We are living in the midst of the Earth's sixth great extinction event, the first one caused by a single species: our own. In "Wild Dog Dreaming, " Deborah Bird Rose explores what constitutes an ethical relationship with nonhuman others in this era of loss. She asks, Who are we, as a species? How do we fit into the Earth's systems? Amidst so much change, how do we find our way into new stories to guide us? Rose explores these questions in the form of a dialogue between science and the humanities. Drawing on her conversations with Aboriginal people, for whom questions of extinction are up-close and very personal, Rose develops a mode of exposition that is dialogical, philosophical, and open-ended.

An inspiration for Rose--and a touchstone throughout her book--is the endangered dingo of Australia. The dingo is not the first animal to face extinction, but its story is particularly disturbing because the threat to its future is being actively engineered by humans. The brazenness with which the dingo is being wiped out sheds valuable, and chilling, light on the likely fate of countless other animal and plant species.

"People save what they love," observed Michael Soule, the great conservation biologist. We must ask whether we, as humans, are capable of loving--and therefore capable of caring for--the animals and plants that are disappearing in a cascade of extinctions. Wild Dog Dreaming engages this question, and the result is a bold account of the entangled ethics of love, contingency, and desire.

Environmental migration is not new. Nevertheless, the events and processes accompanying global climate change threaten to increase human movement both within states and across international borders. The Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change has predicted an increased frequency and severity of climate events such as storms, cyclones and hurricanes, as well as longer-term sea level rise and desertification, which will impact upon people's ability to survive in certain parts of the world. This book brings together a variety of disciplinary perspectives on the phenomenon of climate-induced displacement. With chapters by leading scholars in their field, it collects in one place a rigorous, holistic analysis of the phenomenon, which can better inform academic understanding and policy development alike. Governments have not been prepared to take a leading role in developing responses to the issue, in large part due to the absence of strong theoretical frameworks from which sound policy can be constructed. The specialist expertise of the authors in this book means that each chapter identifies key issues that need to be considered in shaping domestic, regional and international responses, including the complex causes of movement, the conceptualisation of migration responses to climate change, the terminology that should be used to describe those who move, and attitudes to migration that may affect decisions to stay or leave. The book will help to facilitate the creation of principled, research-based responses, and establish climate-induced displacement as an important aspect of both the climate change and global migration debates.

The modern era is facing unprecedented governance challenges in striving to achieve long-term sustainability goals and to limit human impacts on the Earth system. This volume synthesizes a decade of multidisciplinary research into how diverse actors exercise authority in environmental decision making, and their capacity to deliver effective, legitimate and equitable Earth system governance. Actors from the global to the local level are considered, including governments, international organizations and corporations. Chapters cover how state and non-state actors engage with decision-making processes, the relationship between agency and structure, and the variations in governance and agency across different spheres and tiers of society. Providing an overview of the major questions, issues and debates, as well as the theories and methods used in studies of agency in earth system governance, this book provides a valuable resource for graduate students and researchers, as well as practitioners and policy makers working in environmental governance. This is one of a series of publications associated with the Earth System Governance Project. For more publications, see www.cambridge.org/earth-system-governance.

"This engaged and vital edited volume brings together the varied viewpoints of academics, consultants and activists all concerned with the astonishing expansion of palm oil as a globally traded commodity. It reveals how this complex, contested and controversial expression of globalization transcends narrow national and sectoral interests, stimulating a transnational exchange of goods, capital and labour, as well as laws, norms, values and even understanding. Compelling, readable and insightful, the study shows that corporate responses to civil society's concerns about palm oil's role in global warming, human rights abuses, land grabbing and biodiversity loss, now need to be complemented by legal, regulatory and governance reforms to be effective." - Marcus Colchester, Director, Forest Peoples Programme

