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Day after day after day, everyday, human lifestyles damage the environment and despoil life which manifest themselves, in due course of time, as polluted air and water, global warming, drought, floods, or famine. All over the world, increasingly powerful technologies are making it possible for people to extract more and more from ecosystems to feed not only themselves but also numerous industries that generate various kinds of toxins and wastes. The book, which has a glossary, discusses some of the environmental and demographic messes of today from a multidimensional perspective of economics, sociology, science and technology and, wherever feasible, suggests suitable strategies for addressing the issues. It should prove informative to scientists, ecologists, biologists, economists, sociologists, engineers, politicians, policy makers, as well as consumers and providers of energy. Contents Chapter 1: General Introduction, Definition and history, Geography as a bridge between environment and society, Holocene and anthropocene, The earth system (Gaia), Complexity of ecological systems, Top environmental issues; Unknown environmental problems, Environmental discontinuities and synergisms, Environmental anti-science, The economy environment relations, Economic reforms and air pollution, Environment and income inequalities, Environmental maladaptation and political centralization, The ETC century, Global energy prospects, The socio-economic environment, The concept of consilience; Chapter 2: Population Problems, Introduction, The earth s carrying capacity, Population policy: consensus and challenges, Population, Resources and globalization, Population, Human development and sustainability, Affluence and environment, Urban population trends, World urbanization prospects, Poverty, Urbanization and poverty, Hunger, Social and economic dimensions of environmental change, Environmental technology, Role of social policy in development, Problems of population and food, Linkage between global environment change and food systems; Chapter 3: Energy Use and Economic Development, Introduction, Mainstream economics, The biophysical systems, Perspective of environment and society, Economic growth, Integrating economics and ecology, The global environmental crisis, Ecological economics, Nature valuation, Energy supply development, Energy demand management, Sectoral strategies, Energy market and the environmet, Renewable energy, Nuclear power and sustainable development, Energy-environment integration, Environmental value systems, Technology and the environment, Best available techniques for large combustion plants, Noval gas technologies, Alternatives to petrol and diesel, Diesel substitute; Chapter 4: Economics, Trade and Globalization, Introduction, Invisible government, The new economy, Impacts of WTO rules, World trade and consumer rights, Trade in plant genetic resources, Environment and business, Structural adjustment, Farmers and the environment, Loans for agribusiness, Impact of world trade on health, Green environment, agriculture and globalization, A decade after the Rio Earth Summit, Global public goods and health, Globalization and Poverty, Sustainability and Global change, Promoting socially responsible business in developing countries, Ecology of overshooting human economy, Textiles and the environment; Chapter 5: Politics and Society, Introduction, Sustainable development, The risk society, The kyoto protocol and landuse and landuse change and forestry, Between sovereignty and globalization, Democratic governance, Ecological modernization, Ecosystem goods and services, Environmental values, An environmental matrix, Participatory environmental processes, Environmental performance indicators, An ecosystems approach to developing indicators; Chapter 6: Environmental Degradation, Introduction, Industrialization, Urbanization and pollution, Urbanization and globalization, Balancing globalization and urbanization, The environmental and spatial transformation of world cities, Urban slums, Landuse conflicts, Chronic disturbance, Fires in the earth system, Desertification, The poverty-environmental degradation nexus, Poverty and environmental degradation, Driving factors and mechanisms of environmental degradation; Chapter 7: Human Influences and Environmental Impacts, Introduction, The impact of energy systems on atmospheric carbon dioxide, Fossil fuels, Prospects for future emissions, Generating operations, Acid emission control, Pollution control of transport systems, Hydroelectric projects, Geothermal energy systems, Nuclear energy systems, Human-environment interactions, Hill s dilemma, People and nature, The fragile planet, Interactions among atmosphere, ocean, land and humans, Past land cover change due to human activities; Chapter 8: General and Hazardous Wastes and their Substances, Introduction, Toxic substances, Persistent organic pollutants (POPs), Organochlorines, Phenolic compounds and their degradation, Sewage treatment, The principles of solid waste management, MSW disposal, Hazardous waste cleanup, Management of hazardous waste, Waste management in third world countries, Treatment of sludge, Harmful effects of land application of sludge, Treatment of wastewater, Composting, Bioremediation, Household waste management, Wastes as resource, From biowaste to biogas.
Perpetual economic growth is physically impossible on a planet with finite resources. Many concerned with humanity's future have focused on the concept of "sustainable development" as an alternative, as they seek means of achieving current economic and social goals without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own goals. Sustainable development brings together elements of economics, public policy, sociology, ecology, resource management, and other related areas, and while the term has become quite popular, it is rarely defined, and even less often is it understood. A Survey of Sustainable Development addresses that problem by bringing together in a single volume the most important works on sustainable human and economic development. It offers a broad overview of the subject, and gives the reader a quick and thorough guide to this highly diffuse topic. The volume offers ten sections on topics including: economic and social dimensions of sustainable development the North/South balance population and the demographic transition agriculture and renewable resources energy and materials use globalization and corporate responsibility local and national strategies Each section is introduced with an essay by one of the volume editors that provides an overview of the subject and a summary of the mainstream literature, followed by two- to three-page abstracts of the most important articles or book chapters on the topic. A Survey of Sustainable Development is the sixth and final volume in the Frontier Issues of Economic Thought series produced by the Global Development And Environment Institute at Tufts University. Each book brings together the most important articles and book chapters in a "frontier" area of economics where important new work is being done but has not yet been incorporated into the mainstream of economic study. The book is an essential reference for students and scholars concerned with economics, environmental studies, public policy and administration, international development, and a broad range of related fields.
