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Future Sustainable Ecosystems: Complexity, Risk, and Uncertainty (Chapman & Hall/CRC Applied Environmental Statistics #11)
by Nathaniel K NewlandsFuture Sustainable Ecosystems: Complexity, Risk, Uncertainty provides an interdisciplinary, integrative overview of environmental problem-solving using statistics. It shows how statistics can be used to solve diverse environmental and socio-economic problems involving food, water, energy scarcity, and climate change risks. It synthesizes interdisciplinary theory, concepts, definitions, models and findings involved in complex global sustainability problem-solving, making it an essential guide and reference. It includes real-world examples and applications making the book accessible to a broader interdisciplinary readership. Discussions include a broad, integrated perspective on sustainability, integrated risk, multi-scale changes and impacts taking place within ecosystems worldwide. State-of-the-art statistical techniques, including Bayesian hierarchical, spatio-temporal, agent-based and game-theoretic approaches are explored. The author then focuses on the real-world integration of observational and experimental data and its use within statistical models.
Future Water Priorities for the Nation: Directions For The U. S. Geological Survey Water Mission Area
by Engineering Medicine National Academies of SciencesSolving problems related to use of water resources will be of paramount importance in coming decades as increasing pressure from growing populations, climate change, extreme weather, and aging water-related infrastructure threaten water availability and quality. The Water Mission Area (WMA) of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has a long-established reputation for collecting and delivering high-quality, unbiased scientific information related to the nation’s water resources. WMA observations help inform decisions ranging from rapid responses during emergencies such as hurricanes, floods, and forest fires, to the long-term management of water resources. Produced at the request of USGS, this report identifies the nation’s highest-priority water science and resources challenges over the next 25 years. Future Water Priorities for the Nation summarizes WMA’s current water science and research portfolio, and recommends strategic opportunities for WMA to more effectively address the most pressing challenges.
Future is Urban: Proceedings of the International Conference on FUTURE IS URBAN: Livability, Resilience and Resource Conservation (ICFU 2021), December 16–18, 2021
by R. Parthasarathy Utpal SharmaCities have played an important role in our lives since the dawn of civilization. However, cities are slowly becoming overwhelmed and therefore intervention is desirable towards green, blue and egalitarian nature. Even with current urban issues, we must rise to the occasion as professionals to create cities that are social, cities that take care of the environment, and cities that are digital. Increased citizen participation is indispensable in this process. The ‘International Conference on Future is Urban (IFCU’ 21) Dec 16-18, 2021, Ahmedabad, India’, takes into account Livability, Resilience & Resource Conservation for planning Future and cities in future.
Future of CO2 Capture, Transport and Storage Projects: Analysis Using A Systemic Risk Management Approach (SpringerBriefs in Environmental Science)
by Emmanuel Garbolino Jaleh SamadiThis book presents a summary of a three-year research project on risk management for the Capture, Transport and Storage of CO2 (CTSC), offering an in-depth study on complex sociotechnical systems and systemic modeling. Approaching CTSC as a complex sociotechnical system, this book proposes systemic modeling as a decision-making aid. It offers a means of decision-making for the development of CTSC projects in the real-world context, where the future of the technology is uncertain. Risk management is considered as a means of control that can provide a control structure for the whole system.The risks associated with CTSC are not exclusively technical in nature; CTSC also faces a number of further uncertainties, from development to commercial scales.A major question concerning CTSC at the current scale of development is: "What are the factors explaining the success or failure of CTSC projects in different contexts?" In order to answer this question, the book proposes a systemic risk management framework based on the system dynamics and STAMP (Systems-Theoretic Accident Model and Processes) concepts.
Future of Denial: The Ideologies of Climate Change
by Tad DeLay"Tad DeLay is one of the most important and disquieting theorists of consciousness and politics writing today. His work is indispensable."—China Miéville, author of OctoberCapitalism is an ecocidal engine constantly regenerating climate change denialThe age of denial is over, we are told. Yet emissions continue to rise while gimmicks, graft, and green- washing distract the public from the climate violence suffered by the vulnerable. This timely, interdisciplinary contribution to the environmental humanities draws on the latest climatology, the first shoots of an energy transition, critical theory, Earth&’s paleoclimate history, and trends in border violence to answer the most pressing question of our age: Why do we continue to squander the short time we have left?The symptoms suggest society&’s inability to adjust is profound. Near Portland, militias incapable of accepting that the world is warming respond to a wildfire by hunting for imaginary left-wing arsonists. Europe erects nets in the Aegean Sea to capture migrants fleeing drought and war. An airline claims to be carbon neutral thanks to bogus cheap offsets. Drone strikes hit people living along the aridity line. Yes, Exxon knew as early as the 1970s, but the fundamental physics of carbon dioxide warming the Earth was already understood before the American Civil War.Will capitalists ever voluntarily walk away from hundreds of trillions of dollars in fossil fuels unless they are forced to do so? And, if not, who will apply the necessary pressure?
