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Books > Earth & environment > Geography > Physical geography
Forest Management and Planning, Second Edition, addresses
contemporary forest management planning issues, providing a
concise, focused resource for those in forest management. The book
is intermixed with chapters that concentrate on quantitative
subjects, such as economics and linear programming, and qualitative
chapters that provide discussions of important aspects of natural
resource management, such as sustainability. Expanded coverage
includes a case study of a closed canopy, uneven-aged forest, new
forest plans from South America and Oceania, and a new chapter on
scenario planning and climate change adaptation.
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 extensive and new information on the
geomorphology of cratonic areas of southern South America. It
includes valuable data relating to recurrent controversies in
general geomorphology beyond the boundaries of South America and
reveals the great need to integrate many different aspects of
geomorphology in regional studies. With the focus on ancient
landscapes and especially on planation surfaces it addresses the
question of what processes could form such huge features, and how
they can be preserved for so long. Many of the papers include maps
of planation surfaces or other geomorphic units. The volume brings
together an up-to-date, state-of-the-art collection of information
on South American geomorphology, and shows beyond doubt that
geomorphology is on the same time scale as global tectonics,
biological evolution and major climate change. Some of the papers
describe ancient geomorphological features of areas that have never
been studied or published before, while others describe regions
which are totally unknown to the public. The scope of the book
extends from tropical latitudes north of the Tropic of Capricorn,
south to freezing Patagonia in the "roaring fifties", more than
3,500 km from north to south. Including over one thousand citations
from geological and geomorphological literature, this volume will
serve as a starting point for a whole new phase of studies of the
fascinating landscape history of southern South America.
Kim Stanley Robinson first ventured into the Sierra Nevada
mountains during the summer of 1973. He returned from that
encounter a changed man, awed by a landscape that made him feel as
if he were simultaneously strolling through an art museum and
scrambling on a jungle gym like an energized child. He has returned
to the mountains throughout his life-more than a hundred trips-and
has gathered a vast store of knowledge about them. The High Sierra
is his lavish celebration of this exceptional place and an
exploration of what makes this span of mountains one of the most
compelling places on Earth. Over the course of a vivid and dramatic
narrative, Robinson describes the geological forces that shaped the
Sierras and the history of its exploration, going back to the
indigenous peoples who made it home and whose traces can still be
found today. He celebrates the people whose ideas and actions
protected the High Sierra for future generations. He describes
uniquely beautiful hikes and the trails to be avoided. Robinson's
own life-altering events, defining relationships, and unforgettable
adventures form the narrative's spine. And he illuminates the human
communion with the wild and with the sublime, including the
personal growth that only seems to come from time spent outdoors.
The High Sierra is a gorgeous, absorbing immersion in a place, born
out of a desire to understand and share one of the greatest
rapture-inducing experiences our planet offers. Packed with maps,
gear advice, more than 100 breathtaking photos, and much more, it
will inspire veteran hikers, casual walkers, and travel readers to
prepare for a magnificent adventure.
Taken from the earlier book "Priceless Florida" (and modified for a
stand-alone book), this volume discusses the fresh- and saltwater
systems of Florida, including lakes and ponds; rivers and streams;
springs; aquatic caves; estuarine waters and seafloors; submarine
meadows, sponge, rock, and reef communities; and the Gulf and
Atlantic Ocean. Introduces readers to the trees and plants,
insects, mammals, reptiles, and other species that live in
Florida's unique water ecosystems, including chicken turtle,
barking treefrogs, osprey, herons, bass, crayfish, conchs,
cordgrass, and railroad vine. Discusses the food chain and the
interconnectedness of all species.
This book is based on the author's 49 years of experience as a
practicing coastal engineer and 34 years as professor of coastal
engineering and management at Queen's University. The book is
therefore thoroughly practical in nature, but it also reflects
newly relevant issues, such as consequences of failure, impacts of
rising sea levels, aging infrastructure, real estate development,
and contemporary decision making, design and education.This
textbook is useful for undergraduate students, postgraduate
students and practicing engineers. It covers waves, structures,
sediment movement, coastal management, and contemporary coastal
design and decision making. It presents both basic principles and
engineering solutions. It discusses the traditional methods of
analysis and synthesis (design), but also contemporary design
methodologies, such as working with environmental impacts.The
second edition expanded greatly on the topics of failure and
resilience that surfaced as a result of recent disasters from
hurricane surges and tsunamis. It updated the discussion of design
and decision making for the 21st century, with many new
examples.This third edition develops some of these topics further,
but its largest new changes is the chapter on climate change. This
chapter presents the basics of climate change and then goes on to
stress the practical implications of the impacts of climate change,
focusing on what is of importance to coastal and fluvial
specialists.
