This book highlights state-of-the-art research and practices for adaptation to climate change in food production systems (agriculture in particular) as observed in Japan and neighboring Asian countries. The main topics covered include the current scientific understanding of observed and projected climate change impacts on crop production and quality, modeling of autonomous and planned adaptation, and development of early warning and/or support systems for climate-related decision-making. Drawing on concrete real-world examples, the book provides readers with an essential overview of adaptation, from research to system development to practices, taking agriculture in Asia as the example. As such, it offers a valuable asset for all researchers and policymakers whose work involves adaptation planning, climate negotiations, and/or agricultural developments.

This book provides a comprehensive description of traditional and innovative forest-based bioproducts, from pulp and paper, wood-based composites and wood fuels to chemicals and fiber-based composites. The descriptions of different types of forest-based bioproducts are supplemented by the environmental impacts involved in their processing, use, and end-of-life phase. Further, the possibility of reusing, recycling and upgrading bioproducts at the end of their projected life cycle is discussed. As the intensity of demand for forest biomass is currently changing, forest-based industries need to respond with innovative products, business models, marketing and management. As such, the book concludes with a chapter on the bioproducts business and these products' role in bioeconomies.

Tree improvement is necessary to meet the growing demand for renewable wood resource and the time is ripe for a critical evaluation of the chances and challenges of tree transgenesis. This book provides an up-to-date review of the present state of genetic engineering of trees. Biosafety and risk assessment are treated in detail, and future experimental tasks are discussed. The book provides a sound basis for decision-making processes in politics.

Water - and its governance - is becoming a global concern partly because it is turning into a goods in short supply, with devastating effects on literally billions of people, but also because it is the "carrier" ofglobal warming; whether through irregular weather patterns or through flooding, water is how global warming will be 'felt'. The lion's share of the globally available fresh water resources is to be found in transboundary systems. In spite of its significance, the generated knowledge on how to deal with transboundary waters is weak and leaves policy makers with seemingly unavoidable, trade-off dilemmas and prioritizations, often with detrimental effects. In order to disentangle this predicament this volume works with one case: the Lower Mekong Basin and covers state-of-the-art academic and practitioners' knowledge and hence appeals to a wide audience. The topic this volume addresses is situated in the nexus ofan IR- (International Relations) approach focussing on transboundary politics and its inclination to remain within the sphere of state sovereignty and national interest on the one hand, and Development studies, with its imperatives on participation, planning, and intervention, on the other.The dilemma, we argue, of better understanding transboundary water management lies in how to understand how these two rationalities can be simultaneously nurtured.
"Audience: "This book will be relevant to scholars, as it provides cutting-edge research, and students, since it covers the primary debates in the field, interested in resource management, regional politics, and development issues in the area. It also addresses the global debate on transboundary water management and presents an in-depth case of one of the globally most sophisticated attempts at pursuing sustainable river basin management. Finally, practitioners and policymakers would benefit greatly because all contributions have explicit policy relevance, launching suggestion on improvements in water management.

This book performs a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis to examine the current food crisis and how it relates to the use of crops for energy. It analyses how energy crops may help solve humankind's environmental changes and summarises the economic and practical changes of cultivating and utilising energy crops. Two of humanity's greatest challenges are the need for more food production as well as growing demands for energy. Biofuel cultivation has been identified as a solution to growing energy use, and biomass power plants offer a rare renewable energy source that requires only basic technology. In this context, a dilemma arises concerning whether energy crops should be used for energy or to help remedy the food crisis. SWOT analysis allows us to organise and weigh different pros and cons against each other in terms of economics, job creation, environmental impacts, the climate change agenda, and European Union (EU) directives that promote biofuels over fossil fuels. By pursuing this approach, the book helps researchers and decision-makers cut through the many competing arguments in connection with this complex subject.

