In this benchmark volume top scholars come together to present state-of-the-art research and pursue a more rigorous framework for understanding and studying the linkages between social and ecological systems. Contributors from a wide spectrum of disciplines, including archaeology, anthropology, geography, ecology, palaeo-science, geology, sociology, and history, present and assess both the evolution of our thinking and current, state-of-the-art theory and research. Covering ancient through modern periods, they discuss the complex ways in which human culture, economy, and demographics interact with ecology and climate change. The World System and the Earth System is critical reading for all scholars and students working at the interface of nature and society. Contributors: Thomas Abel, Bjorn Berglund, Chris Chase-Dunn, Alfred Crosby, Carole L. Crumley, John Dearing, Bert de Vries, Nina Eisenmenger, Andre Gunder Frank, Jonathan Friedman, Stefan Giljum, Thomas Hall, Karin Holmgren, Alf Hornborg, Kristian Kristiansen, Thomas Malm, Daniel Mandell, Betty Meggers, George Modelski, Emilio Moran, Helena Oberg, Frank Oldfield, Susan Stonich, William Thompson, Peter Turchin.

In this benchmark volume top scholars come together to present state-of-the-art research and pursue a more rigorous framework for understanding and studying the linkages between social and ecological systems. Contributors from a wide spectrum of disciplines, including archaeology, anthropology, geography, ecology, palaeo-science, geology, sociology, and history, present and assess both the evolution of our thinking and current, state-of-the-art theory and research. Covering ancient through modern periods, they discuss the complex ways in which human culture, economy, and demographics interact with ecology and climate change. The World System and the Earth System is critical reading for all scholars and students working at the interface of nature and society.Contributors: Thomas Abel, Bjorn Berglund, Chris Chase-Dunn, Alfred Crosby, Carole L. Crumley, John Dearing, Bert de Vries, Nina Eisenmenger, Andre Gunder Frank, Jonathan Friedman, Stefan Giljum, Thomas Hall, Karin Holmgren, Alf Hornborg, Kristian Kristiansen, Thomas Malm, Daniel Mandell, Betty Meggers, George Modelski, Emilio Moran, Helena Oberg, Frank Oldfield, Susan Stonich, William Thompson, Peter Turchin.

Anyone serious about integrating environmental factors into planning and policy making will gain new insights and ideas from Fischer s book on SEA; and students, teachers and practitioners of the subject will find the book essential. Leonard Ortolano, Professor at Stanford University, USA Fischer s book demystifies the process and substantive analytical dimensions of SEA. Offering solidly documented empirical evidence of the value of SEA to development, the knowledge captured in this book is a great contribution to the practice. Linda Ghanime, Environmental Operations and Policy Adviser, United Nations Development Program This book is an invaluable reference text for SEA practitioners. I recommend it to everyone! Xu He, Professor and Director of the Strategic Environmental Assessment Center at Nankai University, China Fischer gives a concise and wellstructured account of SEA as it is used today. Readers thus will gain important insights into SEA: why it is important, how it works, and what it can and should achieve. Professor Thomas Bunge, Federal Environment Agency, Germany Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is a fast-growing and rapidly evolving professional field driven by both advances in theory and practice and by regulatory requirements in Europe, North America, Australasia, South Africa and increasingly across Asia. However, to date, analysis of existing practice and associated reporting has remained far from systematic and there has been a clear need for a comprehensive textbook to facilitate teaching, learning and practice in this burgeoning field. This textbook, the first of its kind, provides for a state-ofthe-art review of SEA theory and practice and promotes a more systematic approach to SEA. It is written for a wide student, professional and academic audience and aims particularly at supporting the development of SEA modules in undergraduate and postgraduate planning, environmental assessment, engineering and law courses. It provides an overview of the fundamental principles and rules of SEA, reports systematically on international SEA practice and theory and pushes the envelope by developing the theory. Supporting material includes boxed examples and case studies from around the world, extra reading suggestions and a glossary of terms. This is the essential book for all students, professionals and academics in SEA and EIA and follow-up worldwide.