'It is not a case of governments and companies putting royalties and profits before people; instead it is as though people don't matter at all ...' In Mine-Field, Paul Cleary counts the true cost of Australia's mineral addiction. Whether it be coal-seam gas, LNG or coal mega-mines, a resources rush is happening in just about every productive corner of our country. Yet at the same time oversight and regulation have been hollowed out. High-risk projects are being approved without proper assessment of the long-term consequences. Water resources, farmland and national parks are under threat, and people, communities and industries are being steamrolled. A ground-breaking piece of reporting by the author of Too Much Luck, Mine-Field plots the dubious networks created and greased by mining companies to get their projects through, and exposes regulatory gaps that must be addressed to prevent enormous and irreversible harm to our society and environment. 'Mine-Field provides a warts-and-all, no-holds-barred view of Australia's mining industry. It is a must-read for anyone making an informed judgement on where our nation is going.' Tony Windsor 'This important book is compelling in its storytelling and chilling in its facts. It storms into the mining debate with a clarion call for more effective regulation. If you read it, you can't help joining the chorus.' Geoff Cousins

This Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report (IPCC-SREX) explores the challenge of understanding and managing the risks of climate extremes to advance climate change adaptation. Extreme weather and climate events, interacting with exposed and vulnerable human and natural systems, can lead to disasters. Changes in the frequency and severity of the physical events affect disaster risk, but so do the spatially diverse and temporally dynamic patterns of exposure and vulnerability. Some types of extreme weather and climate events have increased in frequency or magnitude, but populations and assets at risk have also increased, with consequences for disaster risk. Opportunities for managing risks of weather- and climate-related disasters exist or can be developed at any scale, local to international. Prepared following strict IPCC procedures, SREX is an invaluable assessment for anyone interested in climate extremes, environmental disasters, and adaptation to climate change, including policymakers, the private sector, and academic researchers. Watch this new video produced by the IPCC:

No matter what efforts we make to halt global warming, sea level rise will be an unavoidable part of our future. In The Flooded Earth , species extinction expert Peter D. Ward describes in intricate detail what our world will look like in 2050, 2100, 2300, and beyond. Even if we stopped all carbon dioxide emissions today, according to Ward, the seas will rise three feet by 2050 and nine feet by 2100. The effects of one meter of sea-level rise will be massive three meters will be catastrophic. Incursions of salt into the water table will destroy most of our best agricultural land, and corrosion will devour the electrical and fiber-optic systems of coastal cities, as well as our roads and bridges. Amsterdam, Miami, Venice and other cities might have to be abandoned. As icebound regions melt, meanwhile, new sources of oil, gas, minerals, and arable land will be revealed,and geopolitical battles will erupt over who owns the rights to them. Laying out a blueprint for a foreseeable future, Ward explains what politicians and policy makers around the world should be doing now to head off the worst consequences of this cataclysmic,and frighteningly inevitable,transformation.

This book is about the complicated and provocative ways nature, science, and religion intersect in real settings where people attempt to live in harmony with the physical environment. Scholars of philosophy, religious studies, and science and technology have been at the forefront of critiquing the roles of religion and science in human interactions with the natural world. Meanwhile, researchers in the environmental sciences have encountered disciplinary barriers to examining the possibility that religious beliefs influence social-ecological behaviours and processes simply because the issue resists quantitative assessment. The contributors to this book explore how scientific knowledge and spiritual beliefs are engaged to shape natural resource management, environmental activism, and political processes.

2012 Reprint of 1949 Edition. Exact facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. The principle of least effort is a broad theory that covers diverse fields from evolutionary biology to webpage design. It postulates that animals, people, even well designed machines will naturally choose the path of least resistance or "effort." This is perhaps best known or at least documented among researchers in the field of library and information science. Their principle states that an information seeking client will tend to use the most convenient search method, in the least exacting mode available. Information seeking behavior stops as soon as minimally acceptable results are found. This theory holds true regardless of the user's proficiency as a searcher, or their level of subject expertise. The principle of least effort is analogous to the path of least resistance. The principle was studied by linguist George Kingsley Zipf, author of this classic treatment of the subject. He theorized that the distribution of word use was due to the tendency to communicate efficiently with least effort and this theory is known as Zipf's Law.

