الصفحة 1
الصفحة 1
Natural Disasters as Interactive Components of Global-Ecodynamics
This book opens a new approach to the study of global environmental changes having unfavourable character for mankind and other living systems. The main advantage of the book consists in the accumulation of knowledge from different sciences to parametrize the global ecodynamic process. Natural catastrophes are considered as an interactive element of global natural dynamics which are described by means of simulation models of global nature/society. The realization of this approach allows the integration within a complex structure of all international and national means of environmental monitoring and provides a tool for objective evaluation of the environmental quality. The main purpose of this book is to develop a universal information technology to estimate the state of environmental subsystems functioning under various climatic and anthropogenic conditions.
Mitigation of Natural Hazards and Disasters : International Perspectives
This book examines the aspects of prevention, mitigation, and management of environmental hazards and disasters from an international perspective. In light of the recent debate on climate change and the possible effects of such a change upon increasing frequency and magnitude of extreme environmental events, this publication overviews various policy and response discourse. Several case studies, from various countries and world regions, depicting recent experience in mitigation policy and program development and implementation and establishing interlinks between vulnerability and mitigation are presented to provide further insights.
Integrated Assessment of Water Resources and Global Change : A North-South Analysis
The key papers in this volume from the Bonn conference focus on the challenges of integrated assessment of water resources in the context of global change. The growing gap between North and South is also addressed, in terms not only of access to water and its quality, but also of the capacity to do research and implement solutions. The coverage of the papers is up-to-date and comprehensive. Highlights include emerging concepts such as blue and green water, virtual water, the water footprints of nations, multi-agent modelling, linkages between water and biodiversity, and social learning and adaptive management.
Growth Dynamics of Conifer Tree Rings : Images of Past and Future Environments
Each tree ring contains an image of the time when the ring formed, projected onto the ring's size, structure, and composition. Tree rings thus are natural archives of past environments, and contain records of past climate. While dendrochronologists have investigated the impact of climate on tree-ring growth by empirical–statistical methods, this volume presents a process-based model complementing previous approaches. Basic ideas concerning the biology of tree-ring growth and its control by environmental factors are treated, especially for conifers. The use of the model is illustrated by means of several examples from widely differing environments, and possible future directions for model development and application are discussed. The volume provides an improved mechanistic basis for the interpretation of tree rings as records of past climate. It advances process understanding of the large-scale environmental control of wood growth. As forests are the main carbon sink on land, the results are of great importance for all global change studies.
Global Climatology and Ecodynamics : Anthropogenic Changes to Planet Earth
The purpose of the book is to summarize existing information and assess the level of these uncertainties. We want to stimulate readers to think in the longer term about climate change and ecological damage that is being done to the planet Earth in the hope that it may remain fit for human habitation and a satisfying life style for future generations, not just the next generation or two.
Global Changes : Ethics, Politics and Environment in the Contemporary Technological World
offers an authoritative analysis of the challenges that have arisen as a result of modern technologies. It covers several environmental problems, such as climate change, overexploitation of natural resources, loss of natural habitats, pollution and human population growth, and discusses practical scenarios for sustainable human dwelling of our planet. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, the first part introduces “global changes”, describing how they are happening in reality, and the challenges arising from them. The second part introduces methodological approaches borrowed from various disciplines, such as engineering, management science, philosophy and theology, which can help deal with the contemporary challenges resulting from global changes.
Global Change and the Earth System : A Planet Under Pressure
The interactions between environmental change and human societies have a long, complex history spanning many millennia, but these have changed fundamentally in the last century. Human activities are now so pervasive and profound that they are altering the Earth in ways which threaten the very life support system upon which humans depend. This book describes what is known about the Earth System and the impact of changes caused by humans. It considers the consequences of these changes with respect to the stability of the Earth System and the well-being of humankind; as well as exploring future paths towards Earth System science in support of global sustainability.
Global Change and Mountain Regions : An Overview of Current Knowledge
Mountain regions occupy about a quarter of the global terrestrial land surface and provide goods and services to more than half the humanity. Global environmental change threatens the integrity of these systems and their ability to provide the goods and services upon which humanity has come to depend. This book gives an overview of the state of research in fields pertaining to the detection, understanding and prediction of global change impacts in mountain regions. More than 60 contributions from paleoclimatology, cryospheric research, hydrology, ecology, and development studies are compiled in this volume, each with an outlook on future research directions.
Global Change and Integrated Coastal Management : The Asia-Pacific Region
Most of the world’s population lives close to the coast and is highly dependent on coastal resources, which are being exploited at unsustainable rates. These resources are being subject to further pressures associated with population increase and the globalization of coastal resource demand. This is particularly so for the Asia-Pacific region which contains almost two thirds of the world’s population and most of the world’s coastal megacities. The region has globally important atmospheric and oceanic phenomena, which affect world climate such as the Asian Monsoon and the El-Niño Southern Oscillation phenomena. The Asia-Pacific region also has highly significant marine diversity but over the last few decades, coastal resources such as mangroves, coral reefs and fisheries have experienced large-scale depletion.