Context: The Effects of Environment on Product Design and Evaluation addresses the environment, or context, in which we consume products and the impact of context on choice and acceptability. The book explores what context is, how it influences design by specialists, and acceptance by consumers. Chapters discuss the basics of context, food and drink in context, testing a range of other products, and other contextual variables. Historically, research on context has been done in the laboratory and various natural locations, but rapid growth in other methods to study context, including evoked contexts, immersive contexts, virtual reality contexts, and more have widened research possibilities. Appealing to the professional, academic and commercial markets, this book will be of interest to those who conduct research in product development and product testing, to those who study what controls product usage, including eating from the health perspective, and to those who make decisions about product and space development.

SDG2 links food security, nutrition and a sustainable but climate resilient agriculture. This multi-dimensional goal encompasses several specific targets and indicators, aimed at ending hunger, improving nutrition and achieving food security through sustainable and resilient agriculture and income increase. This book assesses the implications of SDG2 for the economic, social and environmental domains of communities and countries. Three case study countries (Nigeria, Ghana, and The Gambia) were used to record values of their SDG2 indicators to demonstrate the operationalization of keeping track and measuring progress. This research shows that many of the datasets for the three countries are not available in the Global SDG Indicators Database compiled through the United Nations system. This book supports the database update process by United Nation Statistics Division since it enhances the process of proper accounting in reporting progress. Furthermore, the book supports the enhancement of the adaptive capacity and resilience of small-scale farmers since it is critical to reverse the trend in the rise in hunger. Concise Guides to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals comprises 17 short books, each examining one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The series provides an integrated assessment of the SDGs from economic, legal, social, environmental and cultural perspectives.

The traditional concept of social justice is increasingly being challenged by the notion of a humankind that spans current and future generations. This book, with a foreword by Roger Brownsword, is the first systematic examination of how the rights of the unborn and future generations are handled in common law and under international legal instruments. It provides comprehensive coverage of the arguments over international legal instruments, key legal cases and examples including the Convention on the Rights of the Child, industrial disasters, clean water provision, diet, HIV/AIDS, environmental racism and climate change. Also covered are international agreements and objectives as diverse as the Kyoto Protocol, the Millennium Development Goals and international trade. The result is the most controversial and thorough examination to date of the subject and the enormous ramifications and challenges it poses to every aspect of international and domestic environmental, human rights, trade and public health law and policy.

Hallie Eakin draws on ethnographic data collected in three agricultural communities in rural Mexico to show how economic and climatic change not only are linked in cause and effect at the planetary scale but also interact in unpredictable and complex ways in the context of regional political and trade relationships, national economic and social programs, and the decision-making of institutions, enterprises, and individuals. Eakin argues that in order to develop policies that effectively address rural poverty and agricultural development, we need an improved understanding of how households cope simultaneously with various sources of uncertainty and adjust their livelihoods to accommodate evolving environmental, political, and economic realities.

On the toxicity of the immediate What changes when we religiously worship the toxic? In this era of catastrophe, can a cosmic connection be achieved through a cult of pollution? Toxic Temple is an artistic-philosophical quest to understand the current parlous state of the world. We offer our inner contradictions and destructive lusts as objects of worship. We enter wastelands instead of new territory, leaving space for artifacts, expressing solidarity with the factual. We encounter colorful assemblages of things that connect the known cosmos, tread the shaky ground of novel divinity, inhale pungent odors that transport us to the sublime. Garbage dumps are the new temples. In a mania of sadistic composure we breathe in the here and now. Transformative forces are released, free radicals; rituals that expose the chaos that lurks beneath the surface. New transdisciplinary ecosophical approaches Multimedia art project with comprehensive documentation and numerous illustrations With contributions by Julieta Aranda, Heather Davis, Elisabeth Falkensteiner, and Julia Grillmayr, among others

