This open access book focuses on the meanings, agendas, as well as the local and global implications of bioeconomy and bioenergy policies in and across South America, Asia and Europe. It explores how a transition away from a fossil and towards a bio-based economic order alters, reinforces and challenges socio-ecological inequalities. The volume presents a historically informed and empirically rich discussion of bioeconomy developments with a particular focus on bio-based energy. A series of conceptual discussions and case studies with a multidisciplinary background in the social sciences illuminate how the deployment of biomass sources from the agricultural and forestry sectors affect societal changes concerning knowledge production, land and labour relations, political participation and international trade. How can a global perspective on socio-ecological inequalities contribute to a complex and critical understanding of bioeconomy? Who participates in the negotiation of specific bioeconomy policies and who does not? Who determines the agenda? To what extent does the bioeconomy affect existing socio-ecological inequalities in rural areas? What are the implications of the bioeconomy for existing relations of extraction and inequalities across regions? The volume is an invitation to reflect upon these questions and more, at a time when the need for an ecological and socially just transition away from a carbon intensive economy is becoming increasingly pressing.

The 6th edition of Introducing Physical Geography is known for its clear writing, distinctive photos and illustrations and a strong supplements program. The text continues its tradition as a great book to help non-science readers visualize and understand earth processes and learn the basic language of physical geography. The new edition features a strengthened "Eye on Global Change" coverage and coverage of the geographer's tool box.

A good understanding of the status quo is necessary for the success of efforts to develop and maintain nature in built space. Accordingly, this book conducts an environmental scan of the context of these efforts in global perspective. In particular, it develops and employs a novel environmental scanning model (ESM) designed to rigorously analyze the political, economic, social, technological, ecological, cultural and historical (PESTECH) contexts of initiatives to promote biodiversity in the built environment. The focus is on four specific substantive areas of environmental policy, namely forestry, water, food, and energy. The units of analysis roughly correspond with the major United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) regions of the world, including sub-Saharan Africa, Middle-East and North Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Western Europe, North America, and Latin America and the Caribbean.

"Transatlantic Topographies studies the representation of American space during the initial confrontation between Europeans and Amerindians and during the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries. Starting from topographical descriptions of land, islands, highlands, and jungles, Ileana Rodriguez shows how existing systems of knowledge broke down with the discovery of the Americas and had to be reinvented through the interpretation of signs, the accumulation of evidence, material exchange, and, finally, through the learning, teaching, and "kidnapping" of language. Proceeding from the period of exploration to the modern creation of a "twentieth-century frontier," Rodriguez charts the path that led from island paradise to jungle chaos, from representations of natural beauty to the racialization of the islands. "Transatlantic Topographies develops a highly nuanced understanding of the evolving forces of imperialism as they gave way to postcolonialism and then to transnationalism--and newly reinscribed notions of imperial economic practices.

This Handbook is the first volume to comprehensively analyse and problem-solve how to manage the decline of fossil fuels as the world tackles climate change and shifts towards a low-carbon energy transition. The overall findings are straight-forward and unsurprising: although fossil fuels have powered the industrialisation of many nations and improved the lives of hundreds of millions of people, another century dominated by fossil fuels would be disastrous. Fossil fuels and associated greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced to a level that avoids rising temperatures and rising risks in support of a just and sustainable energy transition. Divided into four sections and 25 contributions from global leading experts, the chapters span a wide range of energy technologies and sources including fossil fuels, carbon mitigation options, renewables, low carbon energy, energy storage, electric vehicles and energy sectors (electricity, heat and transport). They cover varied legal jurisdictions and multiple governance approaches encompassing multi- and inter-disciplinary technological, environmental, social, economic, political, legal and policy perspectives with timely case studies from Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, South America and the Pacific. Providing an insightful contribution to the literature and a much-needed synthesis of the field as a whole, this book will have great appeal to decision makers, practitioners, students and scholars in the field of energy transition studies seeking a comprehensive understanding of the opportunities and challenges in managing the decline of fossil fuels.

