![]() |
![]() |
Your cart is empty |
||
Books > Earth & environment > The environment > Pollution & threats to the environment
Oceanic Migration studies the prehistoric peopling of the Pacific. It uses science and mathematics to expand the research base of Pacific prehistory and casts new light on this final human expansion. It explores the fundamental roles of oceanography and of global climate change in determining the paths, sequence, timing and range of Spice Island-based maritime migrations ranging across a quarter of the globe. The book is of interest to Pacific prehistorians, oceanographers and American anthropologists concerned with the diffusionist debate. For oceanographers it presents the new idea of the role of the West Pacific Warm Pool and of three of its four major currents in determining the evolution of voyaging in two oceans. For diffusionists it provides new chronological and technological contexts in which the issue of diffusionism needs to be reconsidered. For prehistorians it creates a paradigmatic shift by establishing a new time depth and mechanism for Polynesian exploration, offers a new view of voyaging and exploration strategies and of economic imperatives and adds a new dimension to the debate on Polynesian origins.
Research input constitutes a key component in the development of international environmental regime formation. Science-policy interaction is, however, complex and difficult, particularly because it is an encounter between two distinct systems of behaviour: the scientific ideal of impartiality and disinterestedness and the political reality of interest realisation and strategic behaviour. This study analyses the extent to which and how the institutional framework within which the science-policy dialogue takes place - through conscious design - can be utilised as an instrument to handle obstacles and barriers immanent of science-policy interaction and thereby serve as an instrument to enhance the effectiveness of the dialogue. Also, the impact of actor behaviour, particularly behaviour taking the form of leadership performance, is investigated. This book provides a detailed and in-depth empirical study of science-policy interaction in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) from its establishment in 1988, to the provision of the Second IPCC Assessment Report in 1995. The main focus of the empirical investigation is on Working Group I of the IPCC.
As the regional models required to understand and control the
generation, distribution and deposition of air pollutants become
more precise, the need to understand the detailed effects of hilly
and mountainous terrain becomes more acute. The Alpine regions and
the mountainous Mediterranean coasts have large effets on the way
the pollutant burden is spread in their areas. Similarly an
understanding of the effects of chemical and physical processes
controlling pollutant deposition and the emission of biogenic
compounds is essential to the correct modelling of the coastal
regions which surround so much of Europe.
This contributed volume gives a state-of-the-art overview of microplastics and nanoplastics (MPs and NPs) in soils and their relationship with growing plants. Through chapters contributed by a wide variety of researchers, the book offers readers an understanding of MP and NP adsorption, uptake, and effects, as well as implications for trophic transmission, food safety, and security. Cutting-edge topics such as trophic transfer and remediation of MPs and NPs in soil samples are also addressed. The book begins with a primer on terrestrial MPs and NPs, their effects on terrestrial plants, and how these contaminants affect human populations. From there, the volume is split into four sections which address both problems caused by MPs and NPs in soil and potential remediation solutions. The first section deals with the mechanics of how MPs and NPs pollute soils and how toxic chemicals affect the soil profile and its flora, fauna and microbes. The second section of the book discusses trophic transfer of MPs and NPs from roots to shoot, shoot to leaves, and then to fruits. The third section details the threats to humans that are present as a result of MPs and NPs in soils. The fourth and last section gives covers bioremediation techniques that can be employed in order to reclaim polluted soils.
SCOPE, the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment, was established by the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) in 1969 as an international, non to governmental, non-profit organisation with the mandate - advance knowledge of the influence of humans on their environment, as well as the effects of these environmental changes upon people, their health and their welfare with particular attention to those influences and effects which are either global or shared by several nations; - to serve as a non-governmental, interdisciplinary and international council of scien tists and as a source of advice for the benefit of governments and intergovernmental and non-governmental bodies with respect to environmental problems. SCOPE has been established because critical environmental concerns call for a thor ough evaluation of the issues at stake, an assessment of their consequences at global and regional levels and the formulation of possible solutions. Through its activities SCOPE identifies available knowledge, then synthesizing it to point out where gaps and uncertainties exist, and to recommend where efforts should be concentrated to develop explanations and solutions."
As atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases continue to increase, so does the potential for atmospheric warming and associated climate change. In an effort to address the threat of global climate change, 155 countries signed the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992. As of the first session of the Conference of the Parties, 128 nations had ratified the Convention. Among their other commitments, Parties to the Convention must develop and periodically update national inventories of net anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions using comparable methodologies, and must develop and implement national programs to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. To further the development of emission inventories and mitigation options within the African context, 64 governmental and non-governmental scientists and policy analysts from 23 nations gathered at a workshop near Johannesburg, South Africa from 29 May to 2 June 1995. The workshop focused on forestry, land-use change, and agriculture, because these sectors not only are responsible for the majority of emissions from the continent and provide promising opportunities for emissions mitigation, but also are a vital component of African economic growth and development. This book presents the workshop's major conclusions and findings, as well as individual papers that were prepared for the workshop, each of which was peer-reviewed and accepted for publication as part of the workshop process. The papers cover four areas: (1) issues are associated with data collection and emission factor determination; (2) problems associated with applying the IPCC inventory methodologies in Africa; (3) results of national inventory assessments in Africa; and (4) possible emissions mitigation options and methods for evaluating their potential viability. As the first book dedicated solely to greenhouse gas emissions and mitigation options in Africa, this will be an invaluable resource to scientists, policymakers, and development specialists interested in global climate change and Africa.
Al Gore, Academy Award winning filmmaker, author of New York Times bestseller An Inconvenient Truth, Nobel Peace Prize Nominee and former Vice President of the US, leads the charge against climate change, the world's greatest threat, in an incendiary new foreword to this timeless classic that launched his environmental career. If you want to know Gore, you need this book
This book comprises the select proceedings of the International Conference on Water, Environment, Energy and Society. The book is divided into four parts. Part I deals with some aspects of climatic characteristics ranging from changes in temperature and sunshine hours to downscaling to global climate patterns and effects of El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) on extreme rainfall. Part II covers rainfall analysis, including changes in regional rainfall series, analysis of non-stationarity, summer monsoon and rainfall scenarios. Impacts of climate change are treated in Part III. Change point analysis, greenhouse gas emissions, rainfall variability, water resources variability, and water resources sustainability are discussed in this part. The concluding Part IV is on low flow and drought. It deals with the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) concept and assessment of drought. This book is of interest to researchers and practitioners in the field of water resources, hydrology, environmental resources, agricultural engineering, watershed management, and earth sciences, as well as those engaged in natural resources planning and management. Graduate students and those wishing to conduct further research in water and environment and their development and management find the book to be of value.
Industrialized nations are facing a broad range of environmental restoration problems associated with contamination of surface-subsurface soils. Remedial action is assigned a high priority because of possibly dangerous drinking water contamination and non-compliance situations. Numerous technologies, both commercially available or in various stages of development, are examined. This book focuses on recent technological developments for environmental control and clean-up. The book acquaints scientists, government officials and managers with technical issues related to environmental restoration in case of contamination, including accidental pollution release.
Assembling papers originally presented at the Resilient Cities 2011 Congress in Bonn, Germany (June 2011), the second global forum on cities and adaptation to climate change, this volume is the second in a series resulting from this annual event. These cutting-edge papers represent the latest research on the topic and reflect the intensification of the debate on the meaning of and interaction between climate adaptation, risk reduction and broader resilience. Thus, contributors offer more material related to resilience, such as water, energy and food security; green infrastructure; the role of renewables and ecosystem services; vulnerable communities and urban poor; and responsive financing for adaptation and multi-level governance. Overall, the book brings a number of different perspectives to bear on the most pressing issues and controversies surrounding climate change adaptation in cities. These papers will prove invaluable to anyone interested in deepening their understanding of urban resilience and contributing to tackling climate change at the local level.
