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Current Environmental Issues and Challenges
by Giacomo Cao Roberto OrrùFew books currently exist that cover such a wide spectrum of topics. The chapters dealing with air pollution from mobile sources, air pollution and health effects and air quality modelling fall into the air pollution category while the ones related to microalgae for carbon dioxide sequestration/biofuels production, fuel cells, and solar energy technology, respectively, can be ascribed to the energy topic. Several technologies to handle a wide spectrum of environmental pollutants are taken into account in numerous chapters. The chapter on biodiversity is clearly related to the conservation issue, while the water pollution subject is tackled by the chapter on water quality monitoring. Finally, a general analysis on green business, as well as a chapter on grid/cloud computing technology for collaborative problem solving and shared resources management conclude the work. Because of its breadth of coverage, this book is particularly useful as a graduate text.
Current Topics in Soil Science: An Environmental Approach
by Swapna MukherjeeSoil is an important but often neglected element of the climate system. It is the second largest carbon store, or ‘sink’, after the oceans. Despite being a fundamental resource that supports all kinds of life on Earth, concerns related to soil are often not included as an important environmental issue. Climate changes put soil under pressure. The increasing concentration of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere may cause the microbes in the soil to work faster to break down organic matter, potentially releasing even more carbon dioxide. The soil moisture content is being constantly affected by rising temperatures and changes in precipitation patterns and future projections show that this may continue. This book presents current environmental issues and their remedies for soil which are mainly based on soil degradation, soil pollution and the effect of climate change on the soil. Adding xenobiotic chemicals or other alterations in the natural soil environment for agricultural, industrial or urban purposes result in a decline in the soil quality due to improper use or poor management, which is a serious environmental problem. The book is divided into five parts - soil science, soil physics, soil chemistry, soil biology and soil environment. The first part “Soil Science” serves as the introduction to the book and discusses some common topics such as soil formation, mineralogy, taxonomy, quality and analytical techniques. The second part “Soil Physics” is mainly concerned with the physical properties and processes of soil and their association with effects on air, water and temperature. Soil Chemistry, the third part, discusses the chemical reactions and processes between inorganic and organic components. The fourth part “Soil Biology” explains the biological properties and processes of the soil, with special concern to microbial diversity and its effect on the ecology. Lastly, the fifth part “Soil Environment” discusses the current environmental problems such as climate change and soil pollution, including processes to mitigate these issues through carbon sequestration, nutrient management and land management.
Current Trends in Landscape Research (Innovations in Landscape Research)
by Lothar Mueller Frank EulensteinThis book presents definitions, key concepts and projects in landscape research and related areas, such as landscape science and landscape ecology, addressing and characterising the international role, status, challenges, future and tools of landscape research in the globalised world of the 21st century. The book brings together views on landscapes from leading international teams and emerging authors from different scientific disciplines and regions of the globe. It describes approaches for achieving sustainability and for handling the multifunctionality of landscapes and includes international case studies demonstrating the great potential of landscape research to provide partial sustainable solutions while developing cultural landscapes and protecting semi-natural landscapes. It is intended for scientists from various disciplines as well as informed readers dealing with landscape policies, planning, evolvement, management, stewardship and conservation.
Current Trends in the Representation of Physical Processes in Weather and Climate Models (Springer Atmospheric Sciences)
by David A. Randall J. Srinivasan Ravi S. Nanjundiah Parthasarathi MukhopadhyayThis book focuses on the development of physical parameterization over the last 2 to 3 decades and provides a roadmap for its future development. It covers important physical processes: convection, clouds, radiation, land-surface, and the orographic effect. The improvement of numerical models for predicting weather and climate at a variety of places and times has progressed globally. However, there are still several challenging areas, which need to be addressed with a better understanding of physical processes based on observations, and to subsequently be taken into account by means of improved parameterization. And this is all the more important since models are increasingly being used at higher horizontal and vertical resolutions. Encouraging debate on the cloud-resolving approach or the hybrid approach with parameterized convection and grid-scale cloud microphysics and its impact on models’ intrinsic predictability, the book offers a motivating reference guide for all researchers whose work involves physical parameterization problems and numerical models.
Current Trends in Wildlife Research (Wildlife Research Monographs #1)
by Rafael Mateo Beatriz Arroyo Jesus T. GarciaThis book, the first in the "WildlifeResearch Monograph" series, defines "wildlife research" in a variety ofcontexts and reviews recent research trends. The authors present the currentdevelopments they have identified using bibliometric analyses of the mostcommon, relevant and emerging topics in wildlife research over the last three decades. Diverse aspects of wildlife research are discussed, including wildlifedemography, infections spread between wildlife, livestock and humans, habitatrequirements and management, as well as the effects of renewable energy andpollutants on wildlife. Furthermore the authors explore topics like advances inthe study of species distribution, invasive species, use of molecular markersin wildlife studies and the sustainability of wildlife exploitation andconservation conflicts. The book offers a comprehensive overview of advances inwildlife research in the last decades.
