Environmental Science: Sample Titles

Daniel Press brings his considerable experience to light in this excellent book, and it should be a required read for every scholar and student of environmental studies and science. He convincingly leverages an evidence based approach by digging into the data on toxic release, acid rain, non-point source water pollution, and industrial recycling to challenge the conventional wisdom that environmental regulation in the United States has been settled and is successful. Issuing a clarion call to those who care about environmental values, he urges us to redirect our action and discourse and to rethink how we can be more effective, with his specific recommendations for policy and regulatory reform.' - Toddi A. Steelman, University of Saskatchewan, Canada 'Those of us who work on environmental policy should never let the grind of our day-to-day challenges turn us away from the ultimate question of whether we are leaving a better environment to the next generation. Daniel Press looks at the current state of environmental regulation and probes just this question. It s worth a read for anyone who cares about the decisions we must make - and the processes we now use to get to those decisions - that will shape the world for years to come.' - John Laird, California Secretary for Natural Resources 'InAmerican Environmental PolicyDaniel Press guides the reader through not only the motivations and concepts that have been employed to set land, water, and air pollution policies, but also a dive into the details of both the environmental science and the legal and regulatory science that determines the success or failure of these actions. This book is instrumental for all those interested in both the why and the how - and the how much - of the legacy of Rachel Carson and the past five decades of environmental management.' - Daniel Kammen, University of California, Berkeley, US 'Daniel Press's new book is an excellent one. By focusing on implementation - what happens after policy has been adopted - Press demonstrates the weaknesses of pollution control policy in the United States. Case studies of acid rain, nonpoint source water pollution, and paper recycling illuminate 'regulatory failure,' the structural problems of American regulatory approaches. He concludes with recommendations to move us ahead, a path forward that focuses on performance, information, incentives, and source reduction. Strongly recommended.' - Christopher McGrory Klyza, Middlebury College, US More than 40 years after the United States launched bold efforts to curb pollution and waste, American environmental management has stalled. Drawing extensively on recent environmental science, engineering, regulatory agency data and trade information, American Environmental Policyexplores how environmental management in the US has fallen short of its early promise and reputation. Arguing that policies need to be redesigned for the 21st century, this book offers examples and principles of effective environmental policy reforms. It concludes with suggestions for how new policies should be designed, as well as examples of successful regulatory innovations already in practice around the world. Environmental policy scholars, students and science and environment journalists interested in evaluating environmental policy over time will find this to book of value. The approaches discussed in this book will also be useful for environmental and natural resource agency officials.

Conservation research is essential for advancing knowledge but to make an impact scientific evidence must influence conservation policies, decision making and practice. This raises a multitude of challenges. How should evidence be collated and presented to policymakers to maximise its impact? How can effective collaboration between conservation scientists and decision-makers be established? How can the resulting messages be communicated to bring about change? Emerging from a successful international symposium organised by the British Ecological Society and the Cambridge Conservation Initiative, this is the first book to practically address these questions across a wide range of conservation topics. Well-renowned experts guide readers through global case studies and their own experiences. A must-read for practitioners, researchers, graduate students and policymakers wishing to enhance the prospect of their work 'making a difference'. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

This book provides an analysis of the ecological conditions and ecosystem goods and services of the Zambezi River Basin (ZRB), the fourth largest river in Africa. Various environmental and anthropogenic factors; inclusive of climate, environmental flows, hydrology, morphology, pollution and land use changes among others and their interactions are considered as drivers of the river ecosystems. The impacts of these drivers on aquatic biota, river ecological integrity, and the livelihoods of surrounding communities are analysed within the socio-economic-policy context. The book goes beyond the usual inventories and basic research by using the comparative research method (CRM) in a trans-disciplinary manner. This CRM analytical approach in this book seeks to interrogate the differences or similarities in socio-economic systems, livelihoods, ecological systems, ecosystem goods and services, their usage and management under the seemingly different cultural, socio-economic conditions expected across boarders that are within the ZRB. The multidisciplinary approach also connects the typical ecological research with social dimensions in a holistic manner. The book therefore, provides empirical and research based evidence to support strategic planning and policy development in the wake of ecological changes that nations and indeed regions such as the ZRB are grappling with while seeking to sustainably manage precious river systems.

This text aims to help readers understand the hopes and hazards facing humankind by learning more about the causes and consequences of environmental change through looking at the relationship between people and their geological environment.

