- Table View
- List View
Nile Water Conflict and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (Springer Geography)
by Wossenu AbtewThe book follows on from “The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile” GERD. It will have a good background introduction on the Nile basin. The value of Nile water will be presented in view of the global water stress facing mankind and the region. International importance of Nile waters will be presented with food insecurity of regions outside the basin. Food and energy demand in the upper basin and potential upstream irrigation demand on Nile waters will be presented. Analysis of the GERD three years of filling, remaining filling years, and modes of operation will be presented along with the water conflict. Climate change and climate variation (droughts and floods) impacts on the water control of 56 percent of the Nile flow (the Blue Nile and the GERD), and ensuing water war require analysis and publication. One of the major features of the Nile is the Sudd marshes in South Sudan. The importance of wetlands in the hydroclimate of the Nile basin and the merit and demerits of draining the Sudd, to get more water on the short term, will be presented. The Everglades in the United States will be presented as a global experience in regional wetland drainage and its impact on regional hydroclimate.
The Nile Waters: Weighed from Space
by Joseph AwangeThis book is useful to those in water resources management and policy formulations, hydrologists, environmentalists, engineers and researchers. Exploiting advanced statistical techniques and the latest state-of-the-art multi-mission satellites, surface models and reanalysis products, this book provides the first comprehensive weighing of the changes in the Nile River Basin’s (NRB: ~ 3,400,000 km2 ) stored waters' compartments, surface, soil moisture and groundwater, and their association to climate variability/change and anthropogenic impacts on the one hand. On the other hand, it argues on the need for equitable use of the NRB’s waters by all 11 countries within its basin, and doing away with obsolete Nile treaties that were signed by Britain, Egypt and Sudan, which prohibit the use of the Nile by 8 upstream countries. With Ethiopia’s construction of Africa’s largest dam (GERD; Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam) along the Blue Nile, which is expected to take several years to fill, the Nile is back on the news. Combined with Uganda’s Nalubaale, Kiira and Bujagali dams on the White Nile, these human-induced impacts (i.e., damming), coupled with those of climate variability/change, are expected to exacerbate tension with the low stream countries (Egypt and Sudan) fearing the cut in theNile’s total volume. Furthermore, the Nile river, arguably the world’s longest river (6800 km), impacts on the livelihood of over 300 million people of 11 countries within its basin. This population is expected to double in the next twenty-five years, thereby putting extreme pressure on its water resources. An in-depth analysis of changes in the Nile’s stored waters, therefore, is essential to inform its management and sustainable equitable use. Owing to its sheer size, however, obtaining in-situ data from “boots on the ground” is practically impossible, paving way to the space-based weighing of the Nile River Basin using a suite of high spatio-temporal remotely sensed and reanalysis products, as well as those of hydrological models. “Arguably, the Nile River is the most unique river in the world. It spans extremes of rainfall from being measured by meters to being measured by centimeters, from the humid tropics to the driest of deserts. Yet, thirsty people live throughout this basin and therefore the demands on its water resources are uneven. Knowing the water amounts throughout the entire Nile Basin is a critical step for governments and international treaties to avoid the “Tragedy of the Commons”. Africa can embrace this future through the leadership of Prof. Awange and others like him who have devoted their careers to Africa’s waters” —Doug Alsdorf, Ph.D., Professor of Geophysics at the Ohio State University (USA).
Nine for Nine: The Pennsylvania Mine Rescue Miracle
by Andrew MortonOn the afternoon of Wednesday, 24 July 2002, two shifts of miners eighteen men in all entered the Black Wolf Coal Company’s Quecreek No. 1 Mine, a few miles north-west of the town of Somerset, Pennsylvania. Some seven hours later, nine men were trapped by rapidly rising water in a cavern more than 200 feet below ground, and the nine others, drenched and exhausted, had managed to struggle out to safety. This is the story of a disaster that so nearly claimed those nine lives, and of the brilliant and heroic efforts of the rescuers who, three days later, finally managed to bring the trapped miners safely back to the surface. It is, too, the account of an unfolding drama, as first Pennsylvania, then all America, and finally the world, watched and hoped as the rescue was played out in the full glare of the media.
