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Books > Earth & environment > The environment > Pollution & threats to the environment > Global warming
Presenting an overview of agroecology within the framework of climate change, this book looks at the impact of our changing climate on crop production and agroecosystems, reporting on how plants will cope with these changes, and how we can mitigate these negative impacts to ensure food production for the growing population. It explores the ways that farmers can confront the challenges of climate change, with contributed chapters from around the world demonstrating the different challenges associated with differing climates. Examples are provided of the approaches being taken right now to expand the ecological, physiological, morphological, and productive potential of a range of crop types. Describes the effects and responses of the macro and micro levels of crops under the different components of climate change Reports on the adaptation and resilience of food production systems within the changing climate Covers how plants cope with the changing climate including physiological, biochemical, phenotype, and ecosystem responses Provides an in-depth discussion on the importance of agricultural education connected to climate change Giving readers a greater understanding of the mechanisms of plant resilience to climate change, this book provides new insights into improving the productivity of an individual crop species as well as bringing resistance and resiliency to the entire agroecosystem. It offers a strong foundation for changing research and education programs so that they build the resistance and resilience that will be needed for the uncertain climate future ahead.
Global watming through the enhanced greehouse effect is one of the major and most uncertain forces of global environmental change presently facing the earth. This book is a guide to the scientific and policy debate concerning the roles of agriculture, forestry and other activities leading to global warming. The influence of land use on the greehouse effect is important, not only in terms of net emissions of greenhouse gases, but also in the potential to reduce emissions through changing land use policies. "Land Use and the Causes of Global Warming" reviews the global emissions of greenhouse gases from land use sources, highlighting the undertainties in estimating both the magnitude of the fluxes and the scale of land use change. Policies of afforestation, policies to encourage the halting of deforestation and changing management pravctices in agriculture are all examined from the perspectives of feasibility, cost and equity. The authors illustrate how all land use policies are multi-objective but that the reduction of grenhouse gas emissions must be a key element in forestry and agriculture policy on a global bais. This is an invaluable book for all thoe in the climate change research community, environmental scientits, economists and social scientits in research institutions.
We've become used to thinking of plants as things for us to use: as food, tools, resources, or just as an attractive background to our own lives. But it's time to change our minds. New research shows that plants can think, plan - and may even have memories. We share our planet with beings whose potential we have only glimpsed. Featuring the writing of Robin Wall Kimmerer, Susie Orbach and Merlin Sheldrake, This Book is a Plant will be your handbook to the new reality: showing you a pathway to completely reimagine your relationship with a different kind of natural world. Delve into a world of moss and fungi: Sheila Watt-Cloutier transports us to the Arctic spring, Rowan Hisayo Buchanan discovers the pleasures of painting trees, and Rebecca Tamas puts roots down through earth and soil. This Book is a Plant is made from paper: it was once part of a tree. But it's also a seed: the first shoots of a radical new way of seeing the world around you.
Effect of High Temperature on Crop Productivity and Metabolism of Macro Molecules presents a comprehensive overview on the direct effect of temperatures defined as "high", a definition which increasingly includes a great number of geographic regions. As temperature impacts the number of base growth days, it is necessary to adapt plant selection, strategize planting times, and understand the expected impact of adaptive steps to ensure maximum plant health and crop yield. Global warming, climate change and change in environmental conditions have become common phrases in nearly every scientific seminar, symposium and meeting, thus these changes in climatic patterns constrain normal growth and reproduction cycles. This book reviews the effect of high temperature on agricultural crop production and the effect of high temperature stress on the metabolic aspects of macro molecules, including carbohydrates, proteins, fats, secondary metabolites, and plant growth hormones.
'Inspiring. [...] Crammed with lively interviews and grounded examples' Ashish Kothari, founder of Kalpavriksh Permaculture is an environmental movement that makes us reevaluate what it means to be sustainable. Through innovative agriculture and settlement design, the movement creates new communities that are harmonious with nature. It has grown from humble origins on a farm in 1970s Australia and flourished into a worldwide movement that confronts industrial capitalism. The Politics of Permaculture is one of the first books to unpack the theory and practice of this social movement that looks to challenge the status quo. Drawing upon the rich seam of publications and online communities from the movement as well as extensive interviews with permaculture practitioners and organisations from around the world, Leahy explains the ways permaculture is understood and practiced in different contexts. In the face of extreme environmental degradation and catastrophic climate change, we urgently need a new way of living.