Essay from the year 2006 in the subject Biology - Ecology, grade: A, University of Bremen (Center of Marine Tropical Ecology), course: Essay for M.Sc. course, 57 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: In the first part, this essay aims at providing a rough overview about the most important topics in the literature dealing with alien invasive species. This overview tries to answer questions about the general biology of alien invasive species and the existence of a perfect invader. However, some ecosystems seem to be more susceptible to invasion than others do. General assumptions are that the tropics are less invasible than temperate regions and that islands are more vulnerable than continental areas. An alien species must complete three stages of human-mediated spreading which are transportation, introduction and establishment in order to become invasive. An alien invasive species might then have positive or negative impacts. Either it adds to the species richness or it has detrimental effects on the ecological, economical or human health sector. However, sophisticated treatments are available to prevent several means of introduction. The second part of this essay will provide a critical evaluation about the literature reviewed. There still exists a great deal of uncertainty and variety of opinions within publications. The need of increased prevention of introductions and collaboration are conclusions that can be drawn. Furthermore, public awareness has to be raised and a clear definition of terms is a must. Finally, it is important to recall that many alien species are responsible for human well-being by providing food and aesthetics.

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2008 in the subject Biology - Ecology, grade: 1,3, University of Heidelberg (Fakultat fur Biowissenschaften), 53 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: Mosquito (Culicidae) fauna, biological methods to control Ae. aegypti larvae and community participation regarding the present dengue situation and vector control program were evaluated in Chulucanas district, Piura Department, Peru. The study included collection and identification of mosquito larvae in surrounding towns of and in Chulucanas city. Following mosquito species were found: Ae. aegypti, Ae. scapularis, Ae. serratus, An. albimanus, An. pseudopunctipennis, Cx. nigripalpus and Cx. pipiens quinquefasciatus. Two comparative residual effect tests with Bti-based Culinex Tab plus(r) and Temephos-based Temefar(r) 1%G were performed in large and small water volumes under laboratory conditions. In the tests with large water volumes, Temefar(r) 1%G and Culinex Tab plus(r) showed a residual effect of 9 weeks (100% and 75% mortality, respectively), and, in tests with small water volumes, a residual effect of 7 weeks (100% mortality for both larvicides). Three efficacy tests performed with Culinex Tab plus(r) at three houses in Chulucanas city under field conditions showed 100% mortality after 24 h of larvicide application. In connection with this tests, an adult person living in each house was interviewed regarding Bti- and Temephos-based larvicides, the present vector control program and community participation. Considering these interviews, a personal testimonial, other statistical social data such as poverty levels, socioeconomic indicators and one survey concerning approval of the present vector control program, it is concluded that lack of knowledge of handling with larvicides and low acceptation regarding present vector control activities may be the main causes for the dengue outbreak in J

We are living in the midst of the Earth's sixth great extinction event, the first one caused by a single species: our own. In "Wild Dog Dreaming, " Deborah Bird Rose explores what constitutes an ethical relationship with nonhuman others in this era of loss. She asks, Who are we, as a species? How do we fit into the Earth's systems? Amidst so much change, how do we find our way into new stories to guide us? Rose explores these questions in the form of a dialogue between science and the humanities. Drawing on her conversations with Aboriginal people, for whom questions of extinction are up-close and very personal, Rose develops a mode of exposition that is dialogical, philosophical, and open-ended.

An inspiration for Rose--and a touchstone throughout her book--is the endangered dingo of Australia. The dingo is not the first animal to face extinction, but its story is particularly disturbing because the threat to its future is being actively engineered by humans. The brazenness with which the dingo is being wiped out sheds valuable, and chilling, light on the likely fate of countless other animal and plant species.

"People save what they love," observed Michael Soule, the great conservation biologist. We must ask whether we, as humans, are capable of loving--and therefore capable of caring for--the animals and plants that are disappearing in a cascade of extinctions. Wild Dog Dreaming engages this question, and the result is a bold account of the entangled ethics of love, contingency, and desire.

Swine flu. Bird flu. Massive fish kills and filthy river systems. Recalls of spinach, lettuce, and other vegetables because of E-coli bacteria contamination. Eric Schlosser's classic "Fast Food Nation" revealed how our meat is bred, raised, and brought to market. Now, in "Animal Factory", bestselling journalist David Kirby takes the next step, exposing the devastating health and environmental impact of large-scale factory farms. In this thoroughly researched book, Kirby follows three American families and communities - one in North Carolina, one in Illinois, and one in Washington state - whose lives are utterly changed by immense neighbouring animal farms. These farms (known as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, or CAFOs), confine thousands upon thousands of pigs, dairy cattle, and poultry in small spaces, and generate enormous volumes of faecal and biological waste as well as other pollution to the air, land, and water. Weaving complex science, politics, business, and the lives of everyday people, Kirby accompanies a fisherman who fights to preserve his family's life and home; watches as a Midwestern community pushes back against a local farmer with grand ambitions; and interviews an unlikely activist, who takes on a powerful alliance of corporate and political entities when her home is covered with toxic soot and her water supply is compromised by runoff from lagoons of animal waste.

