the latest knowledge on contemporary and future climate change, its impacts, mitigation and adaptation. Chapter 5 facilitates key understanding of hydrology, river channel dynamics, water quality, coastal processes, glacier dynamics and cold region landforms while Chapter 6 deals with the distribution and patterns of life on Earth and of the underlying processes that result in these patterns. The book concludes with a brief overview of considerations for managing environmental change and hazards, and requirements for achieving the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. This reader-friendly text brings together wide-ranging subject areas from across physical geography, covering the basics of the subject at a level suitable for those about to embark on a university degree or for those who just want to get a solid basic understanding of the physical environment around them. The book, which contains box features with examples and a glossary to aid understanding, acts as a primer for further study, or in itself can be used as a basic aid to understanding fundamental principles and processes associated with physical geography.

From the Earth's Core to Outer Space focuses on four themes: (1) Evolving Earth s crust, (2) Changing Baltic Sea, (3) Climate Change, and (4) Planet Earth, third stone from Sun. The focus on these four topics provides both a state of the art review of earth science topics of particular importance to Scandinavia and the Baltic and also the global context in which a consideration of these topics must be made. It finishes by discussing our use of space born technologies for understanding these topics and places the Earth within the context of our neighbouring planets and their satellites.
The first theme includes papers on the structure, origin and evolution of the Earth s crust and in particular the ore deposits in Fennoscandia, plate-tectonic drift of Fennoscandia (Baltica), and postglacial isostatic rebound of the crust. The second theme contains papers dealing with changes in the ice season of the Baltic Sea, inflow and stagnation in deep basins, biology of the Baltic Sea, and carbon dioxide balance in sea water. The third theme deals with origin and evolution of oxygen in atmosphere, postglacial climate change, effects of aerosols and greenhouse gases on climate, interplay between anthropogenic and natural factors in the current climate change, and Earth s water resources. The fourth theme includes articles on Earth s space environment, use of satellites in cartography and geodesy, information obtained by space probes on Mars and other planets and their moons, and possibilities to find life on them."

The Appalachian Mountains are home to many myths and stereotypes, but they are also the focus of intense academic interest. This bibliography of books, articles, monographs, and dissertations features more than 4,700 entries, divided into twenty-four subject areas such as activism and protest; Appalachian Studies; arts and crafts; community culture and folk life; education; environment; ethnicity, race and identity; health and medicine; media and stereotypes; recreation and tourism; religion; and women and gender. The region is defined as including all, or portions, of Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. Two indexes - one of authors, compilers, editors and interviewers, the other of subjects - conclude the bibliography.

Physical Geography: The Key Concepts is a thought-provoking and up-to-date introduction to the central ideas and debates within the field. It provides extended definitions of terms that are fundamental to physical geography and its many branches, covering topics such as:

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Complete with informative tables, diagrams, and suggestions for further reading, this is a highly accessible guide for those studying physical geography and related courses.

Physical Geography: The Key Concepts is a thought-provoking and up-to-date introduction to the central ideas and debates within the field. It provides extended definitions of terms that are fundamental to physical geography and its many branches, covering topics such as:

• biogeography
• ecology
• climatology
• meteorology
• geomorphology
• hydrology
• pedology

Complete with informative tables, diagrams, and suggestions for further reading, this is a highly accessible guide for those studying physical geography and related courses.

This book discusses the conditions that underpin configuration of specific places as resource peripheries and the consequences that such a socio-spatial formation involves for those places. The book thereby provides an interdisciplinary approach underpinned by economic geography, political ecology, resource geography, development studies and political geography. It also discusses the different technological, political and economic changes that make the ongoing production of resource peripheries a distinctive socio-spatial formation under the global economy. Through a global and interdisciplinary perspective that uncovers ongoing political processes, socio-economic changes and socio-ecological dynamics at resource peripheries, this book argues that it is critical to take a more profound appraisal about the socio-spatial processes behind the contemporary way in which capitalism is appropriating and transforming nature.

A Guardian Best Nature Book of the Year

The magic and mystery of the woods are embedded in culture, from ancient folklore to modern literature. They offer us refuge: a place to play, a place to think. They are the generous providers of timber and energy. They let us dream of other ways of living. Yet we now face a future where taking a walk in the woods is consigned to the tales we tell our children.

Immersing himself in the beauty of woodland Britain, Peter Fiennes explores our long relationship with the woods and the sad and violent story of how so many have been lost. Just as we need them, our woods need us too. But who, if anyone, is looking out for them?

This book describes the mountain forests of East Asia (Korea, Japan, China and Taiwan), the tree layers of which contain different species of the genus Fagus. The vegetation is primarily deciduous in the northern regions, whereas in South China evergreen trees can also be found: a total of 21 plant communities are described, with data on species composition, dominance, geographical distribution and ecology. A general comparison is provided by synoptic Table 1, which details the frequencies of ca. 1500 species growing in the Fagus forests; biodiversity and evolution are discussed. The book, which is the fruit of a major international collaboration, presents a synthesis of extended original investigations by the authors and hardly accessible specialist literature.

