|
|
Books > Earth & environment > Earth sciences > The hydrosphere
This book highlights the need for effective water governance in
India given the fact that the country has been facing serious water
stress in recent years. The water management in the country needs a
serious scientific understanding coupled with the cooperative
approach rather than a competitive one. It looks at current water
regulations and underlines the need for overhaul of some laws to
ensure that high water usage efficiency is attained, groundwater
depletion is arrested and management of available resources is
carried out in a disciplined manner. It also looks at the role of
stakeholder engagement and pricing as a mechanism to manage demand
in the wake of rapid population growth and industrialization.
Located on the Bay of Fundy, the St. Andrews Biological Station is
Canada's oldest permanent marine research institution. A Century of
Maritime Science reviews the fisheries, environmental,
oceanographic, and aquaculture research conducted over the last
hundred years at St. Andrews from the perspective of the
participating scientists. Introductory essays by two leading
historians of science situate the work at St. Andrews within their
historical context. With topics including the contributions of
women to the early study of marine biology in Canada; the study of
scallops, Atlantic salmon, and paralytic shellfish poisoning; and
the development of underwater camera technology, A Century of
Maritime Science offers a captivating mixture of first-hand
reminiscences, scientific expertise, and historical analysis.
The book is the first of its kind to deal with almost the entire
swath of water resources assessment, development and sustainable
management. The idea of the book crystallized during the long
journey of the Editors on various facets of water issues in India
and abroad during their extended association, at all levels with
the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga
Rejuvenation, as well as International Organizations dealing with
water. Currently water-stressed, India is likely to become water
scarce in not too distant a future. The global freshwater supply
and its sustainable use for human consumption, and conservation of
the ecosystem have never come under such a rigorous scrutiny
before. The unplanned and reckless exploitation of this precious
resource have led to a crisis situation, compounded by a real
threat of climate change. This book is, therefore, timely and of
particular relevance not only to India but the entire world. The
book contains 20 chapters, beside the lead article by the Editors.
The chapters are contributed by the eminent professionals,
researchers, academicians and civil society representatives having
an in-depth understanding of the issues. The contents of the
chapters have been chosen to represent all aspects of water. The
assessment of water resources using satellite data and in-depth
analyses of groundwater sector like, the Aquifer Mapping Programme
initiated by Government of India, application of gravity satellite
data to assess the resource build up, artificial recharge of
aquifers and its contamination, are dealt with by eminent experts.
The articles on sustainable management of water through good
governance by community participation and involvement of civil
society are placed. Flood management both through a basin level
approach as well as by building resilience in vulnerable areas is
discussed. Other critical issues like water bodies management,
constitutional provisions, water governance and financial issues,
hydro-power and need of research and development in this sector are
also dealt with aptly. In view of emerging crisis and complexities
in this sector the future pathways and the paradigm shift that is
required in administrative and policy level is also discussed.
This book focuses on the spatial distribution of landslide hazards
of the Darjeeling Himalayas. Knowledge driven methods and
statistical techniques such as frequency ratio model (FRM),
information value model (IVM), logistic regression model (LRM),
index overlay model (IOM), certainty factor model (CFM), analytical
hierarchy process (AHP), artificial neural network model (ANN), and
fuzzy logic have been adopted to identify landslide susceptibility.
In addition, a comparison between various statistical models were
made using success rate cure (SRC) and it was found that artificial
neural network model (ANN), certainty factor model (CFM) and
frequency ratio based fuzzy logic approach are the most reliable
statistical techniques in the assessment and prediction of
landslide susceptibility in the Darjeeling Himalayas. The study
identified very high, high, moderate, low and very low landslide
susceptibility locations to take site-specific management options
as well as to ensure developmental activities in theDarjeeling
Himalayas. Particular attention is given to the assessment of
various geomorphic, geotectonic and geohydrologic attributes that
help to understand the role of different factors and corresponding
classes in landslides, to apply different models, and to monitor
and predict landslides. The use of various statistical and physical
models to estimate landslide susceptibility is also discussed. The
causes, mechanisms and types of landslides and their destructive
character are elaborated in the book. Researchers interested in
applying statistical tools for hazard zonation purposes will find
the book appealing.
