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Books > Earth & environment > The environment > Social impact of environmental issues
Architecture and the Housing Question examines how the design and provision of housing around the world have become central both to competing political projects and to the architecture profession. How have architects acting as housing experts helped alleviate or enforce class, race, and gender inequality? What are the disciplinary implications of taking on shelter for the multitude as an architectural assignment and responsibility? The book features essays in the historiography of architecture and the housing question, and a collection of historical case studies from Belgium, China, France, Ghana, the Netherlands, Kenya, the Soviet Union, Turkey, and the United States. The thematic organization of the collection, interrogating housing expertise, the state apparatus, segregation and colonialism, highlights the methodological questions that underpin its international outlook. The book will appeal to students and scholars in architecture, architectural history, theory, and urban studies.
Visionary Oxford professor Ian Goldin and The Economist's Tom Lee-Devlin show why the city is where the battles of inequality, social division, pandemics and climate change must be faced. From centres of antiquity like Athens or Rome to modern metropolises like New York or Shanghai, cities throughout history have been the engines of human progress and the epicentres of our greatest achievements. Now, for the first time, more than half of humanity lives in cities, a share that continues to rise. In the developing world, cities are growing at a rate never seen before. In this book, Professor Goldin and Tom Lee-Devlin show why making our societies fairer, more cohesive and sustainable must start with our cities. Globalization and technological change have concentrated wealth into a small number of booming metropolises, leaving many smaller cities and towns behind and feeding populist resentment. Yet even within seemingly thriving cities like London or San Francisco, the gap between the haves and have-nots continues to widen and our retreat into online worlds tears away at our social fabric. Meanwhile, pandemics and climate change pose existential threats to our increasingly urban world. Professor Goldin and Tom Lee-Devlin combine the lessons of history with a deep understanding of the challenges confronting our world today to show why cities are at a crossroads – and hold our destinies in the balance.
Why do people living in different areas vote in different ways? Why does this change over time? How do people talk about politics with friends and neighbours, and with what effect? Does the geography of well-being influence the geography of party support? Do parties try to talk to all voters at election time, or are they interested only in the views of a small number of voters living in a small number of seats? Is electoral participation in decline, and how does the geography of the vote affect this? How can a party win a majority of seats in Parliament without a majority of votes in the country? Putting Voters in their Place explores these questions by placing the analysis of electoral behaviour into its geographical context. Using information from the latest elections, including the 2005 General Election, the book shows how both voters and parties are affected by, and seek to influence, both national and local forces. Trends are set in the context of the latest research and scholarship on electoral behaviour. The book also reports on new research findings.
The Wild & The Free begins as a series of meditations about wilderness and freedom; about the American frontier in fact and fiction, and its promise of freedom for refugees. But then it draws back to consider Rousseau, Zerzan and the largely negative effects on humanity and personal freedom which stem from the advent of agriculture. Along the way, Donal McGraith considers such topics as 'buyer's regret, ' which is evidenced by our consumerism and attempts to convince ourselves that we have not lost something of value. And he takes a detailed look at the film Shane whose chief protagonist exemplifies the impossibility of personal integrity when faced by the demands of loyalty brought about by civilization. With his insistence on individual responsibility, Shane chooses to become an outsider, to stand apart from the family, law and gangs that compete for his allegiance. The Wild and the Free is a clarion call about the trajectory of society since the advent of agriculture, one that has led to an abdication of moral responsibility, to ecological disaster, and to complacency with poverty and homelessness. Donal McGraith is a writer and editor in the politics of contemporary music and art. His essay, 'Anti-Copyright and Cassette Culture' was included in the critically acclaimed Sound By Artists (Lander & Lexier ed. Charivari Press Facsimile Edition, 2013). He has published several essays in Musicworks and Sub Rosa.
This book addresses the biological effects of the reasonably large number of classes of compounds that have been recognized as endocrine disrupters. These compounds have been found to persist as pollutants in the environment, and have been blamed for causing developmental disorders and/or fertility problems in fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and possibly humans. This book presents the relevant fundamentals of the endocrine systems of animals and humans, the toxicology, developmental toxicology, ecology, and risk assessment methods, and lays out the current state of understanding for the whole field, organized by the classes of compounds that have been identified as endocrine disrupters.
