Climate Change in Deserts

Climate Change in Deserts

Author: Martin Williams

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2014-08-11

Total Pages: 653

ISBN-13: 1107016916

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A synthesis of the environmental and climatic history of every major desert and desert margin, for researchers and advanced students.


The Hidden Half of Nature: The Microbial Roots of Life and Health

The Hidden Half of Nature: The Microbial Roots of Life and Health

Author: David R. Montgomery

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Published: 2015-11-16

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 0393244415

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"Sure to become a game-changing guide to the future of good food and healthy landscapes." —Dan Barber, chef and author of The Third Plate Prepare to set aside what you think you know about yourself and microbes. The Hidden Half of Nature reveals why good health—for people and for plants—depends on Earth’s smallest creatures. Restoring life to their barren yard and recovering from a health crisis, David R. Montgomery and Anne Biklé discover astounding parallels between the botanical world and our own bodies. From garden to gut, they show why cultivating beneficial microbiomes holds the key to transforming agriculture and medicine.


Life on Land

Life on Land

Author: Walter Leal Filho

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2020-10-25

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9783319959801

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The problems related to the process of industrialisation such as biodiversity depletion, climate change and a worsening of health and living conditions, especially but not only in developing countries, intensify. Therefore, there is an increasing need to search for integrated solutions to make development more sustainable. The United Nations has acknowledged the problem and approved the “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”. On 1st January 2016, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the Agenda officially came into force. These goals cover the three dimensions of sustainable development: economic growth, social inclusion and environmental protection. The Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals comprehensively addresses the SDGs in an integrated way. It encompasses 17 volumes, each one devoted to one of the 17 SDGs. This volume addresses SDG 15, namely "Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss" and contains the description of a range of terms, which allow a better understanding and foster knowledge. Concretely, the defined targets are: Ensure the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular forests, wetlands, mountains and drylands, in line with obligations under international agreements Promote the implementation of sustainable management of all types of forests, halt deforestation, restore degraded forests and substantially increase afforestation and reforestation globally Combat desertification, restore degraded land and soil, including land affected by desertification, drought and floods, and strive to achieve a land degradation-neutral world Ensure the conservation of mountain ecosystems, including their biodiversity, in order to enhance their capacity to provide benefits that are essential for sustainable development Take urgent and significant action to reduce the degradation of natural habitats, halt the loss of biodiversity and protect and prevent the extinction of threatened species Promote fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources and promote appropriate access to such resources, as internationally agreed Take urgent action to end poaching and trafficking of protected species of flora and fauna and address both demand and supply of illegal wildlife products Introduce measures to prevent the introduction and significantly Reduce the impact of invasive alien species on land and water ecosystems and control or eradicate the priority species Integrate ecosystem and biodiversity values into national and local planning, development processes, poverty reduction strategies and accounts Mobilize and significantly increase financial resources from all sources to conserve and sustainably use biodiversity and ecosystems Mobilize significant resources from all sources and at all levels to finance sustainable forest management and provide adequate incentives to developing countries to advance such management, including for conservation and reforestation Enhance global support for efforts to combat poaching and trafficking of protected species, including by increasing the capacity of local communities to pursue sustainable livelihood opportunities Editorial Board Alexandra Aragão, Desalegn Yayeh Ayal, Ayansina Ayanlade, Anabela Marisa Azul, Adriana Consorte-McCrea, Muhammad Farooq, Ana Catarina Luz, María P. Martín, Sharif A. Mukul, Nandhivarman Muthu, Robert Russell Monteith Paterson, Isabel Ruiz-Mallén


Exploring Natural Hazards

Exploring Natural Hazards

Author: Darius Bartlett

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2018-04-09

Total Pages: 397

ISBN-13: 1351681222

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The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 has identified four priority areas for Disaster Risk Reduction: understanding disaster risk; strengthening disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk; investing in disaster risk reduction for resilience and enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response; and to "Build Back Better" in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction. Although tremendous progress has been made in recent decades in understanding the workings of the Earth systems and, in particular, its impacts on and responses to human actions, there remains a continuing and pressing need for knowledge that will allow society to simultaneously reduce exposure to global environmental hazards, while also meeting economic development goals. Exploring Natural Hazards: A Case Study Approach, contributes to the knowledge showcasing advanced practices for the monitoring of natural hazards. Through each case study, the book examines mainly hazards arising from processes within the hydrosphere and atmosphere, triggered or exacerbated by inputs to and transfers of energy between environmental components. It discusses the causes of these phenomena, and ways in which improved policy making, sometimes coupled with the application of appropriate modern technologies, can help to reduce people’s exposure to harm. Discussing challenges, lessons learned and recommendations, this book provides a snapshot of issues related to tropical cyclones and typhoons, desertification, floods, lightning as a hazard and the need for alert systems. It is a valuable resource for practitioners and professionals alike, for researchers, students and others who work at the intersection between environmental hazards, sustainable development and social justice.


