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&“A truly vital book for any outdoor adventurer.&”—Cabin Life Before GPS, before the compass, and even before cartography, humankind was… navigating. A windswept tree, the depth of a puddle, or a trill of birdsong could point the way home, and they still do—if you know how to look. With The Natural Navigator, his first book, Tristan Gooley invited us to notice the directional clues hidden all around: in the sun, moon, stars, clouds, weather patterns, lengthening shadows, changing tides, growing plants, and habits of wildlife. A decade after publication, this modern classic still reminds us that we can find south by joining the horns of the crescent moon—and find adventure in our own backyards.
This multidisciplinary book develops a synthesis of traditional ecological knowledge in the Caucasus region in Georgia – a hotspot of… natural and cultural diversity. Traditional ecological knowledge connects the knowledge of natural phenomena with the culture of a given human society, and Georgia is an excellent case study for observing this knowledge. The Caucasus region in particular is notable for its natural and ethnocultural diversity and this book weaves together the disciplines of history, environment and ethnography to develop a synthesis of traditional ecological knowledge. Tracing the history of Georgia through two main phases, the hunter and gatherer bands and the agrarian phase, the author examines important events such as the breeding of naked hexaploid wheat, the domestication of the grapevine and the development of viticulture. By utilising this historic perspective it allows us to clearly see how traditional ecological knowledge has increased in sophistication during the long prehistory of Georgia, and most importantly how this type of knowledge underpins the social and economic progress of traditional societies, not only in Georgia, but throughout the world. This book will be of great relevance to interdisciplinary-minded scholars and students who have an interest in the relationships between nature and human society, including anthropologists, historians, biologists, ecologists, botanists, sociologists and ethnographers.
This book discusses how future landscapes will be shaped by pervasive change and where, when, and how society should manage… landscapes for change. Readers will learn about the major anthropogenic drivers of landscape change, including climate change and human induced disturbance regimes, and the unique consequences that multiple and simultaneously occurring change agents can have on landscapes. The author uses landscape trajectories as a guide to selecting the appropriate course of action, and considers how landscape position, inertia, and direction will determine landscape futures. The author introduces the concept of landscapes as socio-technical-ecological systems (STES), which combines ecological and technological influences on future landscape change and the need for society to acknowledge both when considering landscape management. Thinking beyond solutions, the author identifies barriers to managing landscapes for change including the cost, cultural identity of local populations, and the fear of taking action under uncertain conditions. Nevertheless, processes, tools, and technologies exist for overcoming social and ecological barriers to managing landscapes for change, and continued investment in social and scientific infrastructure holds out hope for maintaining our landscape values even as we enter an era of unprecedented change and disruption.
This book presents and discusses a strategy which includes four approaches to dealing with the risk of sea-level rise and… other water hazards. It also offers opportunities for cities to explore urban extensions such as marine estates, aquatic food production systems, new sea related industries, maritime transport developments, new oceanic tourist attractions, and the designation of additional coastal ecological zones. The urban interface between Sea and Cities generates, therefore, both burning issues and valuable opportunities and raises the question of whether it is possible to solve the former by exploiting the latter?
This book is a sound science report about the consequences of pesticides to nature, health and environment.The book shares essential… insights into the use of pesticides in agriculture, discusses the politics, rhetoric and profits involved, addresses the potential health and ecological risks of pesticides in our daily lives, and debates possible solutions. Does sustainable agriculture exist, and is agriculture without pesticides possible at all?Moreover, the author gives insight into his scientific work, the set-up of the experiments, and also writes about his very own experiences with the media and press after publication of his studies.For many years, Johann G. Zaller, an ecologist at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna, and his team, have been researching applied chemicals and their effects on the environment. Their findings, together with relevant literature and media reports, are presented in this book, which offers a unique resource for anyone who wants to know the nature and background of pesticides and how we come into contact with them in our daily lives. Ever ate an apple? Read this book!
