Dokuchaev carried out most of his research in Ukraine. His student and friend, Volodymyr Vernadsky, went on to create trans-disciplinary environmental sciences and the concept of Earth as a living organism, famously taken up by James Lovelock. That spring of ideas still flows and the researches captured in this volume are relevant to present-day problems, and not only in Ukraine. Soils have always been under stress but, in the Anthropocene, mankind is in the driving seat. As a sequel to Soil Science Working for a Living: Applications of soil science to present-day problems, we consider issues of policy as well as soil genesis, attributes and functions in various environments, natural and man-made. We consider human impacts on the soil cover through its use and misuse, highlight methods of research and assessment of soil quality, and the threats of soil degradation. The distinguished contributors also describe and propose various options for evaluation and remediation of degraded soils, drawing on the latest methods of modelling and cartography as well as long-term field experiments and long experience. The book will be invaluable to researchers and practitioners in soil science including graduate and post-graduate education, academics and professionals.

Urban Drainage and Storage Practices focuses on the latest developments in urban stormwater design methods using drainage and storage approaches for both water quality and quantity control. It covers both the conventional approaches to flood mitigation and low-impact methods for stormwater quality enhancement. Theory, practice, and modeling methods are presented to illustrate how to build a holistic stormwater drainage and storage system using urban open space and parks through multiple land use. Each chapter provides background theory, numerical experiments, illustrations, and Excel spreadsheets that outline design and calculation procedures. All urban watersheds are modeled as a series of cascading planes to drain stormwater from upstream roofs and parking lots onto downstream grass areas and vegetal beds. The drainage system is designed as a three-layer cascading system with various low-impact units for micro events, conveyance elements for minor events, and storage facilities for macro events. This book: presents the theory and practice of designing and building a stormwater system explains green approaches to designing and managing urban stormwater systems. This text is ideal for senior and graduate students studying urban hydrology, hydraulic engineering, and water resource management. It will also be useful for engineers requiring a technical book with hands-on practical examples.

This edited book provides a comprehensive overview of the past, present and future climate development in Poland. The book consists of three main parts. The first part presents the results of the study of climate change before instrumental measurements in Poland in the last millennium. The second part analyses the long-term changes and variability of 36 climate characteristics for 14 climate elements, indices, meteorological phenomena and weather types using data from 79 weather stations in the base period 1951-2018 and for long series up to 239 years (1780-2018). The particular attention is paid to climate extremes. The third part of the book deals with projected changes in temperature, precipitation and thermal indices related to the agriculture and energy sectors. Two future time horizons are carried out: 1) near future: 2021-2050 and 2) far future: 2071-2100. The results for Poland are compared to those from Europe and other parts of the world. The book is addressed to scientists (climatologists, geographers, etc.), academic teachers, students, journalists and all those interested in Poland and climate change in Poland.

This book describes the importance of water resources for socio-economic and ecological development including geomorphic and ecological environments. Hence, conservation, management and development of water resources have become necessary for the all-around development of global populations and the environment. It is the outcome of valuable contributions made by eminent scientists and research scholars who have developed alternative strategies, solutions and models for sustainable water resources through research, monitoring and experiments varying from regional to global scale. This book is of immense use to the policymakers, environmentalists, ecologists, academician, research scholars and people in general concerned with water resources management.

This new edition - now with Nancy Jackson as a co-author - continues the themes of the first edition: the need to restore the biodiversity, ecosystem health, and ecosystem services provided by coastal landforms and habitats, especially in the light of climate change. The second edition reports on progress made on practices identified in the first edition, presents additional case studies, and addresses new and emerging issues. It analyzes the tradeoffs involved in restoring beaches and dunes - especially on developed coasts - the most effective approaches to use, and how stakeholders can play an active role. The concept of restoration is broad, and includes physical, ecological, economic, social, and ethical principles and ideals. The book will be valuable for coastal scientists, engineers, planners, and managers, as well as shorefront residents. It will also serve as a useful supplementary reference textbook in courses dealing with issues of coastal management and ecology.

