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Environmental Change and Agricultural Sustainability in the Mekong Delta
by Peter A. Coclanis Mart A. StewartThe Mekong Delta of Vietnam is one of the most productive agricultural areas in the world. The Mekong River fans out over an area of about 40,000 sq kilometers and over the course of many millennia has produced a region of fertile alluvial soils and constant flows of energy. Today about a fourth of the Delta is under rice cultivation, making this area one of the premier rice granaries in the world. The Delta has always proven a difficult environment to manipulate, however, and because of population pressures, increasing acidification of soils, and changes in the Mekong's flow, environmental problems have intensified. The changing way in which the region has been linked to larger flows of commodities and capital over time has also had an impact on the region: For example, its re-emergence in recent decades as a major rice-exporting area has linked it inextricably to global markets and their vicissitudes. And most recently, the potential for sea level increases because of global warming has added a new threat. Because most of the region is on average only a few meters above sea level and because any increase of sea level will change the complex relationship between tides and down-river water flow, the Mekong Delta is one of the areas in the world most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. How governmental policy and resident populations have in the past and will in coming decades adapt to climate change as well as several other emerging or ongoing environmental and economic problems is the focus of this collection.
Environmental City
by William Scott SwearingenAs Austin grew from a college and government town of the 1950s into the sprawling city of 2010, two ideas of Austin as a place came into conflict. Many who promoted the ideology of growth believed Austin would be defined by economic output, money, and wealth. But many others thought Austin was instead defined by its quality of life. Because the natural environment contributed so much to Austin's quality of life, a social movement that wanted to preserve the city's environment became the leading edge of a larger movement that wanted to retain a unique sense of place. The "environmental movement" in Austin became the political and symbolic arm of the more general movement for place. This is a history of the environmental movement in Austin-how it began; what it did; and how it promoted ideas about the relationships between people, cities, and the environment. It is also about a deeper movement to retain a sense of place that is Austin, and how that deeper movement continues to shape the way Austin is built today. The city it helped to create is now on the forefront of national efforts to rethink how we build our cities, reduce global warming, and find ways that humans and the environment can coexist in a big city.
Environmental Cleanup at Navy Facilities: Risk-Based Methods
by National Research CouncilThe fiscal and technological limitations associated with cleaning up hazardous waste sites to background conditions have prompted responsible parties to turn to risk-based methods for environmental rememdiation.Environmental Cleanup at Navy Facilities reviews and critiques risk-based methods, including those developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the American Society of Testing and Materials. These critiques lead to the identification of eleven criteria that must be part of any risk-based methodology adopted by the Navy, a responsible party with a large number of complex and heavily contaminated waste sites. January
Environmental Design: Architecture, Politics, and Science in Postwar America (Midcentury: Architecture, Landscape, Urbanism, and Design)
by Avigail SachsMuch of twentieth-century design was animated by the creative tension of its essential duality: is design an art or a science? In the postwar era, American architects sought to calibrate architectural practice to evolving scientific knowledge about humans and environments, thus elevating the discipline’s stature and enmeshing their work in a progressive restructuring of society. This political and scientific effort was called "environmental design," a term expanded in the 1960s to include ecological and liberal ideas. In her expansive new study, Avigail Sachs examines the theoretical scaffolding and practical legacy of this professional effort.Inspired by Lewis Mumford’s 1932 challenge enjoining architects to go beyond visual experimentation and create complete human environments, Environmental Design details the rise of modernist ideas in the architectural disciplines within the novel context of sociopolitical rather than aesthetic responsibilities. Unlike today’s "starchitects," environmental designers saw themselves as orchestrators of decision making more than auteurs of form and style. Viewing architectural practice as rooted in Progressive Era politics and the democratic process rather than the European avant-garde, Sachs plots how these social concepts spread via influential architecture schools. This rich examination of pedagogy and practice is a map to both the history of environmental design and the contemporary consequences of architecture understood as a pressing social concern.