Across contemporary Asia, each day dawns with a new story about living in an era of profound environmental change. Rapid… transformations in the landscape, society, and technology produce new conflicts that are experienced at nearly every scale of life in the region. Environmental change is marked in square kilometers or micrometers, in cities or in households, within national boundaries and beyond. These changes appear in the form of radical ruptures wrought both by spectacular catastrophes like massive floods or tsunamis and by slow tragedies like the widening epidemic of asthma or the grinding processes of land dispossession. Each of these scales and phenomena reveals what it is to live in disastrous times.This book explores how people across Asia live through and make sense of the environmental ruptures that now shape the region and asks how we might analyze this moment of disruption and risk. Global environmental shifts such as climate change are usually linked to large-scale practices such as industrialization, urbanization, and global capitalism. Here, in contrast, contributors illustrate how understanding the practical, political, and ethical consequences of living in a moment of planetary change—or intervening in its course—requires engaging with the human-scale actions and specific policies that both shape and respond to such transformations at an everyday level. Coastal residents of routinely flooded Semarang, eco-conscious retirees in a Chinese suburb, and cyclists navigating air pollution in Kolkata each experience environmental risk and change in highly situated and specific ways; yet attending to their lived, quotidian experiences enables us to apprehend the complex processes that are profoundly changing the planet.Contributors: Nikolaj Blichfeldt, Vivian Choi, Eli Elinoff, Jenny Elaine Goldstein, Andrew Alan Johnson, Samuel Kay, Lukas Ley, Edmund Joo Vin Oh, Malini Sur, Tyson Vaughan.
This book analyses the political and economic causes, mechanisms and impacts of the industrial tree plantation boom in China. In… the past two decades, the industrial tree plantation sector has been expanding rapidly in China, especially in Guangxi Province. Based on extensive primary data, this book concentrates on the political economy of the sector’s expansion with a focus on the recent and dramatic agrarian transformation involving the land-labour nexus, the impact on villagers’ livelihoods, the role of the state, and political reactions from below. The book questions the stereotypical portrayal of local communities as the excluded villager. Instead, it demonstrates that this is a much more complex issue with varying levels of passive and active forms of inclusion and exclusion within local communities. While most literature focuses on crop booms for food and biofuel production the industrial plantation sector has largely been overlooked, despite it being one of the biggest sectors in the current rush for land. Filling this lacuna, this book also reveals that while China has traditionally been painted as a major land grabber and consumer of crop booms it is also a destination of foreign investment. In doing so the book highlights how large-scale foreign land deals can also take place in traditional ‘grabber’ countries like China which feeds into the wider debates about global land politics and resource grabbing. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of land grabbing, rural development and agrarian transformations, as well as Chinese development.
This book contains a preface, a memoir and an obituary notice, which together provide a good account of Thomas Baines'… life. It includes advertisements aimed especially at would-be emigrants to South Africa. The book is an important document of colonial history and South African history.
Learn. Prepare. Trip. Transform!With so much misinformation surrounding magic mushrooms out there, it can be hard to separate fact from… fiction. This is where Your Psilocybin Mushroom Companion comes in to help. In this book, you&’ll find a comprehensive yet friendly guide to everything there is to know about magic mushrooms.Learn how to plan safe, effective trips with easy-to-follow step-by-step advice. Discover how to train a guide to take care of those on psychedelic voyages, as well as how to access the transformative nature of these experiences. Even learn how microdosing can improve your mood, cognitive functioning, creativity, physical stamina, and more.With the most up-to-date research, Your Psilocybin Mushroom Companion will put magic mushrooms into perspective, dispel myths and urban legends, and open your mind to the benefits of psychedelic tripping.
This book focuses on mathematical theory and numerical simulation related to various areas of continuum mechanics, such as fracture mechanics,… (visco)elasticity, optimal shape design, modelling of earthquakes and Tsunami waves, material structure, interface dynamics and complex systems. Written by leading researchers from the fields of applied mathematics, physics, seismology, engineering, and industry with an extensive knowledge of mathematical analysis, it helps readers understand how mathematical theory can be applied to various phenomena, and conversely, how to formulate actual phenomena as mathematical problems. This book is the sequel to the proceedings of the International Conference of Continuum Mechanics Focusing on Singularities (CoMFoS) 15 and CoMFoS16.
