Australia's major river system is collapsing. Parts of it are dying; parts of it are already dead. Australia's most significant river no longer reaches the sea. I look out into the dim autumn light and wonder once again how it has come to this . . . In The River, Chris Hammer takes us on a journey through Australia's heartland, following the rivers of the Murray-Darling Basin, recounting his experiences, his impressions, and, above all, stories of the people he meets along the way. It's a journey punctuated with laughter, sadness and reflection. The River looks past the daily news reports and their sterile statistics, revealing the true impact of our rivers' decline on the people who live along their shores, and on the country as a whole. It's a tale that leaves the reader with a lingering sense of nostalgia for an Australia that may be fading away forever.

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.

Environmental degradation is no longer a peripheral concern of the social sciences and contemporary politics: it is an unavoidable and pressing reality. This book seeks to establish whether contemporary social theory can help us understand the structural origins of environmental degradation and environmental politics.

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.

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.

This is a book about nature and culture, Eric T. Freyfogle writes, "about our place and plight on earth, and the nagging challenges we face in living on it in ways that might endure." Challenges, he says, we are clearly failing to meet. Harking back to a key phrase from the essays of eminent American conservationist Aldo Leopold, Our Oldest Task spins together lessons from history and philosophy, the life sciences and politics, economics and cultural studies in a personal, erudite quest to understand how we might live on and in accord with the land. Passionate and pragmatic, extraordinarily well-read and eloquent, Freyfogle details a host of forces that have produced our self-defeating ethos of human exceptionalism. It is this outlook, he argues, not a lack of scientific knowledge or inadequate technology, that is the primary cause of our ecological predicament. Seeking to comprehend both the multifaceted complexity of contemporary environmental problems and the zeitgeist as it unfolds, Freyfogle explores such diverse topics as morality, the nature of reality (and the reality of nature), animal welfare, social justice movements, and market politics. The result is a learned and inspiring rallying cry to achieve balance, a call to use our knowledge to more accurately identify the dividing line between living in and on the world and destruction. "To use nature," Freyfogle writes, "but not to abuse it."

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.

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.

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

Humans have always depended upon natural ecosystems to supply a range of services useful for their survival and well-being. However, with widespread urbanisation, modernisation, and globalisation, along with the primacy of capitalist economic models, the obvious reliance of humans on ecosystems has become diluted for many, and difficult to maintain for others. The importance of ecosystems in providing the services that underpin every single productive and spiritual activity of humankind has been suppressed in the consciousness of many, and so ecosystems are mismanaged, abused and degraded. So too, the struggle for daily survival of others, many of whom may have a keen appreciation of the importance of ecosystem services in their everyday lives. The purpose of the book is to provide evidence for policy analysts, decision-makers and researchers of the significant links between the health of ecosystems and human well-being, based on a review of literature and case studies from the arid and semi-arid lands of southern Africa. The argument is that a neglect and abuse of ecosystem goods and services exacerbates poverty, especially for the already vulnerable and marginalised who typically have inadequate options or capital to address these negative effects. Consequently, investment in, and wise management of, ecosystem goods and services can prevent a deepening of poverty.

Originally published in 1972, Should Trees Have Standing? was a rallying point for the then burgeoning environmental movement, launching a worldwide debate on the basic nature of legal rights that reached the U.S. Supreme Court. Now, in the 35th anniversary edition of this remarkably influential book, Christopher D. Stone updates his original thesis and explores the impact his ideas have had on the courts, the academy, and society as a whole. At the heart of the book is an eminently sensible, legally sound, and compelling argument that the environment should be granted legal rights. For the new edition, Stone explores a variety of recent cases and current events--and related topics such as climate change and protecting the oceans--providing a thoughtful survey of the past and an insightful glimpse at the future of the environmental movement. This enduring work continues to serve as the definitive statement as to why trees, oceans, animals, and the environment as a whole should be bestowed with legal rights, so that the voiceless elements in nature are protected for future generations.

