Asoka Bandarage provides an integrated analysis of the twin challenges of environmental sustainability and human well-being by investigating them as interconnected phenomena requiring a paradigmatic psychosocial transformation. She presents an incisive social science analysis and an alternative philosophical perspective on the needed transition from a worldview of domination to one of partnership.

The Anolis lizards of the Caribbean are a model group from which to study evolutionary ecology: there are more than 150 species dispersed over the islands of the Caribbean, providing innumerable comparisons of physical form and behaviour. Their evolutionary divergence corresponds in geological time with the plate-tectonic origins of the Caribbean. Based on his empirical work with these lizards, and on the work of others, Jonathan Roughgarden has developed important theoretical models of evolutionary ecology - the study of how an ecological context supplies the natural selection that drives evolution, and of how evolutionary change among species in turn affects their ecological station. These models have been tested in the field. This book synthesizes two decades of notable research, and points to new directions in modelling and field biology. An associated program disk providing Roughgarden's quantitative models for foraging behaviour, ecological community assembly, and food webs, accompanies the book. This set of 35 files comprising 10 programs is a simulation program which expands upon the information contained in the book.

How do and how did people perceive, manage and respond to natural disasters? How are the causes of natural disasters explained in history, how are they explained today? This volume investigates relationships between forces of nature and human culture in a multidisciplinary context bridging science and the humanities.

"Forces of nature and cultural responses" is divided into four sections: (1) ball lightnings, (2) earthquakes and tsunamis, (3) volcanic eruptions and plagues, and (4) hurricanes and floodings. Specifically, Section 1 investigates theories and case studies of ball lightning phenomena. Section 2 includes a psychological study on the impact of earthquakes on academic performance, a study on tsunami vulnerability and recovery strategies in Thailand and a study on the social and economic aftermaths of a tsunami and a hurricane in Hawaii. Section 3 consists of a chapter on volcanic eruptions and plagues as well as cultural responses in Ancient Times and a study on contemporary vulnerability and resilience under chronic volcanic eruptions. Section 4 investigates the impact of hurricane Katrina on the current jazz scene in New Orleans and cultural responses to floodings in The Netherlands in Early Modern Times.

Since the advent of the electron microscope, there has been a dramatic increase in our understanding of the microalgae. With contributions from leading researchers from around the world, this book presents a completely up-to-date survey of the prymnesiophyte algae. Ubiquitous in their distribution--particularly as members of the marine phytoplankton--the prymnesiophyte algae has long been recognized for production of fish toxins and for its importance as geological markers via the preservation of their mineralized remains. But the Prymnesiophyta have achieved considerable notoriety in recent years not only because they have they been responsible for disastrous ichthyotoxic blooms in Scandinavian coastal waters, but because it now appears that their production of volatile sulphur compounds and calcifying mineralization may be adversely affecting our climate. This volume is the first book to bring together the scattered literature on this group and covers all the main aspects of Prymnesiophyte biology--including taxonomy, structure, ecology, biochemistry, origins, and evolution. Students and marine biologists studying algae, plankton, and ecology, as well as botanical microbiologists will want to read this important volume.

An Introduction to Emergency Exercise Design and Evaluation is designed to help practitioners and students of emergency management understand various aspects of the exercise design process. Emergency exercises are an important component of an organization's emergency planning and preparedness, yet few emergency managers and practitioners have training in designing or evaluating them. In this updated and practical handbook, author Robert McCreight explains the essential elements and core principles of exercise design and evaluation. This book focuses on natural disasters and technological emergencies that occur in communities of any size. It provides emergency planners, public health professionals, emergency managers, police officers, and fire fighters with an in-depth look at exercise design issues and an accessible guide to designing and evaluating emergency exercises.

What is a juvenile? Why do primates take so long to grow up? What forces shape the behavior of juvenile primates, and how do experiences during these early years influence life as an adult? Juvenile Primates is the first book to focus specifically on the primate juvenile period. Using a life-history approach, contributors to this volume consider the paradoxes inherent in the unusually long juvenile process exhibited by primates as they present new data on the challenges faced by juveniles across a broad range of species. Individual chapters focus on prosimians, Old and New World monkeys, apes, and humans, and topics include the development of sex differences, meeting needs for safety, establishing and maintaining social relationships, managing social conflict, and developing skills for adult life. The book concludes with a look at children and how cross-cultural differences in physical and behavioral development can be understood in terms of evolutionary theory. The result is a landmark in primate studies, one that shows how understanding juvenile development yields insight into entire life histories. The book will be of interest to anthropologists, biologists, primatologists, and psychologists.

The Quality of Air discusses the topic from both the environmental and human health points-of-view. As today's policymakers, academic, government, industrial researchers, and the general public are all concerned about air pollution in both indoor and outdoor scenarios, this book presents the advances in the analytical tools available for air quality control within social, political, and legal frameworks. With its multi-author approach, there is a wide range of expertise in tackling the topic.

