Globalization is not a new phenomenon, but it is posing new challenges to humans and natural ecosystems in the 21st century. From climate change to increasingly mobile human populations to the global economy, the relationship between humans and their environment is being modified in ways that will have long-term impacts on ecological health, biodiversity, ecosystem goods and services, population vulnerability, and sustainability. These changes and challenges are perhaps nowhere more evident than in island ecosystems. Buffeted by rising ocean temperatures, extreme weather events, sea-level rise, climate change, tourism, population migration, invasive species, and resource limitations, islands represent both the greatest vulnerability to globalization and also the greatest scientific opportunity to study the significance of global changes on ecosystem processes, human-environment interactions, conservation, environmental policy, and island sustainability. In this book, we study islands through the lens of Land Cover/Land Use Change (LCLUC) and the multi-scale and multi-thematic drivers of change. In addition to assessing the key processes that shape and re-shape island ecosystems and their land cover/land use changes, the book highlights measurement and assessment methods to characterize patterns and trajectories of change and models to examine the social-ecological drivers of change on islands. For instance, chapters report on the results of a meta-analysis to examine trends in published literature on islands, a satellite image time-series to track changes in urbanization, social surveys to support household analyses, field sampling to represent the state of resources and their limitations on islands, and dynamic systems models to link socio-economic data to LCLUC patterns. The authors report on a diversity of islands, conditions, and circumstances that affect LCLUC patterns and processes, often informed through perspectives rooted, for instance, in conservation, demography, ecology, economics, geography, policy, and sociology.

This book discusses a variety of different perspectives involved in biodiversity management and bio-sequestration projects in Australia, working towards achieving adaptive governance in carbon farming. It not only examines landholders' motivation but also the challenges of integrating biodiverse forests into the agricultural landscape. Drawing on the contrast between science and policy stakeholders' views on carbon farming and the practical challenges of achieving adaptive governance, the book discusses the significant gap between theory and practice encountered in this field of study. The book suggests ways of improving the decision-making capacity of government officials and policymakers involved in managing carbon and biodiversity markets, as well as introducing measures to promote adaptive governance by engaging landholders in more effective land conservation. Climate change is a pressing issue on the global political agenda, and this book makes an important contribution to the ongoing debate. This book will be an invaluable reference for practitioners, policymakers and researchers interested in alternative forms of governance in natural resource management.

This volume reviews recent hydrological and environmental issues resulting from human-induced water pollution practices while providing case studies on the physical, chemical, and eco-biological techniques used to mitigate the impacts of river ecosystem pollution in South Asian countries. The book demonstrates the key methods of measurement, monitoring, mapping, and modeling of river water quality and how it is impacted by pollution and incorporates contemporary geospatial technological applications for the management and sustainability of future water resources. The major topics that the book addresses are the fundamental concepts of river ecosystem health, riverine ecology and habitats, risk assessment of riverine pollution, and technology-based river pollution control strategies. The book will serve as an interdisciplinary guide for researchers, students, and GIS specialists working in various disciplines, including pollution hazards, river ecosystem restoration, water quality, remote sensing, zoology, natural resources management, and environmental geography.

Were you looking for the book with access to MasteringGeography? This product is the book alone and does NOT come with access to MasteringGeography. Buy the book and access card package to save money on this resource. Continuing Tom L. McKnight's well-known thematic focus on landscape appreciation, Darrel Hess offers a broad survey of all of the physical processes and spatial patterns that create Earth's physical landscape. McKnight's Physical Geography: A Landscape Appreciation provides a clear writing style, superior art program, and abundant pedagogy to appeal to a wide variety of students. This new edition offers a truly meaningful integration of visualization, technology, the latest applied science, and new pedagogy, providing essential tools and opportunities to teach and engage students in these processes and patterns.

The Juan Fernandez Archipelago is located in the Pacific Ocean west of Chile at 33 Degrees S latitude. Robinson Crusoe Island is 667 km from the continent and approximately four million years old; Alejandro Selkirk Island is an additional 181 km west and only one million years old. The natural impacts of subsidence and erosion have shaped the landscapes of these islands, resulting in progressive changes to their subtropical vegetation. The older island has undergone more substantial changes, due to both natural causes and human impacts. After the discovery of Robinson Crusoe Island in 1574, people began cutting down forests for lumber to construct boats and homes, for firewood, and to make room for pastures. Domesticated plants and animals were introduced, some of which have since become feral or invasive, causing damage to the local vegetation. The wealth of historical records on these activities provides a detailed chronicle of how human beings use their environment for survival in a new ecosystem. This book offers an excellent case study on the impacts that people can have on the resources of an oceanic island.