This book is the first major ecocritical study of the relationship between British Romanticism and climate change. It analyses a wide range of texts - by authors including Lord Byron, William Cobbett, Sir Stamford Raffles, Mary Shelley, and Percy Shelley - in relation to the global crisis produced by the eruption of Mount Tambora in 1815. By connecting these texts to current debates in the environmental humanities, it reveals the value of a historicized approach to the Anthropocene. British Romanticism, Climate Change, and the Anthropocene examines how Romantic texts affirm the human capacity to shape and make sense of a world with which we are profoundly entangled and at the same time represent our humiliation by powerful elemental forces that we do not fully comprehend. It will appeal not only to scholars of British Romanticism, but to anyone interested in the relationship between culture and climate change.
In the field of 'climate change', no terrain goes uncontested. The terminological tug of war between activists and corporations, scientists and governments, has seen radical notions of 'sustainability' emptied of urgency and subordinated to the interests of capital. 'Just Transition' is the latest such battleground, and the conceptual keystone of the post-COP21 climate policy world. But what does it really mean? Just Transition emerged as a framework developed within the trade union movement to encompass a range of social interventions needed to secure workers' and frontline communities' jobs and livelihoods as economies shift to sustainable production. Just Transitions draws on a range of perspectives from the global North and South to interrogate the overlaps, synergies and tensions between various understandings of the Just Transition approach. As the concept is entering the mainstream, has it lost its radical edge, and if so, can it be recovered? Written by academics and activists from around the globe, this unique edited collection is the first book entirely devoted to Just Transition.
This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license. This book aims to inspire decision makers and practitioners to change their approach to climate planning in the tropics through the application of modern technologies for characterizing local climate and tracking vulnerability and risk, and using decision-making tools. Drawing on 16 case studies conducted mainly in the Caribbean, Central America, Western and Eastern Africa, and South East Asia it is shown how successful integration of traditional and modern knowledge can enhance disaster risk reduction and adaptation to climate change in the tropics. The case studies encompass both rural and urban settings and cover different scales: rural communities, cities, and regions. In addition, the book looks to the future of planning by addressing topics of major importance, including residual risk integration in local development plans, damage insurance and the potential role of climate vulnerability reduction credits. In many regions of the tropics, climate planning is growing but has still very low quality. This book identifies the weaknesses and proposes effective solutions.
This book discusses various climate smart agro-technologies, their technical and economic feasibility across heterogeneous agro-climatic conditions, assessing farmers' willingness to adopt those technologies, impact of climate smart technology in agricultural production and possible policy and investment opportunities to upscale it. Containing eight chapters, the book starts with a discussion about the methodological aspects of priority setting of the farm technologies across various regions of South Asia including Eastern Indo-Gangetic plain, Western Indo-Gangetic Plain and arid regions. Using data from field based trials and expert solicitations, the book next deliberates on a list of feasible technologies, assessed by constructing climate smart Feasibility Index. Further on, there is an analysis, using stated preference method, of the behaviour of farmers in adopting climate smart technologies. Preference of women farmers has been given a special focus in this book. After discussing the method priority setting of the farm technologies, impact of climate smart technologies has been analysed using real time data. Government policies have been reviewed with the view of achieving climate smart agriculture in South Asia. The book also describes the optimization modelling framework for investment allocation and technology prioritization. The model integrates both the bio-physical and the economic optimization model to capture the agro-climatic heterogeneity within the region and the variability of technical feasibility across regions and crops. Results of this model will help policy makers to identify how much to invest, where to invest and what technologies to prioritize for investments.
This open access book analyses the interplay of sustainable development and human rights from different perspectives including fight against poverty, health, gender equality, working conditions, climate change and the role of private actors. Each aspect is addressed from a more human rights-focused angle and a development-policy angle. This allows comparisons between the different approaches but also seeks to close gaps which would remain if only one perspective would be at the center of the discussions. Specifically, the book shows the strong connections between human rights and the objectives of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations in 2015. Already the preamble of this document explicitly states that "the 17 Sustainable Development Goals ... seek to realise the human rights of all". Moreover, several goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda correspond to already existing individual human rights obligations. The contributions of this volume therefore also address how the implementation of human rights and SDGs can reinforce each other, but also point to critical shortcomings of the different approaches.