Future-Proofing Fuel Cells: Critical Raw Material Governance in Sustainable Energy
by Robert Lindner Martin David Stephen M. Lyth George F. HarringtonAs the world accelerates towards a renewable energy transition, the demand for critical raw materials (CRMs) for energy generation, conversion, and storage technologies is seeing a drastic increase. Such materials are not only subject to limited supply and extreme price volatility but can also represent serious burdens to the environment, to human health, and also to socio-political systems. Taking an interdisciplinary perspective, this book provides a novel perspective on the discussion about material dependencies of energy technologies. It examines CRMs use in fuel cells, an emerging energy conversion technology, and discusses governance strategies for early-stage fuel cell development to predict and avoid potential issues. This will be an invaluable resource for researchers in energy studies, engineering, sociology and political science as well as those with a general interest in this field looking for an accessible overview.
Future-Ready Geography: Goals, Problems and Challenges (Key Challenges in Geography)
by Danuta Piróg Agnieszka ŚwiętekThis book presents research on how geography as a science, as a university degree and as a school subject can get ready for the “future.” Today's world is in a state of permanent and radical change which is affecting society, science and the economy in equal measure. The concurrent processes of globalisation, digitisation, and integration shape and constantly modify the development factors and generate multidirectional social changes. Growing global issues related to climate change, food security, depletion of conventional energy sources, conflicts and wars, refugee crisis and pandemic open up new issues for geographic investigations as well as reinforce the need to examine old research topics covering a variety of subdisciplines. That is why the term “future-ready” is being more frequently used in discourses on geographic research. In particular, geographic education at schools should be subject to discussion and reflection as this is where our learners are primed to understand the world around them. The chapters of this book spread the knowledge about the role of geography in preparing the society for the future. The book responds to environmental, socio-economic, and political issues of global, regional and local impact. It provides methods, techniques and tools of data collection and analysis which efficiently support geographers in future-oriented research and help in forecasting environmental and social changes. Finally, this volume also discusses how to reinforce the position of geography as science and school subject today and in the future.
Futures Research and Environmental Sustainability: Theory and Method
by James K. LeinThis book explores the challenges of presenting sustainability as a more actionable or practical concept and identifying approaches that might offer useful assistance in addressing the temporal and spatial representation of sustainability. The underlying premise of this book is that sustainability is a state realized in the future. In that future there is a geographic arrangement of society and economy that agrees with its environmental setting. This future perspective introduces a little examined subject area that can lend significant content to the sustainability challenge: Futures Research.
Futures after Progress: Hope and Doubt in Late Industrial Baltimore
by Chloe AhmannA powerful ethnographic study of South Baltimore, a place haunted by toxic pasts in its pursuit of better futures. Factory fires, chemical explosions, and aerial pollutants have inexorably shaped South Baltimore into one of the most polluted places in the country. In Futures after Progress, anthropologist Chloe Ahmann explores the rise and fall of industrial lifeways on this edge of the city and the uncertainties that linger in their wake. Writing from the community of Curtis Bay, where two hundred years of technocratic hubris have carried lethal costs, Ahmann also follows local efforts to realize a good future after industry and the rifts competing visions opened between neighbors. Examining tensions between White and Black residents, environmental activists and industrial enthusiasts, local elders and younger generations, Ahmann shows how this community has become a battleground for competing political futures whose stakes reverberate beyond its six square miles in a present after progress has lost steam. And yet—as one young resident explains—“that’s not how the story ends.” Rigorous and moving, Futures after Progress probes the deep roots of our ecological predicament, offering insight into what lies ahead for a country beset by dreams deferred and a planet on the precipice of change.