"...Immerse yourself in this selection of spellbinding shots from his latest book, The World." -Food & Travel Michael Poliza is more than a seasoned globetrotter who has travelled through almost 170 countries. He is also a collector of the world, always on the lookout for breathtaking landscapes, remote regions, and intact nature reserves. With his camera ever on hand, Poliza does not only want to experience the beauty of the planet, but also to make it accessible to all. In his two great books, Africa and Eyes over Africa, as well as his single volumes on South Africa, Kenya, and Namibia, Poliza opened our eyes to the diversity of the African continent. In AntArctic, the WWF ambassador created a sensitive double portrait of the polar regions. And in his characteristic aerial photographs, he even opened up new perspectives on well-known places like Mallorca. In this trade edition of The World, Poliza opens his digital treasure chest to reveal previously unpublished images from all seven continents. Like a true photographic world tour, we travel with him to Australia and New Zealand, to Vietnam and Myanmar, to the west of the USA and north to Canada, to the Galapagos Islands and Bolivia, across the Antarctic and the many lands of Africa. No matter how different the regions he explores, the photographer always captures extraordinary images, instilling both the beauty of our planet and an urgent need to protect the natural world. Text in English and German.

The proposed new book fills a gap. It will do it admirably. There is no competing book. Present a synthesis of past work, 'connect the dots' so that the work of physical geographers, geomorphologists, physicists and climatologists, hydrologists and related fields can be made available within one book. Be a compendium of all that we know about dunes in the nominated regions. Show how such knowledge can help mankind as new generations face novel and unprecedented challenges.

This Handbook is the first volume to comprehensively analyse and problem-solve how to manage the decline of fossil fuels as the world tackles climate change and shifts towards a low-carbon energy transition. The overall findings are straight-forward and unsurprising: although fossil fuels have powered the industrialisation of many nations and improved the lives of hundreds of millions of people, another century dominated by fossil fuels would be disastrous. Fossil fuels and associated greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced to a level that avoids rising temperatures and rising risks in support of a just and sustainable energy transition. Divided into four sections and 25 contributions from global leading experts, the chapters span a wide range of energy technologies and sources including fossil fuels, carbon mitigation options, renewables, low carbon energy, energy storage, electric vehicles and energy sectors (electricity, heat and transport). They cover varied legal jurisdictions and multiple governance approaches encompassing multi- and inter-disciplinary technological, environmental, social, economic, political, legal and policy perspectives with timely case studies from Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, South America and the Pacific. Providing an insightful contribution to the literature and a much-needed synthesis of the field as a whole, this book will have great appeal to decision makers, practitioners, students and scholars in the field of energy transition studies seeking a comprehensive understanding of the opportunities and challenges in managing the decline of fossil fuels.

This book answers key questions about environment, people and their shared future in deltas. It develops a systematic and holistic approach for policy-orientated analysis for the future of these regions. It does so by focusing on ecosystem services in the world's largest, most populous and most iconic delta region, that of the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta in Bangladesh. The book covers the conceptual basis, research approaches and challenges, while also providing a methodology for integration across multiple disciplines, offering a potential prototype for assessments of deltas worldwide. Ecosystem Services for Well-Being in Deltas analyses changing ecosystem services in deltas; the health and well-being of people reliant on them; the continued central role of agriculture and fishing; and the implications of aquaculture in such environments.The analysis is brought together in an integrated and accessible way to examine the future of the Ganges Brahmaputra delta based on a near decade of research by a team of the world's leading scientists on deltas and their human and environmental dimensions. This book is essential reading for students and academics within the fields of Environmental Geography, Sustainable Development and Environmental Policy focused on solving the world's most critical challenges of balancing humans with their environments. This book is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Beaches are the most dynamic places on Earth, offering an infinite variety of patterns and geological land formations. This book celebrates and solves the mysteries of the fascinating and frequently abstract beauty of gravitational effects at the water's edge. Lovers of natural history will appreciate the images of curiously sculpted potholes, towering sea stacks, sand and vegetal varieties, and blue sky reflected in striated rivulets, accompanied by diagrams and explanations of the natural forces at work. This book aims to enhance appreciation for oceans and their shape-shifting shorelines. They are, after all, wondrous.

