Governments, big business and communities are coming under increased pressure to develop low carbon energy supply technologies. Within the context of the climate change debate a delicate balance has t
Although the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement to address global climate change, has been regarded by many as an unsuccessful treaty both politically and environmentally, it stands as one of
Climate change will present a series of challenges to engineers concerned with the provision of both building internal appliance drainage networks and rainwater systems within the building boundary, g
The book analyses the concept and conditions of transnational solidarity, its challenges and opportunities, drawing on diverse disciplines as Law, Political Science, Sociology, Philosophy, Psychology and History. In the contemporary world, we see two major opposing trends. The first involves nationalistic and populistic movements. Transnational solidarity has been under pressure for a decade because of, among others, global economic and migration crises, leading to populistic and authoritarian leadership in some European countries, the United States and Brazil. Countries withdraw from international commitments on climate, trade and refugees and the European Union struggles with Brexit. The second trend, partly a reaction to the first, is a strengthened transnational grass-root community – a cosmopolitan movement – which protests primarily against climate change. Based on interdisciplinary reflections on the concept of transnational solidarity, its challenges and opportunities are anal
Environmental problems are firmly on the political agenda. The stark threat to the planet from climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution can no longer be ignored by governments, political parties, businesses or individuals. Responding to the considerable developments of the last decade, Neil Carter has updated his popular textbook thoroughly, while retaining the existing structure of previous editions. The Politics of the Environment continues to analyse the relationship between 'green ideas' and other political doctrines, the development of green parties and public policymaking, and environmental issues at international, national and local levels. It provides students with a comprehensive comparative introduction to ideas, activism and policy. New to this edition are discussions on climate justice, climate legislation and recent environmental struggles, such as demonstrations against fracking. It employs a variety of global examples and includes pedagogical features such as boxe
The ideas of neoliberalism perpetuate a disembedded and dichotomised view of economy-ecology relations. The renewed interest in climate change and sustainability attests to the lack of progress achiev
Dagomar Degroot offers the first detailed analysis of how a society thrived amid the Little Ice Age, a period of climatic cooling that reached its chilliest point between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. The precocious economy, unusual environment, and dynamic intellectual culture of the Dutch Republic in its seventeenth-century Golden Age allowed it to thrive as neighboring societies unraveled in the face of extremes in temperature and precipitation. By tracing the occasionally counterintuitive manifestations of climate change from global to local scales, Degroot finds that the Little Ice Age presented not only challenges for Dutch citizens but also opportunities that they aggressively exploited in conducting commerce, waging war, and creating culture. The overall success of their Republic in coping with climate change offers lessons that we would be wise to heed today, as we confront the growing crisis of global warming.
In Moments Before the Flood, Carl De Keyzer portrayed a Europe on the cusp of drowning, flooded due to climate change. In Higher Ground, the flood has already passed. His images show people that have
Globally, more and more species are at risk of extinction as the environment and climate change. Many of these species require long-term management to persist - they are conservation-reliant. The magnitude of this challenge requires a rethinking of how conservation priorities are determined and a broader societal commitment to conservation. Choices need to be made about which species will be conserved, for how long, and by whom. This volume uses case studies and essays by conservation practitioners from throughout the world to explore what conservation reliance is and what it means for endangered-species management. Chapters consider threats to species and how they are addressed, legal frameworks for protecting endangered species, societal contexts and conflicts over conservation goals, and how including conservation reliance can strengthen methods for prioritizing species for conservation. The book concludes by discussing how shepherding nature requires an evaluation of societal value
This text is geared toward students who have an undergraduate degree or extensive coursework in engineering or the physical sciences and who wish to develop their understanding of the essential topics of applied mathematics. The methods covered in the chapters form the core of analysis in engineering and the physical sciences. Readers will learn the solutions, techniques, and approaches that they will use as academic researchers or industrial R&D specialists. For example, they will be able to understand the fundamentals behind the various scientific software packages that are used to solve technical problems (such as the equations describing the solid mechanics of complex structures or the fluid mechanics of short-term weather prediction and long-term climate change), which is crucial to working with such codes successfully. Detailed and numerous worked problems help to ensure a clear and well-paced introduction to applied mathematics. Computational challenge problems at the end of eac
Theatre has engaged with science since its beginnings in Ancient Greece. The intersection of the two disciplines has been the focus of increasing interest to scholars and students. The Cambridge Companion to Theatre and Science gives readers a sense of this dynamic field, using detailed analyses of plays and performances covering a wide range of areas including climate change and the environment, technology, animal studies, disease and contagion, mental health, and performance and cognition. Identifying historical tendencies that have dominated theatre's relationship with science, the volume traces many periods of theatre history across a wide geographical range. It follows a simple and clear structure of pairs and triads of chapters that cluster around a given theme so that readers get a clear sense of the current debates and perspectives.
