For over twenty years, Bill Nye has inspired legions of fans with an empowering message: the combination of scientific curiosity and human ingenuity can transform obstacles into opportunities and unlock a future of endless possibilities. Now, in Unstoppable: Harnessing Science to Change the World, Bill applies his message of technological optimism to the serious challenge facing our species: climate change. With a scientist's rigorous understanding of how things are and an engineer's vision of how things could be, Bill completely re-frames the issue. He sees today's environmental crisis not as the end of progress but as an Opportunity for a tremendous new beginning - a moment for our society rethink the way we live and to create a cleaner, healthier, smarter world. We need not remain shackled to the inefficient technologies of the Industrial Revolution; we need not accept pollution and environmental ruin as the inevitable costs of a vibrant economy; above all, we need not leave our children a planet that is depleted and overheated. The urgent task here is not saving the Earth. lt's saving the Earth for us - for humanity. We can do that, but the moment to begin is now. When you are done reading, you will be enlightened and inspired. You will see a new path forward. You will be ready to join Bill and change the world.

Ecosystems of Resilience Practices: Contributions for Sustainability and Climate Change Adaptation focuses on resilience in action by exploring and providing approaches, perspectives, toolboxes, and theoretical discourses for the improvement and enhancement of territorial and community resilience practices towards sustainability and climate change mitigation/adaptation. The book develops a set of tools and design criteria to support the dissemination of resilience practices. This new toolset will support the expansion and reinforcement of resilience practices and the building of solutions related to climate change. The book is divided into three sections: Section one investigates the contribution this kind of resilience approach could have on sustainable development goals as related to climate change. It also includes other environmental challenges such as ecosystem resilience in the face of climate change. Chapters dedicated to exploring the issues for a renovated governance of territorial transformation processes are included. Section two focuses on the eco-systems of resilience practices characterization, including discourses on international networking of transitions initiatives. Section three presents operative guidelines, instruments, and proposals for the resilience practices "stabilization," "blooming," and "up scaling," aiming at a more effective and consistent contribution of resilience practices in reaching sustainability, adaptation goals, and scenarios at local and global scales.

Urban Climate Change and Heat Islands: Characterization, Impacts, and Mitigation serves as a go to reference for a foundational understanding of urban-climate drivers and impacts. Through the book's comprehensive chapters, the authors help readers identify problems associated with urban climate change, along with potential solutions. Global case studies are included and presented in a way in which they become globally relevant to any urban or intra-urban environment. The authors call on their extensive experience to present and explore methodologies and approaches to quantifying urban-heat mitigation measures in a clear manner, focusing on heat islands, urban overheating and effects on air quality.

Public understanding of, and outcry over, the dire state of the climate and environment is greater than ever before. Parties across the political spectrum claim to be climate leaders, and overt denial is on the way out. Yet when it comes to slowing the course of the climate and nature crises, despite a growing number of pledges, policies and summits, little ever seems to change. Nature is being destroyed at an unprecedented rate. We remain on course for a catastrophic 3 DegreesC of warming. What's holding us back? In this searing and insightful critique, Adrienne Buller examines the fatal biases that have shaped the response of our governing institutions to climate and environmental breakdown, and asks: are the 'solutions' being proposed really solutions? Tracing the intricate connections between financial power, economic injustice and ecological crisis, she exposes the myopic economism and market-centric thinking presently undermining a future where all life can flourish. The book examines what is wrong with mainstream climate and environmental governance, from carbon pricing and offset markets to 'green growth', the commodification of nature and the growing influence of the finance industry on environmental policy. In doing so, it exposes the self-defeating logic of a response to these challenges based on creating new opportunities for profit, and a refusal to grapple with the inequalities and injustices that have created them. Both honest and optimistic, The Value of a Whale asks us - in the face of crisis - what we really value. This book is relevant to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 11, Sustainable cities and communities -- .

Assessing Progress toward Sustainability: Frameworks, Tools, and Case Studies provides practical frameworks for measuring progress toward sustainability in various areas of production, consumption, services and urban development as they relate to environmental impact. A variety of policies/strategies or frameworks are available at national and international levels. This book presents an integrated approach to sustainability progress measurement by considering both the frameworks and methodological developments of various tools, as well as their implementation in assessing the sustainability of processes, products and services through a global perspective. Combining methods and their application, the book covers a variety of topics, including lifecycle assessment, risk assessment, nexus thinking, and connection to SDGs. Organized clearly into three main sections --Frameworks, Tools, and Case Studies--this book can serve as a practical resource for researchers and practitioners alike in environmental science, sustainability, environmental management and environmental engineering.

Water and Climate Change: Sustainable Development, Politics and Social Issues focuses on climate change and global warming, sustainable development and social and political issues surrounding water. Throughout the book, global contributors provide an outlook on the possible future of the world if climate issues continue to increase. In this regard, readers will become fully aware of the dangers of climate change and global warming. To counterbalance, the book also provides an outlook to the possible future of the world if changes are made and emissions are reduced. Water shortages and water pollution are real and are beginning to affect the lives of every one of us on the planet. We are rapidly reaching a point of no return. If we do nothing about water shortages and water pollution, many of the catastrophes mentioned in this book will come to pass. As such, this reference is a must-read resource for environmental scientists and engineers, water resource experts, agriculturalists, social scientists, earth scientists, geographers and decision-makers in government and water management.

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.