This books explains a strategy that a country can meet its CO2 emission reduction targets (e.g., as are in Paris Agreement) with a dominant share of nuclear power with a balanced energy supply mix. The book starts with an introduction to the subject of energy policy, mechanisms, and CO2 emissions, and the complexity of the CO2 reduction goal. It introduces the system dynamics approach as a solution modeling approach for dealing with the complexity of CO2 reducing policies and mechanisms. The book presents the dynamic model and its key parameters and then elaborates the structural and behavioral validity of the dynamic model. The book gives an intensive review to do that comparative analysis involving China, India, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Pakistan. The last half of the book focuses on the case in Pakistan. The author reviews Pakistan's Intended Nationally Determined Contribution and other key sources from Pakistan's Ministry of Energy and related institutions. Using Pakistan's case data, the author applies the system dynamics modeling approach whereby a dynamic model, capable of representing the important interactions among various sectors of the electricity supply sector of Pakistan. This book is intended to be of use to policymakers, managers and practitioners, teachers, researchers, and students of design and assessment of policymaking for the complex, dynamic energy systems
This is a story of hope in the face of widespread consternation over the global climate crisis. For many people concerned about global warming, the 2018 vote by UK parliamentarians to proceed with the plans for a third runway at Heathrow Airport was a devastating blow. Aviation was predicted to make up some 25% of the UK's carbon emissions by 2050 and so the decision seemed to fly in the face of the UK's commitment to be a climate leader. Can the UK expand Heathrow airport, bringing in 700 extra planes a day, and still stay within ambitious carbon budgets? One legal case sought to answer this question. Campaigning lawyers argued that plans for a third runway at one of the world's busiest airports would jeopardise the UK's ability to meet its commitments under the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change. This book traces the dramatic story of how the case was prepared - and why international aviation has for so long avoided meaningful limits on its expansion. -- .
Addressing the widespread desire to better understand how climate change issues are addressed in the United States, this book provides an unparalleled analysis of features of the US economic and political system that are essential to understanding its responses to climate change. The introductory chapter presents a firm historical context, with the remainder of the book offering balanced and factual discussions of government, business and public responses to issues of energy policies, congressional activity on climate change, and US government involvement in international conferences. Abundant statistical evidence illustrates key concepts and supports analytic themes such as market failures, free riders, and the benefits and costs of alternative courses of action among industry sectors and geographic areas within the US. Written for audiences both outside and within the US, this accessible book is essential reading for anyone interested in climate change, energy, sustainable development or related issues around the world.
In this "Tropical Peatland Eco-management" book, eco-management is new terminology as an abbreviation of "ecology-based management for natural capital enhancement". Key concept on this eco-management is derived from previous book: "Tropical Peatland Ecosystem"(Springer, 2015, eds. by M. Osaki and N. Tsuji). Based on this new concept, this book thoroughly examines tropical peatland eco-management for scientists, political decision makers, governmental officials, land managers, students, and NGO/NPOs who are interested in 1) what the impact of peatland on climate change and ecosystem function, 2) how the management of disturbed peatland, and 3) drawing global scale restoration mechanisms of peatland and wetland. In tropical peatland, a large amount of GHGs (carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide) is emitted due to the unappropriate development and inadequate management of peatland. The peatland ecosystems consist of the carbon-water complex, which is affected easily by the impact of human and climate change. Throughout much research of tropical peatland, the problems that result from development of tropical peatland are found to stem mainly from a lack of understanding of the complexities of this ecosystem and the fragility of the relationship between peat and forest and also between carbon and water. In past, almost all peatland development and management system have been generally designed on "water drainage system". On the contrast of old system, an innovated eco- management is, here, proposed as "water irrigation system", including water cycling and natural capital enhancement. Through this book readers will learn the advanced peatland eco-management, with more practical methods and procedure based on ecosystem knowledge.
The threat posed by climate change has not yet been matched by international agreements and economic policies that can deliver sharp reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions. Although the Kyoto Protocol has now been ratified by Russia and hence come into legal effect, the USA, China, and India are all outside its emissions caps. Few European countries are on course to meet their own national targets, and even if fully implemented, it is widely acknowledged that the Kyoto Protocol would make little difference to the carbon concentrations in the atmosphere. In consequence, there is a search for a post-Kyoto framework, new institutions, and new economic policies to spread the costs and meet them in an economically efficient way. Carbon taxes and emissions trading are, in particular, being established in a number of developing countries. This volume provides an accessible overview of the economics of climate change, the policy options, and the scope for making significant carbon reductions.