Futures: Imagining Socioecological Transformation
by Bruce BraunFutures: Imagining Socioecological Transformation brings together leading scholars to explore how we might know, enact, and struggle for, the conjoined social and ecological transformations we need to achieve just and sustainable futures. The question of transformation, and how it might be achieved, is explored across a variety of topics and geographical sites, and through heterodox analytical and theoretical approaches, in a collective effort to move beyond a form of critique that hands down judgements, to one that brings new ideas and new possibilities to life. Chapters are lively and original engagements with concrete situations that sparkle with creativity. Together, they add up to an impressive study of how to live, and what to struggle for, in the complex socioecological landscapes of the Anthropocene. This book was previously published as a special issue of the Annals of the Association of American Geographers.
Futurity: Contemporary Literature and the Quest for the Past
by Amir EshelWhen looking at how trauma is represented in literature and the arts, we tend to focus on the weight of the past. In this book, Amir Eshel suggests that this retrospective gaze has trapped us in a search for reason in the madness of the twentieth century’s catastrophes at the expense of literature’s prospective vision. Considering several key literary works, Eshel argues in Futurity that by grappling with watershed events of modernity, these works display a future-centric engagement with the past that opens up the present to new political, cultural, and ethical possibilities—what he calls futurity. Bringing together postwar German, Israeli, and Anglo-American literature, Eshel traces a shared trajectory of futurity in world literature. He begins by examining German works of fiction and the debates they spurred over the future character of Germany’s public sphere. Turning to literary works by Jewish-Israeli writers as they revisit Israel’s political birth, he shows how these stories inspired a powerful reconsideration of Israel’s identity. Eshel then discusses post-1989 literature—from Ian McEwan’s Black Dogs to J. M. Coetzee’s Diary of a Bad Year—revealing how these books turn to events like World War II and the Iraq War not simply to make sense of the past but to contemplate the political and intellectual horizon that emerged after 1989. Bringing to light how reflections on the past create tools for the future, Futurity reminds us of the numerous possibilities literature holds for grappling with the challenges of both today and tomorrow.
Fuzzy Mud
by Louis SacharFifth grader Tamaya Dhilwaddi and seventh grader Marshall Walsh have been walking to and from Woodbridge Academy together since elementary school. But their routine is disrupted when bully Chad Wilson challenges Marshall to a fight. To avoid the conflict, Marshall takes a shortcut home through the off-limits woods. Tamaya reluctantly follows. They soon get lost, and they find trouble. Bigger trouble than anyone could ever have imagined. In the days and weeks that follow, the authorities and the government become involved, and what they uncover might affect the future of the world. <P><b> Nominee for the 2018 Young Reader's Choice Award </b> <i>(Pacific Northwest Library Association)</i>
Fuzzy Mud (Penworthy Picks Middle School Ser.)
by Louis SacharFifth grader Tamaya Dhilwaddi and seventh grader Marshall Walsh have been walking to and from Woodridge Academy together since elementary school. But their routine is disrupted when bully Chad Hilligas challenges Marshall to a fight. To avoid the conflict, Marshall takes a shortcut home through the off-limits woods. Tamaya, unaware of the reason for the detour, reluctantly follows. They soon get lost. And then they find trouble. Bigger trouble than anyone could ever have imagined. In the days and weeks that follow, the authorities and the U.S. Senate become involved, and what they uncover might affect the future of the world. <P><b> Nominee for the 2018 Young Reader's Choice Award </b> <i>(Pacific Northwest Library Association)</i>
Fylling's Illustrated Guide to Nature in Your Neighborhood (Fylling's Illustrated Guides #2)
by Marni FyllingIn the same lighthearted yet scientifically accurate style of Fylling’s Illustrated Guide to Pacific Coast Tide Pools, this portable guidebook reveals the splendidly strange animals and plants just outside your door. Marni Fylling’s full-color illustrations make species identification a snap, and concise descriptions include fascinating (and sometimes grotesque) factoids about frequently encountered plants, insects, arachnids, birds, and mammals. With Fylling’s guidance, the everyday becomes extraordinary: Pigeons share nest-building and egg-sitting duties, and mate for life—with occasional dalliances; squirrel teeth grow about six inches per year; spiders owe their characteristic creep to their &“hydraulic&” legs; poison oak and poison ivy’s itch-inducing oil is also found in pistachios, cashews, and mangoes; and much, much more.
