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Earth Trusteeship and the Sovereign State: Transforming International Environmental Law (Law, Justice and Ecology)
by Klaus BosselmannThis book makes an argument for the legal role and responsibility of sovereign states in the trusteeship of the Earth.In 1972, the first photo of the Earth – Blue Marble – sparked the imagination and need to care for our planet. In the same year, the world’s first UN conference on the environment adopted the Stockholm Declaration, proclaiming that the Earth’s natural resources and ecosystems "must be safeguarded for the benefit of present and future generations". Today, the Earth’s ecological systems deteriorate at accelerating speeds, as if Earth does not matter to law and governance. But what if it does? Earth system science and related jurisprudence provide clear guidance for effective law and governance, in particular the trusteeship responsibilities of sovereign states. This book closes the gap between the promises of international environmental agreements and the concept of state sovereignty. Maintaining that state sovereignty is not an end in itself, but rather a means to protect the autonomy and freedom of citizens, the book develops the argument that sovereignty includes fiduciary duties for matters of global concern, such as human rights and ecological sustainability. Autonomy and freedom of citizens can only prosper if states protect human rights and ecological sustainability both inside and outside national boundaries. This is the logic behind global governance. And, as this book demonstrates, at its core stands the ancient idea of trusteeship: that is, of acting on behalf and to the benefit of those who cannot act for themselves.This book’s argument that Earth trusteeship and the sovereign state mutually condition each other will appeal to scholars of environmental law, international law and environmental science and others with an interest in ecology and global governance.
Earth Works: Selected Essays
by Scott Russell SandersIn the hands of award-winning writer Scott Russell Sanders, the essay becomes an inquisitive and revelatory form of art. In 30 of his finest essays—nine never before collected—Sanders examines his Midwestern background, his father's drinking, his opposition to war, his literary inheritance, and his feeling for wildness. He also tackles such vital issues as the disruption of Earth's climate, the impact of technology, the mystique of money, the ideology of consumerism, and the meaning of sustainability. Throughout, he asks perennial questions: What is a good life? How do family and culture shape a person's character? How should we treat one another and the Earth? What is our role in the cosmos? Readers and writers alike will find wisdom and inspiration in Sanders's luminous and thought-provoking prose.
Earth and World: Philosophy After the Apollo Missions
by Kelly OliverCritically engaging the work of Immanuel Kant, Hannah Arendt, Martin Heidegger, and Jacques Derrida together with her own observations on contemporary politics, environmental degradation, and the pursuit of a just and sustainable world, Kelly Oliver lays the groundwork for a politics and ethics that embraces otherness without exploiting difference. Rooted firmly in human beings' relationship to the planet and to each other, Oliver shows peace is possible only if we maintain our ties to earth and world.Oliver begins with Immanuel Kant and his vision of politics grounded on earth as a finite surface shared by humans. She then incorporates Hannah Arendt's belief in plural worlds constituted through human relationships; Martin Heidegger's warning that alienation from the Earth endangers not only politics but also the very essence of being human; and Jacques Derrida's meditations on the singular worlds individuals, human and otherwise, create and how they inform the reality we inhabit. Each of these theorists, Oliver argues, resists the easy idealism of world citizenship and globalism, yet they all think about the earth against the globe to advance a grounded ethics. They contribute to a philosophy that avoids globalization's totalizing and homogenizing impulses and instead help build a framework for living within and among the world's rich biodiversity.
Earth at Risk in the 21st Century: With a Foreword by Lourdes Arizpe Schlosser and a Preface by Hans Günter Brauch (Pioneers in Arts, Humanities, Science, Engineering, Practice #18)
by Úrsula Oswald SpringEarth at Risk in the 21st Century offers critical interdisciplinary reflections on peace, security, gender relations, migration and the environment, all of which are threatened by climate change, with women and children affected most. Deep-rooted gender discrimination is also a result of the destructive exploitation of natural resources and the pollution of soils, water, biota and air. In the Anthropocene, the management of human society and global resources has become unsustainable and has created multiple conflicts by increasing survival threats primarily for poor people in the Global South. Alternative approaches to peace and security, focusing from bottom-up on an engendered peace with sustainability, may help society and the environment to be managed in the highly fragile natural conditions of a ‘hothouse Earth’. Thus, the book explores systemic alternatives based on indigenous wisdom, gift economy and the economy of solidarity, in which an alternative cosmovision fosters mutual care between humankind and nature.• Special analysis of risks to the survival of humankind in the 21st century.• Interdisciplinary studies on peace, security, gender and environment related to global environmental and climate change.• Critical reflections on gender relations, peace, security, migration and the environment• Systematic analysis of food, water, health, energy security and its nexus.• Alternative proposals from the Global South with indigenous wisdom for saving Mother Earth.