The background This volume contains the proceedings of the first International symposium on "Non-C0 Greenhouse Gases: Why and How to 2 Control?" held in Maastricht, The Netherlands from 13-15 Decem ber 1993. Of the known greenhouse gases, political attention to date has been primarily focused on carbon dioxide (C0 ) and the 2 CFCs - the latter because of their interaction with stratospheric ozone. The other greenhouse gases, notably methane (CH ), nitrous 4 oxide (N 0), HCFCs, HFCs and tropospheric ozone and its precur 2 sors nitrogen oxides (NO), carbon monoxide (CO) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), may appear collectively to be of equal importance for global warming but have attracted less attention. Nevertheless, a comprehensive approach to climate change respon se, taking into account all sources and sinks of all greenhouse gases, is explicitly allowed in the Framework Convention on Clima te Change. The Netherlands' policy on climate already addresses all greenhouse gases. In order to stimulate the development of international climate policy on this subject, the Dutch Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment supported the initative of organizing an international symposium on the science and policy of the non-C0 greenhouse gases. An important rationale behind 2 this initative was recognizing that for the non-C0 greenhouse 2 gases, abatement options are available that do not only address other environmental problems but that also do not require the major structural changes in society that an effective CO policy 2 may."
Mitigation will not be sufficient for us to avoid climate change and we will need to adapt to its consequences. This book targets the development of adaptation policy in European countries with different relations between central and regional/local government.
Climate Change: Observed Impacts on Planet Earth, Third Edition, brings together top global researchers across many disciplines to provide a comprehensive review on the complex issue of climate change and weather patterns. The third edition continues its tradition of focusing on the science and evidence on this highly politicized topic. Every chapter is updated, with this new edition featuring new chapters on topics such as glacier melt, the impacts of rising temperatures, extreme weather, modeling techniques, biodiversity, and more. This book is essential for researchers, environmental managers, engineers, and those whose work is impacted by, or tied to, climate change and global warming.
Climate Change and Extreme Events uses a multidisciplinary approach to discuss the relationship between climate change-related weather extremes and their impact on human lives. Topics discussed are grouped into four major sections: weather parameters, hydrological responses, mitigation and adaptation, and governance and policies, with each addressed with regard to past, present and future perspectives. Sections give an overview of weather parameters and hydrological responses, presenting current knowledge and a future outlook on air and stream temperatures, precipitation, storms and hurricanes, flooding, and ecosystem responses to these extremes. Other sections cover extreme weather events and discuss the role of the state in policymaking. This book provides a valuable interdisciplinary resource to climate scientists and meteorologists, environmental researchers, and social scientists interested in extreme weather.
This book aims to initiate among students and other readers critical and interdisciplinary reflections on key problems concerning development, gender relations, peace and environment, with a special emphasis on North-South relations. This volume offers a selection of the author's research in different parts of the world during 50 years of contributing to an interdisciplinary scientific debate and addressing social answers to urgent global problems. After the author's biography and bibliography, the second part analyses the development processes of several countries in the South that resulted in a dynamic of underdevelopment. The deep-rooted gender discrimination is also reflected in the destructive exploitation of natural resources and the pollution of soils, water and air. Since the beginning of the Anthropocene in the mid-20th century, the management of human society and global resources has been unsustainable and has created global environmental change and multiple conflicts over scarce and polluted resources. Peace and development policies aiming at gender equity and sustainable environmental management, where water and food are crucial for the survival of humankind, focus on systemic alternatives embedded in a path of sustainability transition. * This book reviews multiple influences from Europe, Africa and Latin America on a leading social scientist and activist on gender, development and environment aiming at a world with equity, sustainability, peace and harmony between nature and humans.* This pioneer volume analyses social and environmental conflicts and peace processes in Latin America, with a special focus on Mexico, by addressing the development of under-development, global environmental change, poverty, nutrition and the North-South gap.* This volume focuses on environmental deterioration with a special emphasis on food and water and proposes systemic changes towards a sustainability transition with peace, regional development and gender equity.* This pioneering work offers alternative approaches to regional development, food sovereignty and holistic development processes from a gender perspective.
