Product Description: This balanced analysis shows that the current Kyoto-Protocol Climate Protection System, and other proposals for improving the commitment system may not be capable of meeting the ultimate objective 'to prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system'...read more

Biodiversity and Ecosystem Insecurity provides an authoritative and comprehensive assessment of the threats presented to human security and well-being by the loss of ecosystems and biodiversity recently confirmed as one of the critical 'planetary boundaries' that has already been exceeded. Contributors examine the current trends and state of biodiversity globally, the drivers of biodiversity loss including climate change and economic and population pressures, and the mechanisms and policies needed for conserving and restoring biodiversity in the future. Strong emphasis is placed throughout on the fundamental importance of placing a realistic economic value on nature and the services that ecosystems provide if we are to manage our natural resources successfully; and also on the crucial role of international institutions and government policies achieving this goal. As the recent high-profile meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Nagoya, Japan, underlined, the scale and pace of the destruction of natural habitats and species imperil us all. This volume is an invaluable resource for conservationists, students and those in the private and public sectors concerned to redress the damage being done to the natural world.

From Cretaceous times to the present, the Earth's climate changed from a very warm, "greenhouse" phase with no ice sheets to the "ice-house" world of today. In this book over forty specialists investigate the many ways that life has reacted to the global environmental changes that have taken place during this period. Coverage details a wide spectrum of animal, plant, and protistan life, with the focus on aspects such as extinctions, diversity, and biogeography. This volume will be an invaluable reference for researchers and graduate students in paleontology, geology, biology, oceanography and climatology.

Product Description: Climate change has become one of the most important and challenging global policy fields. Attention has focused primarily on the successes and failures of states and intergovernmental organizations, but many more actors are involved and contribute to solutions...read more

Product Description: Cents and Sustainability is a clear-sighted response to the 1987 call by Dr Gro Brundtland in Our Common Future to achieve a new era of economic growth that is 'forceful and at the same time socially and environmentally sustainable'...read more

Product Description: Global warming and climate change present complex interlocking issues of public policy, multilateral negotiation, and technological advancement.  This book explores both the problems and the opportunities presented by international agreements, and examines the technological developments and policy goals that can be pursued to effect the changes necessary...read more

Book annotation not available for this title.Title: Changing ClimateAuthor: Bailey, GerryPublisher: Publication Date: 2011/01/01Number of Pages: 48Binding Type: LIBRARYLibrary of Congress: 2010032885

Product Description: The book examines how climate change has and will deliver impacts on major globalized biophysical and societal themes that will affect the way the world functions. It shows how the Earth sciences contribute to a better understanding of climate change.

Product Description: In recent years, Earth systems science has advanced rapidly, helping to transform climate change and other planetary risks into major political issues. Changing the Atmosphere strengthens our understanding of this important link between expert knowledge and environmental governance...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

In recent years, Earth systems science has advanced rapidly, helping to transform climate change and other planetary risks into major political issues. Changing the Atmosphere strengthens our understanding of this important link between expert knowledge and environmental governance. In so doing, it illustrates how the emerging field of science and technology studies can inform our understanding of the human dimensions of global environmental change. Incorporating historical, sociological, and philosophical approaches, Changing the Atmosphere presents detailed empirical studies of climate science and its uptake into public policy. Topics include the scientific, political, and social processes involved in the creation of scientific knowledge about climate change; the historical and contemporary role of expert knowledge in creating and perpetuating policy concern about climate change; and the place of science in institutions of global environmental governance such as the World Meteorological Organization, the Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Together, the essays demonstrate fundamental connections between the science and politics of planet Earth. In the struggle to create sustainable forms of environmental governance, they indicate, a necessary first step is to understand how communities achieve credible, authoritative representations of nature. Contributors: Paul N. Edwards, Dale Jamieson, Sheila Jasanoff, Chunglin Kwa, Clark Miller, Stephen D. Norton, Stephen H. Schneider, Simon Shackley, Frederick Suppe. (view table of contents)

Product Description: Will the future be a climate disaster? Will biotechnologies bring huge improvements to lifespan? Predictions vary, but children's status as human embodiments of the future puts them at the centre of attempts to shape the world and the discipline of childhood studies can therefore make a critical and creative contribution to future-making...read more

Climate change is one of the most significant global challenges facing the world today. It is also a critical issue for the world’s cities. Now home to over half the world’s population, urban areas are significant sources of greenhouse gas emissions and are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Responding to climate change is a profound challenge. A variety of actors are involved in urban climate governance, with municipal governments, international organisations, and funding bodies pointing to cities as key arenas for response. This book provides the first critical introduction to these challenges, giving an overview of the science and policy of climate change at the global level and the emergence of climate change as an urban policy issue. It considers the challenges of governing climate change in the city in the context of the changing nature of urban politics, economics, society and infrastructures. It looks at how responses for mitigation and adaptation have emerged within the city, and the implications of climate change for social and environmental justice. Drawing on examples from cities in the north and south, and richly illustrated with detailed case-studies, this book will enable students to understand the potential and limits of addressing climate change at the urban level and to explore the consequences for our future cities. It will be essential reading for undergraduate students across the disciplines of geography, politics, sociology, urban studies, planning and science and technology studies.

(view table of contents)

Product Description: Current societies face unprecedented risks and challenges connected to climate change. Addressing them will require fundamental transformations in the infrastructures that sustain everyday life, such as energy, water, waste and mobility...read more

Product Description: Describes what climate change is and how it happens, and suggests ways in which ordinary people can help to mitigate it. It also describes the process of evolution, and proposes that Christian ecology must henceforth integrate evolution...read more

Product Description: As a fixture in recent headlines, the Earths climate has commanded much attention. While environmental and atmospheric conditions in large part determine the climate of a region, the impact of human activity has increasingly become a significant factor as well...read more