A revolutionary new theory and call to action on animal rights, ethics, and law from the renowned philosopher Martha C. Nussbaum. Animals are in trouble all over the world. Whether through the cruelties of the factory meat industry, poaching and game hunting, habitat destruction, or neglect of the companion animals that people purport to love, animals suffer injustice and horrors at our hands every day. The world needs an ethical awakening, a consciousness-raising movement of international proportions. In Justice for Animals, one of the world's most influential philosophers and humanists Martha C. Nussbaum provides a revolutionary approach to animal rights, ethics, and law. From dolphins to crows, elephants to octopuses, Nussbaum examines the entire animal kingdom, showcasing the lives of animals with wonder, awe, and compassion to understand how we can create a world in which human beings are truly friends of animals, not exploiters or users. All animals should have a shot at flourishing in their own way. Humans have a collective duty to face and solve animal harm. An urgent call to action and a manual for change, Nussbaum's groundbreaking theory directs politics and law to help us meet our ethical responsibilities as no book has done before.

Environmentalism has relentlessly warned about the dire consequences of abusing and exploiting the planet's natural resources, imagining future wastelands of ecological depletion and social chaos. But it has also generated rich new ideas about how humans might live better with nature. Green Utopias explores these ideas of environmental hope in the post-war period, from the environmental crisis to the end of nature. Using a broad definition of Utopia as it exists in Western policy, theory and literature, Lisa Garforth explains how its developing entanglement with popular culture and mainstream politics has shaped successive green future visions and initiatives. In the face of apocalyptic, despairing or indifferent responses to contemporary ecological dilemmas, utopias and the utopian method seem more necessary than ever. This distinctive reading of green political thought and culture will appeal across the social sciences and humanities to all interested in why green utopias continue to matter in the cultivation of ecological values and the emergence of new forms of human and nonhuman well-being.

A revealing look at the intersection of wealth, philanthropy, and conservation Billionaire Wilderness takes you inside the exclusive world of the ultra-wealthy, showing how today's richest people are using the natural environment to solve the existential dilemmas they face. Justin Farrell spent five years in Teton County, Wyoming, the richest county in the United States, and a community where income inequality is the worst in the nation. He conducted hundreds of in-depth interviews, gaining unprecedented access to tech CEOs, Wall Street financiers, oil magnates, and other prominent figures in business and politics. He also talked with the rural poor who live among the ultra-wealthy and often work for them. The result is a penetrating account of the far-reaching consequences of the massive accrual of wealth, and an eye-opening and sometimes troubling portrait of a changing American West where romanticizing rural poverty and conserving nature can be lucrative-socially as well as financially. Weaving unforgettable storytelling with thought-provoking analysis, Billionaire Wilderness reveals how the ultra-wealthy are buying up the land and leveraging one of the most pristine ecosystems in the world to climb even higher on the socioeconomic ladder. The affluent of Teton County are people burdened by stigmas, guilt, and status anxiety-and they appropriate nature and rural people to create more virtuous and deserving versions of themselves. Incisive and compelling, Billionaire Wilderness reveals the hidden connections between wealth concentration and the environment, two of the most pressing and contentious issues of our time.

As cities in developing countries grow and become more prosperous, energy use shifts from fuelwood to fuels like charcoal, kerosene, and coal, and, ultimately, to fuels such as liquid petroleum gas, and electricity. Energy use is not usually considered as a social issue. Yet, as this book demonstrates, the movement away from traditional fuels has a strong socio-economic dimension, as poor people are the last to attain the benefits of using modern energy. The result is that health risks from the continued use of wood fuel fall most heavily on the poor, and indoor pollution from wood stoves has its greatest effect on women and children who cook and spend much more of their time indoors. Barnes, Krutilla, and Hyde provide the first worldwide assessment of the energy transition as it occurs in urban households, drawing upon data collected by the World Bank Energy Sector Management Assistance Programme (ESMAP). From 1984-2000, the program conducted over 25,000 household energy surveys in 45 cities spanning 12 countries and 3 continents. Additionally, GIS mapping software was used to compile a biomass database of vegetation patterns surrounding 34 cities. Using this rich set of geographic, biological, and socioeconomic data, the authors describe problems and policy options associated with each stage in the energy transition. The authors show how the poorest are most vulnerable to changes in energy markets and demonstrate how the collection of biomass fuel contributes to deforestation. Their book serves as an important contribution to development studies, and as a guide for policymakers hoping to encourage sustainable energy markets and an improved quality of life for growing urban populations.