This volume explores options for a sustainable maritime domain, including maritime transportation, such as, Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP), maritime education and training, maritime traffic and advisory systems, maritime security. Other activities in the maritime domain covered in the book include small-scale fisheries and sustainable fisheries, and greening the blue economy. The book aims to provide the building blocks needed for a framework for good ocean governance; a framework that will serve through the next decade and, and hopefully, well beyond the 2030 milepost of the UN Agenda for Sustainable Development. In short, this book brings together the problems of the current world and sustainable solutions that are in the development process and will eventually materialize in the not so distant future. Additionally, the book presents a trans-disciplinary analysis of integral sustainable maritime transportation solutions and crucial issues relevant to good ocean governance that have recently been discussed at different national, regional and international fora, highlighting ongoing work to develop and support governance systems that facilitate industry requirements, and meet the needs of coastal states and indigenous peoples, of researchers, of spatial planners, and of other sectors dependent on the oceans. The book will be of interest to researchers across many disciplines, especially those that are engaged in cross-sectoral research and developments in the maritime transport sector and across the wider maritime domain. To this end, the book covers areas including natural and social sciences, geographical studies, spatial planning, maritime security and gender studies, as they relate to transport and the wider maritime sector. In addition, the book explores frameworks for sustainable ocean governance being developed under the UN's Agenda for Sustainable Development to 2030. It will also look beyond the 2030 milepost under that Agenda, and will be of use to national and international policymakers and practitioners, government actors at the EU and other regional and national levels and to researchers of ocean governance, sustainability and management, and maritime transport.

Playing a critical role in both influencing climate change and mitigating its impacts, the world's diverse wetlands have become one of the world's most threatened ecosystems as unsustainable land-use practices coupled with irrational use of water have already resulted in large-scale wetlands loss and degradation. To develop sound management and conservation schemes to assure wetlands sustainability in the long term requires long-term understanding of wetlands ecology. Yet until now, long-term interdisciplinary research into these systems has been limited to only a few systems from tropical or temperate climates (such as the Florida Everglades, and Czech biosphere reserve). This new book adds to the existing wetlands literature, providing a unique reference in basic and applied Mediterranean wetland ecology, based on results from long-term interdisciplinary research at the RAMSAR and UNESCO Biosphere site, of Las Tablas de Daimiel, Spain. Dating back to the early 1990s the research highlights changes in the biotic and abiotic environment in response to cumulative anthropogenic stressors, and provide guidance on applying this understand to sound management and conservation. With particular relevance to researchers dealing with semi-arid wetlands in the Mediterranean and elsewhere, as well as to resource managers, the book discusses the complexity of the interacting abiotic and biotic environment across different spatial and temporal scales and across various levels of biological hierarchy is highlighted, and reveals how management based on poor knowledge causes more damage than repair. The book will be of interest to researchers interested in freshwater ecology, hydrobotany, hydrology, geology, biogeochemistry, landscape ecology and environmental management.

The availability of food is an especially significant issue in zones of conflict because conflict nearly always impinges on the production and the distribution of food, and causes increased competition for food, land and resources Controlling the production of and access to food can also be used as a weapon by protagonists in conflict. The logistics of supply of food to military personnel operating in conflict zones is another important issue. These themes unite this collection, the chapters of which span different geographic areas. This volume will appeal to scholars in a number of different disciplines, including anthropology, nutrition, political science, development studies and international relations, as well as practitioners working in the private and public sectors, who are currently concerned with food-related issues in the field.

The subjects refer to histories of ancient and modern use of seacoasts; possible macro-projects capable of massive changes in the coastlines of the Dead Sea, Red Sea and Persian Gulf caused by canal and massively scaled hydropower dam installations; relevant macro-projects for the Black Sea and Baltic Sea; possibilities of refreshment of the Aral Sea and Iran 's Lake Uremia with seawater or river freshwater importation macro-projects; potential rehabilitation of some vital arid zone regions now dominated by moving or movable surface granular materials using unique and unusual macro-projects; seawater flooding of land regions situated below present-day global sea-level; harnessing energy and obtaining freshwater from the world 's salt-laden ocean by modern industrial means; various macro-projects designed specifically for the protection (reduction of vulnerability) of particular Earth geographical regions.

This book gathers selected high-quality research papers presented at the IconSWM 2018 conference, which explore various aspects of urban mining. In addition, they discuss how to achieve sustainable waste management systems, urban mining, landfill mining, material recovery, circular economy, etc., with the aid of effective waste management practices. Additional topics covered include maximum resource circulation and efficiency, key differences between landfill mining and urban mining, and how urban mining can be combined with the concepts of circular economy and sustainability.

