Maritime spaces are socially constructed by humans and refer to seas and islands, coasts, port cities and villages, as well as ships and other human-made marine structures. Social interaction with marine environments and living beings, e.g. in a symbolic, cultural or economic manner, has led to the emergence of spatial structures which affect the knowledge, beliefs, meanings and obstinately patterns. Those structures shape mutual expectations of human beings and form the perception, imagination, or memory of inhabitants of maritime spaces. They enable or restrict human action, construct people's everyday life, their norms and values, and are changeable. Contributors include: Jan Asmussen, Robert Bartlomiejski, Benjamin Bowles, Isabel Duarte, Eduardo Sarmento Ferreira, Rita Gracio, Marie C. Grasmeier, Karolina Izdebska, Seung Kuk Kim, Arkadiusz Kolodziej, Agnieszka Kolodziej-Durnas, Maciej Kowalewski, Urszula Kozlowska, Ulrike Kronfeld-Goharani, Rute Muchacho, Giacomo Orsini, Wlodzimierz Karol Pessel, Celia Quico, Harini Sivalingam, Joana Sousa, Frank Sowa, Nuno Cintra Torres, and Gunter Warsewa.

The changes the earth is currently undertaking has been at the forefront of scientific discourse in recent years. Humans as a species have needed to react to these changes and shift their behavior accordingly. Innovative Strategies and Frameworks in Climate Change Adaptation: Emerging Research and Opportunities is a critical scholarly resource that examines the relationship between humans and the changing earth as well as the ways in which humans react to these shifts. Featuring coverage on a wide range of topics such as neo-behaviorism, adaptation narrative, and taxonomy, this book is geared toward researchers, students, and academicians seeking current research on the human response to shifting conditions on the earth.

Energy autonomy is an emerging concept that is, as yet, poorly identified in France. It can mean taking ownership of certain issues related to energy, its production, or, indeed, becoming self-sufficient, and it can apply equally to individuals, communities and buildings.While there are numerous new developments - renewable energies, smart grids and self-consumption - it is becoming difficult to know what this idea of "autonomy" covers, just as it is difficult to define "independence" and "self-sufficiency", which are often associated with it. However, these three concepts are key to thinking about the energy system and deciding its future. Covering distinct ideas, they are often reduced to economic and productive factors. This ambiguity in their meanings is responsible for the misunderstandings, delusions and obstacles that hamper the implementation of the energy transition.This book deconstructs the common idea of autonomy in favor of a set of more operational concepts. It demonstrates that these ideas are not interchangeable but rather represent practical and constructive tools for action. The world of energy is changing, and therefore we must rethink energy autonomy.

Economic Growth and the Environment explores the debate on how to reconcile economic growth with protection of the natural environment, and the closely related discussion on whether an increasing scarcity of natural resources will eventually force economic growth to cease. The debate focusses on whether environmental policies will benefit the economy or not, and is divided into growth optimists and growth pessimists. In general, economists have been optimistic and have pointed to the possibilities of technological progress and substitution, yet they also acknowledge that natural resources and environmental concern do restrict economic growth. The difficulty lies in quantifying the constraint to economic growth. Modern growth economists have constructed models to examine to what extent 'growth pessimism' is theoretically warranted. This book provides an introduction to some of these models, brings together the discussion between growth optimists and pessimists, and presents the theory behind their arguments. It aims to present models where both sides can meet and where both are able to derive expected results with the parameter values that they deem appropriate. From there, the discussions can turn to the empirical observations about these parameters. This book will be of interest to advanced undergraduates in economics, microeconomics, economic growth, sustainable development, and environmental economics. Each chapter concludes with a set of Exercises designed to help the reader master the models.

19th-century British imperial expansion dramatically shaped today's globalised world. Imperialism encouraged mass migrations of people, shifting flora, fauna, and commodities around the world and led to a series of radical environmental changes never before experienced in history. "Eco-Cultural Networks in the British Empire" explores how these networks shaped ecosystems, cultures and societies throughout the British Empire, and how they were themselves transformed by local and regional conditions.This multi-authored volume begins with a rigorous theoretical analysis of the categories of 'empire' and 'imperialism'. Its chapters, written by leading scholars in the field, draw methodologically from recent studies in environmental history, post-colonial theory, and the history of science. Together, these perspectives provide a comprehensive historical understanding of how the British Empire reshaped the globe during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This book will be an important addition to the literature on British imperialism and global ecological change.