The Curse of the Labrador Duck
by Glen ChiltonIn an obsessive 82,000-mile quest for dead birds, how much trouble can one scientist get into? Finally, the world's leading authority on the extinct Labrador Duck, Dr. Glen Chilton, shares the story of his frenzied obsession to reveal the histories behind the mysterious bird -- a saga wherein he sets out to examine the remains of every Labrador Duck, conduct genetic analysis on every Labrador Duck egg, and visit every site where the duck was shot...with many a (mis)adventure along the way. More elusive than the Passenger Pigeon, the Dodo, or the Great Auk and breeding in places so obscure that no certain records exist of its nests, the Labrador Duck succumbed to extinction almost before anyone realized it was in decline. When Chilton began his travels, there were thought to be approximately fifty stuffed specimens, scattered among the museums of Europe and North America. However, as his search progressed, it became clear that some specimens had been lost to war and theft, while others lay hidden in far-flung collections, overseen by secretive curators. After traveling the equivalent of 3.3 times around the world with a series of oddball companions, Chilton finally began to close in on every known specimen...but not before he risked heavy-metal poisoning in Russia, swam naked in a glacier-fed stream, corresponded with a millionaire murderer, and narrowly avoided arrest in New York City. A magnificent blend of travel writing, science, detective work, and mishap, The Curse of the Labrador Duck is the zany adventure of one biologist's obsessive quest to uncover the mysteries of one of the world's most enigmatic birds.
The Curvy Tree
by Brandon Dorman Chris ColferThe debut picture book from #1 New York Times bestselling author Chris ColferFeatures Read-Aloud/Read-to-Me functionality--read by Chris Colfer--where available.Book Description:Once upon a time, there was a little girl who didn't quite fit in. When she runs away, she happens upon a curvy tree who helps her understand the importance of being different! This picture book stands alone, but also plays an important role in the Land of Stories series--making this a must-have book for fans and new readers alike!
Custer State Park
by Tom DomekCuster State Park is one of the largest and most beautiful state parks in the nation. From towering granite spires and pine-draped mountains to trout streams and remote savanna, the park offers scenic wonders and recreational opportunities seldom matched on the Northern Great Plains. First established as a state forest in 1912, today the park is home to one of the largest bison herds in the country, as well as other rare flora and fauna. Prior to settlement, the Black Hills were Lakota territory. After gold was discovered along French Creek in 1874, the government waged war on the Lakota, forcing them onto reservations, and settlers rushed to the region. Photos and narrative in this book provide an intriguing overview of the park's rich natural and social history. Whether the subject is Cathedral Spires or Sylvan Lake, General George Custer or Black Elk, Custer State Park will engage those who value history and the last few unspoiled places left in the country.
The Custodians of Biodiversity: Sharing Access to and Benefits of Genetic Resources
by Ronnie Vernooy Manuel RuizGlobally, local and indigenous approaches to conserving biodiversity, crop improvement, and managing precious natural resources are under threat. Many communities have to deal with 'biopiracy,' for example. As well, existing laws are usually unsuitable for protecting indigenous and traditional knowledge and for recognizing collective rights, such as in cases of participatory plant breeding, where farmers, researchers and others join forces to improve existing crop varieties or develop new ones, based on shared knowledge and resources. This book addresses these issues. It outlines the national and international policy processes that are currently underway to protect local genetic resources and related traditional knowledge and the challenges these initiatives have faced. In particular these themes are addressed within the context of the Convention of Biological Diversity and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. The authors broaden the policy and legal debates beyond the sphere of policy experts to include the knowledge-holders themselves. These are the 'custodians of biodiversity': farmers, herders and fishers in local communities. Their experience in sharing access and benefits to genetic resources is shown to be crucial for the development of effective national and international agreements. The book presents and analyzes this experience, including case studies from China, Cuba, Honduras, Jordan, Nepal, Peru and Syria. Copublished with the International Development Research Centre (IDRC).
