This book explores the relationship between rivers and ethics in China, with a particular focus on the health of the Yellow River and China's sustainable development. Though the book falls into the category of East Asian History, it is an interdisciplinary academic work that addresses not only history, but also culture, human geography and physical geography. It traces the changes in the Yellow River over time and examines the origin and developmental course of Chinese civilization, which has always been closely intertwined with the Yellow River. It also draws comparisons between the Yellow River and the Yangtze, Nile, Tigris, Euphrates and Indus rivers to provide insights into how they have contributed to civilizations. At the same time, it discusses the lessons learned from people's taming the Yellow River. Most significantly, the book explores the relationship between humans and the environment from an ethical standpoint, making it an urgent reminder of the crucial role that human activities play in environmental issues concerning the Yellow River so as to achieve a sustainable development for China's "mother river." The intended audience includes academic readers researching East Asian and Chinese history & culture, geography, human geography, historical geography, the environment, river civilizations, etc., as well as history and geography lovers and members of the general public who are interested in the Yellow River and the civilization that has evolved around it.

The world's deserts are sufficiently large that, in theory, covering a fraction of their landmass with PV systems could generate many times the current primary global energy supply. The third book in the Energy from the Desert series examines the socio-economic, environmental and financial issues surrounding the use of Very Large Scale Photovoltaics (VLS-PV). It provides detailed coverage of technology and financing options (including recent and future trends in PV technology), potential social benefits such as desalination and agricultural development, and environmental and ecological impacts of systems and how these can be monitored, illustrated by case studies from the Sahara and Gobi Deserts. The concluding section consists of a roadmap outlining the options and opportunities for future implementation of VLS-PV. Building on the key concepts and case studies of previous volumes, this will be a key text for policy-makers and investors in the field.

This encyclopaedia contains 350 entries arranged alphabetically. The topics include biospeleology (by organism and by habitat); cave and karst geoscience; cave archaeology and human use of caves; art in caves; cave and karst history; hydrology and groundwater; conservation and management; and exploration, equipment and rescue. The largest number of entries are on cave and karst sites across the world from individual caves such as Mammoth Cave (the world's longest cave) and Krubera (the deepest in the world) through key regions such as the Dinaric karst and the Gunung Mulu World Heritage Site, to coverage of individual countries such as Iran and New Zealand or larger areas (Asia, Central; Asia, South-east, etc.). The essays in this volume, written by an international team of specialists, progress from general concepts to deeper understanding with jargon explained for the non-specialist. Each essay is fully referenced, with suggestions for further reading and cross-references to related encyclopaedia articles.

This book gives a comprehensive treatment of coastal evolution and dynamics, providing background for the study of coastal landforms and how and why they are changing, with up to date information, world-wide coverage of examples, numerous illustrations and extensive references to the scientific literature. Coastal Geomorphology: An Introduction gives a systematic approach to the subject of coastal geomorphology, dealing with the shaping of landforms, the changing levels of land and sea, the array of coastal processes that have influenced the shaping of landforms and the changes that are taking place on them. It analyses the causes of erosion and accretion on sectors of the coastline and examines the factors that have contributed to these, preparing the way for management strategies. This book includes discussions on the effects that human activities have had on coasts and their continuing contributions to coastal landform changes. This book is an essential read for undergraduate and graduate students in geomorphology, geography, marine science and coastal management courses, anyone concerned with coastal planning, development and management, and organisations concerned with conservation and use of the coast.

Wetlands are an important, and sadly diminishing, habitat in many parts of the world. They contribute significantly to the planet's biodiversity, housing thousands of species of plants and animals. Increasingly, human management is required to sustain, and even create these fragile ecosystems, and global changes in climate are also taking their toll.
Understanding Wetlands explains how wetlands are created naturally and how they sustain themselves. It describes how the flora and fauna of these unique habitats are ideally adapted to their environment, and how the ecosystem copes with pollutants and climatic change. The impact of human activity such as farming, building and recreation is also assessed. The book concludes with a look at the need for conservation and various conservation techniques.
This integrated and holistic account of wetlands is a valuable reference for students of ecology, biology and environmental science. Its beautiful illustrations and accessible style also makes it ideal for the general reader with an interest in the natural world.