Ninja Plants: Survival and Adaptation in the Plant World
by Wiley BlevinsWhat can communicate but has no mouth, and can attack but has no hands? A plant! You might love the beauty and fragrance of flowers, but plants are far more complex than meets the eye. Some plants have ways of luring insects for pollination. Others mimic the look of the female insects whose male counterparts they want to attract. The Venus flytrap eats insects and other small animals for extra nourishment. You might see some of these ninja plants—with their sneaky and deceitful ways—in your own backyard. These plants might even be sitting on a windowsill in your home. This fascinating world of ninja plants is waiting to be discovered.
The Ninth Metal: The Comet Cycle Book 1 (The Comet Cycle #1)
by Benjamin Percy'Great characters, fine writing, totally engrossing' STEPHEN KING It might have been the end of days. Instead it was the beginning of something shockingly new. They called the comet Cain, after the astronomer who discovered it. It passed 500,000 miles from Earth. We were spared planetary destruction and granted a light show like no other. But, one year later, Earth span into the debris field left by the comet and a meteor storm struck. Roads, buildings and even a small town were annihilated.The meteors impacted heavily around the dying mining town of Northfall, Minnesota. It was the night of a mysterious double murder, the deed overshadowed by the discovery that the burning remains of the rock contained an unknown substance more precious than gold: the Ninth Metal. And with that discovery, everything changed.Benjamin Percy is an award-winning novelist, celebrated comic books writer and author of the Wolverine podcast. The Ninth Metal is the first of a cycle of novels set in a shared universe.Praise for The Ninth Metal:'Whether you choose to think of him as the Elmore Leonard of rural Minnesota or the Stephen King of Science Fiction, Percy - with his extraordinary and unrelenting eye - dishes up humanity like some kind of otherworldly blue plate special, at once deeply familiar and wildly new' Margaret Stohl, No. 1 New York Times Bestselling Author'Take one part dystopia, one part sci-fi, two parts apocalypse, then ride them roughshod through a bleak and bloody western, and it still wouldn't get close to what Ben Percy does here, which is blow open the core of humanity's dark heart' Marlon James, Booker Prize winning author of Black Leopard, Red Wolf'The Ninth Metal continues his streak of thrilling, incisive genre bending goodness. It's a sci-fi novel, a crime novel and a super-hero novel, too. Audacious and intelligent and exactly what I was dying to read' Victor LaValle, author of The Changeling
The Ninth Metal: The Comet Cycle Book 1 (The Comet Cycle #1)
by Benjamin PercyFrom award-winning author Benjamin Percy comes an explosive, breakout speculative thriller in which a powerful new metal arrives on Earth in the wake of a meteor shower, triggering a massive new 'gold rush' in the Midwest and turning life as we know it on its head. The first of a cycle of novels set in a shared universe. It might have been the end of days. Instead it was the beginning of something shockingly new. They called the comet Cain, after the astronomer who discovered it. It passed 500,000 miles from Earth. We were spared planetary destruction and granted a light show like no other. But, one year later, Earth span into the debris field left by the comet and a meteor storm struck. Roads, buildings and even a small town were annihilated.The meteors impacted heavily around the dying mining town of Northfall, Minnesota. It was the night of a mysterious double murder, the deed overshadowed by the discovery that the burning remains of the rock contained an unknown substance more precious than gold: the Ninth Metal. And with that discovery, everything changed.Benjamin Percy is an award-winning novelist, celebrated comic books writer and author of the Wolverine podcast. The Ninth Metal is the first of a cycle of novels set in a shared universe. (P) 2021 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Nipissing: Historic Waterway, Wilderness Playground
by Françoise Noël2016 Louise de Kiriline Lawrence Award — Shortlisted 2015 Speaker's Book Award — Shortlisted Explore the history of tourism in the Nipissing Passageway, from Mattawa to Georgian Bay, beginning with Champlain’s voyage in 1615. In the nineteenth century, while the hope of building a Georgian Bay Ship Canal remained elusive, promotional efforts were made by the railways to market the area as a “sportsman’s paradise.” In the early twentieth century, Ontario began to build roads to lure American motorists to the area. In Nipissing, Françoise Noël demonstrates how these efforts led to the early appearance of cottagers in the French River area and the rise of local outfitters. Places of interest include Quintland, named for the famed Dionne Quintuplets, which was seen as a “pilgrimage” site and saw resort expansion through to the post-war recovery. A look at the Nipissing area today reveals that, for many, it remains a wilderness playground.