This book presents new research on policy innovations that promote the development of the circular water economy. In contrast to the linear economy, the circular water economy promotes the reduction of water consumption, reuse of water, and recovery of resources from wastewater to not only increase resilience to climate change but also to reduce greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the provision of water and wastewater-related services. Providing a series of in-depth case studies of important locations in differing climates around the globe that have implemented a variety of policy innovations to develop the circular water economy, this book is a valuable resource for water and resource conservation managers, policymakers, international companies and organisations interested in the circular economy, environmental NGOs, researchers, as well as graduate and undergraduate students. * Systematically reviews policy innovations to develop the circular water economy * Illustrates how leading locations from around the world have developed the circular water economy to increase resilience to climate change while reducing emissions * Provides 'best practices' for other locations around the world aiming to implement the circular water economy

This book outlines a recommended Icelandic security force as part of the country's defence against sub-strategic threats such as human trafficking by criminals or border incursions by other states. It also tests the recommended security force through the development of four different hypothetical scenarios in the year 2030 designed to show the force's successful implementation. Melting of the Arctic ice pack, and the opening of the Transpolar Sea Route around 2025 could lead to an increase in traffic into the North Atlantic from the Pacific (and vice versa). That movement is predicted to bring a massive influx of tourists, business interests, and government entities into the region. Along with legitimate uses of the new shipping lanes, the opportunity for terrorists, criminals, and rogue states to travel in and around the Arctic could lead to increased smuggling, violence, and sovereignty disputes (i.e., seizing uninhabited terrain). A review of Iceland's current security policies indicates that the parliament provided the legal framework to create the recommended security force with the 2016 Parliamentary Resolution establishing a National Security Policy for Iceland. Many scholars and government officials believe that the Iceland public would not support a security force culturally. Yet, recent surveys reveal that many Icelanders could accept a security force to protect them from sub-strategic threats, especially if the increased security could be attained without the intervention of foreign military forces. The recommended security force utilizes Icelandic search-and-rescue volunteers and Reservists to increase the protection of the country funded by its full NATO contribution.

Integrated Coastal Management in the Japanese Satoumi: Restoring Estuaries and Bays provides an in-depth exploration of the integrated costal management (ICM) used in the Japanese Satoumi. The lessons of Satoumi?coastal areas where biological productivity and biodiversity have increased through human interaction?are important for the rest of the world, given the political consensus reached in Japan to truly restore estuaries and bays. The book will discuss and explain how this method could be modified to apply to other cultures in the world. Integrated Coastal Management in the Japanese Satoumi: Restoring Estuaries and Bays presents chapters from experts in the relevant fields and includes chapters about each study field of the Satoumi, making it a valuable resource for researchers, field practitioners, and policymakers in coastal area management and development. This includes the Shizukawa Bay as an open coastal sea, the Seto Inland Sea as semi-enclosed coastal sea, and the Japan Sea. The book moves on to explore the economic evaluation of ecosystem services, a four-step management system, and the negotiation between marine protected areas and fisheries, and concludes with a full section covering a comparison of ICM with Europe and the United States, and how Japan's policies could be integrated.

This book initiates multipolar climate/clime studies of the world's altitudinal and latitudinal highlands with terrestrial, experiential, and affective approaches. Framed in the environmental humanities, it is an interdisciplinary, comparative study of the mutually-embodied relations of climate, nature, culture, and place in the Himalaya, Andes, and Arctic. Innovation-driven, the book offers multipolar clime case studies through the contributors' historical findings, ethnographic documentations, and diverse conceptualizations and applications of clime, an overlooked but returning notion of place embodied with climate history, pattern, and changes. The multipolar clime case studies in the book are geared toward deeper, lively explorations and demonstrations of the translatability, interchangeability, and complementarity between the notions of clime and climate. "Multipolar" or "multipolarity" in this book connotes not only the two polar regions and the tectonically shaped highlands of the earth but also diversely debated perspectives of climate studies in the broadest sense. Contributors across the twelve chapters come from diverse fields of social and natural sciences and humanities, and geographically specialize respectively in the Himalayan, Andean, and Arctic regions. The first comparative study of climate change in altitudinal and latitudinal highlands, this will be an important read for students, academics and researchers in environmental humanities, anthropology, climate science, indigenous studies and ecology.

The Physical Geography of South America presents an enduring statement of the continent's fascinating environments. Written by international specialists, it addresses themes ranging from tectonism and climate change to biotoc endemism; analyzes specific regions from the Amazon forests to the Patagonian steppes; and evaluates human impacts on the environment over time.