This book brings together original and novel perspectives on major
developments in human rights law and the environment in Africa.
Focusing on African Union law, the book explores the core concepts
and principles, theory and practice, accountability mechanisms and
key issues challenging human rights law in the era of global
environmental change. It, thus, extend the frontier of
understanding in this fundamental area by building on existing
scholarship on African human rights law and the protection of the
environment, divulging concerns on redressing environmental and
human rights protection issues in the context of economic growth
and sustainable development. It further offers unique insight into
the development, domestication and implementation challenges
relating to human rights law and environmental governance in
Africa. This long overdue interdisciplinary exploration of human
rights law and the environment from an African perspective will be
an indispensable reference point for academics, policymakers,
practitioners and advocates of international human rights and
environmental law in particular and international law,
environmental politics and philosophy, and African studies in
general. It is clear that there is much to do, study and share on
this timely subject in the African context.
“Unlike the standard nature guides that explain how to recognize
common animals, Nature stresses the web of
interrelationships that link the regional flora and fauna. This
affectionate examination of some of North America’s most
spectacular surviving old-growth forests will delight backpackers
and armchair naturalists.†—Los Angeles Times Book Review
Everything you ever wanted to know about the flora and fauna of
Southeast Alaska is contained in the third edition of this lively
field guide to the natural world, from bears to banana slugs,
mountains to murrelets. The authors, who are both Alaskan residents
and biologists, combine scientific research with personal
experiences to make a definitive field guide for residents of or
visitors to Southeast Alaska. The unique features of the book
include: In-depth information about how wildlife coexists with the
environment Detailed discussions of mammals, birds, fish,
invertebrates, fungi, and plants Detailed map of wilderness areas
in Southeast Alaska More than 200 black-and-white illustrations A
bibliography, list of common and scientific names, and an index New
to this edition: More than 100 new illustrations, many never before
published, as well as new maps and photos Major expansion of
sections on geology, old-growth forests, marine mammals, and
amphibians Fifty-two new sidebars—written in the first person to
give the text a more personal touch—that describe recent
findings or experiences. Sweeping updates and elaborations to
chapter narratives—often thanks to technology unknown in 1992.
In-depth guide to Southeast Alaska’s flora and fauna; more than
an identification manual, Nature explores how the species and
habitats encountered in the woods and waters of Southeast Alaska
fit into the bigger picture.
An ethnographic tapestry of personal and institutional narratives
about Jerusalem's social history. Overlooking the Border:
Narratives of a Divided Jerusalem by Dana Hercbergs continues the
dialogue surrounding the social history of Jerusalem. The book's
starting point is the border that separated the city between Jordan
and Israel in 1948-1967, a lesser-known but significant period for
cultural representations of Jerusalem. Based on ethnographic
fieldwork, the book juxtaposes Israeli and Palestinian personal
narratives about the past with contemporary museum exhibits, street
plaques, tourism, and real estate projects that are reshaping the
city since the decline of the peace process and the second
intifada. What emerges is a portrayal of Jerusalem both as a local
place with unique rhythms and topography and as a setting for
national imaginaries and agendas with their attendant political and
social tensions. As sites of memory, Jerusalem's homes, streets,
and natural areas form the setting for emotionally charged
narratives about belonging and rights to place. Recollections of
local customs and lifeways in the mid-twentieth century coalesce
around residents' desire for stability amid periods of war,
dispossession, and relocation?? intertwining the mythical with the
mundane. Hercbergs begins by taking the reader to the historically
Arab neighborhoods of West Jerusalem, whose streets are a
battleground for competing historical narratives about the
Israeli-Arab War of 1948. She goes on to explore the connections
and tensions between Mizrahi Jews and Palestinians living across
the border from one another in Musrara, a neighborhood straddling
West and East Jerusalem. The author rounds out the monograph with a
semiotic analysis of contemporary tourism and architectural
ventures that are entrenching ethno-national separation in the
post-Oslo period. These rhetorical expressions illuminate what it
means to be a ??erusalemite in the context of the city's fraught
history. Overlooking the Border examines the social and geographic
significance of borders for residents' sense of self, place, and
community, and for representations of the city both locally and
abroad. It is certain to be of value to scholars and advanced
undergraduate and graduate students of Middle Eastern studies,
history, urban ethnography, and Israeli and Jewish studies.
The study of ice composition represents an effective tool in our
understanding of the dynamics of glaciers, ice sheets and ice
shelves. The authors of this work relate the distribution of
isotopes and impurities in ice masses to ice flow, to the key zone
close to the ice-substratum interface and to the mechanisms
effective in the contact zone between glacier and ocean. Other
material in this book is concerned with how global changes may be
induced by a climatic warming due to anthropogenic activities. This
monograph on glaciology, geophysics and geomorphology is intended
for researchers, graduate students and teachers.