Environmental Disaster in the Gulf South: Two Centuries of Catastrophe, Risk, and Resilience (The Natural World of the Gulf South #6)
by Ted Steinberg Cindy ErmusHurricanes, floods, oil spills, disease, and disappearing wetlands are some of the many environmental disasters that impact the Gulf South. The contributors to Environmental Disaster in the Gulf South explore the threat, frequency, and management of this region’s disasters from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. Scholars from the fields of history, sociology, and anthropology examine the underlying causes of vulnerability to natural hazards in the coastal states while also suggesting ways to increase resilience.Greg O’Brien considers the New Orleans flood of 1849; Andy Horowitz, the Galveston storm of 1900; and Christopher M. Church, the 1928 hurricane in Florida and the Caribbean. Urmi Engineer Willoughby delves into the turn-of-the-century yellow fever outbreaks in New Orleans and local attempts to eradicate them, while Abraham H. Gibson and Cindy Ermus discuss the human introduction of invasive species and their long-term impact on the region’s ecosystem. Roberto E. Barrios looks at political-ecological susceptibility in New Orleans’s Lower Ninth Ward, and Kevin Fox Gotham treats storm- and flood-defense infrastructures. In his afterword, Ted Steinberg ponders what the future holds when the capitalist state supports an unwinnable battle between land developers and nature.These case studies offer new ways of understanding humans’ interactions with the unique, and at times unforgiving, environment of the Gulf South. These lessons are particularly important as we cope with the effects of climate change and seek to build resilience and reduce vulnerability through enhanced awareness, adequate preparation, and efficient planning.
Environmental Foundations to the Rise of Early Civilisations in China (Elements in Ancient East Asia)
by Yijie ZhuangThe transition from the middle to late Holocene (5000–4000 BP) coincided with profound socioeconomic transformations and intensified regional and trans-regional interactions in late prehistoric China. These environmental and socioeconomic changes gave rise to diverse lifeways and settlement modes that constituted the foundation for the emergence of regional civilisations. In this Element, prehistoric China is divided roughly into the Highlands, Lowlands, and Coastal areas, each with unique environmental and ecological conditions and distinctive technological and economic traditions between 5000–4000 BP. The author gathers and reviews large amounts of environmental and archaeological data, and reconstructs brief environmental and settlement changes and lifeways. The author argues that environmental conditions and subsistence adaptations are two of the engines driving the increased socioeconomic complexity and rise of civilisations in the late prehistoric China. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.
Environmental Governance in Vietnam
by Stephan OrtmannThis book deals with institutional reforms in response to a mounting environmental crisis in Vietnam. The author introduces the reader to the most important environmental problems that Vietnam is currently facing and shows how the emphasis on economic growth has come at the expense of the natural environment. Following an assessment of the still deteriorating environmental situation, the book develops a theoretical framework of institutional change within the political system seeking to overcome the traditionally static understanding of institutions. The empirical analysis devotes attention to the main aspects on Vietnam's environmental governance including the government, society, businesses and international organizations. The book is based on four years of empirical research including interviews with government officials and representatives of international and national non-governmental organizations, observations of meetings, official documents, and numerous Vietnamese newspaper reports. This book is directed both at academics, students, as well as development practitioners and activists. It seeks to engage those working in the fields of environmental politics, governance, and institutional change in one-party states.
Environmental Hazards in the British Isles (Routledge Revivals)
by A.H. PerryEnvironmental Hazards in the British Isles (1981) offers a comprehensive account of the various hazards affecting Britain. Based on a wealth of empirical data, it provides a balanced perspective on phenomena that are usually presented in a sensational way by the media and then quickly forgotten. A three-fold methodology is suggested for the study of environmental hazards, which concentrates on their incidence, their causes and their frequency, and their impact on both the individual and society as a whole.
Environmental Histories of the Dinaric Karst (Environmental History #17)
by Matija Zorn Borna Fuerst-Bjeliš Jelena Mrgić Hrvoje Petrić Žiga ZwitterThis multi- and interdisciplinary book will offer novel environmental history (EH) research on Dinaric Karst, one of European largest continuous karstic areas, from prehistory to contemporary history. Various methodological approaches will be applied (e.g., archival investigations, oral-history interviews, field work and laboratory analyses). Historical human adaptations to karstic environmental conditions, human interventions in environment, environmental dynamics and impacts of environmental change will be dealt with by focusing on historical uses of natural resources, their further ecological implications (e.g., fire hazard) and their change over time, on natural and social impacts of changes in weather and climate, on pollution and on intellectual EH. General characteristics and local peculiarities will be identified based on comparisons with foreign literature. Primary audience are historians, geographers, archaeologists, anthropologists, ethnologists, foresters and landscapearchitects.Chapters 1, 5, 12 and 16 are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.