Climate change adaptation. A hope-fuelled necessity on the road to a transformed world? Or the last act of the doom-merchant who has given up? There are great ways to adapt to the climate crisis that confronts us, but there are disastrous ways too. In this book, Morgan Phillips takes us from the air-conditioned pavements of Doha and the 'cool rooms' of Paris, to the fog catchers of Morocco and the agro-foresters of Nepal. He makes an often-neglected topic engaging and relatable at precisely the moment the climate movement is waking up to it. A just transition is at stake. Great Adaptations is a provocation, an invitation, and an urgent call to action. If we don't shape what adaptation is, someone else will. 'My earnest hope is that this book will be a turning of the tide; and that, with the silence broken, the world can finally begin the painful process of awakening properly to climate reality... including to the reality of how we must now adapt transformatively, if we are to have any chance of heading off eco-induced collapses.' Prof. Rupert Read, University of East Anglia.

Climate and Land Use Impacts on Natural and Artificial Systems: Mitigation and Adaptation provides in-depth information on the linkages between climate change and land use, how they are related, how land use is shifting over time, and the major global regions at risk for climate and land use changes. This comprehensive resource discusses climatic factors and processes that impact natural and artificial systems, as well as the relationship between climate change and both natural and man-made hazards. The book includes case studies and original maps to provide real-life examples of climate change and land use over regions around the globe. In addition, the book presents future perspectives on mitigation and adaptation of the climate change impact.

Climate catastrophe throws into stark relief the extreme, life-threatening inequalities that affect millions of lives worldwide. The poorest and most marginalized, who are least responsible for the consumption and emissions that create climate change, are the first and hardest impacted, and the least able to protect themselves. Climate justice is simultaneously a movement, an academic field, an organizing principle, and a political demand. Building climate justice is a matter of life and death.Climate Justice and Participatory Research offers ideas and inspiration for climate justice through the creation of research, knowledge, and livelihood commons and community-based climate resilience. It brings together articulations of the what, why, and how of climate justice through the voices of energetic and motivated scholar-activists who are building alliances across Latin America, Africa, and Canada. Exemplifying socio-ecological transformation through equitable public engagement, these scholars, climate activists, community educators, and teachers come together to share their stories of participatory research and collective action. Grounded in experience and processes that are currently underway, Climate Justice and Participatory Research explores the value of common assets, collective action, environmental protection, and equitable partnerships between local community experts and academic allies. It demonstrates the negative effects of climate-related actions that run roughshod over local communities’ interests and wellbeing, and acknowledges the myriad challenges of participatory research. This is a work committed to the practical work of transforming socio-economies from situations of vulnerability to collective wellbeing.

Perspectives from worldwide experts on how major cities across the globe are responding to the major environmental threats of our time, including global climate change Over half of the world's population now lives in cities, and this share is expected to increase in the coming decades. With growing urbanization, cities and their residents face substantial environmental challenges such as higher temperatures, droughts, wildfires, and increased flooding. In response to these pressing challenges, some cities have begun to develop local environmental regulations that supplement national and environmental laws. In so doing, cities have stepped into a role that has been historically dominated by higher levels of government. Global Sustainable Cities takes stock of the policies that have been implemented by cities around the world in recent years in several key areas: water, air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and climate adaptation. It examines the advantages-and potential drawbacks-of allowing cities to assume a significant role in environmental regulation, given the legal and political constraints in which cities operate. The contributors present a series of case studies of the actions that seven leading cities-Abu Dhabi, Beijing, Berlin, Delhi, London, New York, and Shanghai-are taking to improve their environments and adapt to climate change. The first volume of its kind, Global Sustainable Cities is a critical comparative assessment of the actions that major cities in the global North and South are taking to advance sustainability.

Forest Resources Resilience and Conflicts presents modern remote sensing and GIS techniques for Sustainable Livelihood. It provides an up-to-date critical analysis of the discourse surrounding forest resources and society, illustrating the relationship between forest resources and the livelihood of local people. The book is organized into four parts consisting of 31 chapters. Each chapter then reviews current understanding, present research, and future implications. Utilizing case studies and novel advances in geospatial technologies, Forest Resources Resilience and Conflicts provides a timely synthesis of a rapidly growing field and stimulates ideas for future work, especially considering sustainable development goals. In addition, the book presents the effective contribution of the forestry sector to populations' livelihoods through improved collection of forestry statistics that foster the understanding and integration of the forestry sector in poverty reduction processes and the national economy to enhance its integration in national planning. It is a valuable resource for researchers and students in environmental science, especially those interested in forestry, geography, and remote sensing.

As climate disruption intensifies the world over, Californians are finding solutions across a diversity of communities and landscapes. Though climate change is a global existential threat, we cannot wait for nation-states to solve the problem when there are actions we can take now to protect our own communities. In Climate Stewardship: Taking Collective Action to Protect California, readers are invited on a journey to discover that all life is interconnected and shaped by climate and to learn how communities can help tackle climate change. Climate Stewardship shares stories from everyday people and shows how their actions enhance the resilience of communities and ecosystems across ten distinct bioregions. Climate science that justifies these actions is woven throughout, making it easy to learn about Earth's complex systems. The authors interpret and communicate these stories in a way that is enjoyable, inspiring, and even amusing. California is uniquely positioned to develop and implement novel solutions to widespread climate challenges, owing to the state's remarkable biogeographic diversity and robust public science programs. Produced in collaboration with the UC California Naturalist Program, Climate Stewardship focuses on regenerative approaches to energy, agriculture, and land and water use across forested, agricultural, and urban landscapes. The authors' hopeful and encouraging tone aims to help readers develop a sense that they, too, can act now to make meaningful change in their communities.