When first released much praise was given to this book: "An outstanding book on urban geography. . . representative of the best on this subject."--"Higher Education Journal"

"The book ought to be required reading for every planner and student of planning . . . a magnificent achievement." --"Town and Country Planning."

"The Geography of Towns" provides a concise but thorough introduction to the important subject of urban geography. It traces the development of urban areas from the earliest sites of Nineveh, Aleppo, and Agade to modern megalopolises and strip cities, and deals authoritatively with problems of classification and ranking, location and type, origins, and course of development, and the relationship of the city to its region and nation.

All facets of urban geography are covered, including the core, integuments, population structure, land-use patterns, enclaves, and town structure. Population mobility and the continual crisscross circulation of populations within and between town and region are seen as important forces affecting the internal geography of towns. The author questions the usefulness or validity of such terms as "neighborhood" and stresses the need for more meaningful conceptualizations and vocabulary.

One of the fundamental problems connected with urban geography is to assist in the planning of future cities. This book contributes substantially to an understanding of the interrelations of town and region and to an understanding of the components of the city itself which are essential to intelligent planning for the future.

"Arthur E. Smailes" (1911-1984) was professor of geography, University of London. He was founder member of the Institute of British Geographers and also served as its secretary. In his career, he was granted a chair at Queen Mary College which later became the first chair of geography and was the recipient of the Research Medal of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society.

Building a Survival Kit will help you to survive adverse outdoor conditions: heat, cold or extreme weather. Staying warm and dry is essential and you'll learn how to protect your Core Temperature (CTC) while saving (heat) calories through less energy output. Tips will include essential supplies to bring should an emergency occur. This guide is waterproof and nearly indestructible. It can fit in a back pocket so you can have vital information when you need it. A must-have for the serious wilderness explorer. Co-authored by noted survival expert and woodsman Dave Canterbury, this is one of a 10-part series on survival skills.

This book is highly informative and carefully presented, providing scientific insights into the flood resources utilization in the Yangtze River Basin both for scholars and decision-makers. The book is for the purpose of analyzing the potential utilization of flood resources in the Yangtze River Basin and exploring effective ways to put forward the countermeasures against the risks. Major objectives of this book include: (1) revealing the characteristics of the inflow and the sediment variation in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, quantitatively evaluating the potential utilization of the flood resources in the Yangtze River and demonstrating the feasibility of its utilization in the Basin; (2) proposing the necessity and feasibility of utilizing the flood resources by the Three Gorges Project; (3) shedding new light on the characteristics of the flood resources, presenting different methods of flood resources utilization in different regions over the Basin and raising the overall risk-optimized strategies of the flood resources utilization in the Yangtze River; (4) analyzing the risk of flood resources utilization for the Three Gorges Project regarding flood control, sediment, ecology, etc., and putting forward the risk-optimized countermeasures of flood resources utilization for the Three Gorges Project.

Marine biogeography, the study of the spatial distribution of organisms in the world's oceans, is one of the most fascinating branches of oceanography. This book continues the pioneering research into the distributions of molluscan faunas, first studied by biologists over 160 years ago. It illustrates 1778 species of gastropods in full color, many of which are extremely rare and poorly known endemic species that are illustrated for the first time outside of their original descriptions. The spatial arrangements of malacofaunas shown in this book can be considered proxies for worldwide oceanic conditions and used as tools for determining patterns of global climate change. The book's documentation of evolutionary "hot spots" and geographically restricted endemic faunas can also be used as a base line for future studies on patterns of environmental deterioration and extinction in the marine biosphere. Documenting the evolution of the amazingly rich worldwide gastropod fauna, this book will appeal to physical and chemical oceanographers, systematic and evolutionary biologists, historical geologists, paleontologists, climatologists, geomorphologists, and physical geographers. The authors incorporate aspects of all of these disciplines into a new classification system for the nomenclature of biogeographical spatial units found in tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate seas.

The Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) is the next-generation multispectral imaging instrument to fly on US operational, polar-orbiting meteorological satellites. VIIRS will gather data across 22 spectral bands and be used to create products for a variety of applications including weather forecasting and climate change studies. VIIRS consolidates the best features of heritage instruments, including near-constant resolution and nighttime visible imagery. Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite: A New Operational Cloud Imager provides the first comprehensive guide on the design and exploitation of cloud data collected by the VIIRS. Expert researchers Hutchison and Cracknell discuss the fundamental principles necessary to interpret surface and cloud features in multispectral meteorological satellite imagery. They begin by tracing the evolution of satellite meteorology and detailing previous instruments on which VIIRS is based. Next, they examine the user requirements for VIIRS data products and the studies used to convert these requirements into sensor design parameters. The focus then shifts to the principles and techniques used to exploit VIIRS cloud data. The book ends with a comprehensive discussion of automated processes to retrieve 3-dimensional cloud fields from a variety of algorithms, some of which were developed for the VIIRS. Supplying material for both experienced researchers and those new to the field, Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite is a must-read for anyone interested in evaluating and using the data gathered from the VIIRS project.