Nisyros Volcano
by Volker Jörg Dietrich Evangelos LagiosThis book presents the first compilation of scientific research on the island of Nisyros, involving various geoscientific disciplines. Presenting a wealth of illustrations and maps, including a geological map of the volcano, it also provides valuable insights into the geothermal potential of Greece. The island of Nisyros is a Quaternary volcano located at the easternmost end of the South Aegean Volcanic Arc. The island is nearly circular, with an average diameter of 8 km, and covers an area of approximately 42 km2. It lies above a base of Mesozoic limestone and a thin crust, with the mantle-crust transition located at a depth of approximately 27 km. The volcanic edifice of Nisyros comprises a succession of calc-alkaline lavas and pyroclastic rocks, as well as a summit caldera with an average diameter of 4 km. &nbs p; Nisyros marks the most recent volcano in the large prehistoric volcanic field between Kos-Yali-Strongyli-Pyrgousa-Pachia-Nisyros, where the largest eruption ("Kos Plateau Tuff") in the history of the eastern Mediterranean devastated the Dodecanese islands 161,000 years ago. Although the last volcanic activity on Nisyros dates back at least 20,000 to 25,000 years, it encompasses an active hydrothermal system underneath the volcano with temperatures of roughly 100#65533;C at the Lakki plain, the present-day caldera floor and 350#65533;C at a depth of 1,550 m. A high level of seismic unrest, thermal waters and fumarolic gases bear testament to its continuous activity, which is due to a large volume of hot rocks and magma batches at greater depths, be tween 3,000 and 8,000 m. Violent hydrothermal eruptions accompanied by major earthquakes occurred in 1873 and 1888 and left behind large, "world-wide unique" explosion craters in the old caldera. Through diffuse soil degassing, the discharge of all hydrothermal craters in the Lakki plain releases 68 tons of hydrothermal-volcanic derived CO2 and 42 MW of thermal energy per day. This unique volcanic and hydrothermal environment is visited daily by hundreds of tourists.
Nitrate Esters Chemistry and Technology
by Jiping LiuThe idea of this book is to present the up-to-date research results on Nitrate Esters as explosive materials. It covers many aspects including the material structures, nitrating agent, chemical synthesis devices, preparation technology, and applications etc. In particular, this work sheds light on the comprehensive utilization and thorough destruction of the used Nitrate Easters which is crucial for preventing repeated pollution. This is a highly informative and instructive book providing insight for the researchers working on nitrating theory, energetic materials and chemical equipments.
Nitrate Handbook: Environmental, Agricultural, and Health Effects (Advances in Trace Elements in the Environment)
by Christos TsadilasNitrate Handbook: Environmental, Agricultural, and Health Effects provides an overview of the entire nitrate cycle and the processes influencing nitrate transformation. It clearly identifies the role of nitrate as an essential nutrient in plant growth, food preservation, and human health. Using the most up-to-date knowledge and research, this handbook illustrates how the steadily increasing human population and demand for food, which results in higher amounts of nitrate needed by soils, makes new regulations on the management and usage of nitrates a high priority. A detailed explanation concerning the discrepancies between the public’s perception of nitrate’s harm versus the reality of its human health benefits is given via a balanced and evidence-based approach. All questions pertaining to the influences of nitrate and its derivatives on plant physiology and human health are explored in depth. This comprehensive resource with contributions from distinguished researches in the field is a must-have for professionals and students who study and work with nitrates. Features: Includes in depth discussion on the wide spectrum of nitrate present in the environment. Focuses on the progress made on nitrate research and its importance. Answers all questions about nitrate and its derivatives’ influences on plant physiology and human health. Enables decision makers and public authorities to manage social concerns Compiles in one resource the findings of many distinguished researchers in the field.