This open access book presents and discusses current issues and innovative solution approaches for land management in a European context. Manifold sustainability issues are closely interconnected with land use practices. Throughout the world, we face increasing conflict over the use of land as well as competition for land. Drawing on experience in sustainable land management gained from seven years of the FONA programme (Research for Sustainable Development, conducted under the auspices of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research), the book stresses and highlights co-design processes within the "co-creation of knowledge", involving collaboration in transdisciplinary research processes between academia and other stakeholders. The book begins with an overview of the current state of land use practices and the subsequent need to manage land resources more sustainably. New system solutions and governance approaches in sustainable land management are presented from a European perspective on land use. The volume also addresses how to use new modes of knowledge transfer between science and practice. New perspectives in sustainable land management and methods of combining knowledge and action are presented to a broad readership in land system sciences and environmental sciences, social sciences and geosciences. This book received the Gerd Albers Award. The prize is awarded by the International Society of City and Regional Planners (ISOCARP).

The sixth edition of a bestseller, Air Quality provides students with a comprehensive overview of air quality, the science that continues to provide a better understanding of atmospheric chemistry and its effects on public health and the environment, and the regulatory and technological management practices employed in achieving air quality goals. Maintaining the practical approach that has made previous editions popular, the chapters have been reorganized, new material has been added, less relevant material has been deleted, and new images have been added, particularly those from Earth satellites.

New in the Sixth Edition

New graphics, images, and an appended list of unit conversions

New problems and questions

Presents all-new information on the state of air quality monitoring

Provides the latest updates on air quality legislation in the United States

Updates the effects of air pollution and CO2 on climate change

Examines the effects of the latest changes in energy production and the related emissions and pollutants

Offers broadened coverage of air pollutant emissions and air quality in a global context

This new edition elucidates the challenges we face in our efforts to protect and enhance the quality of the nation’s air. It also highlights the growing global awareness of air quality issues, climate change, and public health concerns in the developing world. The breadth of coverage, review questions at the end of each chapter, extensive glossary, and list of readings place the tools for understanding into your students’ hands.

Table of Contents

1. Atmosphere

2. Atmospheric Pollution and Pollutants

3. Atmospheric Dispersion, Transport, and Deposition

4. Atmospheric Effects

5. Health Effects

6. Welfare Effect

7. Air Quality and Emissions Assessment

8. Regulation and Public Policy

9. Control of Motor Vehicle Emissions

10. Control of Emissions from Stationary Sources

11. Indoor Air Quality

12. Environmental Noise

This book provides a review of thermal ice drilling technologies, including the design, parameters, and performance of various tools and drills for making holes in ice sheets, ice caps, mountain glaciers, ice shelves, and sea ice. In recent years, interest in thermal drilling technology has increased as a result of subglacial lake explorations and extraterrestrial investigations. The book focuses on the latest ice drilling technologies, but also discusses the historical development of ice drilling tools and devices over the last 100 years to offer valuable insights into what is possible and what not to do in the future. Featuring numerous figures and pictures, many of them published for the first time, it is intended for specialists working in ice-core sciences, polar oceanography, drilling engineers and glaciologists, and is also a useful reference for researchers and graduate students working in engineering and cold-regions technology.

This book presents the outcome of an interdisciplinary and international workshop supported by the Volkswagen Stiftung (funding line 'Knowledge for Tomorrow') on the topic of 'Natural Resources, Socio-Ecological Sensitivity and Climate Change in the Volta-Oti Basin, West Africa'. The conference was jointly organised by Goethe-University Frankfurt (Germany) and the University of Kara (Togo) held from March 6 to 8, 2019 in northern Togo. It aimed to strengthen capacities of junior scientists from the sub-region, exchange and mobilise theoretical and methodological background from various scientific fields (Botany, Construction, Geology, Geography, Infrastructure, Politics, Remote Sensing, Sociology and Urban Planning). One goal was to deliver reliable elements for ongoing and profound environmental analyses that lie outside the common questions of the academic and civil society stakeholders. Ecosystem fragmentation and deforestation in West Africa are mainly triggered by humans such as agriculture and small-scale forest disturbances for charcoal and firewood production. Increasing population pressure, declining of carrying capacity and demand for agricultural land caused the reduction of land conservation capacities, even in protected areas. The complexity of interactions between environmental and socio-ecological systems and subsequent effects (sensitivity) has raised ongoing international awareness in light of ongoing climate change. By the example of natural resources, land use and stakeholders' perceptions within the Volta-Oti Basin the book's proceedings present, discuss and distribute new findings that will sustainably stimulate the international debate. The workshop also intended to overcome national borders and language barriers between the Anglophone (Ghana) and the Francophone (Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Togo) research communities, and supported better West African cooperation and networking. The young as well as the established partners formed new collaborations, and the event at the University of Kara (Togo) was a truly unique opportunity for all involved, not only to discuss science, but also to assess applied and best future management practices for the Oti-Volta Basin in West Africa.