Ecological Form brings together leading voices in nineteenth-century ecocriticism to suture the lingering divide between postcolonial and ecocritical approaches. Together, these essays show how Victorian thinkers used aesthetic form to engage problems of system, interconnection, and dispossession that remain our own. The authors reconsider Victorian literary structures in light of environmental catastrophe; coordinate "natural" questions with sociopolitical ones; and underscore the category of form as a means for generating environmental-and therefore political-knowledge. Moving from the elegy and the industrial novel to the utopian romance, the scientific treatise, and beyond, Ecological Form demonstrates how nineteenth-century thinkers conceptualized the circuits of extraction and violence linking Britain to its global network. Yet the book's most pressing argument is that this past thought can be a resource for reimagining the present.

Despite decades of efforts to combat homelessness, many people continue to experience it in Canada's major cities. There are a number of barriers that prevent effective responses to homelessness, including a lack of agreement on the fundamental question: what is homelessness? In Multiple Barriers, Alison Smith explores the forces that shape intergovernmental and multilevel governance dynamics to help better understand why, despite the best efforts of community and advocacy groups, homelessness remains as persistent as ever. Drawing on nearly 100 interviews with key actors in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal, as well as extensive participant observation, Smith argues that institutional differences across cities interact with ideas regarding homelessness to contribute to very different models of governance. Multiple Barriers shows that the genuine involvement of locally based service providers, with the development of policy, are necessary for an effective, equitable, and enduring solution to the homelessness crisis in Canada.

This new book offers a full-scale treatment of British butterfly ecology. We have not had a comparable source-book for many years, and now it comes at a time when many butterfly populations worldwide, including about half the British species, are in decline. The authors bring together new ideas, facts, and figures from recent studies to discuss individual butterfly behaviour and adaptations; population dynamics, community structure, distributions, and habitats; and the underlying genetics and evolutionary pathways. The last chapter focuses on conservation. Information is presented in considerable detail, and the volume includes an extensive glossary, full bibliography, many tables, appendices on hostplants and habitats, and more than ninety figures. Students of butterflies, ecology, and natural history will find it an invaluable reference tool as well as a benchmark in ecological studies. The authors are well known for their work in research, conservation, and education. They are: Roger Dennis, Tim Shreeve, Keith Shreeve, Keith Porter, Martin Warren, Paul Brakefield, Jeremy Thomas, and Caroline Steel. Derek Whiteley prepared the figures.

If we were to ask what is the root cause of our current and unprecedented environmental crisis, climate change, many, particularly on the progressive Left, would refer to the excesses of capitalism-and they'd be right. In Eco-Nihilism: The Philosophical Geopolitics of the Climate Change Apocalypse, Wendy Lynne Lee demonstrates that there are no versions of conquest capital compatible with the fact of a finite planet and that a logic whose operating premise is growth is destined to not only exhaust our planetary resources, but also generate profound social injustice and geopolitical violence in its pursuit. Nonetheless, it is clear that the violence and injustice of capital is selective-some benefit greatly while others are subjugated to its pathological drive to profit. Hence, Lee argues that any comprehensive analysis of what Jason Moore has dubbed the Capitalocene must include an equally probing account of human chauvinism, that is, the axes along which capital is supplied with resources and labor. Defined in terms of race, sex, gender, and species, these axes come ready-made to the advantage of capitalist commodification. Without an understanding of how and why, humanity will remain doomed to settling for a sustainably unjust world as opposed to realizing a just and desirable one. Indeed, on our current trajectory, we may not even achieve the sustainable. The introduction of climate change into the mix of environmental deterioration, the ever-widening economic gap between global North and global South, and the accelerating violence of terrorism, civil war, and human slavery make of a warming planet a combustible world. The only way out requires ending the myth of endless resources, a rejection of climate change denial, and a radical re-valuation of human-centeredness, not as a locus of power, but as an opportunity to take moral and epistemic responsibility for a world whose biotic diversity and ecological integrity make the struggle to realize it worthwhile. This solution demands not only an end to capitalism, but the deliberate reclamation of value-aesthetic, moral, and civic-and a radical transformation of both personal and collective conscience. Lee appeals to the experiential aesthetics of John Dewey and the feminist concept of the standpoint of the subjugated. She argues for a version of the precautionary principle informed by an environmentally and socially responsible concept of the desirable future as the clearest path away from the precipice.