A vividly illustrated work, the Atlas of the World's Deserts describes the hostile and extreme environments that cover more than a seventh of the world's surface. Yet, in spite of such harsh conditions, fauna and flora have developed and flourished, and humans have adapted to living in a seemingly inhospitable environment. The atlas examines in detail all aspects of the deserts, their geology, geography, history, culture, and biodiversity, from the Polar Regions to the Sahara and the Mojave Desert. Sidebars highlight particular aspects of the story of the deserts, such as the formation of sand dunes and the cave-dwelling quartz miners of central Australia. The numerous full color illustrations include spectacular, large-scale photographs that capture the stark beauty of the desert's color and light and original maps that illustrate the varying topography of the different regions. Each chapter concentrates on a specific characteristic of deserts including the process by which deserts are formed, the plants and animals that inhabit the desert, and the desert in modern times. Separating the chapters are unique atlas sections that contain detailed maps of the deserts of different continents along with commentary and facts particular to that specific desert. The Atlas of the World's Deserts is a vibrant and thorough portrait of the desert regions of the world and an excellent resource for exploring every feature of the desert ecosystem.

Airplane Performance on Grass Airfields presents an experiment-based approach to analysis and flight testing of airfield performance on grass runways. It discusses improvements for operations efficiency and safety of these airfields. The book analyzes the interaction between the landing gear wheels and the surface of a grass runways during both takeoff and landing. Considering the ground performance of an aircraft on a grass runway, the book covers test methods and devices for measuring performance and introduces an information system for the surface condition of grass airfields: GARFIELD. The system is based on a tire-grass interaction model and uses digital soil maps, as well as current meteorological data obtained from a weather server. The book is intended for researchers and practicing engineers in the fields of aviation and aircraft safety and performance.

This book presents a collection of essays that address various facets of the hydrogeology of Israel. Despite its small geographic size, Israel exhibits a variety of climates and is located between two regional fluctuating base levels. The respective chapters discuss the variety of hydrogeological configurations and hydrological processes produced by these geographical circumstances. In some cases, the interpretation of these aspects is deliberately left open to debate, because the authors were asked to provide, in addition to their own views, also alternative and even conflicting ones. Hydrogeological configurations similar to those in Israel can be found in other countries around the world. Therefore, researchers, scholars and professionals in this interdisciplinary field can benefit from and directly apply the considerable experience and expertise that has been gathered in Israel over the past few decades.

Dokuchaev carried out most of his research in Ukraine. His student and friend, Volodymyr Vernadsky, went on to create trans-disciplinary environmental sciences and the concept of Earth as a living organism, famously taken up by James Lovelock. That spring of ideas still flows and the researches captured in this volume are relevant to present-day problems, and not only in Ukraine. Soils have always been under stress but, in the Anthropocene, mankind is in the driving seat. As a sequel to Soil Science Working for a Living: Applications of soil science to present-day problems, we consider issues of policy as well as soil genesis, attributes and functions in various environments, natural and man-made. We consider human impacts on the soil cover through its use and misuse, highlight methods of research and assessment of soil quality, and the threats of soil degradation. The distinguished contributors also describe and propose various options for evaluation and remediation of degraded soils, drawing on the latest methods of modelling and cartography as well as long-term field experiments and long experience. The book will be invaluable to researchers and practitioners in soil science including graduate and post-graduate education, academics and professionals.

With 909 recognized species of lichens, Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) is home to more of these lichenized fungi than any other national park in the United States, as well as nearly half of all species known to occur in eastern North America. There is a great deal of room for scientific exploration, inquiry, and systematic description in the realm of lichenology. In Field Guide to the Lichens of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Erin Tripp and James Lendemer take on the formidable task of creating an all-in-one resource for Park exploration, including lichen distribution maps, tools for identification, vivid photographs and illustrations, and even field notes from their own research campaigns. In the process, the authors create a touchstone for lichen taxonomy and ecology, and they inspire others-researchers as well as casual observers-to take interest in the incredible biodiversity of the Great Smoky Mountains. Biologists, botanists, visitors to the park, naturalists, and others interested in the flora and fauna of both the southern Appalachians and GSMNP will thoroughly enjoy this lovingly prepared field guide.