From Strategy to Execution : Turning Accelerated Global Change into Opportunity
"In this Abstract, you will learn: 1) Why businesses must become innovative; 2) How to develop creative business models; and 3) What knowledge workers do and why they are important. Editors Daniel Pantaleo and Nirmal Pal offer a comprehensive examination of strategy and execution in a rapidly changing world. ... The book is well-organized … . recommends this book to knowledge workers and their managers, and to executives and others who must manage change."
Forest ecosystems and environments : Scaling up from shoot module to watershed
The Global Change Impacts on Terrestrial Ecosystems in Monsoon Asia (TEMA) project was carried out as a unique contribution to the international project Global Change and Terrestrial Ecosystems. TEMA aimed to integrate forest ecosystem processes. This volume presents the scaling-up concept for better understanding of ecosystem functioning.
Earth System Science in the Anthropocene : Emerging Issues and Problems
Earth System Science in the Anthropocene aims to provide an in-depth perspective and update on special topics in Global Environmental Change in relation to Human Security. It gives an overview on the new Joint Projects of the four International Global Change Programmmes and on research efforts in Germany. It is also an up-to-date report on emerging necessities in Global Environmental Change research as well as suggestions for its future development.
Earth Observation of Global Change : The Role of Satellite Remote Sensing in Monitoring the Global Environment
Global Change is increasingly considered a critical topic in environmental research. Remote sensing methods provide a relevant tool to monitor global variables, since they offer a systematic coverage of the Earth Surface, at different spatial, spectral and temporal resolutions. The data provided by Earth Observation Satellites are being operationally used for monitoring atmospheric conditions, ice sheets and glaciar movements, crop dynamism and land use changes, deforestation and desertification processes, as well as water conditions. The book includes an analysis of the leading missions in global Earth observation, and then reviews the main fields in which remote sensing methods are providing vital data for global change studies.
Coping with Uncertainty : Modeling and Policy Issues
Ongoing global changes bring fundamentally new scientific problems requiring new concepts and tools. A key issue concerns a vast variety of practically irreducible uncertainties, which challenge our traditional models and require new concepts and analytical tools. The complexity of new problems does not allow to achieve enough certainty by increasing the resolution of models or by bringing in more links. Hence, new tools for modeling and management of uncertainty are needed, as given in this book.
Coastal Fluxes in the Anthropocene : The Land-Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone Project of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme
In global coastal zones, the major fabric of goods and services for human welfare as well as global changes are extraordinarily visible. They are shaped by natural Earth systems processes on a planetary scale, which are reflected in a continuously adapting coastal environment. Now, in the "Anthropocene", human society is a greater catalyst for change - impacting and modifying coastal processes. This book synthesizes knowledge on coastal and riverine material fluxes, biogeochemical processes and indications of change, and the human influence, before looking at future research and management needs. It is a milestone rather than a destination on the journey which continues under the new International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP), the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP) and the LOICZ II (Land-Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone) Project.
Life in Extreme Environments
Investigating life processes under extreme conditions can also bring clues for understanding and predicting ecosystems' responses to global changes. Furthermore, this area of research has a wide application potential in the fields of (bio)technoloty, chemical industry, pharmaceutics, biomedicine or cosmetics.
Lagoons and coastal Wetlands in the global change context : Impact and management issues ; Selected papers of the International Conference "CoastWetChange", Venice 26-28 April 2004
This interdisciplinary volume comprehensively reviews recent developments in wetland science and global change. The aim is to identify gaps, problems and successes in the integration of scientific issues into lagoon and coastal wetland management. The major strength of this volume is that it integrates several fields of research including climatology, hydrology, geomorphology, ecology and biology.
Isotopes in the Water Cycle : Past, Present and Future of a Developing Science
This monograph presents state of the art applications and new developments of isotopes in hydrology, environmental disciplines and climate change studies. Coverage ranges from the assessment of groundwater resources in terms of recharge and flow regime to studies of the past and present global environmental and climate changes.
Biological Invasions in New Zealand
Man’s recent colonization of New Zealand has dramatically altered the resident biota and resulted in the introduction of numerous alien organisms to these once remote islands. In reverse, there is increasing evidence of a lesser known export of species to other regions of the world. This volume presents an in-depth review of the level and rate of such invasions, and investigates what controls the success of invaders and the consequences for ecosystems both on land and offshore. It provides invasion biologists everywhere with tests of current theories about those factors leading to the success of invaders as well as evaluating principles for understanding the nature of their impacts that form a solid basis for the effective management of biological invasions worldwide.
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.
