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Among Chimpanzees
Par Jane Goodall, Nancy J. Merrick. 2002
A former student and colleague of Jane Goodall shares stories of chimps and their heroes, and takes readers on a…
journey to save man's closest relative. Unbeknownst to much of the public, chimps are in trouble: censuses show them to be extinct in four African countries and nearly so in ten others. A large percentage of the remaining populations live in unprotected, increasingly fragmented forests. When Nancy Merrick learned these startling facts in 2009, she decided it was past time to discover the extent to which chimpanzees are at risk across Africa and what can be done. Merrick had begun working with primates in 1972 as a young field assistant in Jane Goodall's famous Gombe camp. Like the rest of the world at the time, she was swept up in the excitement of discovering the remarkable world of chimpanzees--their ability to fashion tools, their dazzling intelligence, and their complex relationships and societies. From that moment on, her human-centered worldview shifted, and she became a devoted advocate for our closest genetic relatives. When Merrick returns to Africa decades later, she's alarmed by how much has changed. Human activity, such as agriculture and logging, has encroached on natural habitats throughout equatorial Africa, endangering chimpanzees, gorillas, and bonobos. In an effort to understand what we can do to save great apes, Merrick connects with primatologists and conservationists who are trying to protect the last great forests. Visits to some of Africa's parks, sanctuaries, and expanding agricultural areas reveal the urgency of the problems and the inspiration of the people leading the search for solutions. Along the way, Merrick demonstrates that the best hope for chimps and other great apes lies in connecting conservation to humanitarian efforts, ensuring a healthy future for animals and humans alike. Among Chimpanzees is at once an inspiring chronicle of Merrick's personal search to learn how chimps are faring across Africa and in captivity, a crucial eyewitness account of a very critical period in their existence, and a rousing call for us to join the efforts to be a voice for the chimpanzees, before it's too late.From the Hardcover edition.Let Them Eat Shrimp: The Tragic Disappearance of the Rainforests of the Sea
Par Kennedy Warne. 2011
What's the connection between a platter of jumbo shrimp at your local restaurant and murdered fishermen in Honduras, impoverished women…
in Ecuador, and disastrous hurricanes along America's Gulf coast? Mangroves. Many people have never heard of these salt-water forests, but for those who depend on their riches, mangroves are indispensable. They are natural storm barriers, home to innumerable exotic creatures--from crabeating vipers to man-eating tigers--and provide food and livelihoods to millions of coastal dwellers. Now they are being destroyed to make way for shrimp farming and other coastal development. For those who stand in the way of these industries, the consequences can be deadly. In Let Them Eat Shrimp, Kennedy Warne takes readers into the muddy battle zone that is the mangrove forest. A tangle of snaking roots and twisted trunks, mangroves are often dismissed as foul wastelands. In fact, they are supermarkets of the sea, providing shellfish, crabs, honey, timber, and charcoal to coastal communities from Florida to South America to New Zealand. Generations have built their lives around mangroves and consider these swamps sacred. To shrimp farmers and land developers, mangroves simply represent a good investment. The tidal land on which they stand often has no title, so with a nod and wink from a compliant official, it can be turned from a public resource to a private possession. The forests are bulldozed, their traditional users dispossessed. The true price of shrimp farming and other coastal development has gone largely unheralded in the U.S. media. A longtime journalist, Warne now captures the insatiability of these industries and the magic of the mangroves. His vivid account will make every reader pause before ordering the shrimp.The Last Season
Par Eric Blehm. 2005
Destined to become a classic of adventure literature, The Last Season examines the extraordinary life of legendary backcountry ranger Randy…
Morgenson and his mysterious disappearance in California's unforgiving Sierra Nevada--mountains as perilous as they are beautiful. Eric Blehm's masterful work is a gripping detective story interwoven with the riveting biography of a complicated, original, and wholly fascinating man.Images of Anarchy
Par Ioannis D. Evrigenis. 2014
Hobbes's concept of the natural condition of mankind became an inescapable point of reference for subsequent political thought, shaping the…
theories of emulators and critics alike, and has had a profound impact on our understanding of human nature, anarchy, and international relations. Yet, despite Hobbes's insistence on precision, the state of nature is an elusive concept. Has it ever existed and, if so, for whom? Hobbes offered several answers to these questions, which taken together reveal a consistent strategy aimed at providing his readers with a possible, probable, and memorable account of the consequences of disobedience. This book examines the development of this powerful image throughout Hobbes's works, and traces its origins in his sources of inspiration. The resulting trajectory of the state of nature illuminates the ways in which Hobbes employed a rhetoric of science and a science of rhetoric in his relentless pursuit of peace.Launching a National Conversation on Disaster Resilience in America
Par The National Academies, Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy, Committee on Increasing National Resilience to Hazards and Disasters, Peggy Tsai. 2013
With the increasing frequency of natural and human-induced disasters and the increasing magnitude of their consequences, a clear need exists…