Egyptian coastal lakes and wetlands are among the most productive
wetland ecosystems in the world. This volume explores their current
status and how it can be maintained and improved. It describes the
five Northern coastal lakes, their origin, physical and chemical
properties and current development activities, and discusses the
challenges facing these lakes, such as shrinking, pollution,
degradation, and adaptive management. Further topics include
hydrodynamics and modeling techniques, as well as strategies for
the sustainable development of these valuable resources. The book
closes with a concise summary of the conclusions and
recommendations presented in the chapters. As such, it offers an
invaluable resource for the academic community and postgraduate
students, as well as for environmental managers and policymakers.
This unique volume discusses various aspects of the Grand Ethiopian
Renaissance Dam (GERD) and the Aswan High Dam (AHD) including their
positive and negative impacts. It presents up-to-date research
findings by Egyptian scientists and researchers covering several
interesting hot topics under the following main themes: * Major
impacts of GERD compared with the AHD * Environmental impacts of
the AHD * Modeling scenarios investigating the impacts of GERD on
the AHD and downstream * Environmental and social impacts of GERD
on Egypt * Status and assessment of the sediment of the AHD
reservoir and modeling the impacts of GERD on Lake Nubia sediment
accumulation * Proposed scenarios for maximizing the benefits of
the AHD reservoir * International aspects of GERD and the AHD The
volume also offers a set of conclusions and recommendations to
optimize the cooperation between Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia. It
appeals to postgraduate students, researchers, scientists,
professionals and policy planners.
World Seas: An Environmental Evaluation, Second Edition, Volume
One: Europe, The Americas and West Africa provides a comprehensive
review of the environmental condition of the seas of Europe, the
Americas and West Africa. Each chapter is written by experts in the
field who provide historical overviews in environmental terms,
current environmental status, major problems arising from human
use, informed comments on major trends, problems and successes, and
recommendations for the future. The book is an invaluable worldwide
reference source for students and researchers who are concerned
with marine environmental science, fisheries, oceanography and
engineering and coastal zone development.
This book tries to answer the question how different communities in
such an arid area as the Iranian central plateau could have shared
their limited water resources in a perfect harmony and peace over
the course of history. They invented some indigenous technologies
as well as cooperative socio-economic systems in order to better
adapt themselves to their harsh environment where the scarce water
resources had to be rationed among the different communities as
sustainably as possible. Those stories hold some lessons for us on
how to adjust our needs to our geographical possibilities while
living side by side with other people. This work gives insight into
the indigenous adaptation strategies through the territorial water
cooperation, and describes how water can appear as a ground for
cooperation. It explains the water supply systems and social
aspects of water in central Iran. Topics include the territorial
water cooperation, qanat's, the traditional water management and
sustainability, the socio-economic context, the sustainable
management of shared aquifers system and more.
This book shows how the change of water paradigm has become urgent,
and provides evidence for new policies that expand water balance to
green and virtual water. The issue of water security concerns
drinking water supply but also food safety, linked to agricultural
policy. Both rain-fed and irrigated agriculture play complementary
roles in food security, and the water issue implies a holistic view
of water resources. This view constitutes the book's backstory. The
reader will find original ideas that can be applied everywhere
because the example of Tunisia is typically a basis to illustrate a
universally prevalent situation. The book deals with other
important issues: desalination, wastewater recycling, water
quality, groundwater overdraft, water savings, governance,
knowledge valuing, education, information: upgrading the whole
water systems for the future implies emancipation of the whole
society.