A rare, searing portrayal of the future of climate change in South Asia. A streetrat turned revolutionary and the disillusioned hacker son of a politician try to take down a ruthlessly technocratic go
An optimistic--but realistic and feasible--action plan for fighting climate change while creating new jobs and a healthier environment: electrify everything.Climate change is a planetary emergency. We have to do something now―but what? Saul Griffith has a plan. In Electrify, Griffith lays out a detailed blueprint―optimistic but feasible―for fighting climate change while creating millions of new jobs and a healthier environment. Griffith’s plan can be summed up simply: electrify everything. He explains exactly what it would take to transform our infrastructure, update our grid, and adapt our households to make this possible. Billionaires may contemplate escaping our worn-out planet on a private rocket ship to Mars, but the rest of us, Griffith says, will stay and fight for the future. Griffith, an engineer and inventor, calls for grid neutrality, ensuring that households, businesses, and utilities operate as equals; we will have to rewrite regulations that were created for a fossil-fue
How the discovery of a harmless leak of radiation sparked a media firestorm, political grandstanding, and fearmongering that closed a vital scientific facility.In 1997, scientists at Brookhaven National Laboratory found a small leak of radioactive water near their research reactor. Brookhaven was―and is―a world-class, Nobel Prize–winning lab, and its reactor was the cornerstone of US materials science and one of the world’s finest research facilities. The leak, harmless to health, came from a storage pool rather than the reactor. But its discovery triggered a media and political firestorm that resulted in the reactor’s shutdown, and even attempts to close the entire laboratory. A quarter century later, the episode reveals the dynamics of today’s controversies in which fears and the dismissal of science disrupt serious discussion and research of vital issues such as vaccines, climate change, and toxic chemicals. This story has all the elements of a thriller, with vivid characters and dr
Twelve visions of living in a climate-changed world.We are living in the Anthropocene―an era of dramatic and violent climate change featuring warming oceans, melting icecaps, extreme weather events, habitat loss, species extinction, and more. What will life be like in a climate-changed world? In Tomorrow’s Parties, science fiction authors speculate how we might be able to live and even thrive through the advancing Anthropocene. In ten original stories by writers from around the world, an interview with celebrated writer Kim Stanley Robinson, and a series of intricate and elegant artworks by Sean Bodley, Tomorrow’s Parties takes rational optimism as a moral imperative, or at least a pragmatic alternative to despair. In these stories―by writers from the United Kingdom, the United States, Nigeria, China, Bangladesh, and Australia―a young man steals from delivery drones; a political community lives on an island made of ocean-borne plastic waste; and a climate change denier tries to unmask
From the bestselling authors and hosts of "The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe," a high-tech roadmap of the future in their beloved voice, cracking open the follies of futurists past and how technology will profoundly change our world, redefining what it means to be human.Our predictions of the future are a wild fantasy, inextricably linked to our present hopes and fears, biases and ignorance. Whether they be the outlandish leaps predicted in the 1920s, like multi-purpose utility belts with climate control capabilities and planes the size of luxury cruise ships, or the forecasts of the ‘60s, which didn’t anticipate the sexual revolution or women’s liberation, the path to the present is littered with failed predictions and incorrect estimations. The best we can do is try to absorb the lessons from futurism's checkered past, perhaps learning to do a little better.In THE SKEPTICS' GUIDE TO THE FUTURE, Steven Novella and his co-authors build upon the work of futurists of the past by examin
Become an expert on all types of weather and how and why they happen.Why does it rain? How hot is a bolt of lightning? What makes hurricanes form, and how does climate change affect the weather? What happens when a cold front rolls in? Become a meteorology expert and set up your own home weather station, and learn to read nature’s own signs of changing weather. Eyewitness Weather shows you what weather looks like, from a tropical storm cloud seen from above to close-ups of snowflake crystals. Learn about what weather scientists do, why weather works differently on the coast and inland, and much more along with amazing facts, infographics, statistics, and timelines to reveal this civilization’s secrets as never before.Part of DK’s best-selling Eyewitness series, which is now getting an exciting makeover, this popular title has been reinvigorated for the next generation of information-seekers and stay-at-home explorers, with a fresh new look, new photographs, updated information, and a n
Become an expert on all types of weather and how and why they happen. Why does it rain? How hot is a bolt of lightning? What makes hurricanes form, and how does climate change affect the weather? What happens when a cold front rolls in? Become a meteorology expert and set up your own home weather station, and learn to read nature’s own signs of changing weather. Eyewitness Weather shows you what weather looks like, from a tropical storm cloud seen from above to close-ups of snowflake crystals. Learn about what weather scientists do, why weather works differently on the coast and inland, and much more along with amazing facts, infographics, statistics, and timelines to reveal this civilization’s secrets as never before. Part of DK’s best-selling Eyewitness series, which is now getting an exciting makeover, this popular title has been reinvigorated for the next generation of information-seekers and stay-at-home explorers, with a fresh new look, new photographs, updated information, and
A whimsical picture book about a polar bear in the Arctic and a penguin in Antarctica who cross the American continents to find one another. This educational story is packed with watercolor illustrations and playful rhymes that teach young readers about the natural world and encourage curiosity about travel, animals, and other cultures.Introduced by a globe-traveling arctic tern, Big the Bear and Little Penguin set off across North and South America, respectively, to meet each other face-to-face in "the middle." Along the way, they make new friends of all kinds: wolves, bison, monkeys, jaguars, and more, who help them reach their destination.This playful and engaging picture book introduces young readers to the wonders that lie between the two ice caps at the North and South Poles, as well as reminding us of places that are essential to preserve in the face of climate change and of the importance of the interconnected ecosystems that sustain the health of our planet. Through Big and Li