Proponents of globalization argue that it protects the global environment from degradation and promotes worldwide sustainable economic growth while opponents argue the exact opposite. Examining the local, national, and international impacts of globalization, the Handbook of Globalization and the Environment explores strategies and solutions that support healthy economic growth, protect the environment, and create a more equitable world. The book sets the stage with coverage of global environmental issues and policies. It explores international sustainable development, the evolution of global warming policy, transborder air pollution, desertification, space and the global environment, and human right to water. Building on this foundation, the editors discuss global environmental organizations and institutions with coverage of the UN's role in globalization, the trade-environment nexus, the emergence of NGOs, and an analysis of the state of global environmental knowledge and awareness from an international and comparative perspective. Emphasizing the effects of increasingly integrated global economy on the environment and society, the book examines environmental management and accountability. It addresses green procurement, provides an overview of U.S. environmental regulation and the current range of voluntary and mandatory pollution prevention mechanisms in use, explores a two-pronged approach to establishing a sustainable procurement model, and examines a collaborative community-based approach to environmental regulatory compliance. The book concludes with an analysis of controversial issues, such as eco-terrorism, North-South disputes, environmental justice, the promotion ofeconomic growth through globalization in less developed countries, and the ability of scientists to communicate ideas so that policy makers can use science in decision making.
Emma Watson's Our Shared Shelf book club choice New York Times bestseller 'Fascinating.' Sunday Times 'Thrilling.' Mail on Sunday All they wanted was the chance to shine. Be careful what you wish for... 'The first thing we asked was, "Does this stuff hurt you?" And they said, "No." The company said that it wasn't dangerous, that we didn't need to be afraid.' As the First World War spread across the world, young American women flocked to work in factories, painting clocks, watches and military dials with a special luminous substance made from radium. It was a fun job, lucrative and glamorous - the girls shone brightly in the dark, covered head to toe in dust from the paint. However, as the years passed, the women began to suffer from mysterious and crippling illnesses. It turned out that the very thing that had made them feel alive - their work - was slowly killing them: the radium paint was poisonous. Their employers denied all responsibility, but these courageous women - in the face of unimaginable suffering - refused to accept their fate quietly, and instead became determined to fight for justice. Drawing on previously unpublished diaries, letters and interviews, The Radium Girls is an intimate narrative of an unforgettable true story. It is the powerful tale of a group of ordinary women from the Roaring Twenties, who themselves learned how to roar. Further praise for The Radium Girls 'The importance of the brave and blighted dial-painters cannot be overstated.' Sunday Times 'A perfect blend of the historical, the scientific and the personal.' Bustle 'Thrilling and carefully crafted.' Mail on Sunday
Community participation in fighting climate change is crucial, and the authors here assess the potential for action at the community level as well as some of its limitations. For example, community action offers a significant way to reach global climate targets and bring participants into programs on a relatively personal level, but also has drawbacks in that it can operate contrary to broader programs and constraints. Some topics include: facilitating the low carbon transition, challenges for local level climate change policy and alternative models for low carbon community governance, and models of sustainable and low carbon community activities. Editors Peters, Fudege, and Jackson (RESOLVE, U. of Surrey, U.K), and 17 co-authors contributed to the book.
Divided into four sections, this work presents the proceedings of an international symposium on monitoring of gaseous pollutants by tunable diode lasers. Focusing on atmospheric trace gas detection, the presentations demonstrate the impressive capabilities of the diode laser technique. Reports on IV-VI mid-infrared diode lasers stress those properties - radiation noise and emission linewidth - which are essential for application to ultra-high sensitivity pollution monitoring. Two reports on III-V systems emitting at wavelengths shorter than 3 mu-m show that the less severe cooling requirements can lead to more compact equipment which can be used to detect pollutants via overtone absorption bands. The presentations on IV-VI physics and devices stress the physical and technological aspects of mid-infrared diode lasers. Laterally structured diode lasers are discussed in detail. There is also extensive material which compares traditional AM and the more recent FM techniques. The reports on special applications point to new directions for research, thus rounding off an expert discussion of a vital research area.