Nitrogen and Climate Change
by Dave ReayIt is the perfect storm. Limited food, water and energy unequally spread between an expanding population, and a warming climate as the bitter icing on the cake. In all these global challenges nitrogen has a leading role to play. In Nitrogen and Climate Change, Dave Reay looks at just how hard-wired into all of human civilisation nitrogen is, and whether the future will see it as our quiet savior or the toxic villain of the piece. Its story is of the peculiar and the mundane, of water turning red and people turning blue. It is one of climate friend and pollution foe, of meaty feasts and looming famine. If your main thought of nitrogen is as a boring corner of the periodic table, then it is time to look again.
Nitrogen Cycling and Soil Health (Progress in Soil Science)
by Ryusuke Hatano Elizabeth M. BaggsThe United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) defines soil health as the continued capacity of soil to function as a vital living ecosystem that sustains plants, animals, and humans, and healthy soil gives us clean air and water. Nitrogen is indispensable to support life on earth, including for food production, but it also causes environmental problems such as global warming and groundwater pollution. This book brings together novel aspects of soil nitrogen research that solve these problems, with a particular focus on soil health in intensive agricultural systems. The two main sections are: 1) Monitoring and understanding of soil nitrogen transformations to maintain soil health, and 2) Soil nitrogen management for soil health. Included topics are regulation of key nitrogen loads and processes such as nitrous oxide emissions, nitrate leaching, ammonia volatilization, denitrification, nitrogen fixation, nitrification, mineralization, their relationships with the soil microbial biomass, and impact of soil management practices for enhanced soil health and sustainability. This book includes selected papers presented at the symposium Nitrogen Cycling and Soil Health at the 2022 World Congress of Soil Science, which took place in Glasgow, U.K.
Nitrogen Deposition, Critical Loads and Biodiversity
by Mark A. Sutton Kate E. Mason Lucy J. Sheppard Harald Sverdrup Richard Haeuber W. Kevin HicksThis volume brings together extended reviews and papers of new scientific research on atmospheric nitrogen deposition impacts globally. While there is a wealth of evidence on the magnitude, components and effects of nitrogen disposition on floral biodiversity in Europe and North America, there is an obvious lack of information on impacts on above- and below-ground fauna, and all impacts in other parts of the world, with no clear overview of how the different strands of evidence fit together. This overall synthesis is targeted at the international conventions, but is equally readable for scientists, environmental managers, conservation agencies and policy makers. 'This timely book highlights the global nitrogen deposition problem. Major regions of the world are exceeding sustainability thresholds for adverse effects on ecosystem function and biodiversity. This highlights the importance of ongoing work, including under the Convention on Biological Diversity, in developing indicators and monitoring nitrogen deposition effects to enable appropriate measures. This book presents a milestone towards this global goal as the international community works toward meeting the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, especially Target 8: "By 2020, pollution, including from excess nutrients, has been brought to levels that are not detrimental to ecosystem function and biodiversity". Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, Executive Secretary, Convention on Biological Diversity "This key volume highlights the global challenge to reduce atmospheric nitrogen pollution resulting from energy production, transport and agricultural activities. It takes forward the agenda recently launched in the UNEP commissioned report 'Our Nutrient World". Dr. Anjan Datta, UNEP.
Nitrogen in Agricultural Landscape
by Lech Wojciech SzajdakAgriculture transforms the environment. The simplification of agroecosystems structure increases the hazards of leaching, wind and water erosion, and volatilization of chemicals from soil. Soil nitrogen is of interest as a major crop nutrient, but also as a potential environmental pollutant. Knowledge about the behavior of soil nitrogen is desirable in order to optimize plant growth and crop yield and to minimize environmental side effects. This book also gives information about the function of biogeochemical barriers in the form of shelterbelts, which efficiently decrease the concentrations of various forms of nitrogen in ground water.
Nitrogen Isotopes in Deep Time (Elements in Geochemical Tracers in Earth System Science)
by Colin Mettam Aubrey L. ZerkleNitrogen is an essential nutrient for life, and its sources and cycling have varied over earth history. Stable isotope ratios of nitrogen compounds (expressed as δ15N, in ‰) are preserved in the sedimentary record and track these changes, providing important insights into associated biogeochemical feedbacks. Here we review the use of nitrogen stable isotope geochemistry in unravelling the evolution of the global N cycle in deep time. We highlight difficulties with preservation, unambiguous interpretations, and local versus global effects. We end with several case studies illustrating how depositional and stratigraphic context is crucial in reliably interpreting δ15N records in ancient marine sediments, both in ancient anoxic (Archean) and more recent well oxygenated (Phanerozoic) environments.