This book provides a cross-sectoral, multi-disciplinary assessment of different problems associated with estuarine acidification with special thrust on mangrove dominated Indian Sundarban estuaries. The arms of ocean acidification have extended to coastal and estuarine waters, where a wide spectrum of biodiversity thrives with unique adaptation extending several ecosystem services. Impact of acidification in these areas is a matter of concern as acidification potentially has more immediate effects on the health of estuaries and inshore regions as well as regional economies. Ground zero data collected for more than three decades have made the book stand on a strong base.

This book provides a critical approach to research on the social acceptance of renewable energy infrastructures and on energy transitions in general by questioning prevalent principles and proposing specific research pathways and lines of inquiry that look beyond depoliticised, business-as-usual discourses and research agendas on green growth and sustainability. It brings together authors from different socio-geographical and disciplinary backgrounds within the social sciences to reflect upon, discuss and advance what we propose to be five cornerstones of a critical approach: overcoming individualism and socio-cognitivism; repoliticisations - recognising and articulating power relations; for interdisciplinarity; interventions - praxis and political engagement with research; and overcoming localism and spatial determinism: As such, this book offers academics, students and practitioners alike a comprehensive perspective of what it means to be critical when inquiring into the social acceptance of renewable energy and associated infrastructures.

In semi arid and arid regions of the country, a vast land resource (39.54 m ha) is available which is underutilized, having good potential of expansion for quality production of several horticultural, medicinal, spices, ornamental and crops of economic importance. The horticulture can play vital role in diversification of these untapped natural resources. The development of arid horticulture is not very old; the published literature on many crops of economic importance and their multiplication is also scanty. Looking to prospects of such underutilized crop, its propagation methodology should be standardized for large scale plantation through availability of quality planting material. The work on production technology of underutilized arid horticultural crops in limited and scattered. Therefore, an effort was made to compile the work done so far in the field of multiplication of semi- arid and arid horticultural plants with special reference to Indian scenario in the form of a book to develop the knowledge base of all those involved in research and development of cold and hot arid lands. This book will be useful for the scientists, teachers, researchers, students, growers, policy makers and also for the personnel engaged in nursery management. The contributors of different s included in the book are well known personality in their field.

In this exciting new collection, leading and emerging Lacanian scholars seek to understand what psychoanalysis brings to debates about the environment and the climate crisis. They argue that we cannot understand climate change and all of its multifarious ramifications without first understanding how our terrifying proximity to the real undergirds our relation to the environment, how we mistake lack for loss and mourning for melancholy, and how we seek to destroy the same world we seek to protect. The book traces Lacan's contribution through a consideration of topics including doomsday preppers, forest suicides, Indigenous resistance, post-apocalyptic films, the mathematics of climate science, and the relevance of Kant. They ask: What can you do if your neighbour is a climate change denier? What would Bartleby do? Does the animal desire? Who is cleaning up all the garbage on the internet? Why is the sudden greening of the planet under COVID-19 no help whatsoever? It offers a timely intervention into Lacanian theory, environmental studies, geography, philosophy, and literary studies that illustrates the relevance of psychoanalysis to current social and environmental concerns.

The Bahia Blanca Estuary is one of the largest coastal systems in Atlantic South America. This mesotidal estuary, situated in a sharp transition between humid subtropical and semiarid climates, has a unique combination of large interannual climatic variations. The estuarine area encompasses roughly 2300 square kilometers and is composed of wide expanses of intertidal flats, salt marshes, and emerged islands, which create intricate landscape patterns. Natural environments in the estuary sustain a high concentration of marine and terrestrial species, including endemic, threatened, and endangered fish and shorebirds. Puerto Cuatreros, in the inner zone of the estuary, hosts a permanent marine research station, whose records span more than 30 years of biophysical variables, and represent one of the largest time series of ecological data in South America. Beyond its ecological relevance, the Bahia Blanca Estuary is under increasing anthropogenic pressure from large urban settlements, industrial developments and harbors, raising the question of how to balance conservation and development. The Bahia Blanca Estuary: Ecology and Biodiversity offers a comprehensive review of life in the ecosystems of the estuary. The book is divided into five major sections, the first of which provides a description of the regional setting and covers key aspects of estuarine dynamics. The three following sections are dedicated to different habitat types and, within each section, the chapters are organized around major functional groups from pelagic and benthic environments. The fifth and final section covers issues related to management and conservation. Overall, the book provides essential and up-to-date reference material on the biodiversity and ecosystem processes of the Bahia Blanca Estuary, and will appeal to a broad international audience.

