For lay readers and specialists alike, this concise, scientific analysis refutes the pessimistic global warming scenarios depicted in the media. In addition to covering better-known topics, the book also provides an in-depth examination of less frequently discussed issues including historical climate data inaccuracies, the limitations of computer climate modeling, solar variability, and factors that could mitigate any human impacts on world climate. Potential upsides related to global warming and the financial consequences of many of the proposed solutions are identified.
This thoroughly revised and updated third edition focuses on the utilization of sustainable energy and mitigating climate change, serving as an introduction to physics in the context of societal problems. A distinguishing feature of the text is the discussion of spectroscopy and spectroscopic methods as a crucial means to quantitatively analyze and monitor the condition of the environment, the factors determining climate change, and all aspects of energy conversion. This textbook will be invaluable to students in physics and related subjects, and supplementary materials are available on a companion website http://www.nat.vu.nl/environmentalphysics Instructor support material is available at http://booksupport.wiley.com
This third edition of an enduring and popular book has been fully updated and revised, exploring the two opposing paradigms of sustainability in an insightful and accessible way. Eric Neumayer contends that central to the debate on sustainable development is the question of whether natural capital can be substituted by other forms of capital. Proponents of weak sustainability maintain that such substitutability is possible, whilst followers of strong sustainability regard natural capital as non-substitutable. The author examines the availability of natural resources for the production of consumption goods and the environmental consequences of economic growth. He identifies the critical forms of natural capital in need of preservation given risk, uncertainty and ignorance about the future and opportunity costs of preservation. He goes on to provide a critical discussion of measures of sustainability. Indicators of weak sustainability such as Genuine Savings and the Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare also known as the Genuine Progress Indicator are analysed, as are indicators of strong sustainability, including ecological footprints, material flows and sustainability gaps. This book will prove essential reading for students, scholars and policymakers with an interest in ecological and environmental economics and sustainable development.
This unique collection of nearly 200 Primary Documents examines the evolution of concern about environmental degradation, pollution, climate change, and resource conservation in America from the Colonial period the present. This new third edition is filled with important updates and new coverage of documents published from 2010 to 2017 that discuss current thoughts on climate change, environmental reform, toxic chemicals, sustainable energy, gas drilling, oil pipelines, energy demand, clean energy, land management, marine life and more. Detailed historical introductions begin each chapter and precede each primary document, to provide a context for analyzing each document and will aid readers in better understanding the various stands taken in debates over how, why, and if our environment needs to be protected. Documents include the writings of naturalists, conservationists, scientists, philosophers, lawyers, judges, politicians, sociologists, artists and poets, as well as from government reports, federal, state, and local legislation, and court cases to provide balanced coverage. An in-depth General Introduction gives the reader a clear, succinct overview of the extremely complex environmental issues covered in this resource. Additional materials include Significant Dates in American Environmental History, Major National Environmental Organizations, a Detailed Glossary, Sources for Further Reading and a Cumulative Index. Documents include the writings of naturalists, conservationists, scientists, philosophers, lawyers, judges, politicians, sociologists, artists and poets, as well as from government reports, federal, state, and local legislation, and court cases. Readers will be introduced to documents illustrating Pollution in Plymouth Colony Harbor in 1668, John James Audubon on the Decimation of the Bison Herds in 1843, the Act Establishing Yellowstone National Park in 1872, excerpts from the Clean Air Act of 1955, the Supreme Court Decision of Sierra Club v. Morton in 1972, the Endangered Species Act of 1973, the United Nations Convention and Protocol on Ozone Depletion in 1987, Barak Obama's Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force on Stewardship of the Ocean, Our Coasts and the Great Lakes in 2010, and much more. Detailed historical introductions begin each chapter and precede each primary document, to provide a context for analyzing each document and will aid readers to better understand the various stands taken in debates over how, why, and if our environment needs to be protected. The Environmental Debate presents a wide variety of attitudes about environmental issues, to ensure balanced and complete coverage of the environmental debate. A Detailed Glossary and Cumulative Index complete the text. The Environmental Debate offers unequaled coverage of one of the most debated topics in American history. This updated third edition, with its broad array of perspectives, will be a welcome resource for students wishing to explore controversial environmental issues from as many different angles as possible.