for governments and communities to become more resilient. The National Research Council's 2012 report Disaster Resilience: A National Imperative addressed the importance of resilience, discussed different challenges and approaches for building resilience, and outlined steps for implementing resilience efforts in communities and within government. Launching a National Conversation on Disaster Resilience in America is a summary of a one-day event in November 2012 to formally launch a national conversation on resilience. Nationally-recognized experts in disaster resilience met to discuss developing a culture of resilience, implementing resilience, and understanding federal perspectives about resilience. This report includes a broad range of perspectives and experiences derived from many types of hazards and disasters in all parts of the country.A Review of the Use of Science and Adaptive Management in California's Draft Bay Delta Conservation Plan
Par Technology Board, Water Science. 2014
The San Francisco Bay Delta Estuary is a large, complex estuarine ecosystem in California. It has been substantially altered by…
dikes, levees, channelization, pumps, human development, introduced species, dams on its tributary streams and contaminants. The Delta supplies water from the state's wetter northern regions to the drier southern regions and also serves as habitat for many species, some of which are threatened and endangered. The restoration of water exacerbated tensions over water allocation in recent years, and have led to various attempts to develop comprehensive plans to provide reliable water supplies and to protect the ecosystem. One of these plans is the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP). The report, A Review of the Use of Science and Adaptive Management in California's Draft Bay Delta Conservation Plan, determines that the plan is incomplete in a number of important areas and takes this opportunity to identify key scientific and structural gaps that, if addressed, could lead to a more successful and comprehensive final BDCP. The plan is missing the type of structure usually associated with current planning methods in which the goals and objectives are specified, alternative measure for achieving the objectives are introduced and analyzed, and a course of action in identified based on analytical optimization of economic, social, and environmental factors. Yet the panel underscores the importance of a credible and a robust BDCP in addressing the various water management problems that beset the Delta. A stronger, more complete, and more scientifically credible BDCP that effectively integrates and utilizes science could indeed pave the way toward the next generation of solutions to California's chronic water problems.Urban Forestry
Par National Research Council, Division on Earth and Life Studies, Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, Laurie Geller, Katie Thomas. 2013
Much of the ecological research in the past decades has focused on rural or wilderness areas. Today, however, ecological research…
has been taking place in our cities, where our everyday decisions can have profound effects on our environment. This research, or urban ecology, includes an important element, trees. Trees have had a variety of environmental benefits for our environment including the sequestering carbon, reducing urban heat island effects, providing vital habitat for wildlife, and making nature accessible. These benefits have important impacts on the physical, socio-economic, and mental health of humans as well. Being exposed to trees has been shown to enhance social cohesion, improve health and recreational opportunities, and increase real estate values. In order to gain more knowledge into this urban forestry, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) held a workshop February 25-26, 2013. The workshop brought together more than 100 people with various interests in urban forestry research to share information and perspectives, foster communication across specific areas of ecosystem service research, and consider integrated approaches that cut across these realms. The workshop specifically examined current capabilities to characterize and quantify the benefits, key gaps in our understanding, the challenges of planning urban forests in a way that optimizes multiple ecosystem services and more. Urban Forestry: Toward an Ecosystem Services Research Agenda: A Workshop Summary presents an overview of the issues discussed by the workshop's breakout groups; summarizes presentations from the four panels which included Biophysical Services of the Urban Forest; and context for the study with introductory material from the workshop.Growing Community Forests: Practice, Research, and Advocacy in Canada
Par Ryan Bullock, Gayle Broad, Lynn Palmer, M. A. Peggy Smith. 2017
Canada is experiencing an unparalleled crisis involving forests and communities across the country. While municipalities, policy makers, and industry leaders…
acknowledge common challenges such as an overdependence on US markets, rising energy costs, and lack of diversification, no common set of solutions has been developed and implemented. Ongoing and at times contentious public debate has revealed an appetite and need for a fundamental rethinking of the relationships that link our communities, governments, industrial partners, and forests towards a more sustainable future. The creation of community forests is one path that promises to build resilience in forest communities and ecosystems. This model provides local control over common forest lands in order to activate resource development opportunities, benefits, and social responsibilities. Implementing community forestry in practice has proven to be a complex task, however: there are no road maps or well-developed and widely-tested models for community forestry in Canada. But in settings where community forests have taken hold, there is a rich and growing body of experience to draw on. The contributors to Growing Community Forests include leading researchers, practitioners, Indigenous representatives, government representatives, local advocates, and students who are actively engaged in sharing experiences, resources, and tools of significance to forest resource communities, policy makers, and industry.What Would the Buddha Recycle?