This book combines multidisciplinary studies on the environmental consequences of intensified use of land and water, and the fusion of land to provide food for a growing population. Studies on water, vegetation, and soil are addressed from an environmental management perspective with a special focus on the relation between natural elements and humans. This book considers the essential dynamics of humans and the natural environment, which is especially important in areas with shallow water-table that influence directly on agricultural activities (crops, livestock, and forests), land management, flooding, droughts, waterlogging, salt-affected soils (saline and sodic) and variation in obtained water quality in wells where these processes as related to the local and regional geomorphology control. The studies present hydrological processes towards the definition of an adequate use of soil and water with consequences of its management on the environment. Also, water study procedures are presented as well as their relation to other elements of the landscape. Methodologies such as the Tothian flow system concept are recognized by different authors to provide the reader with solid interdisciplinary analyses of related environmental components such as soils, vegetation, surface water, geomorphology, geological framework and groundwater physical-chemical composition.

This book introduces what sclerotia grains are, and where and how they exist in soils, by compiling the results obtained from the studies on fungal sclerotia formed by Cenococcum geophilum (Cg) and related species, the visible black small grains persistent for a few thousand to ten thousands of years in forest soils and sediments. The chapters contain the results and discussions on the ecological distribution and regulating factors, characteristics, and function of Cg sclerotia grains, carried out by researchers from soil geography, soil science, soil microbiology, physiology, forestry, analytical chemistry, environmental chemistry, material science, and related disciplines. The anatomy of sclerotia grains in soil was realized in terms of interdisciplinary joint researches, which resulted in deepening understanding of the ecological function of the mesoscale organic component in soils. This book covers the natural history of sclerotia in soils, pedo-sclerotiology.

This book provides a step-by-step methodology and derivation of deep learning algorithms as Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) and Convolution Neural Network (CNN), especially for estimating parameters, with back-propagation as well as examples with real datasets of hydrometeorology (e.g. streamflow and temperature) and environmental science (e.g. water quality). Deep learning is known as part of machine learning methodology based on the artificial neural network. Increasing data availability and computing power enhance applications of deep learning to hydrometeorological and environmental fields. However, books that specifically focus on applications to these fields are limited. Most of deep learning books demonstrate theoretical backgrounds and mathematics. However, examples with real data and step-by-step explanations to understand the algorithms in hydrometeorology and environmental science are very rare. This book focuses on the explanation of deep learning techniques and their applications to hydrometeorological and environmental studies with real hydrological and environmental data. This book covers the major deep learning algorithms as Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) and Convolution Neural Network (CNN) as well as the conventional artificial neural network model.

This book offers a conceptual framework for the critical understanding of the present socio-environmental conflicts. It reflects on the evolution of subject and thought, a shift in environmental thinking triggered by the development of eco-territorial conflicts and the social responses given to the environmental question. Bringing together 40 years of the authors writing and research, the book explores the transition from ecological economics and historical materialism to ecological Marxism. It unpacks the forging of political ecology from value theory in political economy, to ecological distribution and ecologies of difference; a transition to an environmental rationality grounded in the ontology of diversity, a politics of difference and an ethics of otherness. This evolution in thinking gives consistency to a theoretical discourse able to respond to the territorial conflicts generated by the radicalization of the environmental question as a key social issue of our times. The book is a call to respond to the urgent challenge of reversing the tendency towards the entropic death of the planet and to building a sustainable world order.

This encyclopaedia contains 350 entries arranged alphabetically. The topics include biospeleology (by organism and by habitat); cave and karst geoscience; cave archaeology and human use of caves; art in caves; cave and karst history; hydrology and groundwater; conservation and management; and exploration, equipment and rescue. The largest number of entries are on cave and karst sites across the world from individual caves such as Mammoth Cave (the world's longest cave) and Krubera (the deepest in the world) through key regions such as the Dinaric karst and the Gunung Mulu World Heritage Site, to coverage of individual countries such as Iran and New Zealand or larger areas (Asia, Central; Asia, South-east, etc.). The essays in this volume, written by an international team of specialists, progress from general concepts to deeper understanding with jargon explained for the non-specialist. Each essay is fully referenced, with suggestions for further reading and cross-references to related encyclopaedia articles.

This book presents a survey, dynamic monitoring and comprehensive analysis of Sri Lanka's land, vegetation, surface water, ocean and other environmental resources, as well as its economic, transportation, urban, agricultural and tourism development. It offers readers accurate, systematic and comprehensive information on Sri Lanka's ecological setting and socio-economic development. It also sheds light on policies for the protection of the environment and biodiversity.