"State of the Wild "is a biennial series that brings together international conservation experts and writers to discuss emerging issues in the conservation of wildlife and wild places. Each volume in the series combines evocative writings with a fascinating tour of conservation news highlights and vital statistics from around the world. One-third of each volume focuses on a topic of particular concern to conservationists working to protect wildlife and our last wild places. This 2008-2009 edition considers the integration of wildlife health, ecosystem health, human health, and the health of domestic animals--a "One World-One Health" approach to disease and conservation.

This focus is complemented with essays clustered into sections that address other key issues--conservation of species; conservation of wild places; people, culture, and conservation; and the art and practice of conservation. Essays cover a broad range of topics, from restoring biodiversity on the prairies to mapping the state of the oceans to the conservation impacts of lawlessness and coca cultivation in Colombia. Essay contributions come from people directly involved in on-the-ground conservation efforts and offer a unique and valuable perspective on often-overlooked topics.

S"tate of the Wild"'s accessible approach educates a wide range of audiences while at the same time presenting leading-edge scientific overviews of hot topics in conservation. Uniquely structured with magazine-like features up front, conservation news in the middle, and essays from eminent authors and experienced scientists throughout, this landmark series is an essential addition to any environmental bookshelf.

In The Big Muddy, the first long-term environmental history of the Mississippi, Christopher Morris offers a brilliant tour across five centuries as he illuminates the interaction between people and the landscape, from early hunter-gatherer bands to present-day industrial and post-industrial society.
Morris shows that when Hernando de Soto arrived at the lower Mississippi Valley, he found an incredibly vast wetland, forty thousand square miles of some of the richest, wettest land in North America, deposited there by the big muddy river that ran through it. But since then much has changed, for the river and for the surrounding valley. Indeed, by the 1890s, the valley was rapidly drying. Morris shows how centuries of increasingly intensified human meddling--including deforestation, swamp drainage, and levee construction--led to drought, disease, and severe flooding. He outlines the damage done by the introduction of foreign species, such as the Argentine nutria, which escaped into the wild and are now busy eating up Louisiana's wetlands. And he critiques the most monumental change in the lower Mississippi Valley--the reconstruction of the river itself, largely under the direction of the Army Corps of Engineers. Valley residents have been paying the price for these human interventions, most visibly with the disaster that followed Hurricane Katrina. Morris also describes how valley residents have been struggling to reinvigorate the valley environment in recent years--such as with the burgeoning catfish and crawfish industries--so that they may once again live off its natural abundance.
Morris concludes that the problem with Katrina is the problem with the Amazon Rainforest, drought and famine in Africa, and fires and mudslides in California--it is the end result of the ill-considered bending of natural environments to human purposes.

The increasingly widespread production of toxins by marine and freshwater microalgae raises serious concerns regarding seafood and drinking water safety. This book compiles studies on the influence of climate change on the spreading of toxin-producing species in aquatic systems. The chemistry and biology of toxin production is revised and an outlook on control and prevention of the toxins' impact on human and animal health is given.

This report aims to identify and map air pollution hotspots in South Asia in terms of concentration and exposure, understand the various sources of pollution in hotspot areas (from Kabul to Dhaka), and help categorise policy actions and interventions based on a systematic analysis of costs and benefits.

Old men used to sit in corner stores and discuss business, work, and politics. Women used to come together and talk about the men as they took care of the home and children, or even more recently as a part of the workforce. Today, however, politics is a shunned topic, and conversation is all but dead. It is difficult to stay informed and talk with each other about life and politics.

It is even more difficult to stay informed on a technical topic such as energy and something as double-sided as politics. Yet it is imperative that people stay informed and well-connected to direct their government.

This book shows how the government (President, House and Senate, left and right) have destroyed the energy industry, taxed the middle class, and prevented well thinking, regular folks from solving our energy supply crisis. This book has thirty-three charts and graphs, most from bi-partisan or independent government sources to make a case for less government involvement in the energy industry. There are some astonishing revelations and a compelling case for reducing air emissions by 60 percent and creating jobs at the same time by building a particular type of new generation. This is a compelling argument that has never been presented before. I hope you enjoy the read.

Global warming and the resulting climate change affect our cities the most. In the recent years, migration to cities from the rural areas has increased. With this, an orderly structuring occurred in the cities, and as a result, the quality of the urban environment started to decrease. For this reason, planners and designers have started to introduce different approaches to make cities more sustainable and livable. This book contains new theories, approaches and practices that scientists deal with regarding physical planning and design.