Nitrogen Overload: Environmental Degradation, Ramifications, and Economic Costs (Geophysical Monograph Series #251)
by Brian G. KatzAn integrated approach to understanding and mitigating the problem of excess nitrogen Human activities generate large amounts of excess nitrogen, which has dramatically altered the nitrogen cycle. Reactive forms of nitrogen, especially nitrate and ammonia, are particularly detrimental. Given the magnitude of the problem, there is an urgent need for information on reactive nitrogen and its effective management. Nitrogen Overload: Environmental Degradation, Ramifications, and Economic Costs presents an integrated, multidisciplinary review of alterations to the nitrogen cycle over the past century and the wide-ranging consequences of nitrogen-based pollution, especially to aquatic ecosystems and human health.
Nitroxides: Brief History, Fundamentals, and Recent Developments (Springer Series in Materials Science #292)
by Gertz I. LikhtenshteinWritten by a pioneer in the development of spin labeling in biophysics, this expert book covers the fundamentals of nitroxide spin labeling through cutting-edge applications in chemistry, physics, materials science, molecular biology, and biomedicine. Nitroxides have earned their place as one of the most popular organic paramagnets due to their suitability as inhibitors of oxidative processes, as a means to polarize magnetic nuclei, and, in molecular biology, as probes and labels to understand molecular structures and dynamics AS DRAGS FOR CANCER AND OTHER DISEASES. Beginning with an overview of the basic methodology and nitroxides’ 145-year history, this book equips students with necessary background and techniques to undertake original research and industry work in this growing field.
No Apparent Danger: The True Story of Volcanic Disaster at Galeras and Nevado Del Ruiz
by Victoria Bruce“Heart-stopping. . . . A gripping disaster story [and] a scathing account of human folly, arrogance and ambition.” –The New York Times Book ReviewOn January 14, 1993, a team of scientists descended into the crater of Galeras, an Andean volcano in Colombia, for a day of field research. As the group slowly moved toward the heart of the volcano, Galeras erupted. Nine men died instantly.Colombian geologist Marta Calvache raced into the rumbling crater, praying to find survivors. This was Calvache’s second volcanic disaster. In 1985 Calvache was part of a group of Colombia’s brightest young scientists that had been studying Nevado del Ruiz, a volcano three hundred miles north of Galeras. When Nevado del Ruiz erupted suddenly in November 1985, it killed more than twenty-three thousand people—one of the worst natural disasters of the twentieth century.In the aftermath of Nevado del Ruiz, volcanologists from all over the world came to Galeras to better understand the behavior of monumental forces at work deep within the earth. And yet, despite such expertise, fifteen people descended into a death trap at Galeras. Victoria Bruce weaves together the stories of the heroes, victims, survivors, and bystanders, evoking with great sensitivity what it means to live in the shadow of a volcano, and shows how clashing cultures and scientific arrogance resulted in tragedy. “Spellbinding.” —Publishers Weekly“A scientific thriller [that] shows how natural disasters are also the work of men.” —Boston Globe“A vivid account.” —Time Magazine“Impossible to put down.” —Sebastian Junger, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of The Perfect Storm
No Bones!