Cute Kawaii Doodles
by Sarah AlbertoBursting with ideas for illustrators and those who have never sketched before, this inspirational book will teach you how to draw more than 100 adorable doodles and super-cute characters in just a few easy steps. Starting with a simple shape such as a circle or a square, Sarah Alberto - aka Doodles by Sarah - shows you how to transform these into a quirky plant, a cute donut, a characterful face, a dainty cloud, and much, much more.Annotated with quick tips and tricks to explain the process, the visual steps will show you how to create a whole host of charming characters, using the ubiquitous ballpoint pen. Why a ballpoint pen? It's universal, affordable, and versatile, and allows you to create small details and sharp lines. Sarah also demonstrates how you can also use coloured pencils or markers to add extra life to your completed doodles.With the author's engaging, sweet and simple style, you'll be instantly inspired to pick up a pen and some paper and doodle like you've never done before!
Cutting Back: My Apprenticeship in the Gardens of Kyoto
by Leslie Buck“An unusual and entertaining memoir.” —New York Times Book Review At thirty-five, Leslie Buck made an impulsive decision to put her personal life on hold to pursue her passion. Leaving behind a full life of friends, love, and professional security, she became the first American woman to learn pruning from one of the most storied landscaping companies in Kyoto. Cutting Back recounts Buck’s bold journey and the revelations she has along the way. During her apprenticeship in Japan, she learns that the best Kyoto gardens look so natural they appear untouched by human hands, even though her crew spends hours meticulously cleaning every pebble in the streams. She is taught how to bring nature’s essence into a garden scene, how to design with native plants, and how to subtly direct a visitor through a landscape. But she learns the most important lessons from her fellow gardeners: how to balance strength with grace, seriousness with humor, and technique with heart.
The Cutting Edge: Conserving Wildlife in Logged Tropical Forests (Biology and Resource Management Series)
by Fimbel Robert A. John G. Robinson Alejandro Grajal Eds.Recent decades have seen unprecedented growth in the scale and intensity of industrial forestry. Directly and indirectly, it has degraded the wildlife and ecological integrity of these tropical forests, prompting a need to evaluate the impact of current forest management practices and reconsider how best to preserve the integrity of the biosphere.Synthesizing the body of knowledge of leading scientists and professionals in tropical forest ecology and management, this book's thirty chapters examine in detail the interplay between timber harvesting and wildlife, from hunted and protected habitats to invertebrates and large mammal species.Collectively, the contributors suggest that better management is pivotal to the maintenance of the tropics' valuable biodiversity, arguing that we must realize that tropical forests harbor the majority (perhaps 70 to 80 percent) of the world's animal species. Further, they suggest modifications to existing practices that can ensure a better future for our valuable resources.
The Cutting Edge: Conserving Wildlife in Logged Tropical Forests
by John G. Robinson Alejandro Grajal Robert A. FimbelBringing together leading scientists and professionals in tropical forest ecology and management, this book examines in detail the interplay between timber harvesting and wildlife, from invertebrates to large mammal species. Its contributors suggest modifications to existing practices that can ensure a better future for the tropics' valuable--and invaluable--resources.
Cutting Green Tape: Pollutants, Environmental Regulation and the Law
by Richard L. Stroup Roger E. MeinersHundreds of hazardous waste sites are on the Superfund National Priority List in the United States, and thousands more could become eligible. The Superfund has spent or ordered the spending of billions of dollars, with little apparent impact on human health risks. While public perception of the real or imagined hazardous nature of consumer and industrial substances has resulted in widespread attention to the issue, lawsuits have proliferated with liability aimed at "deep pockets" instead of individual agents who may be responsible. Contributors to Cutting Green Tape carefully examine the existence and severity of the toxic harms and liability problem, the erosion of a clear tort legal system to settle disputes, and whether a clearly defined system of property rights could be developed to reduce the dangers from toxic substances.Cutting Green Tape rethinks the nature and impact of today's environmental bureaucracy. Rather than continue unworkable, cumbersome, and often contradictory regulations, Cutting Green Tape prescribes a clearer tort legal system to settle disputes and demonstrates that clearly defined environmental property rights would reduce the threat of toxic substances. Among the many topics addressed are: air toxins policy; pollution, damages, and tort law; risk assessment, insurance, and public information; protecting groundwater; regulation of carcinogens; contracting for health and safety; and toxin torts by government.The book converges on a central theme: when common law remedies, with their burden of proof and standards of evidence, are replaced by the legislatively mandated regulatory regimes described, a problem emerges. The bureaucratic "tunnel vision" described by Justice Stephen Breyer, tends to take over. The police powers of the state are given to bureaucratic decision makers who are limited only by the blunt instrument of political influence, rather than by the need to show harm or wrongdoing in an unbiased court (as the police are), or by a budget on expenditures set by the Congress (as most bureaus are). The excesses described in the chapters thus result not from incompetence in the bureaus, but from the expansive powers granted to decision makers who are tightly focused on the narrow mission they see before them.
