Download or read book Impacts of Land use Change on Ecosystem Services written by Jinyan Zhan and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-08-10 with total page 267 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book aims to systematically elaborate how land-use change directly or indirectly exerts impacts on the ability of ecosystems to provide services for human society. The relationship between land use, ecosystem services and human well-being is a hot topic, and there have been some important achievements in this field, but its continuing growth means that it warrants further research. The unique viewpoint, the scientific analysis methods and the precise language of this book make it not only a valuable guide for professors conducting research, but also a reference resource to help governments make decisions on relevant policies. Prof. Jinyan Zhan is an associate professor at the School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, China.
Download or read book A Framework for Assessing Effects of the Food System written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2015-06-17 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How we produce and consume food has a bigger impact on Americans' well-being than any other human activity. The food industry is the largest sector of our economy; food touches everything from our health to the environment, climate change, economic inequality, and the federal budget. From the earliest developments of agriculture, a major goal has been to attain sufficient foods that provide the energy and the nutrients needed for a healthy, active life. Over time, food production, processing, marketing, and consumption have evolved and become highly complex. The challenges of improving the food system in the 21st century will require systemic approaches that take full account of social, economic, ecological, and evolutionary factors. Policy or business interventions involving a segment of the food system often have consequences beyond the original issue the intervention was meant to address. A Framework for Assessing Effects of the Food System develops an analytical framework for assessing effects associated with the ways in which food is grown, processed, distributed, marketed, retailed, and consumed in the United States. The framework will allow users to recognize effects across the full food system, consider all domains and dimensions of effects, account for systems dynamics and complexities, and choose appropriate methods for analysis. This report provides example applications of the framework based on complex questions that are currently under debate: consumption of a healthy and safe diet, food security, animal welfare, and preserving the environment and its resources. A Framework for Assessing Effects of the Food System describes the U.S. food system and provides a brief history of its evolution into the current system. This report identifies some of the real and potential implications of the current system in terms of its health, environmental, and socioeconomic effects along with a sense for the complexities of the system, potential metrics, and some of the data needs that are required to assess the effects. The overview of the food system and the framework described in this report will be an essential resource for decision makers, researchers, and others to examine the possible impacts of alternative policies or agricultural or food processing practices.
Download or read book Environmental Land Use Planning and Management written by John Randolph and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 746 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the first publication of this landmark textbook in 2004, it has received high praise for its clear, comprehensive, and practical approach. The second edition continues to offer a unique framework for teaching and learning interdisciplinary environmental planning, incorporating the latest thinking, newest research findings, and numerous, updated case studies into the solid foundation of the first edition. This new edition highlights emerging topics such as sustainable communities, climate change, and international efforts toward sustainability. It has been reorganized based on feedback from instructors, and contains a new chapter entitled "Land Use, Energy, Air Quality and Climate Change." Throughout, boxes have been added on such topics as federal laws, state and local environmental programs, and critical problems and responses. With this thoroughly revised second edition, Environmental Land Use Planning and Management maintains its preeminence as the leading textbook in its field.
Download or read book Pollution written by R M Harrison and published by Royal Society of Chemistry. This book was released on 2007-10-31 with total page 617 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pollution: Causes, Effects and Control is the fourth edition of a best-selling introductory level book dealing with chemical and radioactive pollution in its broadest sense. The scope of the book ranges from the sources of pollutants and their environmental behaviour, to their effects on human and non-human receptors, to the technologies and strategies available for control. The fourth edition has been wholly revised and updated from the previous edition due to the rapid pace of developments in this field. Topics covered include chemical pollution of freshwater and marine environments, drinking water quality, water pollution biology, sewage and its treatment, toxic wastes, air pollution and atmospheric chemistry, control of pollutant emissions, land contamination, solid waste management, clean technologies, persistent organic pollutants in the environment, environmental radioactivity, health effects of environmental chemicals, legal control of pollution and integrated pollution control. There is a completely new chapter on Clean Technologies and Industrial Ecology, reflecting the growing importance of pollution prevention as opposed to end-of-pipe solutions. Whilst originally intended as an introductory reference work for professionals within the field, the book has been widely adopted for teaching purposes at the undergraduate and postgraduate level.
