Designing Low Carbon Societies in Landscapes

Designing Low Carbon Societies in Landscapes

Author: Nobukazu Nakagoshi

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2014-05-09

Total Pages: 352

ISBN-13: 443154819X

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This book focuses on three major means of achieving a low carbon society: conservation of the ecosystem complex, changes of arrangement of landscapes, and creation of biodiversity. There are specific countermeasures to be taken for carbon absorption in the three types of landscapes—urban, cultural, and natural—because their carbon balances differ. Urban landscapes are promising sites because they have the potential for greening and the creation of biodiversity. Cultural landscapes in the tropics had not been actively researched until recently, but this book now presents a collection of several cases focused on those areas. Natural landscapes had existed in abundance in developing countries; later, nature protection areas were designated to coexist with development. Now, however, developmental pressure has penetrated into those nature protection areas, and landscape ecological projects are urgently required to preserve them. As a result of global warming, abnormal weather phenomena including super typhoons have occurred frequently in recent years. The major underlying cause is the higher concentration of greenhouse gases released by human activities. As well, major natural absorbers of CO2 such as forests, wetlands, and coral reefs are shrinking, and the human impact is causing the ecological balance to deteriorate. Controlling CO2 emissions and expanding the CO2 absorbers are keys to reducing total CO2. Low carbon societies can be established by maintaining the original CO2 balance through integration of multiple tools, with contributions from diverse fields such as physics and chemistry, physiology and humanities, and education. On the basis of an international consensus, the environment must be protected no matter what sacrifices are required. As this book demonstrates, achieving a low carbon society is a top priority, and landscape conservation is the first step in ecological research toward that goal.


Landscape Ecology for Sustainable Society

Landscape Ecology for Sustainable Society

Author: Sun-Kee Hong

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2018-03-23

Total Pages: 384

ISBN-13: 3319743287

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The research category of the landscape ecology, which researches the structure, functions, and the spatio-temporal changes of the ecological landscapes, has now been contributing to the human life and the shifts of the socio-economic paradigm. Global warming has been influencing the universal life patterns of the mankind which have been maintained in the past several hundreds of years. And it has been having the influences on the international social problems and economic problems. Although the diverse plans for adapting to the climate changes have been the topics of the conservations among the ecologists internationally, it is the reality that the speed of the changes of the environment has been quicker than the time it takes to complete the solutions. In order to maintain the sustainable earth and the sustainable society, the role of the landscape ecology has been coming to the fore. Especially, the theories and the methodologies of the landscape ecology have been applied to the multidisciplinary researches by going beyond the research category of ecology, including the maximization of the efficiencies of the land spaces, the management of the ecological space (habitats) in which the biological diversity can be maintained, the utilization of the resources that are absolutely needed by the human beings (Here, it is compressed to water, energy, and food), etc. and until reaching the human society. It is considered that, to that extent, the utilizations and the applications of the landscape ecology are very much needed for the diagnoses and the evaluations of the global environmental problems which have been proceeded with rapidly in the modernity. This book is not comprised of any general remarks that explain the theories and the methods of the landscape ecology. Already, based on the basic theories of the landscape ecology, the writers have conducted the investigations on the farm villages, the cities, and the coastal ecosystems. And, through the space analyses and interpretations, the structure and functions of the landscapes were analyzed. Of course, in this book, too, the diverse ecosystems and the landscape ecological methodologies regarding the land use have been presented. However, the core of this book focuses more on what role the landscape ecology must play for the materialization of a sustainable society in the future. At the farm villages, the sustainable agriculture will be presented, and, at the cities, the discussions on the green networks and the energies will be proceeded with. Also, regarding the coasts and the seas, a thesis on the safety of the life zones of the residents adjacent to the sea and on the conservation of the island ecosystems will be presented. The sustainable society is a system that is formed by having the sustainable development as a basis. It is considered to be one aspect within a kind of a sustainable process with regard to which the natural world and the human world coexist and are in a symbiotic relationship harmoniously. In order to maintain the biodiversity, the reasonable adjustments of the human activities, like the use of the resources, are absolutely needed. Without the biological resources, the cultural diversity of the human beings, too, cannot exist. Consequentially, recently and internationally, there are a lot of the case examples that express the biocultural diversity by linking the biological diversity with the cultural diversity. In this book, the role of the landscape ecology as an academic link which can connect the two possible, if possible, is highly expected. It is, indeed, the biocultural landscape. It can be said that this concept, also, is the interconnection of the multidisciplinary spaces that must be dealt with in the modern landscape ecology. Through this book, it is intended to present a new directionality which can contribute to the sustainable society at the same time as the organization of the theories and the methods of the landscape ecology.