A unique feature of this book is its strong practice-oriented nature: it contains a wide range of papers dealing with the social, economic and political aspects of climate change, exemplifying the diversity of approaches to climate change management taking place all over the world, in a way never seen before. In addition, the book describes a number of projects and other initiatives happening in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin American and the Australasian region, providing a profile of the diversity of works taking place today.
The United States is among the wealthiest nations in the world, but it is far from the healthiest. Although life expectancy and survival rates in the United States have improved dramatically over the past century, Americans live shorter lives and experience more injuries and illnesses than people in other high-income countries. The U.S. health disadvantage cannot be attributed solely to the adverse health status of racial or ethnic minorities or poor people: even highly advantaged Americans are in worse health than their counterparts in other, "peer" countries. In light of the new and growing evidence about the U.S. health disadvantage, the National Institutes of Health asked the National Research Council (NRC) and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to convene a panel of experts to study the issue. The Panel on Understanding Cross-National Health Differences Among High-Income Countries examined whether the U.S. health disadvantage exists across the life span, considered potential explanations, and assessed the larger implications of the findings. U.S. Health in International Perspective presents detailed evidence on the issue, explores the possible explanations for the shorter and less healthy lives of Americans than those of people in comparable countries, and recommends actions by both government and nongovernment agencies and organizations to address the U.S. health disadvantage.
Sustainable development is capturing the attention of planners, politicians and business leaders. Within the academic sphere its study is increasingly breaching disciplinary boundaries to become a focus of attention for natural and social scientists alike. But in studying such a key concept, it is vital that there is a clear definition of what it means, how it is applied on the ground, and the influence it exerts upon people's perceptions of change in the physical environment, economic activity and society. Exploring Sustainable Development is a major new text which provides a multifaceted introduction to key areas of study in this field, examining sustainability at the full range of spatial scales from the local to the global. Building on existing theory it demonstrates the unique contributions that thinking geographically about space, place and human-environment relationships can bring to the analysis of sustainable development. This book explores different interpretations of sustainable development in both theory and practice, in developed and developing countries, and in rural and urban areas. It pays particular attention to the local, national and international politics of implementation, the future of climate and energy, the role of business, and different conceptions of agricultural sustainability. This wide-ranging text is ideal for undergraduates and postgraduates in geography, environmental science, development studies, and related social and political sciences.
Integrating aspects of philosophy, political science, and some environmental science with economics, this book provides a multidisciplinary and even approach to environmental economics and natural resources policy. Although it does not require a background in basic economic theory the book is rigorous both in analytical approach and content, utilizing both mainstream and alternative economic arguments. Included are a unique chapter on value systems and the role of ethics as well as substantial material on local sustainable development.
Recent democratization and the accompanied liberalization of the media in Central and Eastern Europe has brought the devastating environmental impacts of the intensive and careless industrialization of the last 40 years to the surface. Less is known, however, about the social, political and institutional background of environmental risk management which led to the present situation, as well as about recent changes. Environment and Democratic Transition: Policy and Politics in Central and Eastern Europe provides an overview of the mechanism of policy making, the role of the scientific community, the environmental movements, and the public in risk controversies in Central and Eastern Europe from the 1970s until 1991. The book brings together studies by leading social scientists from the East and the West who investigate the economic, legal, institutional, behavioral, social and political aspects of environmental policy. In addition to analyzing past histories, most contributions focus also on challenges, pitfalls and dilemmas that the region's policy makers and environmentalists must face during the period of transition and into the future.
This book provides a comprehensive overview of emerging challenges facing different social groups, policy-makers and the international community related to economic growth, social development and environmental change, social inclusion and regional development. The book undertakes a critical assessment of the tensions associated with the failures of mainstream regulatory approaches and impacts of social and economic policies whilst widening the discussion on the interface between the expansion of the socio-environmental demands, equity and justice. These are crucial challenges, of great importance today and of equal relevance to the Global North and South. The book explores one of the main contradictions of development, the simplification of assessments and narrow consideration of alternatives. Taking this dilemma as its departure point, it goes on to examine the justification, trends and limitations of Western-based development and possible alternatives to fundamentally modify the basis and the rationale of the development process. It considers theoretical and lived experiences of development, paying attention to multiple scales, local realities and economic frontiers. Contributing authors explore policy recommendations and discuss effective practical tools for determining the values different people hold for ecosystem services and territorial resources. They cover the monitoring of change in the provision of ecosystem services that might increase the well-being of vulnerable groups as well as strategies to promote innovation and integrated, equitable and sustainable development.