This book explores ancient efforts to explain the scientific,
philosophical, and spiritual aspects of water. From the ancient
point of view, we investigate many questions including: How does
water help shape the world? What is the nature of the ocean? What
causes watery weather, including superstorms and snow? How does
water affect health, as a vector of disease or of healing? What is
the nature of deep-sea-creatures (including sea monsters)? What
spiritual forces can protect those who must travel on water? This
first complete study of water in the ancient imagination makes a
major contribution to classics, geography, hydrology and the
history of science alike. Water is an essential resource that
affects every aspect of human life, and its metamorphic properties
gave license to the ancient imagination to perceive watery
phenomena as the product of visible and invisible forces. As such,
it was a source of great curiosity for the Greeks and Romans who
sought to control the natural world by understanding it, and who,
despite technological limitations, asked interesting questions
about the origins and characteristics of water and its influences
on land, weather, and living creatures, both real and imagined.
Carbon dioxide is the most important greenhouse gas after water
vapor in the atmosphere of the earth. More than 98% of the carbon
of the atmosphere-ocean system is stored in the oceans as dissolved
inorganic carbon. The key for understanding critical processes of
the marine carbon cycle is a sound knowledge of the seawater
carbonate chemistry, including equilibrium and nonequilibrium
properties as well as stable isotope fractionation.
Presenting the first coherent text describing equilibrium and
nonequilibrium properties and stable isotope fractionation among
the elements of the carbonate system. This volume presents an
overview and a synthesis of these subjects which should be useful
for graduate students and researchers in various fields such as
biogeochemistry, chemical oceanography, paleoceanography, marine
biology, marine chemistry, marine geology, and others.
The volume includes an introduction to the equilibrium properties
of the carbonate system in which basic concepts such as equilibrium
constants, alkalinity, pH scales, and buffering are discussed. It
also deals with the nonequilibrium properties of the seawater
carbonate chemistry. Whereas principle of chemical kinetics are
recapitulated, reaction rates and relaxation times of the carbonate
system are considered in details. The book also provides a general
introduction to stable isotope fractionation and describes the
partitioning of carbon, oxygen, and boron isotopes between the
species of the carbonate system. The appendix contains formulas for
the equilibrium constants of the carbonate system, mathematical
expressions to calculate carbonate system parameters, answers to
exercises and more.
This book presents a collection of chapters covering research on
the Litani River Basin. The Litani River Basin occupies about a
quarter of Lebanon's surface area, and it has recently been subject
to severe geo-environmental conditions such as water contamination
and decreased discharge. This motivated the Lebanese government to
take action and start working on the remediation of the river.
These actions are also supported by international organizations
including the World Bank.
This thesis encompasses a study of past precipitation patterns
based on six cave stalagmites from different parts of the Indian
Himalaya. This is the first speleothem study in the Indian Himalaya
that shows a direct relationship between past precipitation and the
collapse of civilization. The stalagmites examined were KL-3 from
Jammu and Kashmir; TCS and BR-1 from Himachal Pradesh; and DH-1,
SA-1 and CH-1 from Uttarakhand. Based on the high-resolution
palaeoclimatic reconstruction (35 U/th dates, 5 AMS dates, 1,500
samples for 18O and 13C values) obtained for the duration of the
Pleistocene-Holocene transition (16.2-9.5 ka BP) and
Mid-Holocene-Present (ca. 4.0 ka BP-Present), three major events
were identified, namely the Older Dryas (OD), Bolling-Allerod (BA)
period and Younger Dryas (YD) at ca. 14.3-13.9, 13.9-12.7 and
12.7-12.2 ka BP, respectively. The study showed a gradual reduction
in the precipitation from 4 ka BP onwards for about a millennium
with a peak arid period between 3.2 and 3.1 ka BP. According to the
findings, the LIA (Little Ice Age) covers a time span from
1622-1820 AD, during which the climate was wetter than that in the
post-LIA period (1820-1950 AD). In addition, this thesis supports
the assumption that the WDs (Western Disturbances) contribute
significantly to the total rainfall in the Himalaya region.
