China’s Gas Development Strategies
This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license. This book examines how China can increase the share of natural gas in its energy system. China’s energy strategy has global ramifications and impact, and central to this strategy is the country’s transition from coal to gas. The book presents the culmination of a two-year collaboration between the Development Research Center of the State Council (DRC) and Shell.
Children and Peace : From Research to Action
This book's multi-layered emphasis on context, structural determinants of peace and conflict, and use of research for action towards social cohesion for children and youth has not been brought together in other peace psychology literature to the same extent. Children and Peace: From Research to Action will be a useful resource for peace psychology academics and students, as well as social and developmental psychology academics and students, peace and development practitioners and activists, policy makers who need to make decisions about the matters covered in the book, child rights advocates and members of multilateral organizations such as the UN.
Challenges to Marine Ecosystems ; Proceedings of the 41st European Marine Biology Symposium
This volume presents a representative sample of contributions to the 41st European Marine Biology Symposium held in September 2005 in Cork, Ireland. The theme of the symposium was ‘Challenges to Marine Ecosystems’ and this was divided into four sub themes; Genetics, Marine Protected Areas, Global Climate Change and Marine Ecosystems, Sustainable Fisheries and Agriculture.
Carbon Pricing in Japan
This book evaluates, from an economic perspective, various measures introduced in Japan to prevent climate change. Although various countries have implemented such policies in response to the pressing issue of climate change, the effectiveness of those programs has not been sufficiently compared.
Carbon Inventory Methods Handbook for Greenhouse Gas Inventory, Carbon Mitigation and Roundwood Production Projects
Carbon Inventory Methods Handbook provides detailed step-by-step information on sampling procedures, field and laboratory measurements, application of remote sensing and GIS techniques, modeling, and calculation procedures along with sources of data for carbon inventory. The unique feature of this handbook is that it provides practical guidance on carbon inventory methods for four kinds of projects, namely, 1) development, implementation and monitoring of carbon mitigation in forest, agriculture and grassland sectors, 2) national greenhouse gas inventory in agriculture, forest, and other land-use categories, 3) forest, grassland and agroforestry development and 4) commercial and community forestry roundwood production.
Carbon and nitrogen in the terrestrial environment
Carbon and Nitrogen in the Terrestrial Environment is a comprehensive, interdisciplinary description of C and N fluxes between the atmosphere and the terrestrial biosphere; issues related to C and N management in different ecosystems and their implications for the environment and global climate change; and the approaches to mitigate emission of greenhouse gases.Drawing upon the most up-to-date books, journals, bulletins, reports, symposia proceedings and internet sources documenting interrelationships between different aspects of C and N cycling in the terrestrial environment, Carbon and Nitrogen in the Terrestrial Environment fills the gap left by most of the currently available books on C and N cycling. They either deal with a single element of an ecosystem, or are related to one or a few selected aspects like soil organic matter (SOM) and agricultural or forest management, emission of greenhouse gases, global climate change or modeling of SOM dynamics.
Carbon and Its Domestication
Carbon is chemically versatile and is thus the body and soul of biological, geological, ecological and economic systems. Its appropriation by humans through diversion of its biogeochemical cycle has been a mainstay of development. This domestication is characterized by a number of thresholds: control of fire, development of agriculture, expansion of Europe, fossil-fuel use and biotechnology. All have exacted an environmental toll, not least being climatic change and biodiversity loss. Carbon management now and in the future is a ‘hot’ political issue.
Building with earth : Design and technology of a sustainable architecture
For a number of years, the healthy and environment-friendly building material earth, in common use for thousands of years, has been enjoying increasing popularity, including in industrialized nations. In hot dry and temperate climate zones, earth offers numerous advantages over other materials. Its particular texture and composition also holds great aesthetic appeal.
Building to suit the climate : A handbook
Serves as a concrete aid to planning and design. With the planning process as its roadmap, it accompanies the planner from the basic evaluation stage through conception and implementation planning all the way to building operation. The building-related characteristics of the various climatic zones form the basis for the made-to-measure development of integrated building solutions. Well-conceived graphics illustrate planning contexts and facilitate efficient planning decisions and realistic predimensioning. Materials, systems, and technologies are described, and their areas of application are pointed out. Reference parameters, costs, and the presentation of interrelationships equip the planner to make a strategic and well-informed selection.
Building Services Design for Energy Efficient Buildings
"The following issues are addressed: background issues on climate change, whole-life performance and design collaboration / generic strategies for energy efficient, low-carbon design / health and wellbeing and post occupancy evaluation / building ventilation / air conditioning and HVAC system selection / thermal energy generation and distribution systems / low-energy approaches for thermal control / electrical systems, data collection, controls and monitoring / building thermal load assessment / building electric power load assessment / space planning and design integration with other disciplines."
Building Physics : Heat, Ventilation, Moisture, Light, Sound, Fire, and Urban Microclimate
Presents the theoretical background of building physics, dealing with the evaluation of physical phenomena related to heat transfer and energy use in buildings, water and water vapour transfer in building structures, daylighting and electric lighting of buildings, sound transmission in building structures and protection against noise, the occurrence and spread of fires in buildings and the thermal response of cities. It contains numerical and computational evaluation methods, numerous computational case studies and examples of experimental analyses. The book demonstrates that the considered physical processes affect the quality of living and working comfort in indoor and outdoor environment.