Climate change, energy production and consumption, and the need to improve the sustainability of all aspects of human activity are key inter-related issues for which solutions must be found and implemented quickly and efficiently. To be successfully implemented, solutions must recognize the rapidly changing socio-techno-political environment and multi-dimensional constraints presented by today's interconnected world. As part of this global effort, considerations of climate change impacts, energy demands, and incorporation of sustainability concepts have increasing importance in the design, construction, and maintenance of highway and airport pavement systems. To prepare the human capacity to develop and implement these solutions, many educators, policy-makers and practitioners have stressed the paramount importance of formally incorporating sustainability concepts in the civil engineering curriculum to educate and train future civil engineers well-equipped to address our current and future sustainability challenges. This book will prove a valuable resource in the hands of researchers, educators and future engineering leaders, most of whom will be working in multidisciplinary environments to address a host of next-generation sustainable transportation infrastructure challenges. "This book proposes a broad detailed overview of the actual scientific knowledge about pavements linked to climate change, energy and sustainability at the international level in an original multidimensional/multi-effects way. By the end, the reader will be aware of the whole global issues to care about for various pavement technical features around the world, among which the implications of modelling including data collection, challenging resources saving and infrastructures services optimisation. This is a complete and varied work, rare in the domain." Dr. Agnes Jullien Research Director Director of Environmental, Development, Safety and Eco-Design Laboratory (EASE) Department of Development, Mobility and Environment Ifsttar Centre de Nantes Cedex- France "An excellent compilation of latest developments in the field of sustainable pavements. The chapter topics have been carefully chosen and are very well-organized with the intention of equipping the reader with the state-of-the-art knowledge on all aspects of pavement sustainability. Topics covered include pavement Life Cycle Analysis (LCA), pervious pavements, cool pavements, photocatalytic pavements, energy harvesting pavements, etc. which will all be of significant interest to students, researchers, and practitioners of pavement engineering. This book will no doubt serve as an excellent reference on the topic of sustainable pavements." Dr. Wei-Hsing Huang Editor-in-Chief of International Journal of Pavement Research and Technology (IJPRT) and Professor of Civil Engineering National Central University Taiwan
This volume is devoted to management accounting approaches for analyzing business benefits and costs of climate change. It discusses future directions on carbon accounting, performance measurement and reporting as well as links between climate accounting and business processes, product and service development, supply chain innovation, economic successes and stakeholder relations.Companies are increasingly called on to contribute to combatting climate change and also face the challenges presented by climate-change related costs, risks and benefits. Risks can result from unpredictable weather conditions and government regulations, such as the EU emission trading system and new building codes. Climate change also offers numerous opportunities, such as energy efficiency innovations and carbon neutral products and production.Good management requires that carbon emissions are tracked and climate-related costs, risks and benefits are identified, measured and assessed. As such, research addressing corporate accounting frameworks and tools is of increasing importance when it comes to managing these carbon and climate-related issues.
"Chemical Contamination and Its VictimS" is a comprehensive analytical study of three major problems surrounding chemical pollution: the medical and scientific aspects of chemical hazards; the legal responses to chemical intoxication; and the role of the insurance industry and federal mechanisms like the Superfund in matters related to chemical contamination. The contributors are united in their belief that reform is necessary in each of these areas if victims are to be appropriately compensated for the effects of increasingly frequent chemical pollution. The book begins by discussing medical and scientific advances in the field of chemical hazards. The contributors draw from the disciplines of toxicology, epidemiology, pathology, and environmental health to show the extent to which medicine is limited in dealing with chemical hazards and their human and environmental side-effects. A middle section, written by legal experts, defines toxic torts, explores the courts' responses to actions brought by chemical victims, and examines the less than satisfactory attempts of Congress to compensate these victims. In the final section, the contributors look at the three different insurance plans that carry the burden of compensating victims of environmental disasters. They conclude that the present systems neither adequately protect industry nor adequately compensate victims and that the federal government may need to play a more active role in ensuring that the polluter pays and equitable compensation is granted. Ideal as supplemental reading for courses in business law, environmental medicine, public health, and public policy, this book offers a cogent statement of the dimensions and dynamics of the chemical victims problem.
|
![]() ![]() You may like...
High Temperature Materials for Power…
R. Bachelet, R. Brunetaud, …
Hardcover
R14,256
Discovery Miles 142 560
Practical Math Applications
Sharon Burton, Nelda Shelton
Spiral bound
Mathematics For Engineering Students
Ramoshweu Solomon Lebelo, Radley Kebarapetse Mahlobo
Paperback
R397
Discovery Miles 3 970
|