Cybernetics and the Constructed Environment: Design Between Nature and Technology
by Zihao ZhangGrounded in contemporary landscape architecture theory and practice, Cybernetics and the Constructed Environment blends examples from art, design, and engineering with concepts from cybernetics and posthumanism, offering a transdisciplinary examination of the ramifications of cybernetics on the constructed environment. Cybernetics, or the study of communication and control in animals and machines, has grown increasingly relevant nearly 80 years after its inception. Cyber-physical systems, sensing networks, and spatial computing—algorithms and intelligent machines—create endless feedback loops with human and non-human actors, co-producing a cybernetic environment. Yet, when an ecosystem is meticulously managed by intelligent machines, can we still call it wild nature? Posthumanism ideas, such as new materialism, actor-network theory, and object-oriented ontology, have become increasingly popular among design disciplines, including landscape architecture, and may have provided transformative frameworks to understand this entangled reality. However, design still entails a sense of intentionality and an urge to control. How do we, then, address the tension between the designer’s intentionality and the co-produced reality of more-than-human agents in the cybernetic environment? Is posthumanism enough to develop a framework to think beyond our all-too-human ways of thinking? For researchers, scholars, practitioners, and students in environmental design and engineering disciplines, this book maps out a paradigm of environmentalism and ecological design rooted in non-communication and uncontrollability, and puts a speculative turn on cybernetics.Chapters 8 and 9 of this book are freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.
The Cyborg Anthology
by Lindsay B-EPoems written by Cyborgs in the future – this collection melds sci-fi and poetry, human and machine. The Cyborg Anthology takes place in a future where there was a thriving world of Robots and Cyborgs living peacefully beside Humans, but a disaster destroyed all Robot and most Cyborg life. The book is organized like a typical anthology of literature, split into sections that include a biography of each poet and a sample of their poetry. It covers early Cyborg poetry, political, celebrity, and pop culture poets, and ends with the next generation of Cyborg poets. The narrative takes place in the time after a cataclysmic event, and the collection wrestles with this loss. Through the lives of the poets, the book chronicles the history of personhood for technological beings, their struggle for liberation, and demonstrates different ways a person can be Cyborg. The poems and biographies together tell the story of a complex and enthralling world-to-come, exploring topics that are important in the future, and also urgent right now. “With mordant wit and a playful satiric touch, these Cyborg poems showcase a dazzling range of poetic forms and ideas: imaginative and charmingly subversive. Move over Norton Anthology of Poetry, there’s a new force in town, and they are a delight.” —Renée Sarojini Saklikar, author of Listening to the Bees and Children of Air India "The premise of this collection alone is fabulous. The poems are potent and powerful. With echoes of Le Guin, Brunner and Monáe, Lindsay B-e’s debut is layered and smart, provocative, and deeply satisfying. I was moved and fascinated. Speculative poetry at its best." —Hiromi Goto, author of Chorus of Mushrooms and Darkest Light
Cyborg Saints: Religion and Posthumanism in Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction (Children's Literature and Culture)
by Carissa Turner SmithSaints are currently undergoing a resurrection in middle grade and young adult fiction, as recent prominent novels by Socorro Acioli, Julie Berry, Adam Gidwitz, Rachel Hartman, Merrie Haskell, Gene Luen Yang, and others demonstrate. Cyborg Saints: Religion and Posthumanism in Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction makes the radical claim that these holy medieval figures are actually the new cyborgs in that they dethrone the autonomous subject of humanist modernity. While young people navigate political and personal forces, as well as technologies, that threaten to fragment and thingify them, saints show that agency is still possible outside of the humanist construct of subjectivity. The saints of these neomedievalist novels, through living a life vulnerable to the other, attain a distributed agency that accomplishes miracles through bodies and places and things (relics, icons, pilgrimage sites, and ultimately the hagiographic text and its reader) spread across time. Cyborg Saints analyzes MG and YA fiction through the triple lens of posthumanism, neomedievalism, and postsecularism. Cyborg Saints charts new ground in joining religion and posthumanism to represent the creativity and diversity of young people’s fiction.
Cycling: Merit Badge Series
by Boy Scouts of AmericaA guide for completing the cycling merit badge for Boy Scouts.
Cycling and Recycling: Histories of Sustainable Practices (Environment in History: International Perspectives #7)
by Ruth Oldenziel Helmuth TrischlerTechnology has long been an essential consideration in public discussions of the environment, with the focus overwhelmingly on creating new tools and techniques. In more recent years, however, activists, researchers, and policymakers have increasingly turned to mobilizing older technologies in their pursuit of sustainability. In fascinating case studies ranging from the Early Modern secondhand trade to utopian visions of human-powered vehicles, the contributions gathered here explore the historical fortunes of two such technologies—bicycling and waste recycling—tracing their development over time and providing valuable context for the policy successes and failures of today.
