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Books > Earth & environment > Geography
Organizing Nature explores how the environment is organized in
Canada’s resource-dependent economy. The book examines how
particular ecosystem components come to be understood as natural
resources and how these resources in turn are used to organize life
in Canada. In tracing transitions from "ecosystem component" to
"resource," this book weaves together the roles that
commodification, Indigenous dispossession, and especially a false
nature-society binary play in facilitating the conceptual and
material construction of resources. Alice Cohen and Andrew Biro
present an alternative to this false nature-society binary: one
that sees Canadians and their environments in a constant process of
making and remaking each other. Through a series of case studies
focused on specific resources – fish, forests, carbon, water,
land, and life – the book explores six channels through which
this remaking occurs: governments, communities, built environments,
culture and ideas, economies, and bodies and identities.
Ultimately, Organizing Nature encourages readers to think
critically about what is at stake when Canadians (re)produce myths
about the false separation between Canadian peoples and their
environments.
COVID-19 and the Sustainable Development Goals: Societal Influence
explores how the coronavirus pandemic impacts the implementation of
the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), paying particular
attention to socioeconomic and disaster risk management dimensions.
Sections provide a foundational understanding of the virus and its
risk factors, cover relevant mitigation measures for minimizing the
spread of COVID-19, explore the virus's originations and
transmission mechanisms, and look at gold standard procedures for
COVID-19 testing and antibody-based diagnosis. Final sections
present the latest insights on the global effects of COVID-19 and
examine potential future challenges, opportunities and strategic
responses.
The inaction of nation states and international bodies has posed
significant risks to the environment. By contrast, cities are sites
of action and innovation. In Sustainability, Citizen Participation,
and City Governance, contributors researching in the areas of law,
urban planning, geography, and philosophy identify approaches for
tackling many of the most challenging environmental problems facing
cities today. Sustainability, Citizen Participation, and City
Governance facilitates two strands of dialogue about climate
change. First, it integrates legal perspectives into policy debates
about urban sustainability and governance, from which law has
typically stood apart. Second, it brings case studies from Quebec
into a rare conversation with examples drawn from elsewhere in
Canada. The collection proposes humane and inclusive processes for
arriving at effective policy outcomes. Some chapters examine
governance mechanisms that reconcile clashes of incommensurable
values and resolve conflicts about collective interests. Other
chapters provide platforms for social movements that have faced
obstacles to communicating to a broad public. The collection's
proposals respond to drastic changes in urban environments. Some
changes are imminent. Others are upon us already. All threaten the
present and future well-being of urban communities.
Wetlands provide a key service in an ecosystem such as providing
resilience against drought and diverse habitats that support
biodiversity. Because of their ephemeral character and their small
size, however, these vulnerable ecosystems are declining rapidly as
climate change continues to surge and human activities expand.
Rational management of wet ecosystems need accompanying actions
covering research, systematic observation, and more. Wetland
Biodiversity, Ecosystem Services, and the Impact of Climate Change
produces innovative concepts, methodologies, tools, and
applications for ecosystem service valuation, wetland biodiversity
conservation, fresh water supply, agricultural production, food
security, wetland management, and its impact on biodiversity. It
assesses the cumulative risk posed to wetland habitats and species
by human activities and explores the consequences for the delivery
of ecosystem services and biodiversity at local, regional, and
global scales, as well as the impacts of climate change on wetland
ecosystems and water resources. Covering topics such as
geochemistry, invasive species, and sedimentary change, this
premier reference source is an indispensable resource for
government officials, engineers, environmental managers,
environmentalists, students and educators of higher education,
researchers, and academicians.
Mapping and Forecasting Land Use: The Present and Future of
Planning is a comprehensive reference on the use of technologies to
map land use, focusing on GIS and remote sensing applications and
methodologies for land use monitoring. This book addresses
transversal topics such as urbanisation, biodiversity loss, climate
change, ecosystem services and participatory planning, with the
pros and cons of various aerial technologies in mapping and land
use. It follows a multidisciplinary approach and provides opinions
and evidence from leading researchers working in academic
institutions across the globe. The book's second half moves from
theory and research advancement into case studies, compiling global
examples to provide real-world context and evidence of the
techniques and applications. Mapping and Forecasting Land Use is a
valuable guide for graduates, academics and researchers in the
fields of geography, geographic information science and land use
science who want to effectively apply GIS and remote sensing
capabilities to mapping or wider land studies. Researchers in
geosciences, environmental science and agriculture will also find
this of value in utilising 21st-century technologies in their
field.
If the United States couldn't catch up to the Soviets in space, how
could it compete with them on Earth? That was the question facing
John F. Kennedy at the height of the Cold War-a perilous time when
the Soviet Union built the wall in Berlin, tested nuclear bombs
more destructive than any in history, and beat the United States to
every major milestone in space. The race to the heavens seemed a
race for survival-and America was losing. On February 20, 1962,
when John Glenn blasted into orbit aboard Friendship 7, his mission
was not only to circle the planet; it was to calm the fears of the
free world and renew America's sense of self-belief. Mercury Rising
re-creates the tension and excitement of a flight that shifted the
momentum of the space race and put the United States on the path to
the moon. Drawing on new archival sources, personal interviews, and
previously unpublished notes by Glenn himself, Mercury Rising
reveals how the astronaut's heroics lifted the nation's hopes in
what Kennedy called the "hour of maximum danger."
