The permafrost regions of the planet are remote, barren and isolated; as far as the decision makers are concerned, these inhospitable regions are simply "out of sight, out of mind," having no immediate effect on the global environment and habitat. Those who are pioneering the study of the permafrost, however, know better, as they confront the sustainable development of these peculiarly resource-rich regions. It rapidly became evident that social survival was not merely a matter of technology, and sustainable development involved more than just bringing in adequate machinery. Operating in permafrost regions necessitates a thorough understanding of all aspects of their ecology. This state-of-the-art book on permafrost discusses the topic in terms of geology, biology, chemistry, physics, climatology, engineering, land development, environmental management, social and economic impacts. Topics discussed include on- and offshore data assessment, past and future permafrost evolution according to global climate change, engineering effects on permafrost, and new dimensions in geocryology, including gas hydrates, microbiology, and information technology.

Carbon Capture and Storage technologies (CCS) are moving from experiment toward commercial applications at a rapid pace, driven by urgent demand for carbon mitigation strategies. This book examines the potential role of CCS from four perspectives: technology development, economic competitiveness, environmental and safety impacts, and social acceptance. IEK-STE of Forschungszentrum Juelich presents this interdisciplinary study on CCS, based on methods of Integrated Technology Assessment. Following an introductory chapter by editor Wilhelm Kuckshinrichs, Part I of the book surveys the status of carbon capture technologies, and assesses the potential for research and development of applications that are useful at scales required for meaningful mitigation. Transportation, Utilization and Environmental Aspects of CO2 receive chapter-length treatments, and the section concludes with an examination of safe geological storage of CO2 based on the example of the Ketzin pilot site, not far from Berlin. Part II covers Economic and Societal Perspectives. The first chapter discusses the use of CCS in the energy sector, analyzing costs associated with electricity generation and CO2 mitigation on the basis of technology-specific cost and process parameters, along with a merit-order illustration of the possible implications of CCS facilities for energy costs. Later chapters outline the costs of CCS application in energy- and CO2-intensive industries; analyze system characteristics of CCS infrastructures, showing that the infrastructure cost function depends on the ratio of fixed to variable costs, as well as on the spatial distribution of CO2 sources and storage facilities; interpret cross-sector carbon mitigation strategies and their impacts on the energy and CO2 balance; and discuss awareness and knowledge of CCS, attitudes towards it, and how the risks and benefits of CCS are perceived. Part III discusses the Framework for Energy and Climate Policy, with chapters on acceptance and adoption of CCS policy in Germany, and the EU, and an assessment of international cooperation in support of CCS. The final chapter summarizes the central arguments, discusses the potential role of carbon capture and utilization as part of a German transformation strategy, and extrapolates the findings to European and international contexts.

Agricultural crops are prominent features of an increasing number of variously perturbed ecosystems and the landscapes occupied by these ecosystems. Yet the ecology of agricultural-dominated landscapes is only now receiving the scientific attention it has long deserved. This attention has been stimulated by the realization that all agriculture must become sustainable year after year while leaving nearby ecosystems unaffected.
Ecology in Agriculture focuses exclusively on the ecology of agricultural ecosystems. The book is divided into four major sections. An introduction establishes the unique ties between agricultural and ecological sciences. The second section describes the community ecology of these sorts of ecosystems, while the final section focuses on the processes that operate throughout these agricultural landscapes.
Key Features
* Contains an ecological perspective on agricultural production and resource utilization
Includes in-depth reviews of major issues in crop ecology by active researchers
* Covers a range of topics in agricultural ecophysiology, community ecology, and ecosystems ecology
* Provides examples of ecological approaches to solving problems in crop management and environmental quality

Mangrove ecosystems are being increasingly threatened by human activities. Their biotic productivity supplies food and other resources to the human populations that inhabit or make use of them. This volume highlights the results of a ten-year German / Brazilian research project, called MADAM, in one of the largest continuous mangrove areas of the world, located in northern Brazil. Based on the analysis of the ecosystem dynamics, management strategies for the conservation and sustainable use of mangroves are presented and discussed. Beyond the scientific results, this book also provides guidelines for the development of international cooperation projects.