This book investigates the introduction of invasive species and their behavior in oceanic islands. How can we define invasive species? What is their history? How did they come to dominate and transform ecosystems? These are relevant questions when trying to understand the behavior of invasive species-primarily in fragile ecosystems such as islands-and to understand the biological, ecological, social and economic impacts of invasions. We chose the Galapagos Islands, a place well-known to be unique in the study of evolution, as a laboratory to analyze the interactions between invasive and endemic species, to understand the makeup of the ecosystems emerging after invasions have occurred, to describe the relationships of invasives with the people that live in these islands, and to try to develop comprehensive analyses on this topic from multi-scalar and multi-disciplinary points of view. For a long time, the discussion has been about how proper management of the species could achieve two main goals: the eradication of the species to recover affected ecosystems and the conservation of endemic species. The discussion has taken on other nuances, including the suggestion that an invasive species, when it is already adapted to an ecosystem, forms an integral part of it, and thus eradication would in itself go against conservation. On the other hand, some invasive species are not only part of the biological compound of the island ecosystems, but they also form part of the social and cultural history of the inhabited islands. Some of these identified by the local inhabitants are species of real or potential economic value.

This book is about how energy, risk and governance are intertwined in the development of the nuclear industry in India and its relationship with the Indian public. It provides a rare insider-view of how the nuclear establishment thinks about risk, contrasted with public understandings of nuclear risk. Energy, Risk and Governance presents a nuanced picture of why nuclear energy is still considered by some as a rational choice. This is in spite of its risks, the ambiguities in both expert and public risk perceptions, and the internal reflexivities that have emerged within the nuclear establishment as a result of the Fukushima-Daiichi disaster that is absent from public discourse. The insights in this book are not unique to India and similar observations can likely be made across the global nuclear industry. Reflecting on what this means for risk governance in practice, this book proposes practical suggestions and some tools that practitioners in the nuclear industry can use in public engagement, risk communication and deliberation at various stages of decision-making.

The purpose of this book is to present a range of cases and comparison of the issues, insights and cases emerging from the Sustainable Energy Mix Summit in the Galapagos that offer a better understanding of energy mix in fragile environments from a variety of International locations and contexts including the Galapagos.

This edited collection of works by leading climate scientists and philosophers introduces readers to issues in the foundations, evaluation, confirmation, and application of climate models. It engages with important topics directly affecting public policy, including the role of doubt, the use of satellite data, and the robustness of models. Climate Modelling provides an early and significant contribution to the burgeoning Philosophy of Climate Science field that will help to shape our understanding of these topics in both philosophy and the wider scientific context. It offers insight into the reasons we should believe what climate models say about the world but addresses the issues that inform how reliable and well-confirmed these models are. This book will be of interest to students of climate science, philosophy of science, and of particular relevance to policy makers who depend on the models that forecast future states of the climate and ocean in order to make public policy decisions.

This book explores the link between individual lives and significant environmental issues affecting millions of people around the world. Zolnikov offers a novel perspective on the environment and human health through autoethnographic stories. Each chapter includes an overview of an environmental risk factor or issue, such as air quality, accompanied by a reflective personal story. Her experiences were gathered around the world and revolve around immersion into local cultures. Learning about environmental health through this qualitative approach will enable readers to understand how issues in the environment are currently affecting people on an individual basis.

This is an invitation to readers to ponder universal questions about human relations with rivers and water for the precarious times of the Anthropocene. The book asks how humans can learn through sensory embodied encounters with local waterways that shape the architecture of cities and make global connections with environments everywhere. The book considers human becomings with urban waterways to address some of the major conceptual challenges of the Anthropocene, through stories of trauma and healing, environmental activism, and encounters with the living beings that inhabit waterways. Its unique contribution is to bring together Australian Aboriginal knowledges with contemporary western, new materialist, posthuman and Deleuzean philosophies, foregrounding how visual, creative and artistic forms can assist us in thinking beyond the constraints of western thought to enable other modes of being and knowing the world for an unpredictable future. Riverlands of the Anthropocene will be of particular interest to those studying the Anthropocene through the lenses of environmental humanities, environmental education, philosophy, ecofeminism and cultural studies.