Download or read book Sustainable Mass Transit written by Thomas Abdallah and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2023-05-25 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sustainable Mass Transit: Challenges and Opportunities in Urban Public Transportation, Second Edition highlights the many sustainability solutions and alternatives to fossil fuel usage including renewable energy and efficiency in mass transit, as well as the conservation of materials, water, and air and the overall health of communities. This new edition will update the reader on developments in the field since 2017 and advancements in sustainability solutions. It explores how Environmental Management System frameworks improve environmental performance in the operations, maintenance, design, rehabilitation, and expansion of a mass transportation system. The book covers the numerous types of mass transit systems, looking closely at all their key functions, including operations, maintenance, development, design, building, and retrofitting. It explores the mitigation measures that reduce or eliminate negative environmental impacts, including green infrastructure, materials conservation, ecological conservation, and more. It covers energy, greenhouse gas emissions, toxic pollution and other significant environmental impacts, recycling, and more. It also examines organizational best practices and environmental regulatory constraints and life cycle assessments, describing which sustainable elements can be added while rehabilitating or expanding a mass transportation infrastructure or ancillary facility. The book concludes with a look at forthcoming sustainable initiatives that will enhance mass transit systems. - Contains case studies from around the world, including several new case studies from the United States, Canada, Mexico, South America, Europe and Asia - Thoroughly updated with four new chapters on The Sustainable Mass Transit Revolution, Relevance of Mass Transit, Environmental Professionals in Transportation, and Reimagining Sustainable Mass Transit - Includes a new companion website with assessment questions for educators, image files and video presentations - Shows how teams from different fields, entities, agencies and cities can work together to solve complex sustainability challenges
Download or read book Modeling for All Scales written by Howard T. Odum and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2000-02-03 with total page 479 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: All manner of models are used to describe, simulate, extrapolate, and ultimately understand the function of dynamic systems. These sorts of models are usually based upon a mathematical foundation that can be difficult to manipulate especially for students. Modeling for All Scales uses object-oriented programming to erect and evaluate the efficacy of models of small, intermediate and large scale systems. Such models allow users to employ intuitively based symbols and a systems ecology approach. The authors have been leaders in the systems ecology community and have originated much of the scientific vocabulary of the field. After introducing modeling and its benefits, there is a series of chapters detailing the more particular elements of successful simulation. There follows another series of chapters, each devoted to models of different sorts of systems. Small scale models of growth, competition, and evolution give way, successively, to larger and larger scale models such as international trade and the global geobiosphere. Anyone interested in an easy to use approach to modeling complex systems authored by perhaps the most original systems ecologists of the century will want this book. To further enhance the users ability to apply the lessons of this book, there is included a CD-ROM disc which provides the fundamental tools for modeling at all scales.Key Features* The book makes it possible to teach modeling and simulation without much prior knowledge of mathematics* Reasons for modeling and simulation are discussed* The book makes modeling and simulation fun by keeping focused on simplified overview minimodels that have important principles to science and society* The steps in successive chapters are arranged so that readers can teach themselves modeling, simulation, and the programming necessary to simulate the systems they diagram* The CD-ROM has minimodel programs and versions of QuickBasic and EXTEND to run them
Download or read book Land Use and Land Cover Change written by Eric F. Lambin and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2008-01-08 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents recent estimates on the rate of change of major land classes. Aggregated globally, multiple impacts of local land changes are shown to significantly affect central aspects of Earth System functioning. The book offers innovative developments and applications in the fields of modeling and scenario construction. Conclusions are also drawn about the most pressing implications for the design of appropriate intervention policies.
Download or read book Livestock s Long Shadow written by Henning Steinfeld and published by Food & Agriculture Org.. This book was released on 2006 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The assessment builds on the work of the Livestock, Environment and Development (LEAD) Initiative"--Pref.
Download or read book Renewable Energy and Wildlife Conservation written by Christopher E. Moorman and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2019-09-10 with total page 279 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Brings together disparate conversations about wildlife conservation and renewable energy, suggesting ways these two critical fields can work hand in hand. Renewable energy is often termed simply "green energy," but its effects on wildlife and other forms of biodiversity can be quite complex. While capturing renewable resources like wind, solar, and energy from biomass can require more land than fossil fuel production, potentially displacing wildlife habitat, renewable energy infrastructure can also create habitat and promote species health when thoughtfully implemented. The authors of Renewable Energy and Wildlife Conservation argue that in order to achieve a balanced plan for addressing these two crucially important sustainability issues, our actions at the nexus of these fields must be directed by current scientific information related to the ecological effects of renewable energy production. Synthesizing an extensive, rapidly growing base of research and insights from practitioners into a single, comprehensive resource, contributors to this volume • describe processes to generate renewable energy, focusing on the Big Four renewables—wind, bioenergy, solar energy, and hydroelectric power • review the documented effects of renewable energy production on wildlife and wildlife habitats • consider current and future policy directives, suggesting ways industrial-scale renewables production can be developed to minimize harm to wildlife populations • explain recent advances in renewable power technologies • identify urgent research needs at the intersection of renewables and wildlife conservation Relevant to policy makers and industry professionals—many of whom believe renewables are the best path forward as the world seeks to meet its expanding energy needs—and wildlife conservationists—many of whom are alarmed at the rate of renewables-related habitat conversion—this detailed book culminates with a chapter underscoring emerging opportunities in renewable energy ecology. Contributors: Edward B. Arnett, Brian B. Boroski, Regan Dohm, David Drake, Sarah R. Fritts, Rachel Greene, Steven M. Grodsky, Amanda M. Hale, Cris D. Hein, Rebecca R. Hernandez, Jessica A. Homyack, Henriette I. Jager, Nicole M. Korfanta, James A. Martin, Christopher E. Moorman, Clint Otto, Christine A. Ribic, Susan P. Rupp, Jake Verschuyl, Lindsay M. Wickman, T. Bently Wigley, Victoria H. Zero