In this unique edited collection, social scientists reflect upon and openly share insights gathered from researching people and the sea. Understanding how people use, relate to and interact with coastal and marine environments has never been more important, with social scientists having an increasingly vital contribution to make. Yet practical experiences in deploying social science approaches in this field are typically hidden away in field notes and unpublished doctoral manuscripts, with the opportunity for shared learning that comes from doing research often missed. There is a need for reflection on how social science knowledge is produced. This collection presents experiences from the field, its necessary reflexivity and innovation in methods, and the challenges and opportunities of translating across disciplines and policy. It brings to light the tacit expertise needed to study people and the sea and offers lessons which readers could employ in their own research. With a focus on the future direction of marine social sciences, the volume is highly relevant to masters and doctoral students and more experienced researchers engaged in studying people and the sea, as well as policy makers, practitioners and scientists wishing to understand the social dimension of marine and coastal environments. Chapters 2 and 3 are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

This book explores the relationship between rivers and ethics in China, with a particular focus on the health of the Yellow River and China's sustainable development. Though the book falls into the category of East Asian History, it is an interdisciplinary academic work that addresses not only history, but also culture, human geography and physical geography. It traces the changes in the Yellow River over time and examines the origin and developmental course of Chinese civilization, which has always been closely intertwined with the Yellow River. It also draws comparisons between the Yellow River and the Yangtze, Nile, Tigris, Euphrates and Indus rivers to provide insights into how they have contributed to civilizations. At the same time, it discusses the lessons learned from people's taming the Yellow River. Most significantly, the book explores the relationship between humans and the environment from an ethical standpoint, making it an urgent reminder of the crucial role that human activities play in environmental issues concerning the Yellow River so as to achieve a sustainable development for China's "mother river." The intended audience includes academic readers researching East Asian and Chinese history & culture, geography, human geography, historical geography, the environment, river civilizations, etc., as well as history and geography lovers and members of the general public who are interested in the Yellow River and the civilization that has evolved around it.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of emerging challenges facing different social groups, policy-makers and the international community related to economic growth, social development and environmental change, social inclusion and regional development. The book undertakes a critical assessment of the tensions associated with the failures of mainstream regulatory approaches and impacts of social and economic policies whilst widening the discussion on the interface between the expansion of the socio-environmental demands, equity and justice. These are crucial challenges, of great importance today and of equal relevance to the Global North and South. The book explores one of the main contradictions of development, the simplification of assessments and narrow consideration of alternatives. Taking this dilemma as its departure point, it goes on to examine the justification, trends and limitations of Western-based development and possible alternatives to fundamentally modify the basis and the rationale of the development process. It considers theoretical and lived experiences of development, paying attention to multiple scales, local realities and economic frontiers. Contributing authors explore policy recommendations and discuss effective practical tools for determining the values different people hold for ecosystem services and territorial resources. They cover the monitoring of change in the provision of ecosystem services that might increase the well-being of vulnerable groups as well as strategies to promote innovation and integrated, equitable and sustainable development.

Provides a comprehensive overview of the subject of marine governance and environmental change, which will serve as a key reference textbook. Reflects the immense global concern over issues such as sea level rise, marine biodiversity including coral reefs, fisheries, maritime trade and shipping. Draws on and will apeal to a wide range of dsiciplines including marine biology, climate science, geography, law, politics and international relations.

This book focuses on the present and future challenges of managing ecosystem transformation on a planet where human impacts are pervasive. In this new epoch, the Anthropocene, the already rapid rate of species loss is amplified by climate change and other stress factors, causing transformation of highly-valued landscapes. Many locations are already transforming into novel ecosystems, where new species, interactions, and ecological functions are creating landscapes unlike anything seen before. This has sparked contentious debate not just about science, but about decision-making, responsibility, fairness, and human capacity to intervene. Clement argues that the social and ecological reality of the Anthropocene requires modernised governance and policy to confront these new challenges and achieve ecological objectives. There is a real opportunity to enable society to cope with transformed ecosystems by changing governance, but this is notoriously difficult. Aimed at anyone involved in these conversations, be those researchers, practitioners, decision makers or students, this book brings together diffuse research exploring how to confront institutional change and ecological transformation in different contexts, and provides insight into how to translate governance concepts into productive pathways forward.