@lt;P@gt;@lt;I@gt;Global Hydrology@lt;/I@gt; illustrates in detail the growing importance of understanding hydrological processes and pathways as a means of effective and safe management of water resources. It describes current management practices and past environmental impact. It analyses the options for improving water supply and protecting the environment, emphasizing the need for international collaboration in a changing societal and environmental context@lt;/P@gt;

Today, society s impact on the geographical environment, and especially on the Earth s surface, is obvious. Yet up until the last century, the forces of nature held sway, with mankind vulnerable and exposed to its vagaries. However, our recent development has meant that our effect on our surroundings is now commensurate with the power of nature itself. More and more, we face the consequences mostly disadvantageous of our interventions, and we must pay more attention to the wider impacts of our activities, which include everything from the extraction of fossil fuels to the influence of tourism. Anthropogenic geomorphology, as the study of the way man affects his physical environment, has thus developed rapidly as a discipline in recent decades. This volume provides guidance to students discussing the basic topics of anthropogenic geomorphology. The chapters cover both its system, and its connections with other sciences, as well as the way the subject can contribute to tackling today s practical problems. The book represents all fields of geomorphology, giving an introduction to the diversity of the discipline through examples taken from a range of contexts and periods, and focusing on examples from Europe. It is no accident that anthropogenic geomorphology has been gaining ground within geomorphology itself. Its results advance not only the theoretical development of the science but can be applied directly to social and economic issues. Worldwide, anthropogenic geomorphology is an integral and expanding part of earth sciences curricula in higher education, making this a timely and relevant text. "

This book focuses on the introduction of new and modern maintenance management frameworks of assets in the electricity & gas network sector and more specifically, on electricity networks for distribution. The author describes methodologies for developing and implementing maintenance management maturity models, using case studies to show how these have been applied. These maturity models are discussed as part of an overarching, multi-disciplinary organizational maintenance management professionalization framework. This book adds a new dimension to the well-known Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) method, by incorporating failure modes via multiple scenarios into business values, by means of statistical risk calculation methods. The author demonstrates a method called Utility Risk Linked RCM, which uses a statistical tool to develop failure models which can be used to predict future failure behavior of assets in relation to corporate business values. This new method is a practical, structured and comprehensive framework for assessing risk based maintenance policies. The book also proposes a condition monitoring framework that can be used as a guide to assist asset managers in identifying the relationship between failure modes, ageing processes to select amongst condition monitoring regimes.

Major changes have occurred in both the composition of energy supply and the choice of technology, especially in activities in which energy intensity has a significant bearing on the costs and competitiveness of goods and services. Presented here, in the context of these changes, are case studies on the macroeconomic evaluation of ethylalcohol programs and the microeconomic evaluation of technologies for irrigation pumping. "Environment and Resource Conservation"

During the last decade, a large volume of literature has addressed the two major policy issues concerning energy programs in developing countries: overall energy conservation and provision of energy for rural development needs. Yet, many of these works have been supply-sided without adequate analysis of users' needs and the different option to meet them. Ex-post evaluations of existing field experiences with renewable technologies are still scarce, and many of those which have appeared provide limited insights for planning and implementation in different countries. Socioeconomic Aspects of Renewable Energy Technologies addresses these oversights. A selected number of technologies and topics concerning renewable energy sources for developing countries are discussed, including ethanol and the macro-economic evaluation of ethanol programs; various renewable energy technologies for end-use such was water-pumping for irrigation; and the micro-economic evaluation of these additional technologies.

Access to green space and the act of creating green spaces is well understood to promote human health, especially in therapeutic contexts among individuals suffering traumatic events. Less well understood, though currently being studied, is the role of access to green space and the act of creating and caring for it in promoting neighborhood health and well being as related to social-ecological system resilience. An important implication of Greening in the Red Zone lies in specific instances of greening and the presence of greened spaces in promoting and enhancing recovery, and perhaps resilience, in social-ecological systems disrupted or perturbed by violent conflict or other catastrophic disaster. This edited volume provides illustration and interpretation of these phenomena through a series of cases or examples of Greening in the Red Zone, which will explore how access to green space and the act of creating green spaces in extreme situations might contribute to resistance, recovery, and resilience of social-ecological systems.

"Greening in the Red Zone" "takes important steps in advancing our understanding of what makes communities bounce back from disaster or violent conflict. The authors findings that creating an caring for green space contributes positively to recovery and resilience adds to the toolkit of those working in disaster and conflict zones."