Environmental History and Tribals in Modern India
by Velayutham SaravananThis monograph presents a comprehensive account of environmental history of India and its tribals from the late eighteenth onwards, covering both the colonial and post-colonial periods. The book elaborately discusses the colonial plunder of forest resources up to the introduction of the Forest Act (1878) and focuses on how colonial policy impacted on the Indian environment, opening the floodgates of forest resources plunder, primarily for timber and to establish coffee and tea plantations. The book argues that even after the advent of conservation initiatives, commercial exploitation of forests continued unabated while stringent restrictions were imposed on the tribals, curtailing their access to the jungles. It details how post-colonial governments and populist votebank politics followed the same commercial forest policy till the 1980s without any major reform, exploiting forest resources and also encroaching upon forest lands, pushing the self-sustainable tribal economy to crumble. The book offers a comprehensive account of India’s environmental history during both colonial and post-colonial times, contributing to the current environmental policy debates in Asia.
Environmental History in East Asia: Interdisciplinary Perspectives (Academia Sinica on East Asia)
by Ts’ui-Jung LiuAs environmental history has developed as growing sub-discipline within the study of history, great emphasis has been placed on the importance of adopting an interdisciplinary approach. Indeed, as Environmental History in East Asia shows, by drawing on research and methodologies from the fields of science, technology, geography, geology and ecology, we are able to develop a much richer understanding of a region’s history. This book provides a comprehensive examination of environmental history in East Asia, ranging temporally from the Ming dynasty to the 21st Century and spatially across China, Japan and Taiwan. Split into four parts, the chapters cover a wide range of fascinating topics, comparing environmental thought and policy in the East and West, the transformation of the landscape, land resource utilization and impact of agriculture and disasters and diseases across the region. A diverse selection of case studies are used to illustrate the chapters, including the role of Daoism, Qing pasturelands and 21st century swine flu. Truly interdisciplinary in approach, this book will be of huge interest to students and scholars of Asian environmentalism, environmental history, Asian anthropology, Asian development studies and Asian history more generally.
Environmental History in the Pacific World (The Pacific World: Lands, Peoples and History of the Pacific, 1500-1900)
by J. R. McNeillThis volume brings together a set of key articles from the last 30 years pertaining to the environmental history of the Pacific basin. It aims to treat the islands and waters of the Pacific as well as the lands around the Rim, from New Zealand to Japan, to California, to Chile, and is the first work of environmental history to take this inclusive view of the Pacific basin. The focus is mainly on recent centuries but, as environmental history requires, at times the work also takes the very long view of millennia. Several of the articles seek to bring a broad Pacific perspective to bear on their subjects, while others use Pacific-basin examples to try to establish broader theoretical points of interest to all who are drawn to the study of the interactions between nature and culture. The book includes a bibliography of Pacific-basin environmental history and an introduction that aims to sketch the contours and possible future directions of the field.
Environmental History of Britain since the Industrial Revolution, An
by B. W. ClappThe present and future state of the environment gives rise to ever increasing concern, but much less is known as yet about the past: the damage that has been done since, and by, the Industrial Revolution; how far our predecessors were aware of it; the steps they took; and the gradual development of a wider concern for the state of the world and our impact on it. This timely and pioneering survey, designed for general readers as well as students and scholars, is a substantial contribution to that understanding.
Environmental History of Oceanic Islands: Natural and Human Impacts on the Vegetation of the Juan Fernández (Robinson Crusoe) Archipelago
by Tod F. StuessyThe Juan Fernández Archipelago is located in the Pacific Ocean west of Chile at 33° S latitude. Robinson Crusoe Island is 667 km from the continent and approximately four million years old; Alejandro Selkirk Island is an additional 181 km west and only one million years old. The natural impacts of subsidence and erosion have shaped the landscapes of these islands, resulting in progressive changes to their subtropical vegetation. The older island has undergone more substantial changes, due to both natural causes and human impacts. After the discovery of Robinson Crusoe Island in 1574, people began cutting down forests for lumber to construct boats and homes, for firewood, and to make room for pastures. Domesticated plants and animals were introduced, some of which have since become feral or invasive, causing damage to the local vegetation. The wealth of historical records on these activities provides a detailed chronicle of how human beings use their environment for survival in a new ecosystem. This book offers an excellent case study on the impacts that people can have on the resources of an oceanic island.