In this groundbreaking book the author considers the place of the human species within an evolving universe. He contends that the human species is special because it is the pinnacle of the evolutionary process and has a purpose of vital importance. From this perspective he reaches the conclusion that human-induced global warming is in the interests of life. This unique perspective on the environmental crisis will be of interest to anyone who cares about the future of life on Earth.

Diploma Thesis from the year 2006 in the subject Biology - Ecology, grade: 1,0, University of Applied Sciences Bremen, 83 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: A key question of plant ecology is which factors control the local distribution of plant species and plant communities. Thus the appearance of scattered tree dominated fertile patches in generally nutrient-poor savanna grassland is an interesting phenomenon. As trees alter structural and spatial variability of the environment they increase floral and faunal diversity. Under favourable conditions such patches may increase in size until they merge with each other and a closed canopy forest builds up. However, in dry areas successive invasion into grassland is blocked and there is little spread outwards. Research was conducted from September 2005 to January 2006 in the Western Soutpansberg, South Africa. For Mimusops zeyheri and Syzygium legatii effects of shade and seed size on germination and seedling recruitment have been investigated in plant pot experiments. Two field experiments were conducted investigating seed predation and the effect of competition. Additionally, recruitment was studied at eight tree islands and soil samples from 96 plots varying in exposition, habitat type and location of sampling site were analysed. Results revealed that tree recruitment was influenced by complex interactions between facilitation and competition, herbivory and abiotic environmental stress. Soil moisture availability, browsing and competition with grasses seem to be the primary factors limiting a rapid expansion of the tree islands into the surrounding grassland. Seed predation slightly reduces seed availability but is not limiting recruitment. Large-seeded seedlings had a higher chance of establishment. Key words: tree recruitment, islands of fertility, savanna, gradients, competition, Soutpansberg

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately," wrote Henry David Thoreau, "to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." In what is perhaps the greatest classic of American literature, Thoreau describes his woodland experience and the lessons he learned in a tiny cabin at the immortal Walden Pond. Newly designed and typeset in a modern 6-by-9-inch format by Waking Lion Press.

The revealing and highly praised portrayal of the surprising ways that climate change will affect the world in the very near future

Climate change has already been altering lives on our planet for a generation: the critically acclaimed "Forecast" shows, through Stephan Faris's vivid on-the-ground reporting, that there are unanticipated and surprising effects--some catastrophic and some positive--right around the corner.

Global warming will spur the spread of many diseases. The warming world will shift huge populations and potentially redraw political alliances around the globe, driving environmentalists into the hands of anti-immigrant groups. America's coasts are already more difficult places to live as increasing insurance rates make the Gulf Coast and other gorgeous spots prohibitively expensive. Crops will fail in previously lush places and thrive in some formerly barren zones, altering huge industries and remaking traditions. Water scarcity has the potential to inflame and draw the United States into multiple conflicts.

Told through the narratives of current, past, and future events, the result of astonishingly wide travel and reporting, "Forecast" is a powerful, gracefully written account that opens our eyes about this most urgent issue and how it has altered and will alter our world.

Award-winning geneticist John C. Avise guides this delightful voyage around the planet in search of answers to nature's mysteries. He demonstrates how scientists directly examine DNA to address long-standing questions about wild animals, plants, and microbes. Through dozens of stories that span the world, nature emerges as a realm where truth can be far stranger than fiction. From a 100-ton mushroom to egg-swapping birds, extinct ground sloths to microbes inside our bodies, Avise examines a cornucopia of natural-history topics and explains how today's modern genetic techniques offer novel insights.
Do armadillo litters really contain clones? When is a fig tree not just a single tree? Where have migratory whales traveled? Who are the mothers of the embryos carried by pregnant male seahorses? What insect was the world's earliest farmer? How closely related are Neanderthals to modern humans? Answers to these and many more questions are presented here in a straightforwad manner that reveals Avise's enthusiasm for uncovering nature's hidden ways. Each entry is accompanied by a beautiful illustration from Trudy Nicholson, widely recognized as one of today's leading nature artists.