Bio-Based Materials and Wastes for Energy Generation and Resource Management is the fifth and final volume in the series, Advanced Zero Waste Tools: Present and Emerging Waste Management Practices. It addresses processes and practices for utilizing bio-based materials and wastes to support efforts to promote a more sustainable society and provide readers with a better understanding of the major mechanisms required to achieve zero waste in different fields. This book covers numerous mechanisms supported by scientific evidence and case studies, as well as in-depth flowcharts and process diagrams to allow for readers to adopt these processes. Summarizing present and emerging zero waste tools on the scale of both experimental and theoretical models, Advanced Zero Waste Tools is the first step toward understanding the state-of-the-art practices in making the zero waste goal a reality. In addition to environmental and engineering principles, it also covers economic, toxicologic, and regulatory issues, making it an important resource for researchers, engineers, and policymakers working toward environmental sustainability.

This book covers available approaches to improving the performance and impact of long-term projections of the national energy sector development. In turn, it introduces an original multi-stage approach to narrowing down the uncertainty range of the input data and resulting projections. Its unique contribution is that it limits the scope for each of the projection timeframe segments step-by-step. This is done in the course of iterative calculations, which employ dedicated methods and other tools to elucidate and solve top-priority problems specific to each time segment. In closing, the book provides a detailed treatment of two essential research problems: 1) long-term forecasting for regional energy markets, and 2) the quantitative assessment of a) the barriers that are likely to hinder energy sector development and b) strategic-level energy security threats.

Contains details on the geological units of Nigeria and the associated mineral resources. The book is divided into three parts. Part 1 discusses the geology of the crystalline rocks and their regional distribution while the sedimentary basins constitute the subject of Part 2. Part 3 takes the mineral resources of Nigeria one on one, their geological environment, mode of occurrence, localities and where possible the reserves estimation. Thereafter, an account of the previous and current mining policies (including that of petroleum) of the Nigerian government is given and goes ahead to list some specific investment opportunities in the solid minerals sector.

This volume is of great importance to humans and other living organisms. The study of water quality draws information from a variety of disciplines including chemistry, biology, mathematics, physics, engineering, and resource management. University training in water quality is often limited to specialized courses in engineering, ecology, and fisheries curricula. This book also offers a basic understanding of water quality to professionals who are not formally trained in the subject. The revised third edition updates and expands the discussion, and incorporates additional figures and illustrative problems. Improvements include a new chapter on basic chemistry, a more comprehensive chapter on hydrology, and an updated chapter on regulations and standards. Because it employs only first-year college-level chemistry and very basic physics, the book is well-suited as the foundation for a general introductory course in water quality. It is equally useful as a guide for self-study and an in-depth resource for general readers.

The global energy system stands at the verge of a far-reaching paradigm shift. The established model of centralized supply services will be challenged by new, decentralized technologies, with Germany being an international role model for energy efficiency and renewable energy generation.

For almost four decades, controversy has surrounded the tactical use of herbicides in Southeast Asia by the United States military. Few environmental or occupational health issues have received the sustained international attention that has been focused on Agent Orange, the major tactical herbicide deployed in Southern Vietnam. With the opening and establishment of normal relations between the United States and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in 1995, the time has come for a thorough re-examination of the military use of Agent Orange and other "tactical herbicides" in Southern Vietnam, and the subsequent actions that have been taking place since their use in Vietnam.

The United States Department of Defense has had the major role in all military operations involving the use of tactical herbicides, including that of Agent Orange. This included the Department's purchase, shipment and tactical use of herbicides in Vietnam, its role in the disposition of Agent Orange after Vietnam, its role in conducting long-term epidemiological investigations of the men of Operation RANCH HAND, and its sponsorship of ecological and environmental fate studies. This book was commissioned by The Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Installations and Environment) with the intent of providing documentation of the knowledge on the history, use, disposition and environmental fate of Agent Orange and its associated dioxin.