Environmental Impact II

Environmental Impact II

Author: G. Passerini

Publisher: WIT Press

Published: 2014-05-14

Total Pages: 769

ISBN-13: 1845647629

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This book contains papers presented at the 2nd International Conference on Environmental and Economic Impacts on Sustainable Development incorporating Environmental Economics, Toxicology and Brownfields. Following the success of the first meeting held in the New Forest, home of the Wessex Institute of Technology, in 2012, it considers the pressing issues related to environmental impacts in order to provide complete solutions. The included papers discuss how to assess the impact of economic constraints on the environment, considering the social aspects as well as any resulting environmental damage. The overuse of natural resources and the resulting pollution of the environment need to be better understood in financial terms. Uncontrolled development can result in damage to the environment in terms of the release of toxic substances and hazardous waste. The increasing number of new chemical compounds poses a major challenge to the environment as it is difficult in many cases to predict their effects and take appropriate decisions. Their economic impact can be particularly challenging. The book examines issues related to whether some forms of development are compatible with environmental protection, particularly in cases of possible serious contamination and toxicity. The demand for development land has led to the reuse of properties that have been abandoned for a variety of reasons. Many of them are brownfields, sites which have deteriorated in different ways, including by contamination. These sites are usually a burden in terms of economic losses and contribute to the detriment of the quality of life of entire neighbourhoods. Rehabilitation of local fields, particularly those that are contaminated can be an expensive undertaking and require not only technical solutions but the involvement of financial, regulatory and community stakeholders. Fundamental to this premise is the analysis of the risks involved and the development of appropriate strategies. The papers address problems of great importance discussing more constructive and progressive approaches to ensure sustainability. A major motivation for the meeting is to learn from past failures, to avoid repeating similar mistakes, while attempting to prevent emerging threats to the environmental and ecological systems. Topics covered include: Environmental policies and planning; Environmental assessments; Development issues; Sustainable cities; Economic analysis; Natural resources management; Energy and the environment; Food and the environment; Ecosystems health; Soil contamination; Brownfields rehabilitation; Water resources management; Air and water pollution; Toxicity studies; Environmental health risk; Risk analysis; Community participation; Legislation and regulations.


Materials Science and Information Technology

Materials Science and Information Technology

Author: Cai Suo Zhang

Publisher: Trans Tech Publications Ltd

Published: 2012-01-03

Total Pages: 8350

ISBN-13: 3038137731

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These are the fully refereed proceedings of the International Conference on Materials Science and Information Technology (MSIT 2011), held during the 16-18 September 2011 in Singapore. The main goal of the event was to provide an international scientific forum for the exchange of new ideas in a number of fields by permitting in-depth interaction via discussions with peers from around the world. Core areas of materials science and information technology, plus multi-disciplinary and interdisciplinary aspects are covered. Volume is indexed by Thomson Reuters CPCI-S (WoS).


Agroforestry Systems

Agroforestry Systems

Author: Scott X. Chang

Publisher: MDPI

Published: 2020-05-13

Total Pages: 184

ISBN-13: 303928164X

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Planting trees in the agricultural landscape, in the form of establishing agroforestry systems, has a significant role to play in potentially improving ecosystem services, such as increased biodiversity, reduced soil erosion, increased soil carbon storage, improved food security and nutrition, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. While the role of trees in agroforestry systems in improving ecosystem services has been researched, studies in new systems/regions and new agroforestry system designs are still emerging. This Special Issue includes selected papers presented at the 4th World Congress on Agroforestry, Montpellier, France 20–22 May 2019, and other volunteer papers. The scope of articles includes all aspects of agroforestry systems.


Comfort in a Lower Carbon Society

Comfort in a Lower Carbon Society

Author: Elizabeth Shove

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-09-13

Total Pages: 135

ISBN-13: 1317988809

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Current expectations and standards of comfort are almost certainly unsustainable and new methods and ideas will be required if there is to be any prospect of a significantly lower carbon society. This collection reassesses relationships between people and the multitude of environments they inhabit in the context of increasing carbon intensities of everyday life. In this bold and unconventional volume historians, sociologists, environmentalists, geographers, and cultural theorists provoke and stimulate debate about the future of comfort in a lower carbon society. These contributions are then subject to critical commentary from a range of academic and policy perspectives. The result is a book that promotes academic and policy discussion of the environmental consequences of indoor climate change around the world, and that offers new perspectives and strategies for moving towards a lower carbon future. This book was published as a special issue of Building Research & Information.


Material Strategies

Material Strategies

Author: Blaine Brownell

Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press

Published: 2011-12-28

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781568989860

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Blaine Brownell's best-selling Transmaterial series has introduced designers to hundreds of emergent materials that have the potential to transform our built environment. In our new Architecture Brief, Material Strategies, Brownell shows architects how creative applications of these materials achieve such transformations. Chapters based on fundamental material categories examine historical precedents, current opportunities, and future environmental challenges. Case studies featuring detailed illustrations showcase pioneering buildings from today's most forward-thinking architectural firms.


ZEDlife

ZEDlife

Author: Bill Dunster

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-06-27

Total Pages: 339

ISBN-13: 100070128X

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The argument for low-cost, zero-energy, zero-waste architecture has never been timelier, while the mainstream has largely abandoned or neglected this agenda: in the UK the recent mandatory zero-carbon performance targets for new homes have been postponed or forgotten at a time when thousands of new homes will be built, and there is already a shortage of electric generating capacity. This book offers a forceful challenge to the current addiction to overconsumption of natural capital and energy, and provides workable, sustainable solutions for zero-carbon, zero-waste design.


Urban Biodiversity and Ecological Design for Sustainable Cities

Urban Biodiversity and Ecological Design for Sustainable Cities

Author: Keitaro Ito

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2021-03-23

Total Pages: 375

ISBN-13: 4431568565

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This book highlights various designs for urban green spaces and their functions. It provides an interesting meeting point between Asian, European and North America specialists (researchers, planners, landscape architects) studying urban biodiversity; urban biodiversity and green space; relations between people and biodiversity. The most important feature of this book is the unique point of view from each contributor towards “the relationship between nature and people in urban areas”, in the context of the ecosystem and biodiversity in urban areas and how to manage them. All chapters explore and consider the relationship between humans and nature in cities, a subject which is taking on increasing importance as new cities are conceptualized and planned. These discussion and examples would be useful for urban ecology researchers, biologists, city planners, government staff working in city planning, architects, landscape architects, and university instructors. This book can also be used as a textbook for undergraduate and postgraduate city planning, architecture or landscape architecture courses.