Fylling's Illustrated Guide to Pacific Coast Tide Pools (Fylling's Illustrated Guides #1)
by Marni FyllingThis scientifically accurate yet utterly charming field guide to the Pacific coast intertidal zone introduces readers to a world populated by spectacular wildlife: 150-year-old giant green anemones that paralyze their prey with their petal-like tentacles; sunflower sea stars that traverse the tide pool floor on twenty-four limbs; orange-tipped, opalescent sea slugs that dabble in cannibalism; and much, much more. Small enough to fit in a back pocket during a beach hike, the guide contains concise descriptions of tide pools' most common residents, noting each organism's size and zonation, as well as a few of its fascinating (and sometimes grotesque) habits. Full-color illustrations reminiscent of prints by Ernst Haeckel help tide poolers with easy identification.
G. Evelyn Hutchinson and the Invention of Modern Ecology
by Nancy G. SlackStephen J. Gould declared G. Evelyn Hutchinson the most important ecologist of the twentieth century. E.O. Wilson pronounced him "one of the few scientists who could unabashedly be called a genius." In this fascinating book, Nancy G. Slack presents for the first time the full life story of this brilliant scientist who was also a master teacher, a polymath, and a delightful friend and correspondent. Based on full access to Hutchinson's archives and extensive interviews with him and many who knew him, the author evaluates his important contributions to modern ecology and his profound influence as a mentor. Filled with information available nowhere else, the book draws a vibrant portrait of an original scientific thinker who was also a man of remarkable personal appeal.
GHG Emissions and Economic Growth
by Sanjib Pohit Barun Deb Pal Vijay P. Ojha Joyashree RoyIssues linking climate change and economic growth are now at the centre of discussions regarding development strategies especially in the context of developing countries. This book contributes by analyzing the relationship between economic growth and GHG emissions in India with explicit reference to all major economic sectors. One of the most popular tools for macroeconomic policy analysis is Social Accounting Matrix (SAM). The book presents the methods and estimates of the latest Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) for India, which provides a major data base describing the complete circular flow of income and input-output transactions among the sectors of the economy. The novelty of the book lies in the fact that for the first time a SAM has been prepared for the Indian economy with environmental indicators. A detailed methodology for constructing such an extended SAM is also presented in the book. The environmental social accounting matrix (ESAM) based analysis has been included to show direct and indirect links between economic growth and GHG emissions. The book also includes analysis of factors affecting historical GHG emissions trends in India. The book goes beyond SAM and applies computable general equilibrium (CGE) modelling to derive climate-change policy analysis and simulations. This CGE-based analysis is an important contribution to the current debate surrounding carbon tax and its possible impact on macroeconomic growth.
GIFT OF DEER
by Helen HooverIn the farthest wilds of northeastern Minnesota, back in the Gunflint Range, the author of this book and her artist-husband have a two-room cabin home in the bush country. Beginning one Christmas Day when they first watched the starving deer they later named Peter, the Hoovers had many opportunities, a passionate inclination, and the nature skills to observe this whitetail buck--joined later by his mate, and finally by several of their offspring--through the changing seasons of four years. Close as their relationship was to the generations of beautiful animals, the Hoovers did not consider them pets but fellow inhabitants of that wild country. Their observations reveal the rewards of living close to wild creatures; but more than that, they add valuable information to our knowledge of the cycle of life of the deer and other creatures native to the same world. For although the deer are the chief characters of this book, they are by no means the only wild creatures Mrs. Hoover writes of. Her naturalist's eye is just as sharp and her affection just as great for the antics of a curious chickadee or a flying squirrel. Mrs. Hoover's identification with nature knows no favoritism. The Hoovers' world--the bush country of the United States-Canadian border--is farther removed from civilization than "Mr. Emerson's woodlot," but the close relationship of The Gift of the Deer to Walden is evident for all to enjoy. Adrian Hoover's drawings are from life, and they add another level of understanding to his wife's vivid prose.