The Earth's human population is expected to pass eight billion by the year 2025, while rapid growth in the global economy will spur ever increasing demands for natural resources. The world will consequently face growing scarcities of such vital renewable resources as cropland, fresh water, and forests. Thomas Homer-Dixon argues in this sobering book that these environmental scarcities will have profound social consequences--contributing to insurrections, ethnic clashes, urban unrest, and other forms of civil violence, especially in the developing world. Homer-Dixon synthesizes work from a wide range of international research projects to develop a detailed model of the sources of environmental scarcity. He refers to water shortages in China, population growth in sub-Saharan Africa, and land distribution in Mexico, for example, to show that scarcities stem from the degradation and depletion of renewable resources, the increased demand for these resources, and/or their unequal distribution. He shows that these scarcities can lead to deepened poverty, large-scale migrations, sharpened social cleavages, and weakened institutions. And he describes the kinds of violence that can result from these social effects, arguing that conflicts in Chiapas, Mexico and ongoing turmoil in many African and Asian countries, for instance, are already partly a consequence of scarcity. Homer-Dixon is careful to point out that the effects of environmental scarcity are indirect and act in combination with other social, political, and economic stresses. He also acknowledges that human ingenuity can reduce the likelihood of conflict, particularly in countries with efficient markets, capable states, and an educated populace. But he argues that the violent consequences of scarcity should not be underestimated--especially when about half the world's population depends directly on local renewables for their day-to-day well-being. In the next decades, he writes, growing scarcities will affect billions of people with unprecedented severity and at an unparalleled scale and pace. Clearly written and forcefully argued, this book will become the standard work on the complex relationship between environmental scarcities and human violence.
'A funny, achievable guide' Observer 'Lauren Bravo is one of my favourite writers' Dolly Alderton 'Bravo will inspire you to repair, recycle and give old items a new lease of life' Stylist You probably know the statistics: global clothing production has roughly doubled in just 15 years, and every year an estimated 300,000 tonnes of used clothing ends up in UK landfill. Fast fashion is the ultimate toxic relationship. It's bad news for the planet, our brains and our bank balances. We can't go on like this; our shopping habits need an overhaul. Journalist Lauren Bravo loves clothes more than anything, but she's called time on her affair with fast fashion in search of a slower, saner way of dressing. In this book, she'll help you do the same. How To Break Up With Fast Fashion will help you to change your mindset, fall back in love with your wardrobe and embrace more sustainable ways of shopping - from the clothes swap to the charity shop. Full of refreshing honesty and realistic advice, Lauren will inspire you to repair, recycle and give your unloved items a new lease of life without sacrificing your style. Because fashion belongs to everyone, but no outfit should cost us the earth.
Biologists have long marvelled at how anadromous salmonids - fish that pass from rivers into oceans and back - survive as they migrate between these two very different environments. Yet, relatively little is understood about what happens to salmonids in the estuaries where they make this transition from fresh to salt water. This book distills the current knowledge of how eighteen salmonid species around the world (including salmon, steelhead, char, and trout) are adapted to estuaries. It discusses why the waters where rivers and oceans meet are critical to salmonid survival and how these vital habitats can be preserved and recovered.
Nature, money, work, care, food, energy, and lives: these are the seven things that have made our world and will shape its future. In making these things cheap, modern commerce has transformed, governed, and devastated Earth. In A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things, Raj Patel and Jason W. Moore present a new approach to analyzing today's planetary emergencies. Bringing the latest ecological research together with histories of colonialism, indigenous struggles, slave revolts, and other rebellions and uprisings, Patel and Moore demonstrate that throughout history, crises have always prompted fresh strategies to make the world cheap and safe for capitalism. At a time of crisis in all seven cheap things, innovative and systemic thinking is urgently required. This book proposes a radical new way of understanding-and reclaiming-the planet in the turbulent twenty-first century.
In the United States alone, industrial and agricultural toxins
account for about 60,000 avoidable cancer deaths annually.
Pollution-related health costs to Americans are similarly
staggering: $13 billion a year from asthma, $351 billion from
cardiovascular disease, and $240 billion from occupational disease
and injury. Most troubling, children, the poor, and minorities bear
the brunt of these health tragedies.
This collection of essays looks at the relationship between culture and the environment. Leading scholars in the humanities and social sciences explore the concept of landscape across cultures, ranging from Papua New Guinea to ancient Britain. Generously illustrated, the book provides powerful evidence of the role of culture in shaping our understanding of the material world.
Michael P Hassell examines the population dynamics of the interaction between insect parasitoids and their hosts. He incorporates all the major recent advances in our understanding of these interactions to show how the resulting body of theory makes direct contact with systems in the field, and can provide us with an in-depth understanding of a whole area of population dynamics. Hassell gives us a new and authoritative synthesis of his subject, as well as an elegant and exciting demonstration of how ecological studies advance.
This book provides a standardized set of protocols for measuring soil properties, to facilitatte corss-site synthesis and evaluation of ecosystem processess. The book should be of interest to a rather broad range of ecologists, agronomists, and soil scientists. It is the second volume in the Long-term Ecological Research Network Series.