by Karen Romano Young"Octopuses, clams, sea worms, even coral- they're all marine invertebrates. Having no internal skeleton gives them an interesting shape-not to mention unusual ways of moving around, getting food, and protecting themselves. Fascinating underwater photography and lively, accessible text draw kids into the watery world of these cool ocean creatures. "
No Country for Eight-Spot Butterflies: A Lyric Essay
by Julian Aguon"Aguon&’s book is for everyone, but he challenges history by placing indigenous consciousness at the center of his project . . . the most tender polemic I&’ve ever read." —Lenika Cruz, The Atlantic"It's clear [Aguon] poured his whole heart into this slim book . . . [his] sense of hope, fierce determination, and love for his people and culture permeates every page." —Laura Sackton, BookRiotPart memoir, part manifesto, Chamorro climate activist Julian Aguon&’s No Country for Eight-Spot Butterflies is a collection of essays on resistance, resilience, and collective power in the age of climate disaster; and a call for justice—for everyone, but in particular, for Indigenous peoples.In bracing poetry and compelling prose, Aguon weaves together stories from his childhood in the villages of Guam with searing political commentary about matters ranging from nuclear weapons to global warming. Undertaking the work of bearing witness, wrestling with the most pressing questions of the modern day, and reckoning with the challenge of truth-telling in an era of rampant obfuscation, he culls from his own life experiences—from losing his father to pancreatic cancer to working for Mother Teresa to an edifying chance encounter with Sherman Alexie—to illuminate a collective path out of the darkness.A powerful, bold, new voice writing at the intersection of Indigenous rights and environmental justice, Julian Aguon is entrenched in the struggles of the people of the Pacific to liberate themselves from colonial rule, defend their sacred sites, and obtain justice for generations of harm. In No Country for Eight-Spot Butterflies, Aguon shares his wisdom and reflections on love, grief, joy, and triumph and extends an offer to join him in a hard-earned hope for a better world.
No Dejes Que Desaparezcan
by Chelsea Clinton¿Sabías que las ballenas azules son los animales más grandes de nuestro planeta?¿O que las nutrias marinas se asean las patas después de cada comida?El mundo está lleno de millones de especies animales, y cada una de ellas es única y especial. Muchas están llamadas a desaparecer. En este libro, Chelsea Clinton les presenta a los pequeños lectores algunos de los animales en peligro de extinción, explicándoles por qué son únicos y especiales y qué clase de peligros corren. No dejes que desaparezcan conduce al lector a lo largo de un día en la vida de rinocerontes, tigres, ballenas, pandas y otros animales, a la vez que nos ofrece consejos e ideas útiles de lo que todos podemos hacer para evitar que estos animales desaparezcan completamente de nuestro mundo.Ilustrado con las cálidas y llamativas ilustraciones de Gianna Marino, este libro es ideal para los amantes de los animales y para todas las personas que se preocupan por nuestro planeta.
No Dig, No Fly, No Go: How Maps Restrict and Control
by Mark S. MonmonierSome maps help us find our way; others restrict where we go and what we do. These maps control behavior, regulating activities from flying to fishing, prohibiting students from one part of town from being schooled on the other, and banishing certain individuals and industries to the periphery. This restrictive cartography has boomed in recent decades as governments seek regulate activities as diverse as hiking, building a residence, opening a store, locating a chemical plant, or painting your house anything but regulation colors. It is this aspect of mapping--its power to prohibit--that celebrated geographer Mark Monmonier tackles in No Dig, No Fly, No Go. Rooted in ancient Egypt's need to reestablish property boundaries following the annual retreat of the Nile's floodwaters, restrictive mapping has been indispensable in settling the American West, claiming slices of Antarctica, protecting fragile ocean fisheries, and keeping sex offenders away from playgrounds. But it has also been used for opprobrium: during one of the darkest moments in American history, cartographic exclusion orders helped send thousands of Japanese Americans to remote detention camps. Tracing the power of prohibitive mapping at multiple levels--from regional to international--and multiple dimensions--from property to cyberspace--Monmonier demonstrates how much boundaries influence our experience--from homeownership and voting to taxation and airline travel. A worthy successor to his critically acclaimed How to Lie with Maps, the book is replete with all of the hallmarks of a Monmonier classic, including the wry observations and witty humor. In the end, Monmonier looks far beyond the lines on the page to observe that mapped boundaries, however persuasive their appearance, are not always as permanent and impermeable as their cartographic lines might suggest. Written for anyone who votes, owns a home, or aspires to be an informed citizen, No Dig, No Fly, No Go will change the way we look at maps forever.
