Download or read book Water Is The Indispensability Of Water In Society And Life written by Seth B Darling and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 2018-06-26 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: People are increasingly aware of the role that water has in shaping society and how it impacts quality of life. This is the first book to provide a holistic perspective on water, capturing the full breadth of the science, technology, policy, history, and future outlook for the most important substance on earth — written at a level accessible to non-experts in each of these areas.Water is shockingly bizarre in its properties and of unsurpassed importance throughout human history, yet so mundane as to often be invisible in our daily lives. In Water Is ..., the two Seths (Darling and Snyder) walk the reader through all of the diverse perspectives on water. The journey begins with an exploration of the mysteries of water's properties on the molecular level, zooming out through its central role at biological and geological scales. Next, the Seths travel through the history of human civilization, highlighting the fundamental part water has played throughout, including the complexities of water policy, privatization, and pricing in today's world. Attention then turns to technology and innovation, emphasizing the daunting challenges dictated by increasing water stress and a changing climate as well as the enticing opportunities to achieve a secure global water future.Water is arguably the single most interdisciplinary topic. Students in business, policy, history, science, and engineering can best position themselves to make an impact by learning about the entire range of diverse, unexpected, and fascinating angles on water.Related Link(s)

Download or read book The Social Life of Water written by John R. Wagner and published by Berghahn Books. This book was released on 2013-08-30 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Everywhere in the world communities and nations organize themselves in relation to water. We divert water from rivers, lakes, and aquifers to our homes, workplaces, irrigation canals, and hydro-generating stations. We use it for bathing, swimming, recreation, and it functions as a symbol of purity in ritual performances. In order to facilitate and manage our relationship with water, we develop institutions, technologies, and cultural practices entirely devoted to its appropriation and distribution, and through these institutions we construct relations of class, gender, ethnicity, and nationality. Relying on first-hand ethnographic research, the contributors to this volume examine the social life of water in diverse settings and explore the impacts of commodification, urbanization, and technology on the availability and quality of water supplies. Each case study speaks to a local set of issues, but the overall perspective is global, with representation from all continents.

Download or read book Water and Society written by Darrell W. Pepper and published by WIT Press. This book was released on 2012 with total page 577 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book contains the papers presented at a conference co-organized by the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and the Wessex Institute of Technology to facilitate trans-disciplinary communication on issues related to the nature of water, and its use and exploitation by society. With adequate water supply becoming a critical issue in more and more area, \there is a great and urgent need to bridge the gap between the broad spectrum of social sciences and humanistic disciplines and the specialists in physical and natural sciences, biology, environmental sciences, and health. Many issues are also trans-national in nature and relate to rights of states and hence it is essential to discuss these at international level to arrive at equitable and binding solutions that will ensure the rights of society to quality water supplies. The book discusses The nature of water; Water as a human right; Water as the source of life; Water in a changing climate; Future water demands and adaptation strategies; Water resources contamination; Surface and sub-surface water resources; Irrigation and desertification; Water, sanitation and health; Transnational water rights; Legislation and controls; Water through the ages; Lessons to be learnt; and Water and disaster management.

Download or read book Fundamentals of Water Security written by Jim F. Chamberlain and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2022-08-16 with total page 468 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: FUNDAMENTALS OF WATER SECURITY Understand How to Manage Water Resources to Equitably Meet Both Human and Ecological Needs Burgeoning populations and the ever-higher standards of living for those in emerging countries increase the demand on our water resources. What is not increasing, however, is the supply of water and the total amount of water in earth’s biosphere—water that is integral to all standards of living. Fundamentals of Water Security provides a foundation for understanding and managing the quantity-quality-equity nexus of water security in a changing climate. In a broad sense, this volume explores solutions to water security challenges around the world. It is richly illustrated and pedagogically packed with up-to-date information. The text contains chapter learning objectives, foundation sections reviewing quantitative skills, case studies, and vignettes of people who have made important contributions to water security. To further aid comprehension, end-of-chapter problems are included—both qualitative and quantitative, with solutions available to instructors. Finally, extensive references feature books, journal articles, and government and NGO reports. Sample topics discussed include: How the study of water resources has evolved from a focus on physical availability to include social factors and governance How water security affects multiple disciplines across environmental science and engineering, hydrology, geography, water resources, atmospheric science, chemistry, biology, health science, and social and political science fields How to achieve a sufficient quantity and quality of water to equitably meet both immediate and long-term human and ecological needs Analysis of water security in an integrated manner by underscoring the complex interactions between water quantity, water quality, and society Students taking courses on hydrology, water security, and/or water resource management, along with scientists working in fields where water security is a factor will be able to use Fundamentals of Water Security as a comprehensive textbook to understand and achieve water security.