William C. Banks, Director,
Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism,
Syracuse University

"Greening in the Red Zone" is an important and highly relevant book. It provides theoretical understanding and scientific evidence of the healing and therapeutic power of contact with nature, especially during times of crisis, sickness and loss. At a time when society is more separated than ever from the natural world, it offers additional reason why our ongoing experience of nature is essential for the human body, mind and spirit. This book is both instructive and inspiring."

Stephen R. Kellert,
Tweedy Ordway Professor Emeritus,
Senior Research Scholar,
Yale University

"Greening in the Red Zone is a fascinating book that greatly elevates our understanding of how the perspective of humans as an integrated part of nature may contribute to the resilience discourse. This multi-authored volume provides numerous examples of how greening and the presence of green spaces in areas that have experienced large disturbances or catastrophic events may reduce trauma among individuals and enhance recovery and resilience in human communities. I certainly warmly recommend this book to anyone interested in how we may prepare ourselves for an increasingly uncertain future, building resilience in social-ecological systems."

Thomas Elmqvist,
Department of Systems Ecology, and
Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University"

This book presents a comprehensive analysis of the existing nature of India's groundwater laws. In the backdrop of the gravity of groundwater crisis that threatens to engulf the country, the book examines the correlation between the imperfections in the law and water crisis and advocates a reform agenda to overhaul the legal framework. It accomplishes this objective by examining how some of the States and Union Territories regulate and manage groundwater through the legal instrumentality against the backdrop of the two conflicting paradigms: the "elitist" and the "egalitarian." The book's fundamental premise is that despite being an extraordinarily critical resource that supports India's burgeoning population's ever-increasing water demands, groundwater is abused and mismanaged. The key argument that it posits is that the elitist paradigm must give way to an egalitarian one where groundwater is treated as a common property resource. To place this message in perspective, the book's introduction explains the dichotomy between the two paradigms in the context of groundwater. This sets the stage, after which the book is divided thematically into three parts. The first part deals with some of the general groundwater management concerns brought to the fore by the operation of the elitist paradigm. Since water is constitutionally a State subject, the second part analyses the groundwater legislations of different States and Union Territories set against their unique circumstances. As these laws do not dismantle the elitist paradigm that interlocks groundwater rights to land rights, the next part articulates the legal reform agenda where a case is made to re-engineer groundwater laws to reflect a more sustainable basis. The findings and arguments resonate with the situation in many developing countries around the world due to which the book is a valuable resource for researchers across disciplines studying this area, and also for policy makers, think tanks, and NGOs. Groundwater Management-Inter-state Water Conflicts-Aquifers-Water Markets-Water Security-Water Law Reform-Groundwater Law-Water Law-Sustainable Development-Hydrology

This book contributes to the literature on Geographical Indications (GIs) by providing key theoretical reflections from a five-year review process on the potential of GIs for agri-food products in Southern Africa. The contributors reflect on diverse GI processes and dynamics which operate at the local, national and international levels, thus enriching the understanding of GI dynamics and of the variety of policy options available for GI protection in Southern countries. Following a discussion of the legal framework and governance of national GI schemes in Southern countries, the book emphasizes the main dimensions underlying the development of GIs and their potential for enhancing sustainable rural development and market access in particular. This provides the structure for the chapters that build on the different experiences of Southern African industries that have embarked on GI strategies. The book includes chapters on designing an appropriate legal framework and governance system for the development of GIs in Southern countries.

The authors of this volume follow four interrelated themes. In the first section "Evolving Definitions - Changing Practices" the fundamental shifts in urban modeling practices are examined in relation to the new theoretical and computational advances in the field. The second section "Ecologic Processes and their Land Use Implications" provides current examples of ecological models that influence land use policy and planning. "Visualization, Representation and Communication" deals exclusively with the science and art of geographic data generation and representation techniques. Finally the section on "Socioeconomic Implications of Transportation and Land Use" examines the traditional domain of urban models from a sociological and environmental perspective and offers new insights on transportation planning.