A New York Times Notable Book: "A melodious mix of memoir, nature journal, and beekeeping manual" (Kirkus Reviews). Weaving a… vivid portrait of her own life and her bees' lives, author Sue Hubbell lovingly describes the ins and outs of beekeeping on her small Missouri farm, where the end of one honey season is the start of the next. With three hundred hives, Hubbell stays busy year-round tending to the bees and harvesting their honey, a process that is as personally demanding as it is rewarding. Exploring the progression of both the author and the hive through the seasons, this is "a book about bees to be sure, but it is also about other things: the important difference between loneliness and solitude; the seasonal rhythms inherent in rural living; the achievement of independence; the accommodating of oneself to nature" (ThePhiladelphia Inquirer). Beautifully written and full of exquisitely rendered details, it is a tribute to Hubbell's wild hilltop in the Ozarks and of the joys of living a complex life in a simple place.
All year long, we look forward to a summertime filled with cookouts, picnics, beach trips, and dinner parties on the… patio. From the first flower's bloom to the moment the leaves begin to turn, the summer season is always an exciting dash to spend time outside with good friends and family. While the winter months are filled with hearty roasts and warm stews, recipes for summer should adapt to our on-the-go plans and impromptu outdoor parties. Summer Cooking: Kitchen-Tested Recipes for Picnics, Patios, Grilling and More is a one-of-a-kind guide for preparing delicious food that perfectly complements these warm summer days. Curated from the Chicago Tribune’s extensive database of kitchen-tested recipes, this collection of portable appetizers, quick salads, grilled entrées, creative sides, and refreshing cocktails are ideal for anywhere the summer season takes you. Featuring more than 100 recipes, full-color photography, and easy-to-follow directions, Summer Cooking is sure to fulfill all your summer dining needs. This book dilates on that slim section of all-season cookbooks, giving readers plenty of recipes that don't need the oven, can be made outdoors or inside, and use fresh seasonal ingredients. The Chicago Tribune is one of the few newspapers that still operates its own test kitchen, and all of these recipes have been carefully curated by their award-winning staff of food writers and editors. If readers use one cookbook for this summer, it should be this well-tested collection of eclectic recipes from a trusted group of experts.
It may be surprising to us now, but the taxidermists who filled the museums, zoos, and aquaria of the twentieth… century were also among the first to become aware of the devastating effects of careless human interaction with the natural world. Witnessing firsthand the decimation caused by hide hunters, commercial feather collectors, whalers, big game hunters, and poachers, these museum taxidermists recognized the existential threat to critically endangered species and the urgent need to protect them. The compelling exhibits they created—as well as the scientific field work, popular writing, and lobbying they undertook—established a vital leadership role in the early conservation movement for American museums that persists to this day. Through their individual research expeditions and collective efforts to arouse demand for environmental protections, this remarkable cohort—including William T. Hornaday, Carl E. Akeley, and several lesser-known colleagues—created our popular understanding of the animal world and its fragile habitats. For generations of museum visitors, they turned the glass of an exhibition case into a window on nature—and a mirror in which to reflect on our responsibility for its conservation.
How are humans different from other animals? This is a question scientists have long tried to answer. As it turns… out, some of the very things researchers once though distinguished humans—our creativity, our problem-solving ability, our capacity for planning or abstract thought—actually make us very similar to other animals! This nonfiction book introduces several different behaviors that humans and other animals share, including farming, teaching, laughing, building, mourning, communicating, grooming, playing, traveling, using tools, and working together. Narrated by a funny and friendly ant, this book is packed with humor and playful phrasing to bring lightness to the exploration of animal behavior. Brought to life by bright and wacky cartoon-style illustrations, Acting Wild will leave kids with the understanding that acting like an animal is simply in their nature.
This book explains in an easy-to-understand manner the “check” points to keep in mind when inspecting various social infrastructure structures.… It is put together in a way that not only engineers who are on the front line of maintenance and management but also engineers who are not normally involved in maintenance and management of social infrastructures as well as general public can understand the importance of social infrastructure inspection work.
Join Lucky Luke and his family as they tackle the amazing Snake River in Idaho. Mom and Dad are excited… to take Luke and his sister Crystal along on their annual fly-fishing trip. See all the excitement and the learning as Luke and Crystal experience their first fly fishing adventure. This story has it all, family fun, lessons learned, amazing scenery and the tremendous trout put on show.