Building design, construction and performance in tropical climates
Outlines: the functional requirements of buildings in tropical climates; the challenges associated with the sustainability of the built environment, building form and whole life performance in the context of a tropical setting; the impact of potentially hostile tropical conditions upon building pathology and the durability of components, structure and fabric; the tasks which face those responsible for appraising the design, condition, maintenance and conservation of built heritage in tropical regions; the facilities management issues faced in tropical climates; and the refurbishment, upgrade and renewal of the tropical built environment.
Building a Resilient and Sustainable Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa
What are the challenges and action points for agricultural sustainability in Sub-Saharan Africa? This collection of papers offers technical analyses, policy recommendations and an overview of success stories to date. Each carefully selected paper provides valuable insights for improved policy making and defines relevant strategic priorities on Africa’s sustainable transformation process, which is in line with the international development agenda. Although agriculture remains the main source of income for Africa’s population, the sector is rain-fed subjecting it to the vagaries of weather and climate change. This volume demonstrates the rationale of developing a competitive, inclusive and sustainable agribusiness sector for Africa’s food security and structural transformation.
Bringing the sun down to earth : Designing inexpensive instruments for monitoring the atmosphere
The book describes in detail how to design, build, calibrate, and use inexpensive instruments for measuring solar radiation, ranging from total radiation from the entire sky to narrow spectral bands of radiation travelling along a path directly from the sun. Students and their teachers will learn a great deal about weather, the seasons, and the atmosphere, and they will develop a much better understanding of how to measure the physical world around them.
Boreal Peatland Ecosystems
This volume adopts an ecosystems approach to understanding the world's boreal peatlands. It focuses on biogeochemical patterns and processes, production, decomposition, and peat accumulation, and provides additional information on animal and fungal diversity. A recurring theme is the legacy of boreal peatlands as impressive accumulators of carbon as peat over millennia. This carbon legacy is under threat from a wide diversity of disturbances, including wildfire, ongoing climate change, the changing chemistry of atmospheric deposition, and continuing resource exploitation. The volume is of inte.
Boreal Forest and Climate Change
There are several crucial feedbacks from forests to the climate system. The mechanisms for those feedbacks are elaborated in the book: they involve changes in the carbon cycle, albedo, N2O emissions and the production of aerosols. Much of this work is new and the feedback relationships have not yet been incorporated into models of the climate system. The book will be an important introduction for students and climate modellers alike, providing conceptual tools and ideas that are broadly applicable to terrestrial systems.
Biomimetics for architecture & design : Nature - analogies - technology
Provides the readers with a timely guide to the application of biomimetic principles in architecture and engineering design. As a result of a combined effort by two internationally recognized authorities, the biologist Werner Nachtigall and the architect Göran Pohl, the book describes the principles which can be used to compare nature and technology, and at the same time it presents detailed explanations and examples showing how biology can be used as a source of inspiration and “translated” in building and architectural solutions (biomimicry). Even though nature cannot be directly copied, the living world can provide architects and engineers with a wealth of analogues and inspirations for their own creative designs. But how can analysis of natural entities give rise to advanced and sustainable design? By reporting on the latest bionic design methods and using extensive artwork, the book guides readers through the field of nature-inspired architecture, offering an extraordinary resource for professional architects, engineers, designers and urban planners, as well as for university teachers, researchers and students.
Biology and Ecology of Norway Spruce
This book presents a concise and comprehensive review of the biology, ecology, and management of Norway spruce. It integrates classic and contemporary literature (more than 2000 works cited in the text), highlighting basic research and forestry practices in central and eastern Europe. The topics include anatomy and morphology, physiology and nutrition, reproductive biology and genetics, and ecology. In addition, it examines mycorrhiza, diseases and pests as well as silviculture and wood products. In the light of increasing threats to forest health from air pollution, climate change, and insects and disease, it provides an essential information source to those concerned with the ecology, conservation, and management of the species
Biological Invasions
This new volume on Biological Invasions deals with both plants and animals. It differs from previous books on the subject by extending from the level of individual species to an ecosystem and global level. Topics of highest societal relevance, such as the impact of genetically modified organisms, are interlinked with more conventional ecological aspects, including biodiversity. The combination of these approaches is new and makes compelling reading for researchers and environmentalists. The book’s 22 chapters cover a huge range of subjects relevant to the field. These include pathways of biological invasions (e.g. ballast water, waterways), traits of successful invaders (e.g. chemical weapons, empty niches), and patterns of invasion and invasibility, such as man-induced predisposition by fire, land use and eutrophication, and the role of climate change.
Biogeochemical cycles in globalization and sustainable development
This valuable study of environmental subsystems functioning under various climatic and anthropogenic conditions provides a unique insight into the social context of global changes in biogeochemical cycles and demonstrates current understanding of globalization and sustainable development.



