Seashells have been the most coveted and collected of nature's creations since the dawn of humanity. They were money before coins, jewellry before gems, art before canvas. In The Sound of the Sea, acclaimed environmental author Cynthia Barnett blends cultural history and science to trace our long love affair with seashells and the hidden lives of the mollusks that make them. Spiralling out from the great cities of shell that once rose in North America to the warming waters of the Maldives and the slave castles of Ghana, Barnett has created an unforgettable account of the world's most iconic seashells. She begins with their childhood wonder, unwinds surprising histories like the origin of Shell Oil as a family business importing exotic shells, and charts what shells and the soft animals that build them are telling scientists about our warming, acidifying seas. From the eerie calls of early shell trumpets to the evolutionary miracle of spines and spires and the modern science of carbon capture inspired by shell, Barnett circles to her central point of listening to nature's wisdom-and acting on what seashells have to say about taking care of each other and our world.

A detailed account of the biology and ecology of vascular wetland plants and their applications in wetland plant science, Wetland Plants: Biology and Ecology presents a synthesis of wetland plant studies and reviews from biology, physiology, evolution, genetics, community and population ecology, environmental science, and engineering. It provides a thorough discussion of the range of wetland plants adaptations to conditions such as life in water or saturated soils, high salt or high sulfur, as well as low light and low carbon dioxide levels.

The authors include the latest research on the development of plant communities in newly restored or created wetlands and on the use of wetland plants as indicators of ecological integrity and of wetland boundaries. Over 140 figures, including over 70 original photographs, allow you to visualize the concepts, 40 tables give you easy access to definitions and data, and international examples provide you with a broad base of information.

The growing consensus in wetlands literature and research suggests that methods are needed to assess the ecological health or integrity of wetlands, to set goals for wetland restoration, and to track the status and trends of wetlands. Wetland plants are emerging as important indicators, and becoming an important part of this research. Wetland Plants: Biology and Ecology contains up-to-date information on this increasingly important area in wetlands technology.

Forests are in decline, and the threats these outposts of nature face--including deforestation, degradation, and fragmentation--are the result of human culture. Or are they? This volume calls these assumptions into question, revealing forests' past, present, and future conditions to be the joint products of a host of natural and cultural forces. Moreover, in many cases the coalescence of these forces--from local ecologies to competing knowledge systems--has masked a significant contemporary trend of woodland resurgence, even in the forests of the tropics. Focusing on the history and current use of woodlands from India to the Amazon, The Social Lives of Forests attempts to build a coherent view of forests sited at the nexus of nature, culture, and development. With chapters covering the effects of human activities on succession patterns in now-protected Costa Rican forests; the intersection of gender and knowledge in African shea nut tree markets; and even the unexpectedly rich urban woodlands of Chicago, this book explores forests as places of significant human action, with complex institutions, ecologies, and economies that have transformed these landscapes in the past and continue to shape them today. From rain forests to timber farms, the face of forests--how we define, understand, and maintain them--is changing.

Large ungulates in tropical forests are among the most threatened taxa of mammals. Excessive hunting, degradation of and encroachments on their natural habitats by humans have contributed to drastic reductions in wild ungulate populations in recent decades. As such, reliable assessments of ungulate-habitat relationships and the spatial dynamics of their populations are urgently needed to provide a scientific basis for conservation efforts. However, such rigorous assessments are methodologically complex and logistically difficult, and consequently many commonly used ungulate population survey methods do not address key problems. As a result of such deficiencies, key parameters related to population distribution, abundance, habitat ecology and management of tropical forest ungulates remain poorly understood. This book addresses this critical knowledge gap by examining how population abundance patterns in five threatened species of large ungulates vary across space in the tropical forests of the Nagarahole-Bandipur reserves in southwestern India. It also explains the development and application of an innovative methodology - spatially explicit line transect sampling - based on an advanced hierarchical modelling under the Bayesian inferential framework, which overcomes common methodological deficiencies in current ungulate surveys. The methods and results presented provide valuable reference material for researchers and professionals involved in studying and managing wild ungulate populations around the globe.