Case Studies in Geospatial Applications to Groundwater Resources
provides thorough the most up-to-date techniques in GIS and
geostatistics as they relate to groundwater, through detailed case
studies that prove real-world applications of remote sensing
applications to this subject. Groundwater is the primary source of
fresh water in many parts of the world, while come regions are
becoming overly dependent on it, consuming groundwater faster than
it is naturally replenished and causing water tables to decline
unremittingly. India is the largest user of groundwater in the
world followed by China and the USA, with developing countries
using groundwater at an unsustainable rate. Systematic planning of
groundwater usage using modern techniques is essential for the
proper utilization, management and modeling of this precious but
shrinking natural resource. With the advent of powerful and
highspeed personal computers, efficient techniques for water
management have evolved, of which remote sensing, GIS (Geographic
Information Systems), GPS (Global Positioning Systems) and
Geostatistical techniques are of great significance. This book
advances the scientific understanding, development, and application
of geospatial technologies related to water resource management.
Case Studies in Geospatial Applications to Groundwater Resources is
a valuable reference for researchers and postgraduate students in
Earth and Environmental Sciences, especially GIS, agriculture,
hydrology, natural resources, and soil science, who need to be able
to apply the latest technologies in groundwater research in a
practical manner.
Inequalities are central to the public debate and social science
research. They are inextricably linked to geographical space,
shaping human mobility and migration patterns, creating diverse
living environments and changing individuals' perceptions of the
society they live in and the inequalities that endure within it.
Geographical space contributes to the emergence and perpetuation of
inequalities between individuals according to their socioeconomic
position, gender, ethno-racial origin or even their age.
Inequalities in Geographical Space examines inequalities in
education, in the workplace, in public and private spaces and those
related to migration. Written by geographers, sociologists and
economists, this book draws on a variety of theoretical and
methodological approaches and compares different spatial and
temporal scales. It highlights the importance of geographical space
as a vehicle for the expression, creation and reproduction of
social, racial, economic and gender inequalities.
The definitive biography of Sally Ride, America's first woman in
space, with exclusive insights from Ride's family and partner, by
the ABC reporter who covered NASA during its transformation from a
test-pilot boys' club to a more inclusive elite.
Sally Ride made history as the first American woman in space. A
member of the first astronaut class to include women, she broke
through a quarter-century of white male fighter jocks when NASA
chose her for the seventh shuttle mission, cracking the celestial
ceiling and inspiring several generations of women.
After a second flight, Ride served on the panels investigating the
"Challenger "explosion and the "Columbia" disintegration that
killed all aboard. In both instances she faulted NASA's rush to
meet mission deadlines and its organizational failures. She
cofounded a company promoting scienceand education for children,
especially girls.
Sherr also writes about Ride's scrupulously guarded personal
life--she kept her sexual orientation private--with exclusive
access to Ride's partner, her former husband, her family, and
countless friends and colleagues. Sherr draws from Ride's diaries,
files, and letters. This is a rich biography of a fascinating woman
whose life intersected with revolutionary social and scientific
changes in America. Sherr's revealing portrait is warm and admiring
but unsparing. It makes this extraordinarily talented and bold
woman, an inspiration to millions, come alive.
Ken Jennings takes readers on a world tour of geogeeks from the
London Map Fair to the bowels of the Library of Congress, from the
prepubescent geniuses at the National Geographic Bee to the
computer programmers at Google Earth. Each chapter delves into a
different aspect of map culture: highpointing, geocaching, road
atlas rallying, even the "unreal estate" charted on the maps of
fiction and fantasy. Jennings also considers the ways in which
cartography has shaped our history, suggesting that the impulse to
make and read maps is as relevant today as it has ever been.
From the "Here be dragons" parchment maps of the Age of Discovery
to the spinning globes of grade school to the postmodern revolution
of digital maps and GPS, "Maphead "is filled with intriguing
details, engaging anecdotes, and enlightening analysis. If you're
an inveterate map lover yourself--or even if you're among the
cartographically clueless who can get lost in a supermarket--let
Ken Jennings be your guide to the strange world of mapheads.
Landscape is never static, but changes continuously when seen in
relation to human occupation, movement, labor, and discourse.
Contested Territory explores the ways in which Peru's early
colonial landscapes were experienced and portrayed, especially by
the Spanish conquerors but also by their conquered subjects. It
focuses on the role played by indigenous groups in shaping the
Spanish experiences of landscapes, the diverse geographical images
of Peru and ways in which these were constructed and contested, and
what this can tell us about the nature of colonial relations in
post-conquest Peru. This exceptional study, which draws from
archival records and sources such as cartographies, offers a richly
nuanced view of the complexity of colonial relations. It will be
read with appreciation by those interested in Spanish history,
geography, and colonialism.
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