Download or read book World Scientific Reference Of Water Science The In 3 Volumes written by and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 2022-09-16 with total page 1446 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Water is an indispensable resource for our society. Essential to sustaining life and economic prosperity, water is also the basic component for manufacturing almost everything to keep society alive, including energy, food, clothing, cars, and electronics, among many other examples. It is, thus, an integral part of our lives beyond simply quenching our thirst. In addition, our future economy and security highly depend upon the availability of clean water. Yet given its critical importance, there is a limited supply of renewable freshwater across the globe and there is no substitute. Global population and economic growth, urbanization, and climate change further exacerbate the increasing stress on freshwater supplies. As such, society urgently needs to find the scientific and engineering solutions to more efficiently manage our precious water resources. The volumes of this multi-volume reference cover the latest scientific advancements and solutions in managing and treating this crucial resource.Related Link(s)

Download or read book The Paradox of Water written by Bhawani Venkataraman and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2023-01-17 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Water is a molecular marvel. Its seemingly simple formula - H2O -dictates the properties that make water essential for life and easily contaminated. Herein lies the paradox of water-we cannot live without it, but it is easily rendered "unsafe." The Paradox of Water explores the intersection of the scientific, social, and policy implications around access to safe drinking water. Drinking water is the smallest fraction of water used by a nation, yet, access to safe drinking water supports educational opportunities, helps overcome gender inequities, lowers familial stress, and enables more socially and economically productive uses of time"--

Download or read book Water and Human Societies written by David A. Pietz and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-08-18 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the historical relationships between human communities and water. Bringing together for the first time key texts from across the literature, it discusses how the past has shaped our contemporary challenges with equitable access to clean and ample water supplies. The book is organized into chapters that explore thematic issues in water history, including “Water and Civilizations,” Water and Health,” “Water and Equity” and “Water and Sustainability”. Each chapter is introduced by a critical overview of the theme, followed by four primary and secondary readings that discuss critical nodes in the historical and contemporary development of each chapter theme. “Further readings” at the end of each chapter invite the reader to further explore the dynamics of each theme. The foundational premise of the book is that in order to comprehend the complexity of global water challenges, we need to understand the history of cultural forces that have shaped our water practices. These historical patterns shape the range of choices available to us as we formulate responses to water challenges. The book will be a valuable resource to all students interested in understanding the challenges of water use today.

Download or read book Water written by Katie Meehan and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2023-02-08 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discover the hydrosocial cycle and the impact of power, knowledge, and scarcity on water rights and use through this engaging and student-friendly textbook In Water: A Critical Introduction, a team of distinguished researchers delivers an expert examination of our most pressing water-related challenges, arguing that flows of water are shaped by social practices and geometries of power. Combining first-hand research and headline case studies, the authors reveal the hydrosocial relations often hidden in mainstream accounts of water, delving into current issues like water scarcity, floods, global water governance, legal conflicts, human rights, potable water provision, health, the water-food-energy nexus, and much more. Spanning five centuries, this comprehensive volume reflects on how imperial expansion has shaped hydrosocial relations in and between Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas, how water demand has changed over time, and how this change impacted lifestyle. As the first major text to synthesize critical water research in both local and global perspectives, this book is anchored by clear and compelling arguments — the "four planks" — and supported by the authors' original research and up-to-date synthesis of the latest critical research on major water problems. It also includes maps, illustrations, and additional learning materials to be used by educators. Readers will find: A lively and thorough introduction that explains why a critical approach is necessary to fully understand our current water challenges, with a focus on the "skeptical superhero" A global approach to key debates in water issues, including large dams, privatization, transboundary conflicts, agriculture and irrigation, water and sanitation provision, human rights, governance dilemmas, and the Sustainable Development Goals Comprehensive explorations of the roles played by expert knowledge, global capital, climate change, and justice struggles in the hydrosocial cycle Critical theoretical perspectives that integrate environmental social sciences, feminist critique, and a broadly defined political economy with the specificities of water resources Fulsome treatments of water governance, science, and management, including the origins and implications of neoliberal approaches to the privatization, commodification, and financialization of water An accessible text that "invites the reader" on a critical journey Water: A Critical Introduction is a key text for advanced high school, undergraduate, and graduate students who want a keener understanding of trends in environmental management, political ecology, and water governance, science, and engineering. Written with an interdisciplinary audience in mind, this book will benefit students taking courses in environmental studies, environmental law, geopolitics, international studies, human geography, hydrology, engineering, environmental economics, and related disciplines.