This book discusses the karst and pseudokarst of the Upper Midwest, USA, consisting of the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois-the first regional synthesis in 40 years. Starting with an overview of the regional geology of what is largely glaciated fluviokarst and paleokarst developed on Paleozoic carbonates, but including other lithologies such as the St. Peter Sandstone and the Ft. Dodge Gypsum, the caves, springs, sinkholes, and karst hydrogeology of each state are described. Special attention is devoted to the region's longest caves: Coldwater Cave, Mystery Cave, and the Minnesota Cave Preserve caves. Application of tools such as data loggers and LiDAR, with new conceptual models such as hypogenic speleogenesis, has been transformative here. Special topics include lead and zinc mining in the Driftless Area, vertebrate and invertebrate cave fauna near the Laurentide ice limit, the impact and policies of nutrient and herbicide intensive modern agriculture on karst, and paleoclimate studies. The discovery, exploration, institutional history of caving organizations, and show caves of the Upper Midwest, from the year 1700 onwards, are brought up to date. The top 10 historical paradigms of cave and karst science in the Midwest are reviewed. Perspectives on paleontology, archeology, and Native American rock art are included.

The transformation of the dominant model of centralized energy production from fossil fuels to renewable energies is at the center of the public and scientific debate, as well as the subject of national and European policies, as it is connected to highly topical issues such as climate change, emissions reduction and natural disasters, security of supply and sustainability of the current economic development model. Up to now this topic has been mainly addressed by the economic and engineering sciences, with a research focus on the hardware rather than on the human and social software. However, energy systems, and the possibilities of change, are not only economic or technological but involve also patterns of social life, representations, organizational models and relational structures. In order to generate the social preconditions for the transition to a low-emission society, focused on a growing production of energy from renewable sources and on a greater sustainability of consumption, it is therefore urgent to reaffirm the centrality of a sociological approach to energy. This book focused on three core research areas which are crucial to understand what is at stake with the energy transition: conflicts over the construction and location of renewable energy production plants; collective action on renewable sources that promote a new model of energy system in which consumers are also producers; and the social-territorial impact of energy policies.

An ethnographic tapestry of personal and institutional narratives about Jerusalem's social history. Overlooking the Border: Narratives of a Divided Jerusalem by Dana Hercbergs continues the dialogue surrounding the social history of Jerusalem. The book's starting point is the border that separated the city between Jordan and Israel in 1948-1967, a lesser-known but significant period for cultural representations of Jerusalem. Based on ethnographic fieldwork, the book juxtaposes Israeli and Palestinian personal narratives about the past with contemporary museum exhibits, street plaques, tourism, and real estate projects that are reshaping the city since the decline of the peace process and the second intifada. What emerges is a portrayal of Jerusalem both as a local place with unique rhythms and topography and as a setting for national imaginaries and agendas with their attendant political and social tensions. As sites of memory, Jerusalem's homes, streets, and natural areas form the setting for emotionally charged narratives about belonging and rights to place. Recollections of local customs and lifeways in the mid-twentieth century coalesce around residents' desire for stability amid periods of war, dispossession, and relocation?? intertwining the mythical with the mundane. Hercbergs begins by taking the reader to the historically Arab neighborhoods of West Jerusalem, whose streets are a battleground for competing historical narratives about the Israeli-Arab War of 1948. She goes on to explore the connections and tensions between Mizrahi Jews and Palestinians living across the border from one another in Musrara, a neighborhood straddling West and East Jerusalem. The author rounds out the monograph with a semiotic analysis of contemporary tourism and architectural ventures that are entrenching ethno-national separation in the post-Oslo period. These rhetorical expressions illuminate what it means to be a ??erusalemite in the context of the city's fraught history. Overlooking the Border examines the social and geographic significance of borders for residents' sense of self, place, and community, and for representations of the city both locally and abroad. It is certain to be of value to scholars and advanced undergraduate and graduate students of Middle Eastern studies, history, urban ethnography, and Israeli and Jewish studies.