Radical changes in the biosphere and human interaction with the environment are increasingly impacting on the health of populations across the world. Diseases are crossing the species barrier, and spreading rapidly through globalised transport systems. From new patterns of cancer to the threat of global pandemics, it is imperative that public health practitioners acknowledge the interdependence between the sustainability of the environment and the sustainability of the human species * Why are issues of global and local sustainability of increasing impotance to the public's health? * Why do issues of sustainability require new practices within the professions of public health? * How can future and current public health practitioners develop those new practices? Drawing on scientific evidence of global and local environmental changes, Sustainability and Health offers a thorough background and practical solutions to the overlapping issues in environment and health. It examines potential and existing responses to global and local environment and health issues involving individuals, community, industry and government. The authors introduce a range of emerging conceptual frameworks and theoretical perspectives, link IT and epidemiology and explain how scoping can link program design, delivery, data collection and evaluation in projects from their very beginning. Public health practitioners need to be able to manage health issues that cut across environmental, economic and social systems and to develop the capacity for leadership in facilitating change. Incorporating learning activities, readings, international case studies and an open learning approach, this is a valuable resource for students of public and environmental health, as well as medical, environmental and health science professionals.

The growth of pollution that crosses national borders represents a significant threat to human health and ecological sustainability. Various international agreements exist between countries to reduce risks to their populations, however there is often a mismatch between national territories of state responsibility and transboundary hazards. All too often, state priorities do not correspond to the priorities of the people affected by pollution, who often have little recourse against major polluters, particularly transnational corporations operating across national boundaries. Drawing on case studies, The New Accountability provides a fresh understanding of democratic accountability for transboundary and global harm and argues that environmental responsibility should be established in open public discussions about harm and risk. Most critically it makes the case that, regardless of nationality, affected parties should be able to demand that polluters and harm producers be held accountable for their actions and if necessary provide reparations.

The global agenda of Nature conservation has led to the creation of the Masoala National Park in Madagascar and to an exhibit in its support at a Swiss zoo, the centerpiece of which is a mini-rainforest replica. Does such a cooperation also trigger a connection between ordinary people in these two far-flung places? The study investigates how the Malagasy farmers living at the edge of the park perceive the conservation enterprise and what people in Switzerland see when looking towards Madagascar through the lens of the zoo exhibit. It crystallizes that the stories told in either place have almost nothing in common: one focuses on power and history, the other on morality and progress. Thus, instead of building a bridge, Nature conservation widens the gap between people in the North and the South.

This contemporary introduction to the principles and research base of cultural ecology is the ideal textbook for advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate courses that deal with the intersection of humans and the environment in traditional societies. After introducing the basic principles of cultural anthropology, environmental studies, and human biological adaptations to the environment, the book provides a thorough discussion of the history of, and theoretical basis behind, cultural ecology. The bulk of the book outlines the broad economic strategies used by traditional cultures: hunting/gathering, horticulture, pastoralism, and agriculture. Fully explicated with cases, illustrations, and charts on topics as diverse as salmon ceremonies among Northwest Indians, contemporary Maya agriculture, and the sacred groves in southern China, this book gives a global view of these strategies. An important emphasis in this text is on the nature of contemporary ecological issues, how peoples worldwide adapt to them, and what the Western world can learn from their experiences. A perfect text for courses in anthropology, environmental studies, and sociology.

This contemporary introduction to the principles and research base of cultural ecology is the ideal textbook for advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate courses that deal with the intersection of humans and the environment in traditional societies. After introducing the basic principles of cultural anthropology, environmental studies, and human biological adaptations to the environment, the book provides a thorough discussion of the history of, and theoretical basis behind, cultural ecology. The bulk of the book outlines the broad economic strategies used by traditional cultures: hunting/gathering, horticulture, pastoralism, and agriculture. Fully explicated with cases, illustrations, and charts on topics as diverse as salmon ceremonies among Northwest Indians, contemporary Maya agriculture, and the sacred groves in southern China, this book gives a global view of these strategies. An important emphasis in this text is on the nature of contemporary ecological issues, how peoples worldwide adapt to them, and what the Western world can learn from their experiences. A perfect text for courses in anthropology, environmental studies, and sociology.