A comprehensive and lavishly illustrated photographic guide-now in a handy field-guide format This lavishly illustrated photographic guide provides a comprehensive overview of the natural history of wildlife habitats in Britain and Ireland. Now completely redesigned in a handy field-guide format, and featuring revised and updated text throughout, this new edition of Britain's Habitats guides readers through all the main habitat types, presenting information on their characteristics, extent, geographical variation, key species, cultural importance, origins and conservation. It aims to help visitors to the countryside recognize the habitats around them, understand how they have evolved and what makes them special, and imagine how they might change in the future. This new edition includes updated maps and additional photographs throughout, and covers a new habitat-gardens. The perfect companion for anyone travelling in Britain and Ireland, the book is essential reading for all wildlife enthusiasts, professional ecologists and landscape architects. Individual sections on all the main habitat types found in Britain and Ireland More than 680 evocative colour photographs, including images from around Britain and Ireland in all seasons Details and photographs of key species and features associated with the different habitats Up-to-date information-including maps-on the distribution, extent and importance of all habitat types Features new to this edition include a field-guide format, updated maps, more photographs throughout and coverage of an additional habitat-gardens

This book presents a range of academic research and personal reflections on the Gorkha earthquake that struck Nepal in 2015. For the first time, perspectives from geography, disaster risk reduction, cultural heritage protection, archaeology, anthropology, social work, health and emergency response are discussed in a single volume. Contributions are included from practitioners and researchers from Nepal and Durham University in the UK, many of whom were in Nepal at the time of the earthquake. Evolving Narratives of Hazard and Risk explores the event of the earthquake, its consequences and its impacts, to provide a holistic and multi-perspective understanding of this special hazard and its significant ramifications for social, political, economic and cultural aspects of life in Nepal. The book highlights how these multiple perspectives are needed to inform each other in order to develop and shape new ways of thinking and interacting with environmental hazards. This collection of works will be of interest to students and academics of Environment Studies, Human Geography and Environmental Policy, and will be of particular relevance to those involved in risk research and managing risk and hazard events.

‘Brilliant, clear, and humane’ Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love ‘Miraculous and hopeful’ Emma Straub, author of All Adults Here ‘Quietly profound … belongs on the shelf next to Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild’ New York Times Riverman: An American Odyssey uncovers the story of an extraordinary man and his puzzling disappearance, and paints a picture of the singular spirit of America’s riverbank towns. ‘The peace of mind I found, largely alone, on that white-water mecca convinced me that life was capable of exquisite pleasure and undefined meaning deep in the face of failure. The experience itself is the reward.’ Dick Conant On his forty-third birthday, Dick Conant, a golden boy who never quite grew up as those around him expected, stepped into a homemade boat to embark on a journey despite a gathering snowstorm. Among his possessions was a Gideon Bible and biographies of Einstein and Bismark. It was the beginning of an all-consuming odyssey by an unconventional man into the watery arteries of America, a journey to the unreported margins of society. He was to spend the next twenty years canoeing thousands of miles of rivers and their innumerable smaller tributaries, from one end of the country to the other. ‘I can, and I will!’ he said. And then, in 2014, he disappeared. Not long before Conant’s upturned canoe was found in a brackish North Carolina bay, Ben McGrath met Conant by chance as he paddled down the Hudson, headed for Florida. McGrath set out to find the people whose lives, like his own, had been touched by their encounter with the great river wanderer. Along the way he meets eccentrics and ne’er-do-wells drawn straight from the pages of Mark Twain, a vast network of friends and acquaintances who would forever remember this brilliant and charming man even after a single meeting. Riverman is the story of a restless soul who was as troubled as he was charismatic, a contemporary folk hero who slips the moorings of ordinary civilised life to tap into what Thoreau called ‘a yearning toward all wildness.’ It is also a riveting portrait of an America we rarely see: a nation of unconventional characters, small river towns, and long forgotten waterways.

This exciting and diverse collection on conservation originally published between 1974 and 2002, draws together research by leading academics in the area of conservation and provides a focused and interdisciplinary approach to the subject area. Comprised of 8 volumes, the collection offers a diverse snapshot of some important areas in the study of conservation, including: Home conservation; Biodiversity and ecosystems; Trade in wildlife; Environmental campaigning; Political environmentalism This academically stimulating set brings back into print a selection of previously unavailable titles, which addresses areas that are of even more importance and interest in the present day than at their time of publication and will provide a must-have resource for academics and students seeking to better understand conservation and environmental change. The collection will appeal to not only those working in the environmental sciences, but also in the areas of politics, economics and geography.