In "The Coming Famine", Julian Cribb lays out a vivid picture of impending planetary crisis - a global food shortage that threatens to hit by mid-century - that would dwarf any in our previous experience. Cribb's comprehensive assessment describes a dangerous confluence of shortages - of water, land, energy, technology, and knowledge - combined with the increased demand created by population and economic growth. Writing in brisk, accessible prose, Cribb explains how the food system interacts with the environment and with armed conflict, poverty, and other societal factors. He shows how high food prices and regional shortages are already sending shockwaves into the international community. But, far from outlining a doomsday scenario, "The Coming Famine" offers a strong and positive call to action, exploring the greatest issue of our age and providing practical suggestions for addressing each of the major challenges it raises.
Debated, denied, unheard of, encompassing: The Anthropocene is a vexed topic, and requires interdisciplinary imagination. Starting at the author's home in rural northern Michigan and zooming out to perceive a dizzying global matrix, Christopher Schaberg invites readers on an atmospheric, impressionistic adventure with the environmental humanities. Searching for the Anthropocene blends personal narrative, cultural criticism, and ecological thought to ponder human-driven catastrophe on a planetary scale. This book is not about defining or settling the Anthropocene, but rather about articulating what it's like to live in the Anthropocene, to live with a sense of its nagging presence--even as the stakes grow higher with each passing year, each oncoming storm.
In the last few years, a handful of behavioural ecologists, increasingly concerned about species losses, have begun to address issues in conservation biology. Using data collected in the course of their fieldwork on mating systems, foraging behaviour, or habitat preferences, or simply by working on an endangered species, they have started to apply their findings to models of population growth and effective population size, hands-on management, and developing conservation strategies. This edited volume is the first attempt to link these disciplines formally.
Behavioural ecologists study the strategies that individual animals use to maximize their genetic representation in future generations; conservation biologists study small populations and attempt to stem the tide of species extinctions. In the last few years, a handful of behavioural ecologists, increasingly concerned about species losses, have begun to address issues in conservation biology. Using data collected in the course of their fieldwork on mating systems, foraging behaviour, or habitat preferences, or simply by working on an endangered species, they have started to apply their findings to models of population growth and effective population size, hands-on management, and developing conservation strategies. This edited volume is the first attempt to link these disciplines formally.
"Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?" God asks Job in the "Whirlwind Speech," but Job cannot reply. This passage-which some environmentalists and religious scholars treat as a "green" creation myth-drives renowned ecologist H. H. Shugart's extraordinary investigation, in which he uses verses from God's speech to Job to explore the planetary system, animal domestication, sea-level rise, evolution, biodiversity, weather phenomena, and climate change. Shugart calls attention to the rich resonance between the Earth's natural history and the workings of religious feeling, the wisdom of biblical scripture, and the arguments of Bible ethicists. The divine questions that frame his study are quintessentially religious, and the global changes humans have wrought on the Earth operate not only in the physical, chemical, and biological spheres but also in the spiritual realm. Shugart offers a universal framework for recognizing and confronting the global challenges humans now face: the relationship between human technology and large-scale environmental degradation, the effect of invasive species on the integrity of ecosystems, the role of humans in generating wide biotic extinctions, and the future of our oceans and tides.
This volume is a compendium of the rich archeological and literary evidence on the Iranian world in its larger sense, comprising part of what is now Soviet Central Asia and Afghanistan as well as Iran proper. Originally published in 1984. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
Coastally Restricted Forests addresses the ecology and management of freshwater forests and wetlands located along sea coasts, assessing the current research, comparing data from different geographic regions, and integrating applications and ideas from foresters, land-use managers, and water resource managers. This book fills a gap in forestry and wetlands literature, as it takes a worldwide view of natural resource management.
During evolution there have been several major changes in the way genetic information is organized and transmitted from one generation to the next. These transitions include the origin of life itself, the first eukaryotic cells, reproduction by sexual means, the appearance of multicellular plants and animals, the emergence of cooperation and of animal societies. This is the first book to discuss all these major transitions and their implications for our understanding of evolution. Clearly written and illustrated with many original diagrams, this book will be welcomed by students and researchers in the fields of evolutionary biology, ecology, and genetics.
This book outlines four different categories of co-operation -- reciprocal altruism, kinship, group-selected co-operation, and by-product mutualism -- and ties them together in a single framework called the Co-operator's Dilemma. Hundreds of studies on cooperation in insects, fish, birds, and mammals are then reviewed, each example being tied back to the theoretical framework developed early on when the data allows. Future experiments designed to further elucidate a particular type of co-operation are provided throughout the book.
This book on water and climate change goes beyond the usual and predictable analyses, by bringing religion and values into a discussion that is often dominated by technocratic solutions. The three case studies of Jakarta, Cape Town, and Amsterdam demonstrate the challenges of water management in urban areas and the role religion can play in addressing them. With representatives from science, politics, economics, and religion, as well as young voices, the book stimulates a values-driven dialogue on issues of water in times of climate change. |
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