This book discusses the impacts of climate change that are already being felt on every continent and provides the scientific basis for a number of modern approaches and state-of-the art methods for monitoring the environment, social behavior and human expectations concerning protection of the environment. The book approaches these issues from the perspectives of various disciplines, from physics to the social sciences, and highlights both current challenges and future prospects. On 1 January 2016, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) defined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development - 12 of which involve taking action on climate change - officially came into force. To achieve sustainable development, it is and will remain crucial to harmonize three interconnected core elements: economic growth, social inclusion and environmental protection.
This book presents a comprehensive account of the energy and environmental security perspectives of the developing countries. To address the subject comprehensively, it covers four geographically diverse clusters of developing countries from across the world. The regions particularly focused on are: South Asia, South East Asia, Sub Sahara Africa, and Latin America. It is a valuable contribution to the debate, and policy and research activities around the subjects of energy and environmental security in the developing countries and beyond. The book covers the interwoven subjects of energy security and environmental security in the context of developing countries for the first time. It discusses the latest dimensions, challenges, and solutions around taking into account technical, economic, social, and policy perspectives. It incorporates up-to-date data, case studies, and comparative assessment. This edited book has contributions from established as well as emerging scholars from around the world. It benefits a wide range of stakeholders from the fields of energy, environment, and sustainable development. It is of help to academics, researchers, and analysts in these fields besides having appeal for policymakers, and national and international developmental organizations. It also helps developing countries to learn from each other's experiences.
The risks and consequences of environmental change are increasing, leading to massive losses in terms of ecosystems and having a huge impact on human populations. As such, global thinkers, environmentalists, scientists and policy makers are focusing on finding solutions and ways to sustain life on Earth. Anthropogenic impacts on the climate system can only be mitigated by the restoration of existing natural resources and the sustainable development of the environment and society. This book discusses the potential of green technology in waste management, wetland restoration, presenting the latest developments in the field of bioenergy, green ecology, bioremediation and microbial management. Wetlands are one of Earth's most important ecosystems, and they provide valuable services to human societies, such as minimizing the impacts of floods, acting as a carbon sink, and offering water purification as well as recreational opportunities. Wetlands may be natural or constructed, and the effectiveness of wetland services largely depends on the diversity of macrophytes affecting the algal production, plant biomass and nutrient status of the system. In addition, they are one of the richest microbial ecosystems on earth: the rhizosphere, soil and water interface enhances wetland services with implications ranging from phytoremediation to microbial bioprospection. However, in order to function properly, they need to be effectively redesigned, reengineered, protected and maintained. The book addresses the dynamic relation between three global concerns: environmental pollution, resource exploitation and sustainability. It describes the utilization of resources like wastes (municipal, industrial, agricultural, mine drainage, tannery, solid, and e waste), plants, algae and microbes for production of renewable biofuel, biofertilizers and other value added products to achieve the goal of sustainable development. The book also discusses the current and future trends in employing wetlands in improving water quality. In addition it presents the latest international research in the fields of wetland science, waste management, carbon sequestration and bioremediation. Highlighting a broad spectrum of topics and strategies for achieving a sustainable environment, the book offers researchers, students and academics insights into utilizing resources in a sustainable way.
As climate change becomes an increasingly important part of public discourse, the relationship between time in nature and history is changing. Nature can no longer be considered a slow and immobile background to human history, and the future can no longer be viewed as open and detached from the past. Times of History, Times of Nature engages with this historical shift in temporal sensibilities through a combination of detailed case studies and synthesizing efforts. Focusing on the history of knowledge, media theory, and environmental humanities, this volume explores the rich and nuanced notions of time and temporality that have emerged in response to climate change.
Climate change is a slowly advancing crisis sweeping over the planet and affecting different habitats in strikingly diverse ways. While nations have signed treaties and implemented policies, most actual climate change assessments, adaptations, and countermeasures take place at the local level. People are responding by adjusting their practices, livelihoods, and cultures, protesting and migrating. This book portrays the diversity of explanations and remedies as expressed at the community level and its emphasis on the crucial importance of ethnographic detail in demonstrating how people in different parts of the world are scaling down the phenomenon of global warming.