Global Degradation of Soil and Water Resources

Global Degradation of Soil and Water Resources

Author: Rui Li

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2022-01-29

Total Pages: 557

ISBN-13: 9811679169

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This book focuses on soil and water conservation at global scale. It is a serious environmental problem that will threaten the socio-economic well-being of the majority of global population in future. The book examines the current situation of land degradation in multiple regions of the world and offers alternative approaches to solve the problems through sharing advanced technologies and lessons learned. It provides comprehensive assessment on characteristics, level and effect of degradation in different regions. It’s a highly informative reference both for researchers and graduate students.


Evaluating Water Quality to Prevent Future Disasters

Evaluating Water Quality to Prevent Future Disasters

Author:

Publisher: Academic Press

Published: 2019-05-24

Total Pages: 458

ISBN-13: 0128165219

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Evaluating Water Quality to Prevent Future Disasters, volume 11 in the Separation Science and Technology series, covers various separation methods that can be used to avoid water catastrophes arising from climate change, arsenic, lead, algal bloom, fracking, microplastics, flooding, glyphosphates, triazines, GenX, and oil contamination. This book provides a valuable resource that will help the reader solve their potential water contamination problems and help them develop their own new approaches to monitor water contamination. - Highlights reasons for potential water catastrophes - Provides separation methods for monitoring water contamination - Encourages development of new methods for monitoring water contamination


Combating Desertification in Asia, Africa and the Middle East

Combating Desertification in Asia, Africa and the Middle East

Author: G. Ali Heshmati

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-07-01

Total Pages: 491

ISBN-13: 9400766521

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This book is about the ‘how’ of desertification control as opposed to an analysis of the ‘why’ and fills a gap in the desertification-related literature in that it shows what to do in situations ranging from fixing mobile sands to arresting accelerated soil erosion in sloping lands. There are numerous illustrations to show the successful techniques. This compilation demonstrates that desertification and land degradation can be controlled and reversed with existing techniques in such widely varying environments as the Sahel of Africa to Sri Lanka and the Philippines in SE Asia, from mountains in Lesotho to low lands on desert margins in Mongolia. Proven approaches include technical interventions, changes in governance and to the legislative framework and policy reform. The book fills a gap in the desertification-related literature in that it shows what to do in situations ranging from fixing mobile sands to arresting accelerated soil erosion in sloping lands.


Desertification and Risk Analysis Using High and Medium Resolution Satellite Data

Desertification and Risk Analysis Using High and Medium Resolution Satellite Data

Author: Alberto Marini

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2008-11-27

Total Pages: 285

ISBN-13: 1402089376

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This work becomes with methodological rigor a part of the innovative proposals for the characterization of the areas at risk of desertification. The complexity of the phenomenon of desertification, which involves extended surfaces in all continents, is one of the most alarming processes of the environmental degradation of our Planet and threatens the health and the living conditions of over a billion of persons. The food crisis, in continuous increase, ask for the world of research to urgently supply reassuring solutions concerning the acquisition of indicators, which are easy to monitor and concur to control the phenomenon in order to fight its acceleration. The constant but different combination that determines the diffusion of deserti- cation in the territories, attributable mostly to climatic changes and the activities of the man, makes our job challenging and complicated, since it varies from region to region. We are aware of all this and therefore we think that the methodological approach of survey of the data is an extremely important element to locate of the phenomenon and to monitor its course. This work, which is characterized for its multi-disciplinary approach, suggests solutions that we wish will quickly find concrete applications at international level. Prof. Bruno Dettori President CNLSD (Comitato Nazionale per la Lotta alla Siccità e alla Desertificazione) v


Desertification, Land Degradation and Sustainability

Desertification, Land Degradation and Sustainability

Author: Anton Imeson

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2011-12-30

Total Pages: 346

ISBN-13: 0470714492

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Desertification offers a comprehensive overview of the subject and clearly emphasizes the link between local and global desertification processes and how past and current policy has affected arid environments and their populations. This text adequately applies the research undertaken during the last 15 years on the topic. Desertification has become increasingly politicized and there is a need to present and explain the facts from a global perspective. This book tackles the issues surrounding desertification in a number of ways from differing scales (local to global), processes (physical to human), the relationship of desertification to current global development and management responses at different scales. Desertification has been mainstreamed and integrated into other areas of concern and has consequently been ignored as a cross cutting issue. The book redresses this balance. Making use of much original data and information that has been undertaken by many scientists andpractitioners during the last decade in different parts of the world, Desertification, Land Degradation and Sustainability is organised according to the principles of adaptive management and hierarchy theory and clearly explains desertification within a framework of evolving and interacting physical and socio-economic systems. In addition to research data the book also draws from the National Action Plans of different countries, the IPCC Fourth Assessment on Climate Change and the Millennium assessments. Clearly structured throughout, the content of the book is organised at different scales; local, regional and global. It also specifically explains processes linking top-down and bottom- up interactions and has a strong human component. The historical, cultural and physical context is also stressed. Clearly organised into the following distinct sections: a) Concepts and processes b) Data c) Impacts d) Responses e) Case studies. This text is essential for anyone studying desertification as part of an earth and environmental science degree.