The soils are fundamental to our existence, delivering water and nutrients to plants, that feed us. But they are in many ways in danger and their conservation is therefore a most important focus for science, governments and society as a whole. A team of world recognised researchers have prepared this first English edition based on the 16th European edition. * The precursors and the processes of soil development * The physical, biological and chemical properties of soils * Nutrients and Pollutants * The various soil classifications with the main focus on the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB) * The most important soils and soil landscapes of the world * Soil Evaluation Techniques * Basic Principles of Soil Conservation Whoever works with soils needs this book.

This book, based on conference excerpts, investigates various aspects of contemporary Iranian urbanism. The topics covered range from the impacts of political developments on the cities' rapid socio-economic developments, to the cities' troubled relationship with the country's built-environment history and their frequently ill-managed exposure to Western notions of development and globalisation. Last but not least, the country's vulnerability to natural disasters in an age of increasing urban-population densification is also considered. Alongside more theoretically and artistically oriented debates, the book's individual contributions turn their attention to the now much higher proportion of urban dwellers in the country's rising population. It also discusses the policies designed in response to these demographic moves, including those to develop new towns, find housing for the excess population in existing cities, renovate historic buildings and create new public spaces. The practice-policy oriented contributions also include those concerning the country's responses to natural disasters.

This book presents the core concepts of geographical education as a means of understanding global issues from a spatial perspective. It treats education, supported by high standards, approaches, methodologies, and resources, as essential in exploring the interactions of the world's human and environmental systems at local, regional, and global scales embedded in the nature of the discipline of geography. It covers topics such as climate change, sustainable development goals, geopolitics in an uncertain world, global crisis, and population flows, which are of great interest to geography researchers and social sciences educators who want to explore the complexity of contemporary societies. Highly respected scholars in geography education answer questions on key topics and explain how global understanding is considered in K-12 education in significant countries around the globe. The book discusses factors such as the Internet, social media, virtual globes and other technological developments that provide insights into and visualization - in real time - of the intensity of relationships between different countries and regions of the earth. It also examines how this does not always lead to empathy with other political, cultural, social and religious values: terrorism threats and armed conflicts are also essential features of the global world. This book opens the dialogue for global understanding as a great opportunity for teachers, educators, scholars and policy makers to better equip students and future citizens to deal with global issues.

This edited volume establishes a forum for international experts to explore cutting-edge questions associated with the land use and biomass production. Topics include 'do we have enough land, either primary or marginal, to accommodate future production of biomass?', 'how are farming decisions made in response to biomass incentives?', 'is the current bio-mass production socially, economically and environmentally sustainable?', and 'what are the main constraints currently limiting biofuel deployment?' The expansion of biomass production is often at the cost of reduced land availability for food production and losses of areas with ecological functions such as forests and wetlands. This process often involves complex interplay of physical dynamics and human systems that are driven by numerous geographic and socio-economic factors at different scales. Thus, the state-of-the-art research on the land use issues surrounding the biomass production and its environmental impacts is important for informed land management decision making. This book will be of great use to researchers in land use management and biomass-based renewable energy, as well as practitioners.

This authored book assesses the spatial patterns of climate change and gender inequalities across the Global South, and analyzes the disproportionate impacts that climate change processes have on women in these regions. Though many books attempt to incorporate gender issues into climate change, this book examines the issue as a whole by addressing the relationship between climate change and gender from a number of perspectives. The book incorporates case studies from various regions of the Global South, a designation broadly defined as the countries of Africa, Middle and South America, and most of Asia including the Middle East. In the book's two main sections, readers will learn about how climate change affects access to regional opportunities and resources, the obstacles created by climate change that affect women more strongly than men, and how affected female populations adapt to changing conditions and protect their local livelihoods. Section one, covering chapters 1 and 2, addresses the spatial patterns of climate change and gender inequalities/inequities across the Global South by analyzing long-term trends from the latest reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the World Economic forum. Section two, covering chapters 3 through 7, discusses the critical issues related to climate change and gender inequality, and presents literature reviews and case studies in the Global South. The different issues and perspectives discussed include health, water and food security, education, conflicts, migration, participation in decision-making processes, and changing urban social landscapes. The concluding chapter discusses policy initiatives and makes recommendations to some of the gender mainstreaming through empowerment and participation. This interdisciplinary book will appeal to academics and policy-makers beyond just the fields of environmental sciences and gender studies, and may be adopted as a resource for graduate students and researchers.