This book addresses global and subnational issues concerning the world's forests, societies, and environment from an independent and non-governmental point of view. Cooperation on a global scale is not only commendable, it is essential if solutions to the problems facing the world's forests are to be found. To achieve this, modern science needs to draw a clearer picture of relationships between forests, human activity, and the environment, and of the consequences of environmental change for the societies' development and growth. There are several - partly intermingled - evolutionary forest transitions underway: the slow transition from forest area decrease to an increase in the North while deforestation and degradation continues in the South. Although not all deforestation is considered negative, serious social, economic, and environmental costs may be associated with excessive deforestation. Deforestation control is just the first step on the stony path towards sustainable forest management. The forest management transition refers to the shift in the utilization towards managed semi-natural, secondary forests and plantation forests. There are some signs in the North of the forest paradigm shift from sustainable yield to forest ecosystem concepts. How deforestation can be tackled and how these concurrent transitions are effected will have profound implications for the future. These processes involve several challenges with South-North dimensions. A search for an optimum mix of public policies and markets is a global priority both as a forest policy issue and as an inter-sectoral item on the political agenda. Deforestation and transition is discussed here by a team of 14 scientists fromboth the North and the South. This book offers knowledge, facts, and information about world forests, society, and environment to help us towards equity in our use of the global forest &endash; to create a clearer vision of unasylva.

Ecological assessments are a critical component of land management planning and regulatory decision-making. In the United States, for example, the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 directs that the environmental consequences associated with proposed management of federal lands be fully disclosed to the general public through environmental impact assessments. In a similar manner, over 40 other countries have legislated the use of some type of ecological assessment as a prerequisite for effective environmental planning and land management. Although ecological assessments can be conducted at a variety of spatial scales and may address one or many issues, the main intent of this book is to describe topics with particular importance to strategic integrated ecological assessments at a regional or subregional scale. The chapters in this book range from overviews of basic ecological principles, to suggestions concerning ecosystem characterization and analysis, to systematic reviews of selected case studies. In this respect, the book provides both theoretical and practical advice for future ecological assessments given specific land use planning objectives. This book will be the reference standard for any person engaged in any ecological assessment exercise at any level, whether they work for national, state or regional authorities or in academia.

Forest management is a complex process that now incorporates information obtained from many sources. It is increasingly obvious that the physiological status of the trees in a forest has a dramatic impact on the likely success of any particular management strategy. Indeed, models described in this book that deal with forest productivity and sustainability require physiological information. This information can only be obtained from an understanding of the basic biological mechanisms and processes that contribute to individual tree growth. This valuable book illustrates that physiological ecology is a fundamental element of proficient forest management.

This book examines the economics of an industry that has become a critical component of modern life - the electric utility industry. The public nature of electricity has affected the development of the industry, both private and public. While this book focuses on private utilities, it recognizes the potential for a resurgence of public ownership. The objective of the book is to examine factors that will affect the evolution of markets for power. Of critical importance is the role of information, which is required for making and evaluating decisions in power markets. This book demonstrates that utilities can exploit information as a source of market power, impeding the development of more competitive and efficient markets. To a large extent the source of the utilities' market power is the ability to specify computer models used in the planning, pricing and operation of markets for electricity. A number of concepts related to the use and control of information and models are developed in this book.

Michael Ganea (TM)s ground-breaking Forest Strategy combines detailed analysis of the forest sector with modern strategic management principles to develop a vision for sustainable forest management which is both practical and theoretically robust.

In the past, lack of understanding at the nexus between the forest sector on the one hand and strategic management on the other, has led to failures in many countries to realise the potential that forest sector development offers. This important new book adopts a more holistic approach to propose a new theoretical framework for this once traditional sector; one which reconciles current thinking in strategic management with natural resource management.

The book will provide a valuable resource for both forestry professionals a" particularly those in managerial positions in government departments and forest services throughout the world a" and for advanced students and researchers exploring the issues around forest sector administration. The latter will include researchers from a range of backgrounds, including forestry, ecology, geography, conservation, rural development, economics, forest or environmental policy, social studies and public affairs, and will be of particular interest to groups adopting an interdisciplinary approach to forestry issues.

Michael Gane has previously taught at the Universities of Oxford and Bradford and was the Director of what is now English Nature between 1974 and 1980. He has since worked as a consultant on a wide range of forest economics and planning projects worldwide, particularly in collaboration with the FAO.

Achieving environmental sustainability with rapid industrialization is currently a major global challenge. Industries are the key economic drivers, but are also the main polluters as untreated/partially treated effluents from industry are usually discharged into the aquatic environment or dumped. Industrial effluents often contain highly toxic and hazardous pollutants, which cause ecological damage and present and health hazards to living beings. As such, there is a pressing need to find ecofriendly solutions to deal with industrial waste, and to develop sustainable methods for treating/detoxifying waste before it's released into the environment. As a low cost and eco-friendly clean technology, bioremediation can offer a sustainable alternative to conventional remediation technologies for the treatment and management of industrial wastes. This book (Volume II) describes the role of biological agents in the degradation and detoxification of organic and inorganic pollutants in industrial wastes, and presents recent bioremediation approaches for waste treatment and management, such as constructed wetlands, electro- bioremediation and nano-bioremediation, as well as microbial fuel cells. It appeals to students, researchers, scientists, industry professionals and experts in the field of microbiology, biotechnology, environmental sciences, eco-toxicology, environmental remediation and waste management and other relevant areas who are interested in biodegradation and bioremediation of industrial wastes for environmental safety.