This book investigates the multifaceted nature of change in today's Nordic Arctic and the necessary research and policy development required to address the challenges and opportunities currently faced by this region. It focuses its attention on the recent efforts of the Nordic community to create specialized Centers of Excellence in Arctic Research in order to facilitate this process of scientific inquiry and policy articulation. The volume seeks to describe both the steps that lead to this decision and the manner in which this undertaking as evolved. The work highlights the research efforts of the four Centers and their investigations of a variety of issues including those related to ecosystem and wildlife management, the revitalization resource dependent communities, the emergence of new climate-born diseases and the development of adequate modeling techniques to assist northern communities in their efforts at adaptation and resilience building. Major discoveries and insights arising from these and other efforts are detailed and possible policy implications considered. The book also focuses attention on the challenges of creating and supporting multidisciplinary teams of researchers to investigate such concerns and the methods and means for facilitating their collaboration and the integration of their findings to form new and useful perspectives on the nature of change in the contemporary Arctic. It also provides helpful consideration and examples of how local and indigenous communities can be engaged in the co-production of knowledge regarding the region. The volume discusses how such research findings can be best communicated and shared between scientists, policymakers and northern residents. It considers the challenges of building common concern not just among different research disciplines but also between bureaucracies and the public. Only when this bridge-building effort is undertaken can true pathways to action be established.

Series Information:
One World Archaeology

At dusk on 24 September 1975, Doug Scott and Dougal Haston became the first Britons to reach the summit of Everest as lead climbers on Chris Bonington's epic expedition to the mountain's immense south-west face.As darkness fell, Scott and Haston scraped a small cave in the snow 100 metres below the summit and survived the highest bivouac ever - without bottled oxygen, sleeping bags and, as it turned out, frostbite. For Doug Scott, it was the fulfilment of a fortune-teller's prophecy given to his mother: that her eldest son would be in danger in a high place with the whole world watching.Scott and Haston returned home national heroes with their image splashed across the front pages. Scott went on to become one of Britain's greatest ever mountaineers, pioneering new climbs in the remotest corners of the globe. His career spans the golden age of British climbing from the 1960s boom in outdoor adventure to the new wave of lightweight alpinism throughout the 1970s and 1980s.In Up and About, the first volume of his autobiography, Scott tells his story from his birth in Nottingham during the darkest days of war to the summit of the world.Surviving the unplanned bivouac without oxygen near the summit of Everest widened the range of what and how he would climb in the future. In fact, Scott established more climbs on the high mountains of the world after his ascent of Everest than before. Those climbs will be covered in the second volume of his life and times.

Urban Drainage and Storage Practices focuses on the latest developments in urban stormwater design methods using drainage and storage approaches for both water quality and quantity control. It covers both the conventional approaches to flood mitigation and low-impact methods for stormwater quality enhancement. Theory, practice, and modeling methods are presented to illustrate how to build a holistic stormwater drainage and storage system using urban open space and parks through multiple land use. Each chapter provides background theory, numerical experiments, illustrations, and Excel spreadsheets that outline design and calculation procedures. All urban watersheds are modeled as a series of cascading planes to drain stormwater from upstream roofs and parking lots onto downstream grass areas and vegetal beds. The drainage system is designed as a three-layer cascading system with various low-impact units for micro events, conveyance elements for minor events, and storage facilities for macro events. This book: presents the theory and practice of designing and building a stormwater system explains green approaches to designing and managing urban stormwater systems. This text is ideal for senior and graduate students studying urban hydrology, hydraulic engineering, and water resource management. It will also be useful for engineers requiring a technical book with hands-on practical examples.