No Good Alternative: Volume Two of Carbon Ideologies
by William T. VollmannAn eye-opening look at the consequences of coal mining and oil and natural gas production--the second of a two volume work by award-winning author William T. Vollmann on the ideologies of energy production and the causes of climate changeThe second volume of William T. Vollmann's epic book about the factors and human actions that have led to global warming begins in the coal fields of West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky, where "America's best friend" is not merely a fuel, but a "heritage." Over the course of four years Vollmann finds hollowed out towns with coal-polluted streams and acidified drinking water; makes covert visits to mountaintop removal mines; and offers documented accounts of unpaid fines for federal health and safety violations and of miners who died because their bosses cut corners to make more money.To write about natural gas, Vollmann journeys to Greeley, Colorado, where he interviews anti-fracking activists, a city planner, and a homeowner with serious health issues from fracking. Turning to oil production, he speaks with, among others, the former CEO of Conoco and a vice president of the Bank of Oklahoma in charge of energy loans, and conducts furtive roadside interviews of guest workers performing oil-related contract labor in the United Arab Emirates.As with its predecessor, No Immediate Danger, this volume seeks to understand and listen, not to lay blame--except in a few corporate and political cases where outrage is clearly due. Vollmann is a carbon burner just like the rest of us; he describes and quantifies his own power use, then looks around him, trying to explain to the future why it was that we went against scientific consensus, continually increasing the demand for electric power and insisting that we had no good alternative.
No Immediate Danger: Volume One of Carbon Ideologies
by William T. VollmannA timely, eye-opening book about climate change and energy generation that focuses on the consequences of nuclear power production, from award-winning author William T. VollmannIn his nonfiction, William T. Vollmann has won acclaim as a singular voice tackling some of the most important issues of our age, from poverty to violence to the dark soul of American imperialism as it has played out on the U.S./Mexico border. Now, Vollmann turns to a topic that will define the generations to come--the factors and human actions that have led to global warming. Vollmann begins No Immediate Danger, the first volume of Carbon Ideologies, by examining and quantifying the many causes of climate change, from industrial manufacturing and agricultural practices to fossil fuel extraction, economic demand for electric power, and the justifiable yearning of people all over the world to live in comfort. Turning to nuclear power first, Vollmann then recounts multiple visits that he made at significant personal risk over the course of seven years to the contaminated no-go zones and sad ghost towns of Fukushima, Japan, beginning shortly after the tsunami and reactor meltdowns of 2011. Equipped first only with a dosimeter and then with a scintillation counter, he measured radiation and interviewed tsunami victims, nuclear evacuees, anti-nuclear organizers and pro-nuclear utility workers.Featuring Vollmann's signature wide learning, sardonic wit, and encyclopedic research, No Immediate Danger, whose title co-opts the reassuring mantra of official Japanese energy experts, builds up a powerful, sobering picture of the ongoing nightmare of Fukushima.Watch for No Good Alternative, the second volume of Carbon Ideologies, focusing on human experiences related to coal mining and oil and natural gas production - coming in June 2018.
No Impact Man: The Adventures of a Guilty Liberal Who Attempts to Save the Planet and the Discoveries He Makes About Himself and Our Way of Life in the Process
by Colin BeavanBill McKibben meets Bill Bryson in this seriously engaging look at one man's decision to put his money where his mouth is and go off the grid for one year—while still living in New York City—to see if it's possible to make no net impact on the environment.In No Impact Man, a guilty liberal finally snaps, swears off plastic, goes organic, becomes a bicycle nut, turns off his power, and generally becomes a tree-hugging lunatic who tries to save the polar bears and the rest of the planet from environmental catastrophe while dragging his baby daughter and Prada-wearing, Four Seasons–loving wife along for the ride. And that's just the beginning. In other words, no trash, no toxins in the water, no elevators, no subway, no products in packaging, no air-conditioning, no television . . .What would it be like to try to live a no-impact lifestyle? Is it possible? Could it catch on? Is living this way more satisfying or less satisfying? Harder or easier? Is it worthwhile or senseless? Are we all doomed or can our culture reduce the barriers to sustainable living so it becomes as easy as falling off a log? These are the questions at the heart of this whole mad endeavor, via which Colin Beavan hopes to explain to the rest of us how we can realistically live a more "eco-effective" and by turns more content life in an age of inconvenient truths.