Essays link Gaian science to such global environmental quandaries as climate change and biodiversity destruction, providing perspectives from science, philosophy, politics, and technology. Gaian theory, which holds that Earth's physical and biological processes are inextricably bound to form a self-regulating system, is more relevant than ever in light of increasing concerns about global climate change. The Gaian paradigm of Earth as a living system, first articulated by James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis in the 1970s, has inspired a burgeoning body of researchers working across disciplines that range from physics and biology to philosophy and politics. Gaia in Turmoil reflects this disciplinary richness and intellectual diversity, with contributions (including essays by both Lovelock and Margulis) that approach the topic from a wide variety of perspectives, discussing not only Gaian science but also global environmental problems and Gaian ethics and education. Contributors focus first on the science of Gaia, considering such topics as the workings of the biosphere, the planet's water supply, and evolution; then discuss Gaian perspectives on global environmental change, including biodiversity destruction and global warming; and finally explore the influence of Gaia on environmental policy, ethics, politics, technology, economics, and education. Gaia in Turmoil breaks new ground by focusing on global ecological problems from the perspectives of Gaian science and knowledge, focusing especially on the challenges of climate change and biodiversity destruction. Contributors David Abram, Donald Aitken, Connie Barlow, J. Baird Callicott, Bruce Clarke, Eileen Crist, Tim Foresman, Stephan Harding, Barbara Harwood, Tim Lenton, Eugene Linden, Karen Litfin, James Lovelock, Lynn Margulis, Bill McKibben, Martin Ogle, H. Bruce Rinker, Mitchell Thomashow, Tyler Volk, Hywel Williams

"The Transition to Sustainable Living and Practice" provides a series of insights into real alternatives to the current economic malaise, with an examination of key themes such as transition towns, traditional villages, new green financial concepts, the sustainable utopia, co-operative farming, sustainability and activism, ecofeminism, green protectionism, intentional communities and a green philosophy of money.

From sun-baked Black Mesa to the icy coast of Labrador, native lands for decades have endured mining ventures that have only lately been subject to environmental laws and a recognition of treaty rights. Yet conflicts surrounding mining development and indigenous peoples continue to challenge policy-makers.
This book gets to the heart of resource conflicts and environmental impact assessment by asking why indigenous communities support environmental causes in some cases of mining development but not in others. Saleem Ali examines environmental conflicts between mining companies and indigenous communities and with rare objectivity offers a comparative study of the factors leading to those conflicts.
"Mining, the Environment, and Indigenous Development Conflicts" presents four cases from the United States and Canada: the Navajos and Hopis with Peabody Coal in Arizona; the Chippewas with the Crandon Mine proposal in Wisconsin; the Chipewyan Inuits, Dene and Cree with Cameco in Saskatchewan; and the Innu and Inuits with Inco in Labrador. These cases exemplify different historical relationships with government and industry and provide an instance of high and low levels of Native resistance in each country. Through these cases, Ali analyzes why and under what circumstances tribes agree to negotiated mining agreements on their lands, and why some negotiations are successful and others not.
Ali challenges conventional theories of conflict based on economic or environmental cost-benefit analysis, which do not fully capture the dynamics of resistance. He proposes that the underlying issue has less to do with environmental concerns than with sovereignty, which often complicates relationships between tribes and environmental organizations. Activist groups, he observes, fail to understand such tribal concerns and often have problems working with tribes on issues where they may presume a common environmental interest.
This book goes beyond popular perceptions of environmentalism to provide a detailed picture of how and when the concerns of industry, society, and tribal governments may converge and when they conflict. As demands for domestic energy exploration increase, it offers clear guidance for such endeavors when native lands are involved.

In The Great Waves of Change, Marshall Vian Summers explains the steps you can take to navigate our increasingly turbulent and uncertain times. In the face of such uncertainty, Summers presents a revolutionary new way of knowing a unique process that can be applied by people everywhere. By understanding the Great Waves and by connecting to a deeper authority within, you can find the strength, courage and inner certainty to adapt and to become a contributor, not a victim, to a rapidly changing world.