This volume provides an overview of current developments in
theoretical aspects of atmosphere-ocean interactions. These include
the fundamental influence of the ocean surface on the atmospheric
dynamics and also the impact of atmospheric phenomena on the upper
ocean. Both large scale ocean-atmosphere dynamics, including low
frequency variability, as well as shorter time-scales, such as the
physics of the atmospheric and oceanic boundary layers and their
interactions with surface waves and related air-sea processes
important in marine storms are considered. The text also includes
some recent research results.
This title presents the systematization and description of
accumulated knowledge on oceanic fronts of the Norwegian,
Greenland, Barents and Bering Seas. The main fronts of the
Norwegian, Greenland and Barents Seas are part of the climatic
North Polar Frontal Zone (NPFZ). The work is based on numerous
observational data, collected by the authors during special sea
experiments directed at the investigation of physical processes and
phenomena inside certain parts of the NPFZ and in the northern part
of the Bering Sea, on archive data of the USSR Hydrometeocenter and
other research institutions, as well as on a wide scientific
literature published in Russian and Western editions.
The book contains general information on the oceanic fronts of the
Subarctic Seas, brief history of their investigation, state of the
knowledge, as well as detailed description of the thermohaline
structure of all frontal zones in the Norwegian, Greenland, Barents
and Bering Seas and of neighboring fronts of Arctic and coastal
origin. Special attention is given to the study of the multifrontal
character of the NPFZ and of peculiarities of its internal
structure at different locations, to the description of diverse
oceanic features observed in the NPFZ, as well as to some
characteristics of the horizontal and vertical fine structure of
hydrophysical fields in the NPFZ. The main features of the northern
Bering Sea's summer ecohydrodynamics are investigated with the help
of three-dimensional direct and inverse models.
 |
Los Angeles River
(Hardcover)
Ted Elrick, Friends of the Los Angeles River
|
R719
R638
Discovery Miles 6 380
Save R81 (11%)
|
Ships in 18 - 22 working days
|
|
|
Water Policy Science and Politics: An Indian Perspective presents
the importance of politics and science working together in
policymaking in the water sector. Many countries around the
developed and developing world, including India, are experiencing
major water scarcity problems that will undoubtedly increase with
the impacts of climate change. This book discusses specific topics
in India's water, agriculture and energy sectors, focusing on
scientific aspects, academic and political discourse, and policy
issues. The author presents cases from the interrelated sectors of
water resources, supplies, sanitation, and energy and climate,
including controversial topics that illustrate how science and
politics can work together.
The establishment of clean, safe water is one of the major
challenges facing societies around the globe. The continued
urbanization of human populations, the increasing manipulation of
natural resources, and the resulting pollution are driving
remarkable burden on water resources. Increasing demands for food,
energy, and natural resources are expected to continue to
accelerate in the near future in response to the demands of these
changing human populations. In addition, the complexity of human
activities is leading to a diversity of new chemical contaminants
in the environment that represent a major concern for water
managers. This will create increased pressure on both water
quantity and quality, making it increasingly difficult to provide a
sustainable supply of water for human welfare and activities.
Although protection of water resources is the best long-term
solution, we will also need innovative novel approaches and
technologies to water treatment to ensure an adequate superior
quality resource to meet these needs. Solving tomorrow's water
issues will require unique approaches that incorporate emerging new
technologies. Great advances have been made in the area of
nanotechnology. Due to their unique physical and chemical
properties, nanomaterials are extensively used in antibacterial
medical products, membrane filters, electronics, catalysts, and
biosensors. Nanoparticles can have distinctly different properties
from their bulk counterparts, creating the opportunity for new
materials with a diversity of applications. Recent developments
related to water treatment include the potential use of carbon
nanotubes, nanocompositae, nanospheres, nanofibers, and nanowires
for the removal of a diversity of chemical pollutants. By
exploiting the assets and structure of these new materials, such as
increased surface area, high reactivity, and photocatalytic action,
it will be possible to create technologies that can be very
efficient at removing and degrading environmental pollutants.