This open access book is the first comprehensive overview of
maritime or marine spatial planning. Countries across the globe are
beginning to implement maritime spatial plans; however the authors
of this collection have identified several key questions that are
emerging from this growing body of MSP experience. How can maritime
spatial planning deal with a complex and dynamic environment such
as the sea? How can MSP be embedded in multiple levels of
governance across regional and national borders - and how far does
the environment benefit from this new approach? This book actively
engages with the problems encapsulated in these questions, and
explores possible solutions. Situated at the intersection between
theory and practice, the volume draws together several strands of
interdisciplinary research, reflecting on the history of MSP as
well as examining current practice and looking towards the future.
The authors and contributors examine MSP from disciplines as
diverse as geography, urban planning, political science, natural
science, sociology and education; reflecting the growing critical
engagement with MSP in many academic fields. This innovative and
pioneering volume will be of interest and value to students and
scholars of maritime spatial planning, as well as planners and
practitioners.
This book elaborates on the Khazan ecosystems of Goa, India.
Khazans are human-managed ecosystems, which are reclaimed from
coastal wetlands, salt marshes and mangrove areas, where tidal
influence is regulated through a highly structured system of dykes,
canals, furrows, and sluice gates using resources that are amply
available locally. Khazan ecosystems are marvels of tribal
engineering. They are a simple architectural design, which operate
at a very low running cost using tidal, hydro, and solar energy.
The design contributes to a highly complex but eco-friendly
ecosystem integrating agriculture, aquaculture and salt panning. .
Khazan ecosystems have been functional for the last 3500 years. The
history of Khazans is very ancient and can be traced to the
transition from food gathering to food growing, which has been
regarded as the biggest step in the history of human civilization.
Khazan ecosystems thus have a high historical and world heritage
value. They are also repositories of global biodiversity, with
unique flora suitable to their unique and highly variable
environment. They are endemic and heritage ecosystems of Goa and
ultimately reservoirs of history and heritage. Using the example of
the Khazan lands, the book analyzes and comments on traditional
ecological knowledge and indigenous technology. It presents the
evolution of Khazan management institutions over a period of more
than three thousand years, as well as factors that have contributed
to its decline in recent years. It develops a conceptual framework
for ecosystem performance and suggests strategies for conservation
of Khazans as well as strategies to build on these indigenous
adaptation mechanisms to cope with the global environmental change.
In The End of the Anthropocene, Michael J. Gormley examines
literary imaginations of the anthropocene's end and the future of
the astropocene. Gormley analyzes literary images of human tracks
on Earth, the Moon, and Mars to characterize the late-stage
anthropocene and to explore humanity's role in the universal
ecosystem. The End of the Anthropocene uses a predictive and
paradigmatic model of ecocriticism, examining science fiction works
as interplanetary nature narratives.
"Lakes is my favorite kind of natural history: meticulously
researched, timely, comprehensive, and written with imagination and
verve."--Jerry Dennis, author of The Living Great Lakes Lakes might
be the most misunderstood bodies of water on earth. And while they
may seem commonplace, without lakes our world would never be the
same. In this revealing look at these lifegiving treasures, John
Richard Saylor shows us just how deep our connection to still
waters run. Lakes is an illuminating tour through the most
fascinating lakes around the world. Whether it's Lake Vostok,
located more than two miles beneath the surface of Antarctica,
whose water was last exposed to the atmosphere perhaps a million
years ago; Lake Baikal in southern Siberia, the world's deepest and
oldest lake formed by a rift in the earth's crust; or Lake Nyos,
the so-called Killer Lake that exploded in 1986, resulting in
hundreds of deaths, Saylor reveals to us the wonder that exists in
lakes found throughout the world. Along the way we learn all the
many forms that lakes take--how they come to be and how they feed
and support ecosystems--and what happens when lakes vanish.
The loss of biodiversity is a major environmental problem in nearly
every terrestrial ecosystem on Earth. This loss is accelerating
driven by climate change, as well as by other causes including
agricultural exploitation, fragmentation and degradation triggered
by land use changes. The crucial issue under debate is the impact
on the welfare of current and future population, and the role of
humans in the exploitation of natural resources. This is of
particular importance in Central America, which it is amongst the
richest and most threatened biodiversity regions on the Earth, and
where the loss of ecosystems strongly affects its socio-economic
vulnerability. This book addresses the impacts of climate and
land-use change on tropical forest ecosystems in this important
region, and assesses the expected economic costs if no policy
action is taken, under different future scenarios and for different
geographical scales. This innovative collection utilises both
theoretical approaches and empirical results to provide a
conceptual framework for an integrated analysis of climate and
land-use change impacts on forest ecosystems and related economic
effects, offering insight into the complex relationship between
ecosystems and benefits to humans. This important contribution to
forest ecosystems and climate change provides invaluable reading
for students and scholars in the fields of environmental and
ecological economics, environmental science and forestry, natural
resource management, agriculture and climate change.