As the effects of climate change continue to be felt, appreciation of its future transformational impact on numerous areas of public law and policy is set to grow. Among these, human rights concerns are particularly acute. They include forced mass migration, increased disease incidence and strain on healthcare systems, threatened food and water security, the disappearance and degradation of shelter, land, livelihoods and cultures, and the threat of conflict. This inquiry into the human rights dimensions of climate change looks beyond potential impacts to examine the questions raised by climate change policies: accountability for extraterritorial harms; constructing reliable enforcement mechanisms; assessing redistributional outcomes; and allocating burdens, benefits, rights and duties among perpetrators and victims, both public and private. The book examines a range of so-far unexplored theoretical and practical concerns that international law and other scholars and policy-framers will find increasingly difficult to ignore.

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

Human induced development activities are introduced with insufficient attention to their consequences for our living environment, even in cases where environmental assessments have been carried out. This apparent lack of attention to biodiversity in environmental assessment is rooted in the difficulties we have in adequately addressing biodiversity within the scope, time frame and budget allocated for assessments. This book provides a conceptual background and practical approaches to overcome these difficulties. It integrates the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity, its ecosystem approach, and the conceptual framework of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment into a comprehensive approach to biodiversity in environmental assessment. It highlights the need to consider the value of biodiversity based on its use by each stakeholder, addresses the importance of both social and economic development to reach the Millennium Development Goals, and provides insights into ways to balance present and future needs.

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

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.

"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.

El Nino is an extreme climate perturbation that periodically changes weather throughout the globe, often with dire consequences. First recognized in Peru, El Nino events are best known and documented there. This book summarizes research on the nature of El Nino events in the Americas and details specific historic and prehistoric patterns in Peru and elsewhere. By also looking at other catastrophic natural events in the ancient New World, the book illustrates how scientific archaeology can serve pure research as well as provide information for contemporary issues.

In 1999, few people had thought to examine the effects of climate on civilization. Now, due in part to the ground-breaking work of archaeologist Brian Fagan, climate change is a central issue. Revised and updated ten years after its first publication, Floods, Famines and Emperors remains the definitive account of how the world's best-known climate event had an indelible impact on history.

Archaeological data now show that relatively intense human adaptations to coastal environments developed much earlier than once believed - more than 125,000 years ago. With our oceans and marine fisheries currently in a state of crisis, coastal archaeological sites contain a wealth of data that can shed light on the history of human exploitation of marine ecosystems. In eleven case studies from the Americas, Pacific Islands, North Sea, Caribbean, Europe, and Africa, leading researchers working in coastal areas around the world cover diverse marine ecosystems, reaching into deep history to discover how humans interacted with and impacted these aquatic environments and shedding new light on our understanding of contemporary environmental problems.

The Global Energy Assessment (GEA) brings together over 300 international researchers to provide an independent, scientifically based, integrated and policy-relevant analysis of current and emerging energy issues and options. It has been peer-reviewed anonymously by an additional 200 international experts. The GEA assesses the major global challenges for sustainable development and their linkages to energy; the technologies and resources available for providing energy services; future energy systems that address the major challenges; and the policies and other measures that are needed to realize transformational change toward sustainable energy futures. The GEA goes beyond existing studies on energy issues by presenting a comprehensive and integrated analysis of energy challenges, opportunities and strategies, for developing, industrialized and emerging economies. This volume is an invaluable resource for energy specialists and technologists in all sectors (academia, industry and government) as well as policymakers, development economists and practitioners in international organizations and national governments.

This book aims to demonstrate that the changing relationship between humanity and nature is key to understanding world history. Humans have been grappling with environmental problems since prehistoric times, and the environmental unsustainability of human practices has often been a decisive, if not immediately evident, shaping factor in history. The measures that societies and states have adopted to stabilize the relationship between humans and the natural world have repeatedly contributed to environmental crises over the course of history. Nature and Power traces the expanding scope of environmental action: from initiatives undertaken by individual villages and cities, environmental policy has become a global concern. Efforts to steer human use of nature and natural resources have become complicated, as Nature and Power shows, by particularities of culture and by the vagaries of human nature itself. Environmental history, the author argues, is ultimately the history of human hopes and fears.