GIS Applications in Agriculture, Volume Three: Invasive Species (GIS Applications in Agriculture)
by Sharon A. ClayWhile many "alien" plant and animal species are purposefully introduced into new areas as ornamentals, livestock, crops, and even pets, these species can escape into other areas and threaten agricultural and native ecosystems causing economic and environmental harm, or harm to human health. Increasingly, scientists are using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to track and manage the invaders, mitigate the potential rate of spread and level of impact, and protect the native economy and ecosystem.Beginning with an introduction to the use of GIS technology to capture, store, analyze, manage, and present data, GIS Applications in Agriculture, Volume Three: Invasive Species examines five relevant categories of geographic information including dispersal and transport, prediction and forecasting, mapping of current infestations, maps for management and control tactics, and impact assessment and method of control. It address GIS for studying the population ecology of a new species, niche requirements for species success, and the monitoring and control of several different species including Australian examples of intentionally introduced invasive species, insects and other animals that may also vector a disease, and invasive weed management from prediction to management. Chapters cover maps and imageries available on various Web sites and provide step-by-step tutorials or case studies that allow manipulation of datasets featured on the accompanyingdownloadable resources to make maps, perform statistical analyses, and predict future problems. It offers hands-on experience with a variety of software programs that create interactive queries (user-created searches), analyze spatial information, edit data and maps, and present the results of these operations in several different formats. Some of the programs are freeware, others are not, but each can be used to integrate, edit, share, and display geographic information. Color figures are
GIS Diffusion: The Adoption And Use Of Geographical Information Systems In Local Government in Europe
by Ian Masser; Heather Campbell; Massimo CragliaThis third book in the GISDATA series focuses on the widespread use of geographical information systems GIS in European local government. The editors include a wide range of applications carried out by different professional groups, and offer the opportunity of studying the extent to which diffusion of innovations like GIS are sensitive to national issues such as cultural context, institutional setup and the availability of data.; The book answers key questions such as: what can be learnt from research on organizational behaviour in relation to technological innovation?; what are the classical features of the GIS diffusion process?; to what extent is the adoption and utilization of GIS facilitated - or impeded - by the organizational culture within which it takes place?; and what mechanisms can be applied to enhance the diffusion of GIS? The book covers aspects of diffusion in the following European countries: UK, France, Italy, Poland, Denmark, The Netherlands, Germany, Greece and Portugal.
GIS and Evidence-Based Policy Making
by Stephen Wise Max CragliaAlthough much has been written on evidence-based policy making, this is the first volume to address the potential of GIS in this arena. GIS and Evidence-Based Policy Making covers the development of new methodological approaches, emphasizing the identification of spatial patterns in social phenomena. It examines organizational issues, including the
GIS and Housing: Principles and Practices (GIS in Action)
by Laxmi Ramasubramanian Jochen Albrecht Deborah Rojas De LeonGIS and Housing: Principles and Practices discusses one of the challenges that has not been addressed by Geographic Information Science thus far: how can we use GIS to deal with the complex issues underlying the housing crisis? This book provides GIS technicians and analysts with an overview of US housing challenges and examples of how to effectively integrate spatial thinking to address housing policy questions, while simultaneously introducing housing policy analysts to advanced GIS concepts and techniques to create livable neighborhoods that include housing alternatives beyond the single family. Through numerous examples, the authors advocate for a collaborative approach that encourages professionals, policymakers, and analysts, across different ideological and political perspectives, to confront the multifaceted housing crisis. Features: Examines the historical aspects of housing provision, societal attitudes, demographic shifts, and government policies. Bridges the gaps between housing professionals and GIS experts, facilitating an interdisciplinary approach to address the housing crisis. Explores different challenges that are facing urban, suburban, and rural neighborhoods in different US regions. Provides professionals with the necessary tools for informed decision-making. Proposes solutions that leverage the integrative capacity of GIS to address established housing issues. Advocates for denser housing alternatives to address issues of affordability, supply shortages, and homelessness. This book is intended for graduate students and professionals in housing, community development, urban planning, architecture, and GIS, and anyone curious about learning more about the American housing crisis.
GIS for Environmental Decision-Making (Innovations in GIS)
by Andrew Lovett Katy AppletonEnvironmental applications have long been a core use of GIS. However, the effectiveness of GIS-based methods depends on the decision-making frameworks and contexts within which they are employed. GIS for Environmental Decision-Making takes an interdisciplinary look at the capacities of GIS to integrate, analyze, and display data on which decisions
GIS for Sustainable Development
by Michele CampagnaGIS for Sustainable Development examines how GIS applications can improve collaboration in decision making among those involved in promoting sustainable development. This volume reviews leading GIScience, providing an overview of research topics and applications that enable GIS newcomers and professionals to apply GIScience methods to susta
GIS for Water Resource and Watershed Management
by John G. LyonThe use of GIS, and its application for solving environmental problems is growing rapidly. This powerful set of tools can be used to great effect in hydrological modeling, environment and habitat assessments, ecosystem studies, monitoring of wetlands and forested watersheds, urban studies, agricultural impact assessment and much more. GIS for Water