This book addresses most of the environmental impacts of sand mining from small rivers The problems and solutions addressed in this book are applicable to all rivers that drain through densely populated tropical coasts undergoing rapid economic growth. Many rivers in the world are drastically being altered to levels often beyond their natural resilience capability. Among the different types of human interventions, mining of sand and gravel is the most disastrous one, as the activity threatens the very existence of river ecosystem. A better understanding of sand budget is necessary if the problems of river and coastal environments are to be solved.

East African states have historically shared several resources including energy and common heritage of its people. This book provides information on available sources of energy in the region and how the energy suppliers can exploit them in an integrated form to produce the right blend of energy for various applications e.g., industrial, domestic and recreational uses. We provide an in-depth analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of different energy sources in-terms of environmental, industrialization, distribution costs and impacts. We hope that the book will contribute towards a sustainable exploitation of energy resources for the improvement of the people s quality of life."

This book highlights the development of lake systems and water reservoirs as well as the impact of climate change on water resources in Central Asian countries. It provides information on the genesis of lake basins, physical and chemical properties of water in lakes, and the hydrological regimes (water balance and fluctuation levels) of lakes of Central Asia and Xinjiang. The book is useful for scientists and researchers whose work focuses on lakes and the use of natural resources, irrigation, hydropower and water supply, as well as for students and planners.

Land quality and land degradation affect agricultural productivity and food security, but quantifying these relationships has been difficult. Data are extremely limited and outcomes are sensitive to the choices that farmers make. The contributors to this book - including soil scientists, geographers, and economists - analyse data on soils, climate, land cover, agricultural inputs and outputs, and a variety of socio-economic factors to provide new insights into three key issues: * the extent to which differences in land quality generate differences in agricultural productivity across countries * how farmers' responses to differences or changes in land quality are influenced by economic, environmental, and institutional factors, and * whether land degradation over time threatens productivity growth and food security at local, regional, and global levels. This book can be thoroughly recommended to policymakers, public and private sector researchers, university faculty and graduate students, and non-profit organizations for use in research, education, and decision-making.

In this revealing book Nobel Laureate Glenn T. Seaborg tells what it was like to be chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission during the Nixon presidency. He draws extensively from his meticulously kept diary, enabling the reader to be a fly on the wall during meetings with Nixon, Henry Kissinger, and other key policy makers. During the Nixon period, the debate over how to deal with the Soviets on nuclear issues and arms control remained central. On the domestic scene efforts to promote and regulate the growth of a nuclear power industry were complicated by a rising tide of environmental protest. Dr. Seaborg describes how the Atomic Energy Commission, shorn of much of the political immunity of its early years, sought to maintain its programmes and ultimately its very existence, while besieged by competing pressures from the White House, other government agencies, anti-nuclear activists, industry, state governments, and Congress.

This is the first book that analyses the future raw materials supply from the demand side of a society that chiefly relies on renewable energies, which is of great significance for us all. It addresses primary and secondary resources and substitution, not only from technical but also socioeconomic and ethical points of view. The "Energiewende" (Energy Transition) will change our consumption of natural resources significantly. When in future our energy requirements will be covered mostly by wind, solar power and biomass, we will need less coal, oil and natural gas. However, the consumption of minerals, especially metallic resources, will increase to build wind generators, solar panels or energy storage facilities. Besides e.g. copper, nickel or cobalt, rare earth elements and other high-tech elements will be increasingly used. With regard to primary metals, Germany is 100 % import dependent; only secondary material is produced within Germany. Though sufficient geological primary resources exist worldwide, their availability on the market is crucial. The future supply of the market is dependent on the development of prices, the transparency of the market and the question of social and ethical standards in the raw materials industry, as well as the social license to operate, which especially applies to mining. The book offers a valuable resource for everyone interested in the future raw material supply of our way of life, which will involve more and more renewable energies.