Why are we caught up in a spiral of ever-increasing violence and environmental destruction while simultaneously calling ourselves rational and intelligent? Can religion, science, capitalism, psychology, politics and education help us to change our behaviour, or is our destructive behaviour in fact deeply entrenched in these very institutions? How free and democratic are we really, in South Africa and in the rest of the world? Why did Jesus say, “Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven”? What does it mean to become like a child? In From intellect to intelligence, the author combines his wealth of experience and insight with the wisdom of many others to penetrate into the heart of the crisis of humanity and planet earth. He critically explores and questions the very foundations of Western civilization and its interaction with Africa and the rest of the world, demonstrating how ‘wisdom of the most conventional kind’ has often created nothing less than a highly dysfunctional society. A society in which many of us may be very clever, but few act with intelligence. The famous historian Arnold Toynbee wrote: “An increase in man’s spiritual potentiality is now the only change in the biosphere against the biosphere being destroyed. ”Using these words as his theme, the author points out that our spiritual potentiality has nothing to do with religion, but is ultimately our capacity to be fully and openly human: our crisis is essentially the loss of our common humanity. There is another way, and it is deceptively simple: a return to natural intelligence. This happens spontaneously when we integrate the head with the heart: when we are natural instead of normal. We can learn much from indigenous cultures, including African cultures, but only if Africa reclaims its own spiritual heritage.

Diploma Thesis from the year 2002 in the subject Biology - Ecology, grade: 1,0 (A), University of Rostock (Institute for Botany), 120 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: Since the end of the 19th century, overall per-capita mobility of humans has increased significantly, leading to increased rates in human-mediated transportation of animal and plant species. The rapid spread of alien organisms, however, may lead to quick and unpredictable changes in ecosystems. Senecio inaequidens DC. (Asteraceae) is an invasive alien plant from South Africa that was first introduced to Europe 100 years ago and is characterized by an exceptionally fast rate of spread; it contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids that are toxic to invertebrates, livestock and humans. In the study presented here, laboratory, greenhouse and field experiments on the biology of Senecio inaequidens were conducted, in order to find out if and how herbivory and plant competition influence growth, survival and reproduction of this plant. Specifically, the presence of vertebrate herbivores, molluscs, insects and plant competitors was experimentally manipulated using full factorial and split-plot designs. All experiments were performed at Imperial College, Silwood Park, about 30 km west of London (UK). Growth and fecundity of Senecio inaequidens were significantly affected by interspecific competition. Vertebrate herbivory only had a significant effect when a closed vegetation cover was present. On artificially disturbed plots, Senecio inaequidens showed high capability to overcompensate for herbivory. Mollusc herbivory significantly reduced fecundity of S. inaequidens. Different ecotypes of Senecio inaequidens showed different amounts of herbivore damage. One of the most remarkable results of this study was that Longitarsus jacobaeae, a native specialist leaf beetle, freely colonized Senecio inaequidens, indicating that native herbivores might be suitable biocontrol agents of invasive alien pla

A pioneer in landscape studies takes us on a tour of landscapes past and present to show how our surroundings reflect our culture. "No one who cares deeply about landscape issues can overlook the scores of brilliant insights and challenges to the mind, eye and conscience contained in Discovering the Vernacular Landscape. It is a book to be deeply cherished and to be read and pondered many times."-Wilbur Zelinsky, Landscape "While it is fashionable to speak of man as alienated from his environment, Mr. Jackson shows us all the ties that bind us to it, consciously or unconsciously. He teaches us to speak intelligently-rather than polemically or wistfully-of the sense of place."-Anatole Broyard, New York Times "This book is a vital and seminal text: do beg, borrow or buy it."-Robert Holden, Landscape Design (London) "Incisive and overpoweringly influential. It will probably tell you something about how you live that you've never thought about."-Thomas Hine, The Philadelphia Inquirer "No one can come close to Jackson in his unique combination of historical scholarship and field experience, in his deep knowledge of European high culture as well as of American trailer parks, in his archivist's nose for the unusual fact and his philosopher's mind for the trenchant, surprising question."-Yi-Fu Tuan