Environmental Studies by
Knowledge about the environment is key to its protection and improvement. It is important for us to understand the laws that govern the ongoing processes within the environment. Environmental studies is of significant importance to scientists and environmentalists
because of rapid loss of biodiversity, sudden and unpredictable climate changes, water pollution, ozone layer depletion, and land degradation.
Vital Signs 2012 by
Just as people schedule regular check-ups with physicians, our planet needs regular check-ups to catch issues as early as possible, before they become more serious and harder to heal. That is the much-needed service provided on a global scale by the Worldwatch Institute in this new book, Vital Signs 2012.   By taking stock of global consumption, Vital Signs 2012 offers the facts that need to guide our stewardship of the Earth's resources-and some of these facts are shocking. Vital Signs 2012 is based on Worldwatch's online project of the same name, which provides up-to-date figures on important global concerns, as well as the Institute's own additional research. The book compiles the most important of these into an accessible, informative resource for policymakers and anyone who wants a realistic look at the state of our planet.
Basics of Environmental Science by
This book has been written to meet the needs of students studying environmental science. The main emphasis is on sustainable development. Eco-friendly technologies necessary for maintaining a healthy environment are discussed with the primary objective to generate awareness about environmental issues amongst the student community and the general public. The responsibility of citizens towards the environment is highlighted by the tips titled What Can A Common Citizen Do? With the help of the latest information and interesting case studies, the book gives a holistic account of different aspects of Environmental Science.
Trends in Environmental Science by
The environment is considered the surroundings in which an organism operates, including air, water, land, natural resources, flora, fauna, humans and their interrelation. It is this environment that is both so valuable on the one hand, and so endangered on the other. And it is people that are by and large ruining the environment, both for themselves and for all other organisms. This book presents some of the latest research in the field.
Sustainability by
Encouraging students to engage in the challenges and complexity of sustainability, this text considers not only the theories underlying sustainability, but more importantly how theories are translated into practice and the difficulties of achieving this in the world in which we live. This pragmatic focus gives students a greater understanding of the practice of sustainability and highlights the challenges involved. Models and theories are illustrated throughout with real world examples to help students move away from the abstract and connect with genuine issues. The text begins by focusing on sustainable production and consumption and how they are related. The role of tools such as modelling and sustainability indicators are explored, and extended into the fields of stakeholder participation, livelihoods and evidence-based policy. The final chapter explores the interconnections between apparently disparate subjects and the importance of taking an interdisciplinary perspective.
Waking the Giant by
Twenty thousand years ago our planet was an icehouse. Temperatures were down six degrees; ice sheets kilometres thick buried much of Europe and North America and sea levels were 130m lower. The following 15 millennia saw an astonishing transformation as our planet metamorphosed into thetemperate world upon which our civilisation has grown and thrived. One of the most dynamic periods in Earth history saw rocketing temperatures melt the great ice sheets like butter on a hot summer's day; feeding torrents of freshwater into ocean basins that rapidly filled to present levels. Theremoval of the enormous weight of ice at high latitudes caused the crust to bounce back triggering earthquakes in Europe and North America and provoking an unprecedented volcanic outburst in Iceland. A giant submarine landslide off the coast of Norway sent a tsunami crashing onto the Scottish coastwhile around the margins of the continents the massive load exerted on the crust by soaring sea levels encouraged a widespread seismic and volcanic rejoinder. In many ways, this post-glacial world mirrors that projected to arise as a consequence of unmitigated climate change driven by human activities. Already there are signs that the effects of climbing global temperatures are causing the sleeping giant to stir once again. Could it be that we are ontrack to bequeath to our children and their children not only a far hotter world, but also a more geologically fractious one?
Behavioural Responses to a Changing World by
Human-induced environmental change currently represents the single greatest threat to global biodiversity. Species are typically adapted to the local environmental conditions in which they have evolved. Changes in environmental conditions initially influence behaviour, which in turn affectsspecies interactions, population dynamics, evolutionary processes and, ultimately, biodiversity. How animals respond to changed conditions, and how this influences population viability, is an area of growing research interest. Yet, despite the vital links between environmental change, behaviour, andpopulation dynamics, surprisingly little has been done to bridge these areas of research. Behavioural Responses to a Changing World is the first book of its kind devoted to understanding behavioural responses to environmental change. The volume is comprehensive in scope, discussing impacts on both the mechanisms underlying behavioural processes, as well as the longer-term ecological andevolutionary consequences. Drawing on international experts from across the globe, the book covers topics as diverse as endocrine disruption, learning, reproduction, migration, species interactions, and evolutionary rescue.
White House Politics and the Environment by
Presidents and their administrations since the 1960s have become increasingly active in environmental politics, despite their touted lack of expertise and their apparent frequent discomfort with the issue. In White House Politics and the Environment: Franklin D. Roosevelt to George W. Bush, Byron W. Daynes and Glen Sussman study the multitude of resources presidents can use in their attempts to set the public agenda. They also provide a framework for considering the environmental direction and impact of U.S. presidents during the last seven decades, permitting an assessment of each president in terms of how his administration either aided or hindered the advancement of environmental issues. Employing four factors--political communication, legislative leadership, administrative actions, and environmental diplomacy--as a matrix for examining the environmental records of the presidents, Daynes and Sussman's analysis and discussion allow them to sort each of the twelve occupants of the White House included in this study into one of three categories, ranging from less to more environmentally friendly. Environmental leaders and public policy professionals will appreciate White House Politics and the Environment for its thorough and wide-ranging examination of how presidential resources have been brought to bear on environmental issues.