Cycling Through the Pandemic: Tactical Urbanism and the Implementation of Pop-Up Bike Lanes in the Time of COVID-19 (The Urban Book Series)
by Nathalie Ortar Patrick RératThis open access book provides insight on how the tactical urbanism has the capacity to influence change in mobility practices such as cycling. COVID-19 crisis prompted the public authorities to rethink the use of public space in order to develop means of transport that are both efficient and adapted to the health context and their effects on cycling practices in Europe, North, and South America. Its contributors collectively reveal and evidence through policies analysis, mapping, and innovative qualitative analysis bridging video and interviews, how those new infrastructures and policies can be a trigger for change in a context of mobility transition.This book provides an important element on the way local authorities can act in a quicker and more agile way. While some decisions are specific to the context of the beginning of the pandemic, the analysis offers lessons on the way to implement the transition toward a low-carbon mobility, on the importance of processes based on trials and errors, on the political stakes of reallocating road space.
Cyclist - Climb: The most epic cycling ascents in the world
by CyclistExplore 35 of the most notorious, gruelling cycling climbs the world has to offer, guided by the experts at Cyclist, the world's biggest road cycling magazine.Route maps, altitude charts, first-hand ride reports and incredible imagery from the finest cycling photographers combine in this tribute to the peaks, hills and ascents that every cyclist should try.Tracing the routes of the greatest rides across France, Italy, Spain and Belgium, this beautiful book also includes lesser-known climbs covering northern and eastern Europe and the USA - with every single ride tried, tested and conquered by the experts at Cyclist magazine.Climbs include:Monte Grappa, ItalyZoncolan, ItalyPasso dello Stelvio, ItalyAlto de l'Angliru, SpainSa Calobra, SpainKoppenberg, BelgiumAlpe d'Huez, FranceCol Agnel, FranceCroix de Fer, FranceThe Trollstigen, NowayMauna Kea, USA
Cyclist - Climb: The most epic cycling ascents in the world
by CyclistExplore 35 of the most notorious, gruelling cycling climbs the world has to offer, guided by the experts at Cyclist, the world's biggest road cycling magazine.Route maps, altitude charts, first-hand ride reports and incredible imagery from the finest cycling photographers combine in this tribute to the peaks, hills and ascents that every cyclist should try.Tracing the routes of the greatest rides across France, Italy, Spain and Belgium, this beautiful book also includes lesser-known climbs covering northern and eastern Europe and the USA - with every single ride tried, tested and conquered by the experts at Cyclist magazine.Climbs include:Monte Grappa, ItalyZoncolan, ItalyPasso dello Stelvio, ItalyAlto de l'Angliru, SpainSa Calobra, SpainKoppenberg, BelgiumAlpe d'Huez, FranceCol Agnel, FranceCroix de Fer, FranceThe Trollstigen, NowayMauna Kea, USA
A Cyclone Is Coming
by Darlene OxenhamWith themes of family, cooperation, safety, and a positive attitude, this book about preparing for a natural disaster lets kids experience a cyclone moment-by-moment A cyclone is coming to Useless Loop. Annie has never been in a cyclone, but everyone else seems to know just what to do. She helps her parents get everything ready, then waits to see what the cyclone will bring. Will it be scary? Will it be boring? Annie finds out it is both, and more in this exciting read that celebrates the richness of Australian Aboriginal storytelling.
D Is for Desert: An ABC Desert Primer
by Ashley Marie MirelesA is for armadillo B is for bedrock C is for cactus . . . With E for erosion, I for iguana, and P for prickly pear, going from A to Z has never been more fun in the sun! Take an alphabetized trip through the dunes and discover the plants, animals, and weather patterns that make the deserts of the world so amazing!
Daddy Long Legs: The Natural Education of a Father
by John PriceJohn Price appears to have thrown in the towel. He has spent the last year struggling to support his family, neglecting to spend time with his wife and children, and becoming increasingly cynical about the degraded state of the natural world around him. After a heart-attack scare, however, his wife demands that he start appreciating all the "good things" in his life: their mouse-infested old house, their hopelessly overgrown yard, and most of all, the joys and humiliations of parenthood. In his quest to become a better father, Price faces many unexpected challenges--like understanding his grandmother's decision to die, and supporting his nature-loving sons' decision to make their home a "no-kill zone" for all living creatures. Still he finds the second chance he was looking for--to save himself and, perhaps, his small corner of an imperfect yet still beautiful world.