Download or read book How Water Influences Our Lives written by Per Jahren and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-11-22 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This beautifully illustrated book explains how water influences our culture; the many phases of water from ice to gas, its simple but still so unpredictable nature, and water resources on Earth; how water is distributed in ice, oceans, rivers, lakes and more; how it creates transport possibilities; how it produces and absorbs energy; how it is constantly changing the surface of the Earth; how there is enough water on Earth, yet sometimes there is too much or too little; the role of water in recreation; and how water supplies us with food in a myriad of ways. Few things are like water – a subtle and thought-provoking element, so simple and yet complicated, so conspicuous yet unpredictable, so soft and peaceful yet powerful, and so universal yet unique. Water is by far the world’s largest commodity. Though it belongs to all of us, it is still not shared by all. We very seldom take time to reflect on the many ways that water affects our lives. Though it would be too ambitious to believe that it claims all the meanings and roles of water, this book, by showcasing water’s versatility and by sharing the experiences and insights gained by the two authors during their many travels across the globe, contributes to a greater awareness of the most important substance in our society – water. The book offers an insightful and intriguing read for anyone interested in science and culture related to water, from laymen to students and decision-makers.

Download or read book Water and Society II written by C.A. Brebbia and published by WIT Press. This book was released on 2013-09-04 with total page 365 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Containing the proceedings of the Second International Conference on the title topic, the book examines issues related to the nature of water, and its use and exploitation by society. Since ensuring an adequate water supply is becoming a critical issue in more and more countries, the conference brings together specialists from the social sciences and humanistic disciplines and the physical and natural sciences, biology, environmental sciences, and health to bridge gaps between the disciplines in addressing the problem. The international, interdisciplinary nature of the conference participants makes it possible to arrive at equitable solutions to the many transnational issues, relating to the rights of states, which arise around water supply.The book discusses: The nature of water; Water as a human right; Water as the source of life; Water in a changing climate; Future water demands and adaptation strategies; Water resources contamination; Water resources management; Irrigation and desertification; Water, sanitation and health; Transnational water rights; Legislation and controls; Lessons to be learnt; Water and disaster management.

Download or read book World Scientific Reference Of Water Science The In 3 Volumes written by Matthew Tirrell and published by . This book was released on 2022 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Water is an indispensable resource for our society. Essential to sustaining life and economic prosperity, water is also the basic component for manufacturing almost everything to keep society alive, including energy, food, clothing, cars, and electronics, among many other examples. It is, thus, an integral part of our lives beyond simply quenching our thirst. In addition, our future economy and security highly depend upon the availability of clean water. Yet given its critical importance, there is a limited supply of renewable freshwater across the globe and there is no substitute. Global population and economic growth, urbanization, and climate change further exacerbate the increasing stress on freshwater supplies. As such, society urgently needs to find the scientific and engineering solutions to more efficiently manage our precious water resources. The volumes of this multi-volume reference cover the latest scientific advancements and solutions in managing and treating this crucial resource"--

Download or read book Water and Society written by Terje Tvedt and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2015-12-22 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despite the central importance that water has held for civilizations both ancient and modern, its social significance has made surprisingly little impact on our contemporary understanding of human history and development. Dominant interpretations of the relationship between society and nature have remained water blind. In Water and Society historian and leading water expert Terje Tvedt argues for a change that acknowledges the significant role played by water in societal development. Reflecting his expertise as a geographer, historian and a political scientist, and drawing on his wide experience of water issues around the world, Terje Tvedt s Water and Society provides a long overdue reappraisal of the relationship between water and society, one that gives water its rightful place as central to any true understanding of human history and development."

Download or read book City Water Matters written by Sophie Watson and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-06-29 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Water is one of the most pressing concerns of our time. This book argues for the importance of water as a cultural object, and as a source of complex meanings and practices in everyday life, embedded in the socio-economics of local water provision. Each chapter aims to capture one element of water’s fluid existence in the world, as material object, cultural representation, as movement, as actor, as practice and as ritual. The book explores the interconnectedness of humans and non-humans, of nature and culture, and the complex entanglements of water in all its many forms; how water constitutes multiple differences and is implicated in relations of power, often invisible, but present nevertheless in the workings of daily life in all its rhythms and forms; and water’s capacity to assemble a multiplicity of publics and constitute new socialities and connections. Cities, and their inhabitants, without water will die, and so will their cultures.