Par Rosemary Roberts. 2009
If the Buddha were alive today, he'd be the living embodiment of green living. He'd be collecting cans on the…
freeway, riding his bike to work, and replacing all his light bulbs--one little satori at a time. In this book you can channel His Holiness, reduce your footprint, and experience little Aha! moments when you Eat mindfully and lose the meat Make a Zen garden that nourishes the earth Choose sustainable clothing Meditate while walking instead of driving Let go of attachment to things by giving away belongings Living green is living Zen. Now you can take right action and walk a green talk, starting today--just think how proud the Buddha would be!Trees of Central Texas
Par Robert A. Vines. 1984
A comprehensive and compact field guide, Trees of Central Texas introduces 186 species of tree life in Central Texas, an…
area roughly the region of the Edwards Plateau and bordered by the Balcones Escarpment on the south and east, the Pecos River on the west, and the Texas Plains and the Llano Uplift on the north. From the hardy oaks and rugged mesquites to the graceful willows, cottonwoods, and pecans, the tree life of Central Texas varies as much as the vast and changing land that hosts it. Full descriptions and superb illustrations of all the native and naturalized trees of the region as well as fascinating bits of history and lore make this an essential guide to the wealth of tree life in Central Texas. Drawn from Robert A. Vines' monumental Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of the Southwest (University of Texas Press, Trees of Central Texas combines the essential detail of the larger work with the ease and convenience of a field guide. It joins in print two additional field guides by Robert Vines, both published by the University of Texas Press: Trees of East Texas and Trees of North Texas.Administering Fiscal Regimes for Extractive Industries: A Handbook
Par Jack Calder. 2014
Adventures with a Texas Naturalist
Par Rick Bass, Roy Bedichek, Ward Lockwood. 1947
A classic since its first publication in 1947, Adventures with a Texas Naturalist distills a lifetime of patient observations of…
the natural world. This reprint contains a new introduction by noted nature writer Rick Bass.The Rarest Bird in the World: The Search for the Nechisar Nightjar
Par Vernon R Head. 2015
Part detective story, part love affair, and pure adventure storytelling at its best, a celebration of the thrill of exploration…
and the lure of wild places during the search for the elusive Nechisar Nightjar. In 1990, a group of Cambridge scientists arrived at the Plains of Nechisar in Ethiopia. On that expedition, they collected more than two dozen specimens, saw more than three hundred species of birds, and a plethora of rare butterflies, dragonflies, reptiles, mammals, and plants. As they were gathering up their findings, a wing of an unidentified bird was packed into a brown paper bag. It was to become the most famous wing in the world. This wing would set the world of science aflutter. Experts were mystified. The wing was entirely unique. It was like nothing they had ever seem before. Could a new species be named based on just one wing? After much discussion, a new species was announced: Nechisar Nightjar, or Camprimulgus Solala, which means "only wing." And so birdwatchers like Vernon began to dream. Twenty-two years later, he joins an expedition of four to find this rarest bird in the world. In this gem of nature writing, Vernon captivates and enchants as he recounts the searches by spotlight through the Ethiopian plains, and allows the reader to mediate on nature, exploration, our need for wild places, and the human compulsion to name things. Rarest Bird is a celebration of a certain way of seeing the world, and will bring out the explorer in in everyone who reads it.Ancient Places
Par Jack Nisbet. 2015
These are the genesis stories of a region. In Ancient Places, Jack Nisbet uncovers touchstones across the Pacific Northwest that…
reveal the symbiotic relationship of people and place in this corner of the world. From rural Oregon, where a controversy brewed over the provenance and ownership of a meteor, to the great floods 15,000 years ago that shaped what is now Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, this is a compelling collection of stories about the natural and human history of our region.The Water Footprint of Modern Consumer Society
Par Arjen Y. Hoekstra. 2013
Water is not only used in the domestic context, but also in agriculture and industry in the production of commercial…
goods, from food to paper. The water footprint is an indicator of freshwater use that looks at both direct and indirect use of water by a consumer or producer. The water footprint of an individual, community or business is defined as the total volume of freshwater that is used to produce the goods and services consumed by the individual or community or produced by the business. This book shows how the water footprint concept can be used to quantify and map the water use behind consumption and how it can guide reduction of water use to a sustainable level. With a number of case studies, it illustrates water use along supply chains and that water consumption at one place is often linked to water use at another. For example, it is calculated that it takes 15,000 litres of water to produce 1 kg of beef, or 8,000 litres of water to produce a pair of jeans. The book shows that imports of water-intensive products can highly benefit water-scarce countries, but also that this creates a dependency on foreign water resources. The book demonstrates how water-scarce regions sometimes, nevertheless, use lots of water for making export products. It raises the issue of sustainable consumption: how can consumers, businesses and governments get involved in reducing the water footprints of final consumer goods?In the Arab countries, climate change is a risk to poverty reduction and economic growth, threatening to unravel many of…