Far from being an abnormal or infrequent activity, cannibalism is a naturally occurring behavior with far-reaching implications for the ecology, life history, and evolution of many species. This book offers the first detailed review of the subject, covering the contextual and taxonomic diversity of cannibalism, and explaining its costs, benefits and taxonomic consequences for a broad distribution of species from lower eukaryotes to higher primates. The authors explore the different varieties of cannibalism, including infanticide, mating and courtship rituals, gerontophagy, oophagy, and competitive interactions. They also assess the ecological and evolutionary causes and effects of cannibalistic behavior, using the theoretical tools successfully applied to the study of foraging behavior, sociality, demography, and genetics. These findings will interest a broad audience of ecologists, evolutionary biologists, and students of animal behavior.

The ebook edition of this title is Open Access and is freely available to read online. Crises pose an immediate risk to life, health, and the environment and require urgent action. The public's use of social media has important implications for contingency policies and practices. Social media have the potential for risk reduction and preventive interaction with the public. This book is about how different communicators - whether crisis managers, first responders, journalists, or private citizens and disaster victims - have used social media to communicate about risks and crises. It is also about how these very different actors can play a crucial role in mitigating or preventing crises. How can they use social media to strengthen their own and the public's awareness and understanding of crises when they unfold? How can they use social media to promote resilience during crises and the ability to deal with the after-effects? Chapters address such questions by presenting new research-based knowledge on social media use during different crises: the terrorist attacks in Norway on 22 July 2011; the central European floods in Austria in 2013; and the West African Ebola-outbreak in 2014. The collection also presents research on the development of a tool for gathering social media information, based on a user-centered design. Social Media use in Crisis and Risk Communication presents cutting-edge research on the use of social media in crisis communication and reporting. It gives recommendations about how different crisis communicators (information officers, crisis managers, journalists) can improve their ability to gather information, communicate and raise people's crisis awareness by using social media.

This book is a collection of essays about the interaction between God, humans, and nature in the context of the environmental challenges and Biblical studies. Chapters include topics on creation care and Sabbath, sacramental approaches to earth care, classical and medieval cosmologies, ecotheodicy, how we understand the problem of nonhuman suffering in a world controlled by a good God, ecojustice, and how humans help to alleviate nonhuman suffering. The book seeks to provide a way to understand Judeo-Christian perspectives on human-to-nonhuman interaction through Biblical, literary, cultural, film, and music studies, and as such, offers an interdisciplinary approach with emphasis on the humanities, which provides a broader platform for ecotheology.

Up until now, mountain ecosystems have not been closely studies by social scientists as they do not offer a readily defined set of problems for human exploitation as, do for instance, tropical forests or arctic habitats. But the archaeological evidence had shown that humans have been living in this type of habitat for thousands of year. From this evidence we can also see that mountainous regions are often frontier zones of competing polities and form refuge areas for dissident communities as they often are inherently difficult to control by centralized authorities. As a consequence they fuel or contribute disproportionately to political violence. But we are now witnessing changes and increasing vulnerability of mountain ecosystems caused by human activities. Human adaptability to mountain ecosystems. This volume presents an international and interdisciplinary account of the exploitation of - and human adaptation to - mountainous regions over time. The contributions discuss human cultural responses to key physical and cultural stressors associated with mountain ecosystems, such as aridity, quality of soils, steep slopes, low productivity, as well as transient phenomena such as changing weather patterns, deforestation and erosion, and the possible effects of climate change. This volume will be of interest to anthropologists, ecologists and geologists as mountainous landscapes change fast and cultures disappear and they need to be recorded, and mountain regions are of interest for studies on environmental change and cultural responses of mountain populations provide clues for us all. Critical to understanding mountain adaptations is our comprehension of human decision-making and how people view short- and long-term outcomes.

Global city-thinking has, in the past years, had a very real pull on society. Global cities seem an unavoidable fact of everyday world affairs. This volume gathers a forum that integrates the extensive set of disciplinary dimensions to which the interdisciplinary concept of the global city can help to tackle the policy challenges of today's metropolises. Its chapters are drawn from viewpoints including the cultural, economic, historical, postcolonial, virtual, architectural, literary, security and political dimensions of global cities. Tasked with providing a rejoinder to the global city scholarship from each of these perspectives, the authors illustrate what twin analytical and practical challenges emerge from juxtaposing these stances to the concept of the 'global city'. They rely not solely on theory but also on sample case studies either drawn from long-lived global cities such as New York, Shanghai and London, or emerging metropolises like Dubai, Cape Town and Sydney.

This two volume collection of pioneering material includes landmarks and significant contributions to the subjects of global environmental issues. The editors have prepared a new introduction for this authoritative collection.This collection enables the reader, whether an economist or environmentalist, to have access to material published in a wide range of journals, many of which are relatively unavailable. It will be of considerable value to researchers and teachers in all of the disciplines, including: theoretical ecology; resource and environmental economics; industrial ecology and environmental science.