Download or read book Water and Society V written by S. Mambretti and published by WIT Press. This book was released on 2019-12-06 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Encompassing papers form the 2019 Water and Society Conference, this book is a collection of latest trans-disciplinary research on issues related to the nature of water, and its use and exploitation by society. This book demonstrates the need to bridge the gap between specialists in physical sciences, biology, environmental sciences and health. Over the centuries, civilisations have relied on the availability of clean and inexpensive water. This can no longer be taken for granted as the need for water continues to increase due to the pressure from growing global population demanding higher living standards. Agriculture and industry, major users of water, are at the same time those that contribute to its contamination. Water distribution networks in urban areas, as well as soiled water collection systems, present serious problems in response to a growing population as well as the need to maintain ageing infrastructures.Many technologically feasible solutions, such as desalination or pumping systems are energy demanding but, as costs rise, the techniques currently developed may need to be re-assessed. The research contained in this book addresses the interaction between water and energy systems.The socio-political implications of a world short of clean, easily available water are enormous. It will lead to realignments in international politics and the emergence of new centres of power in the world.The following list covers some of the subjects included in this book: Water resources management; Agribusiness; Water as a human right; Water quality; Water resources contamination; Sanitation and health; Water and disaster management; Policy and legislation; Future water demands; Irrigation and water management; Management of catchments; Groundwater management and conservation.

Download or read book Water A way of life written by A.J.M. (Lida) Schelwald-van der Kley and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2009-03-19 with total page 149 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Water: a way of life" takes the reader on a water journey through time and across the worlds continents. Along the way it explains the past and present ways in which different cultures around the world, both traditional and modern, view and manage water in response to the distinct environment they inhabit. A better understanding of cultural water beliefs and practices may lead to new concepts for future sustainable water management - from flood management to water supply, sanitation and irrigation management.

Download or read book Community Based Water Management and Social Capital written by Kiyoshi Kobayashi and published by IWA Publishing. This book was released on 2014-04-14 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Community Based Water Management and Social Capitalprovides scientific understanding of community based water management and how to secure responsible management to satisfy quality and quantity requirements. It shows how community based water management can be synchronized with public water service, by introducing the most recent field experiments and theoretical studies in economics, social science, engineering, and regional planning which include game theory, microeconomics, econometric, statistics, social network analysis, social choice, and micro finance. Community Based Water Management and Social Capital presents field experiments and theoretical studies in economics, social science, engineering, and regional planning to investigate important questions: what motivates people involve in voluntary water management what is the effect of participatory approach in water management how does social capital work in the voluntary actions what are key factors for effective governance for water management with diverse actors - local people, enterprise, and government; what is necessary for proper water allocation; vi) how to synchronize public water service with community based water management. The book provides students, researchers, practitioners and governments with a comprehensive account of the current situation and perspectives on voluntary water management. It delivers a new scientific understanding on sustainable water management schemes and appropriate institutional social structures to secure inalienable rights to access to water. Author: Kiyoshi Kobayashi, Kyoto University, Japan, Ibnu Syabri Institute of Technology Bandung, Indonesia, Ismu Rini Dwi Ari, Brawijaya University, East Java, Hayeong Jeong, Isabel C Escobar, Andrea Schaefer.

Download or read book The Worth of Water written by Liam McCarton and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-11-09 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is no more fundamental substance to life on earth than water. Three quarter of the Earth’s surface is covered by either saltwater or freshwater, yet millions face a daily struggle to access enough water for survival. The effects of ongoing climate change have expanded the water crisis to areas previously considered water secure. This book addresses the role rainwater harvesting (rwh) can play in developing a resilient water infrastructure that will prove adaptive to climate change. The book features three sections. The first section presents the concepts underpinning a new approach to water infrastructure. The term “the worth of water” was developed to reflect the importance of the social life of water. This encompasses all human relationships with water including the social, cultural, hydrological, political, economic, technical and spiritual. A technology portfolio showcasing the worth of water from the Qanats of the ancient world to the modern Rain Cities is presented. Other concepts discussed include the circular economy of water and the concept of multiple waters for multiple users of multiple qualities. Water and its properties are a function of its peculiar molecular structure and this is illustrated in the book. Rainwater harvesting is considered by the authors as containing an inherent treatment train which functions as a complex water treatment system providing physical, chemical and biological removal mechanisms. Part two presents a new design methodology together with design templates and worked examples for the hydraulic and economic analysis of rwh systems. A state-of-the-art literature review of the potential health implications of utilizing rwh is also presented. The final section of the book discusses how rwh can play a vital role in contributing to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and to living within the Planetary Boundaries.