This open access book is the first comprehensive guideline for the beryllium-7 (Be-7) technique that can be applied to evaluate short-term patterns and budgets of soil redistribution in agricultural landscapes. While covering the fundamental and basic concepts of the approach, this book distinguishes itself from other publications by offering step-by-step instructions on how to use this isotopic technique effectively. It covers experimental design considerations and clear instruction is given on data processing. As accurate laboratory measurement is crucial to ensure successful use of Be-7 to investigate soil erosion, a full chapter is devoted to its specific determination by gamma spectrometry. This open access contribution further describes new developments in the Be-7 technique and includes a concluding chapter highlighting its potential benefits to support the implementation of area-wide soil conservation policy.

This book provides a critical study of environmental regulation and its enforcement in New Zealand, situated within green criminology. It seeks to address the question of whether the offences in the Resource Management Act 1991 are 'working', by drawing on a range of sources including: central government data, local government policies and reports on enforcement, information requests of councils, studies of local authority enforcement behaviour and case law to. Through highly layered and richly textured analysis, the project exposes the problems that can arise when an expansive approach is taken to offences, penalties and institutional arrangements in an environmental regulatory statute. It emphasizes how discussions of harm and what should be unlawful will ensure that law-makers' enforcement tools will align with their goals for punishment. It examines higher-level issues such as 'wrongfulness' and 'criminality' in the environmental regulatory context and explores the relevance of its findings to jurisdictions outside of New Zealand. It also discusses the pros and cons of criminalisation and punishment versus restoration. It speaks to those interested in green criminology, regulatory compliance and enforcement, and applications of criminal law.

This monograph is a fundamental study of watershed erosion and runoff processes. It utilizes decades of soil erosion data to take a comprehensive and balanced approach in covering various watershed erosion processes. While there are many works on soil erosion and conservation, this book fills the gaps in previously published research by focusing more on mass movement, gully erosion, soil piping/tunnel erosion, and the spatial interactions of different erosion processes. Additionally, the book examines erosion processes in extreme rainfall events, something typically absent in short-term studies but discussed in detail here as the book draws on 60 years of research and observations, including 30 years of the author's own investigations of erosion under a wide range of rainfall conditions. The book is divided into 3 parts, and is intended for soil erosion researchers and practitioners, and postgraduate students studying soil erosion and water conservation. Part 1 opens with a comprehensive and critical review of existing literature on soil erosion processes, discusses this book's place among existing literature, and examines the major erosion processes (rainwash, gully erosion, tunnel erosion, and mass movements) including their controlling factors and mechanisms. Part 2 explores the spatial interactions of these different erosion processes to provide a prerequisite for effective design of comprehensive soil erosion control measures in a watershed. Part 3 evaluates the relative significance of these erosion processes in sediment production, the effectiveness of comprehensive soil and water conservation programs, and the applications of watershed modelling in determining the impact of land-use changes on soil erosion and other ecological processes.

This open access book highlights the complexities around making adaptation decisions and building resilience in the face of climate risk. It is based on experiences in sub-Saharan Africa through the Future Climate For Africa (FCFA) applied research programme. It begins by dealing with underlying principles and structures designed to facilitate effective engagement about climate risk, including the robustness of information and the construction of knowledge through co-production. Chapters then move on to explore examples of using climate information to inform adaptation and resilience through early warning, river basin development, urban planning and rural livelihoods based in a variety of contexts. These insights inform new ways to promote action in policy and praxis through the blending of knowledge from multiple disciplines, including climate science that provides understanding of future climate risk and the social science of response through adaptation. The book will be of interest to advanced undergraduate students and postgraduate students, researchers, policy makers and practitioners in geography, environment, international development and related disciplines.

Reforestation and avoiding deforestation are methods of harnessing nature to tackle global warming - the greatest challenge facing humankind. In this book, Colin Hunt deals comprehensively with the present and future role of forests in climate change policy and practice. The author provides signposts for the way ahead in climate change policy and offers practical examples of forestry's role in climate change mitigation in both developed and tropical developing countries. Chapters on measuring carbon in plantations, their biodiversity benefits and potential for biofuel production complement the analysis. He also discusses the potential for forestry in climate change policy in the United States and other countries where policies to limit greenhouse gas emissions have been foreshadowed. The author employs scientific and socio-economic analysis and lays bare the complexity of forestry markets. A review of the workings of carbon markets, based both on the Kyoto Protocol and voluntary participation, provides a foundation from which to explore forestry's role. Emphasis is placed on acknowledging how forests' idiosyncrasies affect the design of markets for sequestered carbon. The realization of forestry's potential in developed countries depends on the depth of cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, together with in-country rules on forestry. An increase in funding for carbon retention in tropical forests is an immediate imperative, but complexities dictate that the sources of finance will likely be dedicated funds rather than carbon markets. This timely and comprehensive book will be of great value to any reader interested in climate change. Policy-makers within international agencies and governments, academics and students in the fields of geography, economics, science policy, forestry, development studies as well as carbon market participants and forest developers in the private sector will find it especially useful.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the practice of sustainability through a diverse range of case studies spanning across varied fields and areas of expertise. It provides a clear indication as to the contemporary state of sustainability in a time faced by issues such as global climate change, challenges of environmental justice, economic globalization and environmental contamination. The Palgrave Handbook of Sustainability explores three broad themes: Environmental Sustainability, Social Sustainability and Economic Sustainability. The authors critically explore these themes and provide insight into their linkages with one another to demonstrate the substantial efforts currently underway to address the sustainability of our planet. This handbook is an important contribution to the best practises on sustainability, drawn from many different examples across the fields of engineering, geology, anthropology, sociology, biology, chemistry and religion.