Environmental History, volume 27 number 1 (January 2022)
by Environmental HistoryThis is volume 27 issue 1 of Environmental History. Environmental History (EH) is the world’s leading scholarly journal in environmental history and the journal of record in the field. Scholarship published in EH explores the changing relationships between humans and the environment over time. This interdisciplinary journal brings together insights from geography, anthropology, the natural sciences, and many other disciplines to inform historical scholarship.
Environmental History, volume 27 number 2 (April 2022)
by Environmental HistoryThis is volume 27 issue 2 of Environmental History. Environmental History (EH) is the world’s leading scholarly journal in environmental history and the journal of record in the field. Scholarship published in EH explores the changing relationships between humans and the environment over time. This interdisciplinary journal brings together insights from geography, anthropology, the natural sciences, and many other disciplines to inform historical scholarship.
Environmental History, volume 27 number 3 (July 2022)
by Environmental HistoryThis is volume 27 issue 3 of Environmental History. Environmental History (EH) is the world’s leading scholarly journal in environmental history and the journal of record in the field. Scholarship published in EH explores the changing relationships between humans and the environment over time. This interdisciplinary journal brings together insights from geography, anthropology, the natural sciences, and many other disciplines to inform historical scholarship.
Environmental History, volume 27 number 4 (October 2022)
by Environmental HistoryThis is volume 27 issue 4 of Environmental History. Environmental History (EH) is the world’s leading scholarly journal in environmental history and the journal of record in the field. Scholarship published in EH explores the changing relationships between humans and the environment over time. This interdisciplinary journal brings together insights from geography, anthropology, the natural sciences, and many other disciplines to inform historical scholarship.
Environmental History, volume 28 number 1 (January 2023)
by Environmental HistoryThis is volume 28 issue 1 of Environmental History. Environmental History (EH) is the world’s leading scholarly journal in environmental history and the journal of record in the field. Scholarship published in EH explores the changing relationships between humans and the environment over time. This interdisciplinary journal brings together insights from geography, anthropology, the natural sciences, and many other disciplines to inform historical scholarship.
Environmental History, volume 28 number 2 (April 2023)
by Environmental HistoryThis is volume 28 issue 2 of Environmental History. Environmental History (EH) is the world’s leading scholarly journal in environmental history and the journal of record in the field. Scholarship published in EH explores the changing relationships between humans and the environment over time. This interdisciplinary journal brings together insights from geography, anthropology, the natural sciences, and many other disciplines to inform historical scholarship.
Environmental History, volume 28 number 3 (July 2023)
by Environmental HistoryThis is volume 28 issue 3 of Environmental History. Environmental History (EH) is the world’s leading scholarly journal in environmental history and the journal of record in the field. Scholarship published in EH explores the changing relationships between humans and the environment over time. This interdisciplinary journal brings together insights from geography, anthropology, the natural sciences, and many other disciplines to inform historical scholarship.
Environmental History, volume 28 number 4 (October 2023)
by Environmental HistoryThis is volume 28 issue 4 of Environmental History. Environmental History (EH) is the world’s leading scholarly journal in environmental history and the journal of record in the field. Scholarship published in EH explores the changing relationships between humans and the environment over time. This interdisciplinary journal brings together insights from geography, anthropology, the natural sciences, and many other disciplines to inform historical scholarship.
Environmental History, volume 29 number 1 (January 2024)
by Environmental HistoryThis is volume 29 issue 1 of Environmental History. Environmental History (EH) is the world’s leading scholarly journal in environmental history and the journal of record in the field. Scholarship published in EH explores the changing relationships between humans and the environment over time. This interdisciplinary journal brings together insights from geography, anthropology, the natural sciences, and many other disciplines to inform historical scholarship.
Environmental History, volume 29 number 2 (April 2024)
by Environmental HistoryThis is volume 29 issue 2 of Environmental History. Environmental History (EH) is the world’s leading scholarly journal in environmental history and the journal of record in the field. Scholarship published in EH explores the changing relationships between humans and the environment over time. This interdisciplinary journal brings together insights from geography, anthropology, the natural sciences, and many other disciplines to inform historical scholarship.
Environmental History, volume 29 number 3 (July 2024)
by Environmental HistoryThis is volume 29 issue 3 of Environmental History. Environmental History (EH) is the world’s leading scholarly journal in environmental history and the journal of record in the field. Scholarship published in EH explores the changing relationships between humans and the environment over time. This interdisciplinary journal brings together insights from geography, anthropology, the natural sciences, and many other disciplines to inform historical scholarship.