This book is intended to fill a gap in climate-change literature by providing a comprehensive regional study and identifying the overall adaptation challenges in a real-life context. The way in which possible climate impacts interact with a range of other challenges in agriculture, forestry, disaster planning, health care, general economic development, and common livelihoods are presented, and it is argued that greater realism and broader vision are needed in order to address the climate challenge. For instance, unsuitable land- use changes in both coastal and highland regions may increase the vulnerability of rural people, many of whom are already living on the fringes. The author(s) also state(s) that, depending on context, it may be pertinent to address short-term and unsustainable resource use, irregularities in local land management, ineffective governance and social inequality, which are all likely to aggravate the impact of external climate and weather. Not least, it is imperative to integrate general environmental management with any climate-change adaptation effort.
Provides a global perspective on drought prediction and management and a synthesis of the recent state of knowledge. Covers a wide range of topics from essential concepts and advanced techniques for forecasting and modeling drought to societal impacts, consequences, and planning. Presents numerous case studies with different management approaches from different regions and countries. Addresses how climate change impacts drought, the increasing challenges associated with managing drought, decision making, and policy implications. Includes contributions from hundreds of experts around the world.
This book presents chapters, written by leading coastal scientists, which collectively depict the current understanding of the processes that shape barrier islands and barrier spits, with an emphasis on the response of these landforms to changing conditions. A majority of the world's population lives along the coast at the dynamic intersection between terrestrial and marine ecosystems and landscapes. As narrow, low-lying landforms, barriers are especially vulnerable to changes in sea level, storminess, the geographic distribution of grass species, and the rate of sand supply-some barriers will undergo rapid changes in state (e.g., from landward migrating to disintegrating), on human time scales. Attempts by humans to prevent change can hasten the loss of these landforms, threatening their continued existence as well as the recreational, financial and ecosystem service benefits they provide. Understanding the processes and interactions that drive landscape response to climate change and human actions is essential to adaptation. As managers and governments struggle to plan for the future along low-lying coasts worldwide, and scientists conduct research that provides useful guidance, this volume offers a much-needed compilation for these groups, as well as a window into the science of barrier dynamics for anyone who is generally interested in the impacts of a changing world on coastal environments.
Experts all agree that human beings can mitigate climate change by changing how we use energy for heat, light, movement, and production. Stewards of heritage sites and collections can engage the public at the grassroots level to raise awareness about the cultural and socioeconomic reasons for past choices that have contributed to climate change. This book will help cultural institutions identify ways to interpret new stories through historic places and resources, especially if staff have made the commitment to "go green." Without place-based context, discussions about energy focus primarily on the science, and not the human experience. By reminding us of our past practices and values regarding energy production and use, historic places can inspire different ways of thinking about transitioning to different energy sources, and question the doctrine that high energy use is necessary for progress. Public interpretation can expose the vast energy infrastructure and the impact of energy extraction, production and use on place. Historic sites offer place-based contexts for visitors to interact with and think critically about the processes and the impact of energy development in, for example, a maritime village. This book synthesizes science with the humanities outside of popular media and other politicized spaces to identify different kinds of energy resources in many historic collections or sites. It supplements current calls for economic and policy changes, because as stewards of historic places, we need to do what we can in this "all hands-on deck" moment to prepare for shared stewardship of our future.
This book takes a comprehensive look at several cases of climate change adaptation responses across various sectors and geographical areas in urban Africa and places them within a solid theoretical context. Each chapter is a state-of-the-art overview of a significant topic on climate change adaptation in urban Africa and is written by a leading expert in the field. In addition to the focus on the geography of urban adaptation to climate change in Africa, this collection offers a broader perspective by blending the use of case studies and theory based research. It examines transformations in climate change adaptation and its future orientation from the perspectives of urban planners, political economists, environmentalists, ecologists, economists and geographers, thereby addressing the challenges facing African cities adaptation responses from all angles. Providing up-to-date and authoritative contributions covering the key aspects of climate change adaptation in urban Africa, this book will be of great interest to policymakers, practitioners, scholars and students of geography, urban development and management, environmental science and policy, disaster management, as well as those in the field of urban planning. |
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