How the tools of information technology can support environmental sustainability by tackling problems that span broad scales of time, space, and complexity. Environmental issues often span long periods of time, far-flung areas, and labyrinthine layers of complexity. In Greening through IT, Bill Tomlinson investigates how the tools and techniques of information technology (IT) can help us tackle environmental problems at such vast scales. Tomlinson describes theoretical, technological, and social aspects of a growing interdisciplinary approach to sustainability, "Green IT," offering both a human-centered framework for understanding Green IT systems and specific examples and case studies of Green IT in action. Tomlinson descrobes many efforts toward sustainability supported by IT--from fishers in India who maximized the sales potential of their catch by coordinating their activities with mobile phones to the installation of smart meters that optimize electricity use in California households--and offers three detailed studies of specific research projects that he and his colleagues have undertaken: EcoRaft, an interactive museum exhibit to help children learn principles of restoration ecology; Trackulous, a set of web-based tools with which people can chart their own environmental behavior; and GreenScanner, an online system that provides access to environmental-impact reports about consumer products. Taken together, these examples illustrate the significant environmental benefits that innovations in information technology can enable.

Since 1996, The Hudson: An Illustrated Guide to the Living River has been an essential resource for understanding the full sweep of the great river's natural history and human heritage. This updated third edition includes the latest information about the ongoing fight against pollution and environmental damage to the river, plus vibrant new full-color illustrations showing the plants and wildlife that make this ecosystem so special.   This volume gives a detailed account of the Hudson River's history, including the geological forces that created it, the various peoples who have lived on its banks, and the great works of art it has inspired. It also showcases the many species making a home on this waterway, including the Atlantic sturgeon, the bald eagle, the invasive zebra mussel, and the herons of New York Harbor. Combining both scientific and historical perspectives, this book demonstrates why the Hudson and its valley have been so central to the environmental movement.    As it charts the progress made towards restoring the river ecosystem and the effects of emerging threats like climate change, The Hudson identifies concrete ways that readers can help. To that end, royalties from the sale of this book will go to the non-profit environmental advocacy group Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Inc.

An Introduction to Forensic Geoscience provides fundamental training in geoscience as developed through the lens of its forensic applications. It incorporates a range of topics including geophysical methods of grave detection, the mineralogy of art, identification of microfossils, and comparison of soil trace evidence samples. Each topic is introduced using core concepts that are developed with increasing complexity in order to give readers an understanding of the underlying scientific principles involved and a taste of the wide range of possible forensic uses. A variety of detailed reference tables have been compiled for the text and each chapter contains lists of references to applicable textbooks and journal articles. Examples of real criminal cases are also presented in each chapter to make the connections between theory and real world application. The goal of this book is to give readers a familiarity with the wide range of ways in which geoscience principles and geological materials can be utilized forensically. Additional resources for this book can be found at: http://www.wiley.com/go/bergslien/forensicgeoscience.

A groundbreaking examination of the implications of synthetic biology for biodiversity conservation   "What is natural and what is artificial in the era of the Anthropocene? This is the core question addressed by Kent Redford and William Adams' book, Strange Natures. . . . It is impressive how the book manages to be so rich in perspectives on such a complex and controversial phenomenon, yet so cautiously and open-mindedly written that it invites contemplation and reflection rather than hasty conclusions."--Adam Wickberg, Global Environmental Politics   Nature almost everywhere survives on human terms. The distinction between what is natural and what is human-made, which has informed conservation for centuries, has become blurred. When scientists can reshape genes more or less at will, what does it mean to conserve nature?   The tools of synthetic biology are changing the way we answer that question. Gene editing technology is already transforming the agriculture and biotechnology industries. What happens if synthetic biology is also used in conservation to control invasive species, fight wildlife disease, or even bring extinct species back from the dead?   Conservation scientist Kent Redford and geographer Bill Adams turn to synthetic biology, ecological restoration, political ecology, and de-extinction studies and propose a thoroughly innovative vision for protecting nature.

From Benjamin Franklin's campaign to combat pollution at the Philadelphia's docks in the 1750s to the movement against climate change today, American environmentalists have sought to protect the natural world and promote a healthy human society. In This Green and Growing Land, historian Kevin Armitage shows how the story of American environmentalism--part philosophy, part social movement--is in no small way a story of America itself, of the way citizens have self-organized, have thought of their communities and their government, and have used their power to protect and enrich the land. Armitage skillfully analyzes the economic and social forces begetting environmental change and emphasizes the responses of a variety of ordinary Americans--as well as a few well-known leaders--to these complex issues. This concise and engaging survey of more than 250 years of activism tells the story of a magnificent American achievement--and the ongoing problems that environmentalism faces.