As the biodiversity crisis deepens, Anna Wienhues sets out radical environmental thinking and action to respond to the threat of mass species extinction. The book conceptualises large-scale injustice endangering non-humans, and signposts new approaches to the conservation of a shared planet. Developing principles of distributive ecological justice, it builds towards a bold vision of just conservation that can inform the work of policy makers and activists. This is a timely, original and compelling investigation into ethics in the natural world during the Anthropocene, and a call for biocentric ecological justice before it is too late.

A team of scholars from throughout the world joins together in this volume to discuss the changes and challenges for administrative structures at the beginning of the 21st century. Focusing on democratization movements, flexibilization tendencies, the inclusion or exclusion of minority groups and the restructuring of transitional or emerging states, it provides a differentiated spatial overview of key problems currently faced in public administration. Offering a wide range of regional case studies from Eastern and Western Europe, the Middle East and Africa, it tests current theories and concepts of government and governance, space and place and society and community. In doing so, it offers valuable insights and makes policy implications.

This is a first evaluation of the physical impact of railway construction on the British coast. The building of railways has had a profound but largely ignored physical impact on Britain's coasts. This book explores the coming of railways to the edge of Britain, the ruthlessness of the companies involved and the transformation of our coasts through the destruction or damage to the environment. In many places today, railways are the first defence against the sea and similarly the embankments of long closed lines act as sea walls. It is ironic, at a time when climate change is very much favouring rail as a means of transport, that many lines are increasingly exposed to extreme weather and the very actions associated with their construction have exacerbated coastal erosion. With the benefit of hindsight, many coastal railways have been built in locations that would not have been chosen today. As our climate changes and storminess potentially increases, what might be the implications for some of Britain's lines on the edge? Features: unique combination of environmental and historical research; timely given the impact of the storms of January and February 2014; and, covers the breaching of the South Devon, Cambrian and Cumbrian coastal lines.

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People and Environment, A Global Approach"

provides an introduction to the main areas of environmental concern for geographers, environmental scientists and planners at the beginning of the twenty-first century. These include:

• Pollution of the atmosphere and its impact on our climate;
• the exploitation of the oceans;
• management and supply of fresh water;
• degradation of the land, and
• biodiversity, and the need to maintain genetic diversity.

The book argues that our knowledge and understanding of the environment is now so great that we can predict with considerable accuracy where the skills of science and technology need to be focused in order to prevent severe environmental damage from occurring. Achieving successful management of the environment has become dependent upon active participation of a society prepared to pay for a high quality of life, and the willingness of our elected politicians to legislate and enforce the very highest standards of environmental management.

Key features:

• Provides students with the details and overview they require to be able to make informed judgements on environmental problems and possible solutions
• Global case studies from countries in different stages of socio-economic development provide a wide and heterogeneous picture of the environmental issues facing the world today
• Takes a broad socio-economic and historical perspective that places environmental changes, problems and solutions within a broader context

This book will be essential reading for students of geography, environmental studies/science and land use planners, and will also contribute valuable information forclimatology, biogeography, hydrology, land economy and forestry students.

Gareth Jones is Senior Lecturer in Geography at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. His other books include: "Vegetation Productivity "(1979); "The Conservation of Ecosystems and Species "(1987); Collins Reference Dictionary "Environmental Science "(1990) and "Resources, Society and Environmental Management "(1997).

This book breaks new ground by accounting for the welfare implications of both severe inequality and environmental degradation and developing a sustainable development indicator that incorporates changes over time in each of these dimensions. The model is applied to data from Brazil spanning the 1965 -1998 period. The book's findings cast significant doubt on the proposition that rapid economic growth in Brazil has resulted in comparable welfare gains. The evidence presented more generally illustrates the often unsustainable nature of rapid GDP growth phases, as well as the general unreliability of GDP growth as an indicator of well-being improvement. The specific policy implication is that Brazil should discontinue - or at least severely curtail - the regressive and resource intensive economic policies it has followed in recent decades in the interest of welfare improvement not only for the poorer groups in society, but for future generations of Brazilians as well.