This book reviews the history, current state of knowledge, and different research approaches and techniques of studies on interactions between humans and plants in an important area of agriculture and ongoing plant domestication: Mesoamerica. Leading scholars and key research groups in Mexico discuss essential topics as well as contributions from international research groups that have conducted studies on ethnobotany and domestication of plants in the region. Such a convocation will produce an interesting discussion about future investigation and conservation of regional human cultures, genetic resources, and cultural and ecological processes that are critical for global sustainability.

We are faced with the twin urgent challenges of delivering a low carbon and secure energy system. The last few years have seen Britain moving from being a net exporter to a net importer of energy. The threat of climate change has led to the slow but inexorable inclusion of environmental concerns in mainstream energy policy. Against this backdrop, economic and political power around the globe has altered, creating a complex, multipolar world. Rising concerns about the long term availability and price of oil, gas and uranium only add to the challenges facing Britain. This timely volume brings together key researchers and practitioners from a wide range of disciplines, including energy policy, international relations and supply chains, to explore the practical policy options in addressing energy security in Britain.

Is fair trade a radical movement aiming to transform global systems of production and exchange, or is it a marketing niche that delivers small benefits to Southern farmers and a clean conscience to Northern consumers? Schisms currently opening between the US-based Fair Trade USA and the rest of the international fair trade movement are reflective of this choice. This book evaluates the extent to which fair trade is likely to be a transformative movement. The authors show that fair trade's most significant, and threatened, contribution is its potential to reveal to otherwise 'blinded' consumers the qualitative aspects of labour and nature embodied in commodities. Integrating insights from economic and sociological theory and research, the book sheds new light on this potential of the movement, its role in producing social change, and, given the recent strategic trajectory of the movement, the serious problems it now faces.

Assessing and Measuring Environmental Impact and Sustainability answers the question what are the available methodologies to assess the environmental sustainability of a product, system or process? Multiple well known authors share their expertise in order to give a broad perspective of this issue from a chemical and environmental engineering perspective. This mathematical, quantitative book includes many case studies to assist you with the practical application of environmental and sustainability methods. You will also gain an understanding of how to efficiently assess and use these methods.

Prof. Klemes book summarizes all relevant environmental methodologies to assess the sustainability of a product and tools, in order to develop more green products or processes. The main methodology that is explored is life cycle assessment. This book should be of interest to any engineers interested in environmental impact and sustainability.
This practical guide will help engineers to assess, evaluate and measure sustainability in industry
Workable approaches to environmental and sustainability assessment are provided
You will come away with tools to assess the sustainability of a process or product and to design it in an environmental-friendly way"

How did medieval Europeans use and change their environments, think about the natural world, and try to handle the natural forces affecting their lives? This groundbreaking environmental history examines medieval relationships with the natural world from the perspective of social ecology, viewing human society as a hybrid of the cultural and the natural. Richard Hoffmann's interdisciplinary approach sheds important light on such central topics in medieval history as the decline of Rome, religious doctrine, urbanization and technology, as well as key environmental themes, among them energy use, sustainability, disease and climate change. Revealing the role of natural forces in events previously seen as purely human, the book explores issues including the treatment of animals, the 'tragedy of the commons', agricultural clearances and agrarian economies. By introducing medieval history in the context of social ecology, it brings the natural world into historiography as an agent and object of history itself.

This book examines how institutional and environmental features in neighbourhoods can contribute to social resilience, highlighting the related socio-demographic issues, as well as the infrastructure, planning, design and policies issues. It is divided into three themes - infrastructure, planning, and community. Infrastructure examines how physical features such as parks and street patterns influence neighborliness and resilience, while planning studies how urban design enhances social interactions. Lastly, community discusses policies that can forge social bonds, either through racial integration, grassroots activities, or social service. Overall, the book combines research and empirical work with scholarly models of resilience and governance philosophy, focusing on Singapore's urban planning and social policies.

Introduces students to current environmental hazards to human and related ecosystem health. Explains detrimental policy changes to existing policies and recently developed policies that impact the health of the environment and that of communities. Presents a perspective for global sources of pollution and how actions have emerged for control of environmental hazards such as climate change and global air pollution. Includes foundation lectures, case studies, and practice questions to help create student led discussions for both in-class and homework assignments. Describes social justice issues and COVID-19 impacts in relation to environmental hazards.

In the advent of important crises of both climate change and energy supply (in)security, questions are being asked about changes in energy governance. Caroline Kuzemko explains how and why change takes place and discusses the convoluted UK energy governance system that has emerged between 2000 and the present day. She applies a complex theoretical approach based on new institutional concepts of policy paradigm change, but which also utilises concepts of (de)politicisation and securitization. UK energy governance, like energy policy elsewhere, is moving from one heavily influenced by neoliberal economic ideas to one where state intervention is more commonplace. Moreover, the new governance system is informed not by one but by multiple perspectives on energy and governance - geopolitical, climate change and pro-market.