Earth at Risk: Building a Resistance Movement to Save the Planet (Flashpoint Press)
by Derrick JensenThe annual conference Earth at Risk: Building a Resistance Movement to Save the Planet features environmental thinkers and activists who are willing to ask the hardest questions about the seriousness of the planet's situation, and this book presents an impassioned critique of the dominant culture from every angle. Speakers from the conference are featured in this volume and include William Catton, who explains ecological overshoot; Thomas Linzey, who gives a fiery call for community sovereignty; Jane Caputi, who exposes patriarchy's mythic dismemberment of the goddess; Aric McBay, who discusses historically effective resistance strategies; and Stephanie McMillan, who takes down capitalism. One by one, they build an unassailable case that the rich should be deprived of their ability to steal from the poor and the powerful of their ability to destroy the planet. These speakers offer their ideas on what can be done to build a real resistance movement: one that includes all levels of direct action that can actually match the scale of the problem. Also included are the speakers Derrick Jensen, Arundhati Roy, Rikki Ott, Gail Dines, Waziyatawin, Lierre Keith, and Nora Barrows-Friedman.
Earth at Risk: Natural Capital and the Quest for Sustainability
by Laurence Tubiana Claude HenryWe are squandering our planet’s natural capital—its biodiversity, water and soil, and climate stability—at a blistering pace. Major changes must be made to steer our planet and people away from our current, doomed course. Though technology has been one of the drivers of the current trend of unsustainable development, it is also one of the essential tools for remedying it. Earth at Risk maps out the necessary transition to sustainability, detailing the innovations in science and technology, along with law, institutional design, and economics, that can and must be put to use to avert environmental catastrophe.Claude Henry and Laurence Tubiana begin with a measure of the costs of ecological damage—the erosion of biodiversity; air, water, and soil pollution; and the wide-reaching effects of climate change—and then consider the solutions that are either now available or close on the horizon and that may lead to a more sustainable global trajectory. What community-driven or market-based tools can be used to promote sustainable development? How can renewable energy and energy storage advances help us decrease our use of fossil fuels? How can we substitute agroecology for the damaging chemical methods of industrialized agriculture? Is international agreement on climate goals possible? Building on the experience of the most significant climate negotiation of the decade, Earth at Risk shows what a world organized along the principles of sustainability could look like, no matter how optimistic it may seem at the present moment. Though formidable obstacles remain to the realization of this significant transition, Henry and Tubiana present the case for collective initiatives and change that build momentum for implementation and action.
Earth in Human Hands: Shaping Our Planet's Future
by David GrinspoonFor the first time in Earth's history, our planet is experiencing a confluence of rapidly accelerating changes prompted by one species: humans. Climate change is only the most visible of the modifications we've made--up until this point, inadvertently--to the planet. And our current behavior threatens not only our own future but that of countless other creatures. By comparing Earth's story to those of other planets, astrobiologist David Grinspoon shows what a strange and novel development it is for a species to evolve to build machines, and ultimately, global societies with world-shaping influence. Without minimizing the challenges of the next century, Grinspoon suggests that our present moment is not only one of peril, but also great potential, especially when viewed from a 10,000-year perspective. Our species has surmounted the threat of extinction before, thanks to our innate ingenuity and ability to adapt, and there's every reason to believe we can do so again. Our challenge now is to awaken to our role as a force of planetary change, and to grow into this task. We must become graceful planetary engineers, conscious shapers of our environment and caretakers of Earth's biosphere. This is a perspective that begs us to ask not just what future do we want to avoid, but what do we seek to build? What kind of world do we want? Are humans the worst thing or the best thing to ever happen to our planet? Today we stand at a pivotal juncture, and the answer will depend on the choices we make.