Download or read book Choosing to Succeed written by John Nolon and published by . This book was released on 2021-04-15 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: About the Book: Land use climate bubbles are popping up throughout the nation at an alarming rate, creating an economic crisis that will be more damaging than that of the housing bubble of 2008. The costs to ecosystems and low- and moderate-income households are equally severe. These bubbles, where land and building values are declining, provide extensive, objective evidence that climate change is real and must be dealt with on the ground. And it sidelines the ideological battles over the political response and instead requires us to focus on the practical question: what can we do to respond? Climate action seeks to avoid the harm we can't manage and to manage the harm we can't avoid. Local leaders understand the urgency of the crisis and are highly motivated to learn how to prevent and mitigate its consequences. This book describes how the local land use legal system can leverage state and local assistance to reduce per capita carbon emissions as an important and now recognized component of global efforts to manage climate change. The tools and techniques presented in the book are available to the nation's 40,000 local governments, if led by courageous leaders choosing to succeed in this epic battle. About the Author: John R. Nolon is Distinguished Professor of Law at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University where he teaches property, land use, dispute resolution, and sustainable development law courses and is Counsel to the Law School's Land Use Law Center which he founded in 1993. He served as Adjunct Professor of land use law and policy at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies from 2001-2016.
Download or read book The Power of Renewables written by Chinese Academy of Engineering and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2011-01-29 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The United States and China are the world's top two energy consumers and, as of 2010, the two largest economies. Consequently, they have a decisive role to play in the world's clean energy future. Both countries are also motivated by related goals, namely diversified energy portfolios, job creation, energy security, and pollution reduction, making renewable energy development an important strategy with wide-ranging implications. Given the size of their energy markets, any substantial progress the two countries make in advancing use of renewable energy will provide global benefits, in terms of enhanced technological understanding, reduced costs through expanded deployment, and reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions relative to conventional generation from fossil fuels. Within this context, the U.S. National Academies, in collaboration with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), reviewed renewable energy development and deployment in the two countries, to highlight prospects for collaboration across the research to deployment chain and to suggest strategies which would promote more rapid and economical attainment of renewable energy goals. Main findings and concerning renewable resource assessments, technology development, environmental impacts, market infrastructure, among others, are presented. Specific recommendations have been limited to those judged to be most likely to accelerate the pace of deployment, increase cost-competitiveness, or shape the future market for renewable energy. The recommendations presented here are also pragmatic and achievable.
Download or read book Pollution in a Promised Land written by Alon Tal and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2002-08 with total page 588 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This book is likely to become the future point of reference for scholarship on environmental issues in Israel. Tal combines his extensive inside knowledge with broad and thorough research to take the reader clearly through a complex fabric of personalities, organizations, and issues."—Stuart Schoenfeld, York University "This is truly an excellent book. It is the first treatment of the whole array of environmental issues in Israel, and in its historical context – an absolute necessity. Extremely well-written and in fact hard to put down, this book is useful on many levels, for United Nations Agencies and development officials, Israeli and Palestinian government officials, and environmentalists and teachers around the world."—Brock Evans, Executive Director, The Endangered Species Coalition and author of many articles and books on the politics of the environment "Pollution in a Promised Land is an innovative book, and an important one, by perhaps the most prominent environmental activist in Israel. Tal's approach is to take an "eagle's eye view" of his vast subject, now gliding far above, providing overview, now swooping down very close and, through interviews or anecdotes, describing his subject with great immediacy and in memorable detail."—Noah J. Efron, Bar Ilan University "Anyone who cares about the land of Israel should read Pollution in a Promised Land. It is critical to understanding the social, political, and scientific dimensions of the country's environmental challenges as well as the country's remarkable ecological achievements. Alon Tal is uniquely qualified to present this fascinating and dramatic environmental history."—Tzachi Hanegbi, Minister of the Environment, Israel
Download or read book Environmental Issues in Pacific Northwest Forest Management written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2000-08-14 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: People are demanding more of the goods, services, and amenities provided by the forests of the Pacific Northwest, but the finiteness of the supply has become clear. This issue involves complex questions of biology, economics, social values, community life, and federal intervention. Forests of the Pacific Northwest explains that economic and aesthetic benefits can be sustained through new approaches to management, proposes general goals for forest management, and discusses strategies for achieving them. Recommendations address restoration of damaged areas, management for multiple uses, dispute resolution, and federal authority. The volume explores the market role of Pacific Northwest wood products and looks at the implications if other regions should be expected to make up for reduced timber harvests. The book also reviews the health of the forested ecosystems of the region, evaluating the effects of past forest use patterns and management practices. It discusses the biological importance, social significance, and management of old-growth as well as late-succession forests. This volume will be of interest to public officials, policymakers, the forest products industry, environmental advocates, researchers, and concerned residents.