"As Secretary of the Interior, implementing the Endangered Species Act was one of my most important, and challenging, responsibilities. All who deal with this complex and critical law need a clear and comprehensive guide to its provisions, interpretation, and implementation. With chapters written by some of the foremost practitioners in the field, the new edition of Endangered Species Act: Law, Policy, and Perspectives is an essential reference for conservationists and the regulated community and the attorneys who represent them."---Bruce Babbbitt, former Secretary of the Interior --
Can animals be regarded as part of the moral community? To what extent, if at all, do they have moral rights? Are we wrong to eat them, hunt them, or use them for scientific research? Can animal liberation be squared with the environmental movement? Taylor traces the background of these debates from Aristotle to Darwin and sets out the views of numerous contemporary philosophers—including Peter Singer, Tom Regan, Mary Anne Warren, J. Baird Callicott, and Martha Nussbaum—with ethical theories ranging from utilitarianism to eco-feminism. The new edition also includes provocative quotations from some of the major writers in the field. As the final chapter insists, animal ethics is more than just an “academic” question: it is intimately connected both to our understanding of what it means to be human and to pressing current issues such as food shortages, environmental degradation, and climate change.
Originally published in 1972, Should Trees Have Standing? was a rallying point for the then burgeoning environmental movement, launching a worldwide debate on the basic nature of legal rights that reached the U.S. Supreme Court. Now, in the 35th anniversary edition of this remarkably influential book, Christopher D. Stone updates his original thesis and explores the impact his ideas have had on the courts, the academy, and society as a whole. At the heart of the book is an eminently sensible, legally sound, and compelling argument that the environment should be granted legal rights. For the new edition, Stone explores a variety of recent cases and current events--and related topics such as climate change and protecting the oceans--providing a thoughtful survey of the past and an insightful glimpse at the future of the environmental movement. This enduring work continues to serve as the definitive statement as to why trees, oceans, animals, and the environment as a whole should be bestowed with legal rights, so that the voiceless elements in nature are protected for future generations.
Though the scientific community largely agrees that climate change is underway, debates about this issue remain fiercely polarized. These conversations have become a rhetorical contest, one where opposing sides try to achieve victory through playing on fear, distrust, and intolerance. At its heart, this split no longer concerns carbon dioxide, greenhouse gases, or climate modeling; rather, it is the product of contrasting, deeply entrenched worldviews. This brief examines what causes people to reject or accept the scientific consensus on climate change. Synthesizing evidence from sociology, psychology, and political science, Andrew J. Hoffman lays bare the opposing cultural lenses through which science is interpreted. He then extracts lessons from major cultural shifts in the past to engender a better understanding of the problem and motivate the public to take action. How Culture Shapes the Climate Change Debate makes a powerful case for a more scientifically literate public, a more socially engaged scientific community, and a more thoughtful mode of public discourse.
Themes, Issues and Debates in Psychology, Third Edition, cuts across the traditional boundaries found in most textbooks and syllabuses between broad areas or fields in psychology, bringing together ideas from across the subjects. Because of its thematic approach, the book is of great value to a wide range of students, from A level to undergraduate. The book's central aim is to integrate topics, theories and areas of research that are usually treated as separate and unrelated. This complements the topic-based approach by: broadening discussion of 'traditional' areas such as personality, abnormal behaviour, sex differences, and the history and nature of psychology; and adopting a critical approach to these topic areas. This more critical approach is reflected in the frequent discussion of social constructionism, including the related areas of feminist, critical and discursive psychology. There is also discussion of philosophical/theoretical issues and debates, such as ethics, free will and determinism, and consciousness and the mind-brain relationship. Every chapter includes material familiar to students from other textbooks and from their classes. The book is designed to stimulate critical thinking and to encourage a broader, more integrated approach to essay-writing and seminar presentations. With excellent chapter summaries and suggestions for further reading, Themes, Issues and Debates in Psychology, Third Edition remains an ideal text for all students wishing to view their subject in a way that is more true to our lives.