Earth in Mind: On Education, Environment, and the Human Prospect
by David W. OrrOrr (environmental studies and politics, Oberlin College) presents the tenth anniversary edition of his text addressing educational reform from an environmental perspective. In a collection of 23 essays, written for various purposes and audiences between 1990 and 1993, Orr argues that, where educational debates about standards and reforms have centered around preparing students to compete in a global economy, an equally important concern should be teaching students the ecological context in which humans live, to develop in them an ethical view of the world and their obligations to it. The tenth edition includes a brief new introduction and a new final chapter offering "hope in hard times. " Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc. , Portland, OR (booknews. com)
Earth in Mind: On Education, Environment, and the Human Prospect
by David W. OrrIn Earth in Mind, noted environmental educator David W. Orr focuses not on problems in education, but on the problem of education.Much of what has gone wrong with the world, he argues, is the result of inadequate and misdirected education that: alienates us from life in the name of human domination; causes students to worry about how to make a living before they know who they are; overemphasizes success and careers; separates feeling from intellect and the practical from the theoretical; deadens the sense of wonder for the created world.The crisis we face, Orr explains, is one of mind, perception, and values. It is, first and foremost, an educational challenge.The author begins by establishing the grounds for a debate about education and knowledge. He describes the problems of education from an ecological perspective, and challenges the "terrible simplifiers" who wish to substitute numbers for values. He follows with a presentation of principles for re-creating education in the broadest way possible, discussing topics such as biophilia, the disciplinary structure of knowledge, the architecture of educational buildings, and the idea of ecological intelligence. Orr concludes by presenting concrete proposals for reorganizing the curriculum to draw out our affinity for life.
Earth in the Balance: Forging a New Common Purpose (Plume Ser.)
by Al GoreAl Gore leads the charge against climate change, the world's greatest threat, in an incendiary new foreword to this timeless classic that launched his environmental career. If you want to know Gore, you need this book!
Earth under Fire: How Global Warming Is Changing the World
by Gary BraashEarth under Fire is the most complete guide to the effects of climate change now available. It offers an upbeat and intelligent account of how we can lessen the effects of our near-total dependence on fossil fuels using technologies and energy sources already available.
Earth's Changing Environment
by Encyclopaedia BritannicaThe examination of the causes and effects of climate change on the environment is adapted from articles to be included in current and upcoming editions of Compton's Encyclopedia. Climate, ecology, and environmental pollution are the main subjects with each area subdivided into sections including the greenhouse effect, biogeography, endangered species, and environmentalism.
Earth's Climate: Past and Future
by William F. RuddimanAt a time when the evidence is stronger than ever that human activity is the primary cause for global climate change, William Ruddiman's breakthrough text returns in a thoroughly updated new edition. It offers a clear, engaging, objective portrait of the current state of climate science, including compelling recent findings on anthropogenic global warming and important advances in understanding past climates.
Earth's Insights: A Multicultural Survey of Ecological Ethics from the Mediterranean Basin to the Australian Outback
by J. Baird CallicottAlthough environmental crisis is global in scope, contemporary environmental ethics is centered predominantly in Western philosophy and religion. EARTH'S INSIGHTS widens the scope to include the ecological teachings embedded in non-Western world views. Conservationist J. Baird Callicott asks how the world's diverse environmental philosophies can be brought together to benefit the whole.
Earth's New Animals: 120 Recently Discovered Creatures
by Christine ModafferiExplorers and scientists are discovering up to a thousand new animal species every year and estimate that over 7.5 MILLION species are yet to be discovered. So, without further ado, let's meet Earth's new animals!From newly recorded species of whale and grasshopper-warbler to beautiful rose-veiled fairy wrasse and teeny-tiny chameleons, travel the natural world and find out all about the fascinating new species of animal that are only just being discovered. Read all about their habitats and the remarkable stories of how they were found, and learn NEW things about animals we thought we already knew...Written by children's book author Christine Modafferi, with beautiful illustrations by Harriet Hobday, this glorious new take on natural history will delight and fascinate young animal lovers aged 6+. Perfect for animal-loving and planet-protecting families.
Earth's Wild Music: Celebrating and Defending the Songs of the Natural World
by Kathleen Dean MooreAt once joyous and somber, this thoughtful gathering of new and selected essays spans Kathleen Dean Moore's distinguished career as a tireless advocate for environmental activism in the face of climate change. In this meditation on the music of the natural world, Moore celebrates the call of loons, howl of wolves, bellow of whales, laughter of children, and shriek of frogs, even as she warns of the threats against them. Each group of essays moves, as Moore herself has been moved, from celebration to lamentation to bewilderment and finally to the determination to act in defense of wild songs and the creatures who sing them. Music is the shivering urgency and exuberance of life ongoing. In a time of terrible silencing, Moore asks, who will forgive us if we do not save nature's songs?