Laws of the Sea assembles scholars from law, geography,
anthropology, and environmental humanities to consider the
possibilities of a critical ocean approach in legal studies. Unlike
the United Nations' monumental Convention on the Law of the Sea,
which imagines one comprehensive constitutional framework for
governing the ocean, Laws of the Sea approaches oceanic law in
plural and dynamic ways. Critically engaging contemporary concerns
about the fate of the ocean, the collection's twelve chapters range
from hydrothermal vents through the continental shelf and marine
genetic resources to coastal communities in France, Sweden,
Florida, and Indonesia. Documenting the longstanding binary of land
and sea, the chapters pose a fundamental challenge to European
law's "terracentrism" and its pervasive influence on juridical
modes of knowing and making the world. Together, the chapters ask:
is contemporary Eurocentric law-and international law in
particular-capable of moving away from its capitalist and colonial
legacies, established through myriad oceanic abstractions and
classifications, toward more amphibious legalities? Laws of the Sea
will appeal to legal scholars, geographers, anthropologists,
cultural and political theorists, as well as scholars in the
environmental humanities, political ecology, ocean studies, and
animal studies.
Winner, Mountain Literature (Non-Fiction) Award, Banff Mountain
Book Festival 2018 Nick Bullock is a climber who lives in a small
green van, flitting between Llanberis, Wales, and Chamonix in the
French Alps. Tides, Nick's second book, is the much-anticipated
follow-up to his critically acclaimed debut Echoes. Now retired
from the strain of work as a prison officer, Nick is free to climb.
A lot. Tides is a treasury of his antics and adventures with some
of the world's leading climbers, including Steve House, Kenton
Cool, Nico Favresse, Andy Houseman and James McHaffie. Follow Nick
and his partners as they push the limits on some of the world's
most serious routes: The Bells! The Bells! and The Hollow Man on
Gogarth's North Stack Wall; the Slovak Direct on Denali; Guerdon
Grooves on Buachaille Etive Mor; and the north faces of Chang Himal
and Mount Alberta, among countless others. Nick's life can be
equated to the rhythm of the sea. At high tide, he climbs, he loves
it, he is good at it; he laughs and jokes, scares himself, falls,
gets back up and climbs some more. Then the tide goes out and he
finds himself alone, exposed, all questions and no answers.
Self-doubt, grieving for friends or family, fearful, sometimes
opinionated, occasionally angry - his writing more honest and
exposed than in any account of a climb. Only when the tide turns is
he able to forget once more. Tides is a gripping memoir that
captures the very essence of what it means to dedicate one's life
to climbing.
Illustrates applications of plastic in protected cultivation, water
management, aquiculture and in high-tech horticulture using
innovative technologies to enhance water use efficiency and crop
productivity Presents precision farming for climate-resilient
technologies Includes real-world examples to present practical
insights of plastic engineering for climate change mitigation
strategies.
As a continent of extreme, rare and complex environments, Australia has produced a startling group of ecological pioneers. Australian thinkers and innovators have made some truly original contributions to ecological thought. This study traces the emergence of ecological awareness in Australia. By constructing a social history with chapters focusing on different fields in the arts, sciences, politics and public life, Martin Mulligan and Stuart Hill are able to bring to life the work of significant individuals.
'All mountaineers develop differently. Some go higher, some try
ever-steeper faces and others specialise in a particular range or
region. I am increasingly drawn to remoteness - to places where few
others have trod.' The Wild Within is the third book from Simon
Yates, one of Britain's most accomplished and daring mountaineers.
With his insatiable appetite for adventure and exploratory
mountaineering, Yates leads unique expeditions to unclimbed peaks
in the Cordillera Darwin in Tierra del Fuego, the Wrangell St-Elias
ranges on the Alaska-Yukon border, and Eastern Greenland. Laced
with dry humour, he relates his own experience of the rapid
commercialisation of mountain wilderness, while grappling with his
new-found commitments as a family man. At the same time he must
endure his role in the film adaptation of Joe Simpson's Touching
The Void, having to relive the events of that trip to Peru for a
Hollywood director. Yates' subsequent escape to the some of the
world's most remote mountains isn't quite the experience it once
was, as he witnesses first hand the advance of modern
communications into the wilderness, signalled by the ubiquitous
mobile phone masts appearing in once-deserted mountain valleys. He
is left to dwell on the remaining significance of mountain
wilderness and must rediscover what the notion of 'wild' means for
him now.
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