Renewable blue water flows will very soon be insufficient to meet the growing demands of the industrial, agricultural and domestic sectors. Within a generation, the proportion of the world 's population facing acute water stress could be as high as 50 per cent, because of increased pollution, population growth, urbanization, economic growth and, above all, because of poor management practices.The awareness of this crisis is growing and with it the realization that new approaches to water management are desperately needed. This book will provide the resources to create them. In it, many of the most successful and innovative managers today explain what can be achieved and how to improve the conservation of water, its distribution and its quality.

This timely collection of essays is a magnificent testament to Daly's pioneering work over four decades. Armed with clear scientific principles and an unfailing logic, Daly sets out on an urgent quest to develop an economics fit for purpose on a finite planet. The originality and clarity of thought revealed in this new collection is extraordinary. It cements Daly's status as the most visionary economist of our time.' - Tim Jackson, Centre for Environmental Strategy, University of Surrey, UK'Herman Daly has been leading the way on uneconomic growth and steady-state economics for nearly 50 years, and still is. His numerous contributions are increasingly relevant and influential, deeply insightful and unusually accessible to readers from all walks of life. How fortunate we are to have in a single volume so many of Daly's most important papers. Re-reading them is a pleasure and an inspiration, reading them for the first time could very well change your life.' - Peter A. Victor, York University, Canada 'Herman Daly has helped us to realize that there is economic growth and uneconomic growth. In so doing, he reminds us that the only viable long-term option is a steady-state economy.' - Lester R. Brown, President of Earth Policy Institute and author of Full Planet, Empty Plates In this important book, Herman E. Daly lays bare the weaknesses of growth economics and explains why, in contrast, a steady-state economy is both necessary and desirable. Through the course of the book, Daly develops the basic concept and theory of a steady-state economy from the 1970s limits to growth debates. In doing so, he draws on work from the classical economists, through both conflicts and agreements with neo-classical and Keynesian economists, as well as recent debates on uneconomic growth. Editorial-style policy essays substantiate Daly's argument and he provides specific application of steady-state economics to important current issues, including monetary reform, tax reform, international trade and population. The book also includes discussion and critique of ethical, as well as biophysical, presuppositions of growth. From Uneconomic Growth to a Steady-State Economy is essential reading for academics, students and researchers in the fields of ecological economics, environmental studies, economic development, resource economics and public policy. Contents: Preface 1. Introduction : Envisioning a Successful Steady-State Economy Part I: Early Discussion of Basic Steady-State Concepts 2. The Economics of the Steady State 3. In Defense of a Steady-State Economy Part II: Later Extensions into Standard Economics 4. Towards an Environmental Macroeconomics 5. Growth, Debt, and the World Bank Part III: Recent Revival of the Growth Debate, and Policies for a Steady State 6. A Further Critique of Growth Economics 7. Moving from a Failed Growth Economy to a Steady State Economy 8. Climate Policy: From 'Know How' to 'Do Now' Part IV: Ethical Foundations of a Steady-State Economy 9. Incorporating Values in a Bottom-Line Ecological Economy 10. Ethics in Relation to Economics, Ecology, and Eschatology Part V: Short Essays on Current Issues Related to Growth versus Steady State Index

In the face of rapid industrialisation in the last few decades, the tourism economy has blossomed into a major industry with positive impacts such as economic growth, infrastructure development, employment, and income generation. However, tourism brings negative environmental effects such as degradation of landscapes and habitats, increased vulnerability of avifauna and wildlife, and pollution leading to the decline of species. Environmental Impacts of Tourism in Developing Nations is a pivotal reference source that explores some of the critical challenges faced in the tourism economy particularly with regard to the impacts on the environment in developing nations. It also explores the impact tourism plays in the biophysical environment such as the issue of climate change. While highlighting topics such as environmental justice, ecosystems, and ecotourism, this book is ideally designed for academicians, policymakers, environmentalists, tourism professionals, and graduate-level students seeking current research on the environmental and economic impacts of tourism.