Earth, Ice, Bone, Blood: Permafrost and Extinction in the Russian Arctic
by Charlotte WrigleyExploring one of the greatest potential contributors to climate change—thawing permafrost—and the anxiety of extinction on an increasingly hostile planet Climate scientists point to permafrost as a &“ticking time bomb&” for the planet, and from the Arctic, apocalyptic narratives proliferate on the devastating effects permafrost thaw poses to human survival. In Earth, Ice, Bone, Blood, Charlotte Wrigley considers how permafrost—and its disappearance—redefines extinction to be a lack of continuity, both material and social, and something that affects not only life on earth but nonlife, too.Earth, Ice, Bone, Blood approaches the topic of thawing permafrost and the wild new economies and mitigation strategies forming in the far north through a study of the Sakha Republic, Russia&’s largest region, and its capital city Yakutsk, which is the coldest city in the world and built on permafrost. Wrigley examines people who are creating commerce out of thawing permafrost, including scientists wishing to recreate the prehistoric &“Mammoth steppe&” ecosystem by eventually rewilding resurrected woolly mammoths, Indigenous people who forage the tundra for exposed mammoth bodies to sell their tusks, and government officials hoping to keep their city standing as the ground collapses under it. Warming begets thawing begets economic activity— and as a result, permafrost becomes discontinuous, both as land and as a social category, in ways that have implications for the entire planet. Discontinuity, Wrigley shows, eventually evolves into extinction.Offering a new way of defining extinction through the concept of &“discontinuity,&” Earth, Ice, Bone, Blood presents a meditative and story-focused engagement with permafrost as more than just frozen ground.
Earth, Our Living Planet: The Earth System and its Co-evolution With Organisms (The Frontiers Collection)
by Philippe Bertrand Louis LegendreEarth is, to our knowledge, the only life-bearing body in the Solar System. This extraordinary characteristic dates back almost 4 billion years. How to explain that Earth is teeming with organisms and that this has lasted for so long? What makes Earth different from its sister planets Mars and Venus? The habitability of a planet is its capacity to allow the emergence of organisms. What astronomical and geological conditions concurred to make Earth habitable 4 billion years ago, and how has it remained habitable since? What have been the respective roles of non-biological and biological characteristics in maintaining the habitability of Earth? This unique book answers the above questions by considering the roles of organisms and ecosystems in the Earth System, which is made of the non-living and living components of the planet. Organisms have progressively occupied all the habitats of the planet, diversifying into countless life forms and developing enormous biomasses over the past 3.6 billion years. In this way, organisms and ecosystems "took over" the Earth System, and thus became major agents in its regulation and global evolution. There was co-evolution of the different components of the Earth System, leading to a number of feedback mechanisms that regulated long-term Earth conditions. For millennia, and especially since the Industrial Revolution nearly 300 years ago, humans have gradually transformed the Earth System. Technological developments combined with the large increase in human population have led, in recent decades, to major changes in the Earth's climate, soils, biodiversity and quality of air and water. After some successes in the 20th century at preventing internationally environmental disasters, human societies are now facing major challenges arising from climate change. Some of these challenges are short-term and others concern the thousand-year evolution of the Earth's climate. Humans should become the stewards of Earth.
Earth, Water, and Sky: A Naturalist's Stories and Sketches (Corrie Herring Hooks Series)
by Paul A. JohnsgardAs I write this, I am sitting in a cabin at Cedar Point Biological Station in southwestern Nebraska. . . . The glorious elemental mixture of earth, water, and sky around me is the home of nearly three hundred species of birds, and comprises one of my favorite places in the world. Here no radio stations blare out the most recent results of meaningless sports events . . . no traffic noises confound the senses. Instead the wind is the unquestioned dominating summer influence. The prairie grasses bend willingly and gracefully before it, and the leaves of the cottonwood trees convert its breezes into soft music. Paul Johnsgard is one of America’s most prominent ornithologists and a world authority on waterfowl behavior. In these popularly written, often lyrical essays, he describes some of his most fascinating encounters with birds, from watching the annual mating displays of prairie-chickens on a hilltop in Pawnee County, Nebraska, to attempting to solve some of the mysteries surrounding Australia’s nearly flightless musk duck. Reflecting his worldwide interests and travels, the birds Johnsgard describes inhabit many parts of the globe. Grouping the birds by the element they frequent most—earth, water, or sky—he weaves a wealth of accurate natural history into personal stories drawn from a lifetime of avian observation. And, as a bonus, Johnsgard’s lovely pen-and-ink drawings illustrate each species he describes.