This book examines water security as a prime example of how the economic, socio-cultural and political-normative systems that regulate access to water reflect the evolving and gendered power relations between different societal groups. Access to water is characterized by inequalities: it depends not only on natural water availability, but also on the respective socio-political context. It is regulated by gender-differentiated roles and responsibilities towards the resource, which are strongly influenced by, among others, tradition, religion, customary law, geographical availability, as well as the historical and socio-political context. While gender has been recognized as a key intervening variable in achieving equitable water access, most studies fail to acknowledge the deep interrelations between social structures and patterns of water use. Proof of these shortcomings is the enduring lack of data on water accessibility, availability and utilization that sufficiently acknowledges the relational nature of gender and other categories of power and difference, like class and socioeconomic status, as well as their comprehensive analysis. This book addresses this major research gap.

This collection of eighteen chapters plus an editorial introduction brings together studies of land and development throughout the Caribbean region by historians, anthropologists, geographers, land use planners, a sociologist and a human rights lawyer. Themes include post-emancipation access to land for the former slaves, soil erosion, crop production, agro-biodiversity, tourism, fishing, migration, land tenure, landscape and environment, and various aspects of land policy, planning and management. The chapters cover a range of territories in the Hispanic, Francophone, English-speaking and Dutch Caribbean. This volume is a sequel to the editors' earlier ground-breaking book "Land and Development in the Caribbean" (Macmillan, 1987) and, with a new cast of authors and an entirely new collection of essays, provides fresh perspectives on Caribbean land and development based on both historical and contemporary research.

The authors investigate well-known concerns in natural resource management in Africa while focusing on the capacity dimension of the problems. They examine dynamics of leadership, governance, criminality, structural transformation, as well as emerging issues such as green growth.

This book discusses the role of salt in current agricultural approaches, including the low salt tolerance of agricultural crops and trees, impact of saline soils, and salt-resistant plants. Halophytes are extremely salt tolerant plants, which are able to grow and survive under salt at concentrations as high as 5 g/l by maintaining negative water potential. The salt-tolerant microbes inhabiting the rhizospheres of halophytes may contribute to their salt tolerance, and the rhizospheres of halophytic plants provide an ideal opportunity for isolating various groups of salt-tolerant microbes that could enhance the growth of different crops under salinity stress. The book offers an overview of salt-tolerant microbes' ability to increase plant tolerance to salt to facilitate plant growth, the potential of the halophytes' rhizospheres as a reservoir of beneficial salt-tolerant microbes, their future application as bio-inoculants in agriculture and a valuable resource for an alternative way of improving crop tolerance to salinity and promoting saline soil-based agriculture. This special collection of reviews highlights some of the recent advances in applied aspects of plant (halophytes)-microbe interactions and their contribution towards eco-friendly approaches saline soil-based agriculture.

Canada's Water, Yours to Protect brings a different voice to the important discussion of freshwater protection. While it acknowledges the problems besetting water resources and the role of government, this book is about the success of collaboration and encourages Canadians to come together to plan for the future of their water. To give context and help achieve this goal, the book explains who does what and why, and what the future challenges are for eight issues we now face, including deeply entrenched water allocation systems, ill-protected groundwater supplies, full-cost water pricing versus water conservation, aquatic ecosystem protection, the protection of drinking water quality, safety from flood damages, future dam construction, and control of water export.

This book brings together information on road planning, location, design, construction and maintenance to support environmentally acceptable operations in tropical forests. It highlights the challenges of road operations in the tropics, includes techniques that have been shown to be successful, and discusses newer technologies. Numerical examples are included to provide clarity for interpreting graphs, procedures, and formulas.

This 32-chapter volume represents the core of several oral and poster presentations made at the conference. In addition to Introduction and Conclusion sections, the book is thematically divided into 7 sections, namely, 1) Land Use and Farming Systems, 2) Effects of Climate Change on Crop Yield, 3) Soil Nutrient and Water Management for Carbon Sequestration, 4) Rehabilitation of Degraded Lands through Forestry and Agroforestry, 5) Management of Animal Production for Greenhouse Gas Emissions, 6) Smallholder Adaptation to Climate Change, and 7) Economic, Social and Policy Issues. It addresses these themes in the context of sustainable intensification (SI). It implies increasing agronomic production from the existing land while improving/restoring its quality and decreasing the C or environmental footprint. Simply put, SI means producing more from less.

This book highlights the concept of environmental water footprint in the energy (bioenergy & hydropower) sector and the building/construction sector, focusing on a case study in Iran. It argues and demonstrates that water conservation is one of the most essential elements every industry has to take into account in its sustainability strategy.