Download or read book Land of Sunshine written by William Deverell and published by University of Pittsburgh Pre. This book was released on 2011-12-12 with total page 362 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most people equate Los Angeles with smog, sprawl, forty suburbs in search of a city-the great "what-not-to-do" of twentieth-century city building. But there's much more to LA's story than this shallow stereotype. History shows that Los Angeles was intensely, ubiquitously planned. The consequences of that planning-the environmental history of urbanism—is one place to turn for the more complex lessons LA has to offer. Working forward from ancient times and ancient ecologies to the very recent past, Land of Sunshine is a fascinating exploration of the environmental history of greater Los Angeles. Rather than rehearsing a litany of errors or insults against nature, rather than decrying the lost opportunities of "roads not taken," these essays, by nineteen leading geologists, ecologists, and historians, instead consider the changing dynamics both of the city and of nature. In the nineteenth century, for example, "density" was considered an evil, and reformers struggled mightily to move the working poor out to areas where better sanitation and flowers and parks "made life seem worth the living." We now call that vision "sprawl," and we struggle just as much to bring middle-class people back into the core of American cities. There's nothing natural, or inevitable, about such turns of events. It's only by paying very close attention to the ways metropolitan nature has been constructed and construed that meaningful lessons can be drawn. History matters. So here are the plants and animals of the Los Angeles basin, its rivers and watersheds. Here are the landscapes of fact and fantasy, the historical actors, events, and circumstances that have proved transformative over and over again. The result is a nuanced and rich portrait of Los Angeles that will serve planners, communities, and environmentalists as they look to the past for clues, if not blueprints, for enhancing the quality and viability of cities.
Download or read book A Land on Fire written by James Fahn and published by Westview Press. This book was released on 2003-03-26 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The conflict between modernization and environmentalism is illuminated in this insightful exposT by a former environmental editor of the Nation, who describes the dumping of toxic mercury into the Gulf of Thailand, the devastation caused by log smugglers, the loss of biodiversity and habitats, and their consequences. 30,000 first printing.
Download or read book Mexican Americans and the Environment written by Devon G. Peña and published by University of Arizona Press. This book was released on 2022-09-13 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mexican Americans have traditionally had a strong land ethic, believing that humans must respect la tierra because it is the source of la vida. As modern market forces exploit the earth, communities struggle to control their own ecological futures, and several studies have recorded that Mexican Americans are more impacted by environmental injustices than are other national-origin groups. In our countryside, agricultural workers are poisoned by pesticides, while farmers have lost ancestral lands to expropriation. And in our polluted inner cities, toxic wastes sicken children in their very playgrounds and homes. This book addresses the struggle for environmental justice, grassroots democracy, and a sustainable society from a variety of Mexican American perspectives. It draws on the ideas and experiences of people from all walks of life—activists, farmworkers, union organizers, land managers, educators, and many others—who provide a clear overview of the most critical ecological issues facing Mexican-origin people today. The text is organized to first provide a general introduction to ecology, from both scientific and political perspectives. It then presents an environmental history for Mexican-origin people on both sides of the border, showing that the ecologically sustainable Norteño land use practices were eroded by the conquest of El Norte by the United States. It finally offers a critique of the principal schools of American environmentalism and introduces the organizations and struggles of Mexican Americans in contemporary ecological politics. Devon Peña contrasts tenets of radical environmentalism with the ecological beliefs and grassroots struggles of Mexican-origin people, then shows how contemporary environmental justice struggles in Mexican American communities have challenged dominant concepts of environmentalism. Mexican Americans and the Environment is a didactically sound text that introduces students to the conceptual vocabularies of ecology, culture, history, and politics as it tells how competing ideas about nature have helped shape land use and environmental policies. By demonstrating that any consideration of environmental ethics is incomplete without taking into account the experiences of Mexican Americans, it clearly shows students that ecology is more than nature study but embraces social issues of critical importance to their own lives.
Download or read book Property Rights and Climate Change written by Fennie van Straalen and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Impacts in changing contexts -- Theoretical notions -- Information and land values -- Formal rules -- Financial responsibility