Earth-Friendly Design (Saving Our Living Earth)
by Anne WelsbacherDesigners create all products, from computers and cell phones to cars and buildings, to meet the needs and desires of buyers. But did you realize that each stage in the life of a manufactured product involves processes that can damage Earth's land, air, water, and the health of living things? Earth-friendly design can help us make our planet healthier. We must join together in this quest to make, move, use, reuse, and dispose of things in Earth-friendly ways. With engaging text and eye-catching images, plus a special Going Green section, this book tells you all about Earth-friendly design and what you can do to promote it.
Earth: By The Numbers (By the Numbers)
by Steve JenkinsCaldecott Honor winner Steve Jenkins introduces By the Numbers infographic readers chock full of incredible infographs and stunning, full-color cut-paper illustrations. Earth will focus on the fascinating ins-and-outs of earth science.Through infographics, illustrations, facts, and figures, readers will learn about the complex and wonderful place we call home, Earth. Discover some of the most fascinating aspects of our planet through astonishing numbers: the stretch of time from Earth's formation to the present, the misleading way the surface area of a continent can appear on a map, the angle of Earth's axis that creates the seasons, what percentage of Earth's land is covered in deserts or forests or cities, and so much more. With his signature style, Steve Jenkins explores the most fascinating fields of natural science.
Earth: Feeling the Heat
by Brenda Z. GuibersonIN EVERY CORNER of the world, humans zoom zoom from here to there, push buttons, turn keys, and flip switches. With clever inventions, people fly like birds and keep warm like polar bears. But to do these things, humans burn oil, gas, and coal, all of which release particles into the air. These particles hover over the earth like a thick blanket that traps sunshine and makes everything extra warm. This is called global warming. People and all the animals are feeling the heat. You can help by using less energy. Even the little things you do can make a big difference!
Earth: The Race to Reinvent Energy and Stop Global Warming
by Fred Krupp Miriam HornHOW TO HARNESS THE GREAT FORCES OF CAPITALISM TO SAVE THE WORLD FROM CATASTROPHE. The forecasts are grim and time is running out, but that's not the end of the story. In this book, Fred Krupp, longtime president of Environmental Defense Fund, brings a stirring and hopeful call to arms: We can solve global warming. And in doing so, we will build the new industries, jobs, and fortunes of the twenty-first century. In these pages the reader will encounter the bold innovators and investors who are reinventing energy and the ways we use it. Among them: a frontier impresario who keeps his ice hotel frozen all summer long with the energy of hot springs; a utility engineer who feeds smokestack gases from coal-fired plants to voracious algae, then turns them into fuel; and a tribe of Native Americans, for two thousand years fishermen in the roughest Pacific waters, who are now harvesting the fierce power of the waves themselves. These entrepreneurs are poised to remake the world's biggest business and save the planet-if America's political leaders give them a fair chance to compete.
EarthTalk: Expert Answers to Everyday Questions About the Environment
by E MagazineFrom the authors of the leading environmental handbook Green Living? the best of E?s nationally syndicated Q&A column, EarthTalk E / The Environmental Magazine has established itself as the leading independent environmental periodical since its debut in 1990. E reaches 180,000 readers per issue, and its website attracts up to 600,000 visitors a month. One of their most popular features is the column EarthTalk, now nationally syndicated in up to 1,700 newspapers, magazines, and websites. In EarthTalk, the editors of E answer readers? questions on the environment and the best ways to live green. EarthTalk gathers together the best of these questions and answers in a quick and easy guide for the average Joe (or Jane). Searching by subject or looking up questions in the index, readers can learn everything from the difference between wild and farmed salmon to the pros and cons of nuclear power. EarthTalk provides the essential tools and tips to living in harmony with the planet.
Eartha Gets Well
by Kristi Falk Dr Daniel FalkIs it a struggle to get your kids to eat healthy, want to be active, and get outside for fresh air and exercise? Then introduce them to Eartha! Winner of a 2012 Moonbeam Bhildren's Book Award, "Eartha Gets Well" is a story about a little girl who never exercised, didn't like vegetables, and was always sick. Eartha learns how to make herself, her family, and the Earth feel better! Throughout her adventure, she realizes that she can be healthy and happy by making a few simple changes. When she realizes how easy and fun it is, she wants to tell everybody!