Blossoming from a correspondence between Luce Irigaray and Michael Marder, Through Vegetal Being is an intense personal, philosophical, and political… meditation on the significance of the vegetal for our lives, our ways of thinking, and our relations with human and nonhuman beings. The vegetal world has the potential to rescue our planet and our species and offers us a way to abandon past metaphysics without falling into nihilism. Luce Irigaray has argued in her philosophical work that living and coexisting are deficient unless we recognize sexuate difference as a crucial dimension of our existence. Michael Marder believes the same is true for vegetal difference.Irigaray and Marder consider how plants contribute to human development by sustaining our breathing, nourishing our senses, and keeping our bodies and minds alive. They note the importance of returning to ancient Greek tradition and engaging with Eastern teachings to revive a culture closer to nature. As a result, we can reestablish roots when we are displaced and recover the vital energy we need to improve our sensibility and relation to others. This generative discussion points toward a more universal way of becoming human that is embedded in the vegetal world.
How should we evaluate the ethics of procreation, especially the environmental consequences of reproductive decisions on future generations, in a… resource-constrained world? While demographers, moral philosophers, and environmental scientists have separately discussed the implications of population size for sustainability, no one has attempted to synthesize the concerns and values of these approaches. The culmination of a half century of engagement with population ethics, Partha Dasgupta’s masterful Time and the Generations blends economics, philosophy, and ecology to offer an original lens on the difficult topic of optimum global population.After offering careful attention to global inequality and the imbalance of power between men and women, Dasgupta provides tentative answers to two fundamental questions: What level of economic activity can our planet support over the long run, and what does the answer say about optimum population numbers? He develops a population ethics that can be used to evaluate our choices and guide our sense of a sustainable global population and living standards. Structured around a central essay from Dasgupta, the book also features a foreword from Robert Solow; correspondence with Kenneth Arrow; incisive commentaries from Joseph Stiglitz, Eric Maskin, and Scott Barrett; an extended response by the author to them; and a joint paper with Aisha Dasgupta on inequalities in reproductive decisions and the idea of reproductive rights. Taken together, Time and the Generations represents a fascinating dialogue between world-renowned economists on a central issue of our time.
A New World-System: From Chaos to Sustainability examines the present crisis in the social and ecological environment that is producing… profound, potentially catastrophic challenges to the planet and humanity and outlines a process for moving forward to address these critical issues. This book is a cautionary interpretation of the present and vision for the future. Unlike other books on this or allied subjects that are focused singularly, Part 1 surveys the five major threats facing humanity today: climate change, inequality and poverty, new technologies, migration, and globalization. It approaches the challenge of integrating these phenomena into a global picture from a systems perspective rather than taking a purely reductionist approach to understanding what is occurring in the world today. Part 2 moves from identifying the problems to solving them, with chapters examining the ability of the present world-system to address these issues and outlining a process for action. The book concludes by discussing what could follow capitalism as a social organizing strategy and, perhaps more importantly, the consequences to the planet if we do not construct a new world-system. This book is essential reading for students and scholars of sustainable development, climate change, environmental studies, rural and urban planning, environmental psychology, political economy, sociology, social policy, leisure studies, and environmental politics. More broadly, it is a vital resource for all those interested in building a sustainable society.
Live the calm and eco-friendly lifestyle you&’ve always dreamed of with this perfect guide to eco-conscious living for anyone who… wants to save the planet and make a difference. In today&’s world, there is a lot that can stress us out. We live in a time when talking about climate change is a hot button issue leading to political movements, youth led protests, and lots of anxiety. From green living to figuring out how you (and your family) can make a difference in your community, this mindful approach is the key to being stress-free as you make a positive impact on the environment. What Would the Buddha Recycle? can help you gain a better understanding of how you impact the world around you in your day-to-day life. And, even better, it can help you pause, reflect, and figure out what changes you can make to protect the world. In this book you&’ll learn how to: -Use natural ingredients in your home for cleaning (lemon juice can help your furniture shine) and pest control (chili pepper can deter ants) -Combine mindful cooking and eating for healthier meals that don&’t hurt the environment and make you feel great -Figure out the right food to keep your beloved pets happy and healthy by choosing natural ingredients and avoiding chemical preservatives -Include your family in your new environmentally friendly ways and raise your children to have a similar mindset about saving the planet -And much more! With advice that covers every area of your daily life, What Would the Buddha Recycle? offers easy changes so you can make a difference and protect the environment all while staying zen in the process.