the development gains that have been achieved. The Arab Region is already suffering adverse consequences from climate variability and change. This book provides information on climate change and its impact in the Arab Region, as well as technical guidance on climate adaptation options for policy makers. The areas addressed include the economic impacts of climate change (as measured by the reduction in household income and GDP); the impacts of climate change on the water, health, and tourism sectors; livelihoods and well-being in rural and urban areas; biodiversity; disaster risk management; as well as gender and other social relations. The report is written through a participatory and collaborative process, led by the World Bank in partnership with the League of Arab States, incorporating both regional and international experts on the topics.Owlet Caterpillars of Eastern North America
Par David L. Wagner, J. Bolling Sullivan, Richard C. Reardon, Dale F. Schweitzer. 2000
This lavishly illustrated field guide features more than 800 species of the most common, interesting, beautiful, and important owlet (noctuid)…
caterpillars found in eastern North America. More than 2,100 color photographs include numerous stunning images, and the guide's introductory sections offer a wealth of information on noctuid natural history, morphology, larval diets, natural enemies, and classification; suggestions for finding and rearing owlet caterpillars; and much more. The 375 full-page species accounts treat similar species, range, phenology, and larval foodplants. A remarks section addresses behavior, life history, taxonomy, and a variety of other general interest topics. For full species accounts, two adult images are provided, one of a spread museum specimen and the other of a live adult: this is the first guide to comprehensively provide images of live adult moths in representative resting postures. An extensive glossary and foodplant index are also included.More than 800 species of eastern owlets More than 2,100 color photographs illustrating many species for the first time First North American insect guide to offer hundreds of images of live moths in their natural resting postures Extensive information on owlet biology, natural enemies, classification, and finding and rearing owlet caterpillars Includes foodplant records for each species and foodplant indexBridge to the Wild: Behind the Scenes at the Zoo
Par Caitlin O'Connell, Timothy Rodwell. 2016
Hear crisp sounds of the hornbill in the cool air. Listen to the morning symphony that greets you as you…
enter the front gate. Then, step onto a leafy path that leads to a secret world of animals, each of whom you won't want to forget, here at Zoo Atlanta. Over five days we meet a menagerie of magnificent animals--pandas, elephants, gorillas, meerkats, flamingos and more--alongside the longtime animal lover, scientist, and researcher Caitlin O'Connell. With inside access to the guidance and knowledge of their beloved zoo caretakers and with stunning photographs, we are able to see the day-to-day marvels--and sometimes misfortunes--behind the animals' enclosures that often go unseen by the everyday zoo visitor. In this example of narrative nonfiction at its best, O'Connell has created a bridge to wild, a rare chance to look beyond the zoo and to inspire guests to see for themselves just how special the animals we share our world with are.A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Southeast Asia
Par Morten Strange. 2002
Periplus is proud to present the very first comprehensive photographic guide to the birds of mainland Southeast Asia, the Philippines…
and Borneo. Included are the birds of Peninsular Malaysia, Thailand and Indochina, as well as those found in South China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.This book covers 668 species and contains more than 700 color photographs. There is a distribution map for each species.Many of the photographs in this magnificent volume appear for the first time and have been carefully selected to show the most important species. The concise text provides vital information that will ensure accurate identification of species in one of the most diverse avifauna regions. Indispensable reading for all bird lovers.This book reflects the latest research results in computer modelling of landslide-induced debris flows The book establishes an…
understanding of the initiation and propagation mechanisms of landslides by means of numerical simulations so that mitigation strategies to reduce the long-term losses from landslide hazards can be devised In this context the book employs the Discrete Element Method DEM and Computational Fluid Dynamics CFD to investigate the mechanical and hydraulic behaviour of granular materials involved in landslides - an approach that yields meaningful insights into the flow mechanisms concerning e g the mobilization of sediments the generation and dissipation of excess pore water pressures and the evolution of effective stresses As such the book provides valuable information useful methods and robust numerical tools that can be successfully applied in the field of debris flow research