Nearly one-third of the land area on our planet is classified as arid or desert. Therefore, an understanding of the dynamics of such arid ecosystems is essential to managing those systems in a way that sustains human populations. This second edition of Ecology of Desert Systems provides a clear, extensive guide to the complex interactions involved in these areas. This book details the relationships between abiotic and biotic environments of desert ecosystems, demonstrating to readers how these interactions drive ecological processes. These include plant growth and animal reproductive success, the spatial and temporal distribution of vegetation and animals, and the influence of invasive species and anthropogenic climate change specific to arid systems. Drawing on the extensive experience of its expert authors, Ecology of Desert Systems is an essential guide to arid ecosystems for students looking for an overview of the field, researchers keen to learn how their work fits in to the overall picture, and those involved with environmental management of desert areas.

The Jornada Basin LTER is located in the Chihuahuan Desert, the largest in North America. This region of south central New Mexico has a history of nearly 100 years as the basis for scientific research. This work gives a thorough, encompassing review of the tremendous array of observations resulting from experiments conducted in this ecosystem. Beginning with thorough descriptions of the most salient features of the region, the book then reviews a wide range of archived and active data sets on a diversity of biotic and abiotic features. It next presents a syntheses of important topics including livestock grazing and remediation efforts. A concluding chapter provides a synthesis of the principles that have emerged from this body of work, and how these relate to the broader fields of ecology and natural resource management. It concludes with recommendations for future research directions. The insightful views expressed in this volume should guide management of arid landscapes globally. This is the sixth volume in the Long Term Ecological Network Series.

This book re-conceptualizes energy justice as a unifying agenda for scholars and practitioners working on the issues faced in the trilemna of energy security, poverty and climate change. McCauley argues that justice should be central to the rebalancing of the global energy system and also provides an assessment of the key injustices in our global energy systems of production and consumption. Energy Justice develops a new innovative analytical framework underpinned by principles of justice designed for investigating unfairness and inequalities in energy availability, accessibility and sustainability. It applies this framework to fossil fuel and alternative low carbon energy systems with reference to multiple case studies throughout the world. McCauley also presents an energy justice roadmap that inspires new solutions to the energy trilemna. This includes how we redistribute the benefits and burdens of energy developments, how to engage the new energy 'prosumer' and how to recognise the unrepresented. This book will appeal to academics and students interested in issues of security and justice within global energy decision-making.

Outcrops of granitic rocks cover a large proportion of the Earth's surface and host a range of spectacular landforms and landscapes, from extensive plains dotted by inselbergs to deeply dissected mountain ranges. They are often strikingly beautiful, but more importantly, they provide valuable insights into the mechanisms of geomorphic evolution both in the past and at present. The book offers a comprehensive view of the geomorphology of granite areas, examining individual landforms and their assemblages. Weathering processes, and the phenomenon of deep weathering in particular, are given much emphasis as these are fundamental to the understanding of the geomorphic evolution of granite areas. Granite landforms directly related to weathering, such as boulders, tors, inselbergs, and features of surface microrelief are examined in respect to their characteristics and origin. Patterns of slope evolution are shown in the context of both rock slopes and deeply weathered terrains. Granite geomorphology in the coastal, periglacial and glacial context is presented to show how the characteristics of granite control landform evolution in these specific environments. In the closing part a variety of geological controls is reviewed and their primacy over other factors is advocated, followed by an attempt to provide a typology of natural granite landscapes. Finally, certain specific ways of human transformation of granite landscapes are presented. The book will be useful to a range of earth science disciplines, including geomorphology, igneous petrology, engineering geology and soil science. Cultural geographers and people dealing with conservation of geological heritage should find it of interest. Examples from all parts of the world and extensive referencing ensure that it will act as an up-to-date guidebook to the fascinating world of granite geomorphology.