This edited volume reviews the latest advances in policies and actions in understanding the science, impacts and management of climate change in Indonesia. Indonesia is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change due to its geographical, physical, and social-economic situations. There are many initiatives to understand and deal with the impacts in the country. The national government has issued key guiding policies for climate change. International agencies together with local stakeholders are working on strengthening the capacity in the policy formulations and implement actions to build community resilience. Universities are conducting research on climate change related at different scales. Cities and local governments are implementing innovations in adapting to the impacts of climate change and transiting toward green economy. This book summarizes and discusses the state-of-the-art regarding climate change in Indonesia including adaptation and mitigation measures. The primary readership of the book includes policy makers, scientists and practitioners of climate change actions in Indonesia and other countries facing similar challenges. Chapter "Carbon Stocks from Peat Swamp Forest and Oil Palm Plantation in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia" is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

This book provides a comprehensive exploration of some of the most critical issues regarding the EU's Energy Union policy. Applied European energy policies face a number of challenges ranging from the geopolitics of energy and energy regulation, to climate change, advancing renewable and gas technologies, and consumer empowerment structures. This book takes a multi-dimensional look into some of these vital issues regarding the European energy sector with a special focus on the effects the Energy Union policy has in two sensitive regional systems, Southeastern Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean. Energy, being by definition a multi-disciplinary field, presents a challenge for readers of any specific disciplinary background that need to grasp an overall understanding of the various aspects of this exciting sector. This book's objective is to offer the opportunity for readers to get a quality, hands-on overview of the Energy Union by the professionals and academics that interact with it on a daily basis.

This book investigates the multifaceted nature of change in today's Nordic Arctic and the necessary research and policy development required to address the challenges and opportunities currently faced by this region. It focuses its attention on the recent efforts of the Nordic community to create specialized Centers of Excellence in Arctic Research in order to facilitate this process of scientific inquiry and policy articulation. The volume seeks to describe both the steps that lead to this decision and the manner in which this undertaking as evolved. The work highlights the research efforts of the four Centers and their investigations of a variety of issues including those related to ecosystem and wildlife management, the revitalization resource dependent communities, the emergence of new climate-born diseases and the development of adequate modeling techniques to assist northern communities in their efforts at adaptation and resilience building. Major discoveries and insights arising from these and other efforts are detailed and possible policy implications considered. The book also focuses attention on the challenges of creating and supporting multidisciplinary teams of researchers to investigate such concerns and the methods and means for facilitating their collaboration and the integration of their findings to form new and useful perspectives on the nature of change in the contemporary Arctic. It also provides helpful consideration and examples of how local and indigenous communities can be engaged in the co-production of knowledge regarding the region. The volume discusses how such research findings can be best communicated and shared between scientists, policymakers and northern residents. It considers the challenges of building common concern not just among different research disciplines but also between bureaucracies and the public. Only when this bridge-building effort is undertaken can true pathways to action be established.

Flood Risk Change: A Complexity Perspective focuses on the dynamic nature of flood risks and follows a systemic approach - including environmental, socioeconomic and socio-technical factors for modeling and managing flood risk change. Readers will gain a more complete picture of the topic for understanding the complexity of flood risk change, both from human and natural causes of flooding. The book includes a mix of theory (introduction to complex system science from the flood risk management perspective) and case studies. It features maps and figures focusing on the system components as well as on the dynamic interactions between the drivers of change. Researchers studying flood risk, environmental engineering, disaster risk reduction, and land use, as well as those in industry and responsible for policy, will find this an invaluable resource.

This book explores in detail the challenges which the European gas markets currently face, and the opportunities they present. Bringing together some of the most prominent gas experts on Europe from both academia and industry, this edited volume provides a comprehensive analysis of the various economic, political and technological factors that interact in this sector. Featuring a Foreword by Maros Sefcovic, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of the Energy Union, contributions explore a wide range of issues, such as the role of gas in decarbonizing Europe, the outlook of Europe's gas demand, supply and pricing, and global LNG dynamics. Country specific studies include Russia, Norway, the Netherlands, and Germany, with regional studies including North Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean. Alongside detailed analysis of this complex sector it also puts forward a set of policy recommendations for the sector's key stakeholders. This volume will be of interest to researchers and academics, as well as practitioners and professionals within European gas markets.