Understanding and using these unique properties should lead to
innovative, cost-effective applications for addressing the
complexities of emerging needs for water treatment and protection.
Although still in the early stages, research into the application
of nanotechnology shows great promise for solving some of these
major global water issues. This comprehensive text describes the
latest research and application methods in this rapidly advancing
field.
First explored by naturalist William Bartram in the 1760s, the St.
Johns River stretches 310 miles along Florida's east coast, making
it the longest river in the state. The first "highway" through the
once wild interior of Florida, the St. Johns may appear ordinary,
but within its banks are some of the most fascinating natural
phenomena and historic mysteries in the state. The river, no longer
the commercial resource it once was, is now largely ignored by
Florida's residents and visitors alike. In the first contemporary
book about this American Heritage River, Bill Belleville describes
his journey down the length of the St. Johns, kayaking, boating,
hiking its riverbanks, diving its springs, and exploring its
underwater caves. He rediscovers the natural Florida and
establishes his connection with a place once loved for its untamed
beauty. Belleville involves scientists, environmentalists,
fishermen, cave divers, and folk historians in his journey,
soliciting their companionship and their expertise. River of Lakes
weaves together the biological, cultural, anthropological,
archaeological, and ecological aspects of the St. Johns, capturing
the essence of its remarkable history and intrinsic value as a
natural wonder.
In Tides: The Science and Spirit of the Ocean, writer, sailor, and
surfer Jonathan White takes readers across the globe to discover
the science and spirit of ocean tides. In the Arctic, White
shimmies under the ice with an Inuit elder to hunt for mussels in
the dark cavities left behind at low tide; in China, he races the
Silver Dragon, a twenty-five-foot tidal bore that crashes eighty
miles up the Qiantang River; in France, he interviews the monks
that live in the tide-wrapped monastery of Mont Saint-Michel; in
Chile and Scotland, he investigates the growth of tidal power
generation; and in Panama and Venice, he delves into how the threat
of sea level rise is changing human culture—the very old and very
new. Tides combines lyrical prose, colorful adventure travel, and
provocative scientific inquiry into the elemental, mysterious
paradox that keeps our planet’s waters in constant motion.
Photographs, scientific figures, line drawings, and sixteen color
photos dramatically illustrate this engaging, expert tour of the
tides.
This book presents a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art
research on water treatment methods for the removal of
cyanobacteria, taste and odour compounds, and cyanotoxins. The
topics covered include practically all technologies that are
currently used or are in a state of research and development e.g.
membrane filtration, adsorption, biological treatment, chemical
disinfection-oxidation, advanced oxidation processes, reviewing
their effects on cyanotoxins with regards to degradation,
detoxification, mineralization and relative mechanisms. The book
highlights strong and weak points regarding the applicability of
these techniques on a large scale, discusses issues regarding the
quality of treated water, and identifies research gaps and future
research needs on the topic. Topics covered include: * Introduction
to cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins * Cyanotoxins and human health *
Physical treatment for the removal of cyanobacteria/cyanotoxins *
Biological treatment for the destruction of
cyanobacteria/cyanotoxins * Conventional disinfection and/or
oxidation processes * Advanced oxidation processes * Removal and/or
destruction of taste and odour compounds. * Integrated drinking
water processes. * Transformation products of cyanobacterial
metabolites during water treatment. The book concludes with a
section of case studies and real life examples, followed by a
review of the research gaps and future perspectives. This book has
been developed within the frame of the COST-funded CYANOCOST Action
http://cyanocost.com/index.php and is edited by experienced
scientists in the field. Chapters are authoritative and written by
an internationally recognized team of experts in specific research
topics related to water treatment for purification from
cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins.
|
You may like...
As Good As Dead
Holly Jackson
Paperback
(2)
R235
R210
Discovery Miles 2 100
Multigrid
Ulrich Trottenberg, Cornelius W. Oosterlee, …
Hardcover
R2,249
Discovery Miles 22 490
|