This book offers a critical analysis of core concepts that have influenced contemporary conversations about environment-society relations in academic, political, and civil circles. Considering these conceptualizations are currently shaping responses to environmental crises in fundamental ways, critical reflections on concepts such as the Anthropocene, metabolism, risk, resilience, environmental governance, environmental justice and others, are well-warranted. Contributors to this volume, working across a multitude of areas within environmental social science, scrutinize underlying worldviews and assumptions, asking a common set of key questions: What are the different concepts able to explain? How do they take into account society-environment relations? What social, cultural, or geo-political biases and blinders are inherent? What actions or practices do the concepts inspire? The transdisciplinary engagement and reflexivity regarding concepts of environment-society relations represented in these chapters is needed in all spheres of society-in academia, policy and practice-not the least to confront current tendencies of anti-reflexivity and denialism.

Written by a career geologist with decades of experience in the field, North America's Natural Wonders provides everything the reader needs to understand the landscape. It guides readers through the most iconic, geologically significant scenery in North America, points out features of interest, explains what they are seeing, and describes how these features came to be. Presented as classic excursions to some of the best-known natural wonders on the continent, Volume I focuses primarily on Western North America, including the Canadian Rockies, California, the Southwest, Great Basin, and Tetons-Yellowstone Country. The trips detailed in this volume include stops at quintessential features, such as the glaciers and mountains of Banff National Park, Yosemite, the vineyards of Napa Valley, the California goldfields, the Grand Canyon, numerous parks in Utah, the geysers and hot springs of Yellowstone National Park, as well as many others. It also features discussions of lesser-known but equally interesting geologic formations and important information on accessing these sites. Features Addresses issues of interest, such as fossils, earthquakes, mineral sites, mining, and oil fields Lavishly illustrated with numerous colorful maps and breathtaking geological landscapes and their various features These five self-guided tours explain to the curious layman, student, and geologist what they are seeing when they look at a roadcut or a quarry and enhances the experience far beyond simple sightseeing.

Written by a career geologist with decades of experience in the field, North America's Natural Wonders guides readers through the most iconic, geologically significant scenery in North America, points out features of interest, explains what they are seeing, and describes how these features came to be. Presented as classic excursions to some of the best-known natural wonders on the continent, Volume II focuses primarily on Central and Eastern North America, including the Appalachians, the Colorado Rockies, Austin-Big Bend Country, and the Sierra Madre. The trips detailed in this volume include stops at quintessential features, such as the Shenandoah Valley, Carlsbad Caverns, Big Bend National Park, and La Popa Basin of Nuevo Leon and Coahuila, Mexico, as well as many others. It also features discussions of lesser-known but equally interesting geologic formations and important information on accessing these sites. Features Clearly explains the geology of these regions with an emphasis on landscape formation Addresses issues of interest, such as fossils, earthquakes, mineral sites, mining, and oil fields Lavishly illustrated with numerous colorful maps and breathtaking geological landscapes and their various features These six self-guided tours explain to the curious layman, student, and geologist what they are seeing when they look at a roadcut or a quarry and enhances the experience far beyond simple sightseeing.

This edited collection explores how narratives about the future of the Arctic have been produced historically up until the present day. The contemporary deterministic and monolithic narrative is shown to be only one of several possible ways forward. This book problematizes the dominant prediction that there will be increased shipping and resource extraction as the ice melts and shows how this seemingly inevitable future has consequences for the action that can be taken in the present. This collection looks to historical projections about the future of the Arctic, evaluating why some voices have been heard and championed, while others remain marginalised. It questions how these historical perspectives have shaped resource allocation and governance structures to understand the forces behind change in the Arctic region. Considering the history of individuals and institutions, their political and economic networks and their perceived power, the essays in this collection offer new perspectives on how the future of the Arctic has been produced and communicated.

This book integrates the analyses of organic carbon and carbonate accumulation in soil and lake sediment in a typical arid region of China that has experienced significant climate and land-use changes. It demonstrates that carbonate accumulation greatly exceeds organic carbon in both soil and sediment. It also shows that intensive cropping with sound land management in the arid land not only increases soil organic carbon stock, but also enhances accumulation of soil carbonate, particularly in subsoils. Carbon accumulation in the lake sediment increased between 1950 and 2000, after which it declined, and the authors explore how human activity and climate change may have caused the changes in carbon burial in the lake sediment. This book is of interest to researchers in a number of fields such as soil science, limnology and global change, as well as to the policy-makers.