Global Resources and the Environment

About this book

In the past few decades, sustainability of natural resources and the social and environmental issues that surround them have become increasingly topical. This multidisciplinary book discusses the complex relationships between society, natural resources and the environment. Major resources including water, agriculture, energy, minerals and forests are considered, as well as different facets of the environment including climate, landforms and biodiversity. Each resource is discussed in the context of both environmental and socio-economic factors affecting their present and future distribution and demand. Fully illustrated throughout, this accessible volume is relevant for anyone concerned with sustainability in an ever-changing world; from policy makers and resource managers in need of a comprehensive overview of the issues surrounding global resources and the environment, to graduate students and researchers in the natural and social sciences.

Contents

Preface

Part I. Introduction, Dynamic Systems, and Change:
1. Socio-Environmental Systems
2. A Perspective on Dynamic Systems
3. Change, Sustainability, and Resilience

Part II. People:
4. Where People Live, Communicate, and Interact
5. People, Societies, Populations, and Changes
6. Resources, Governments, and Other Social Influences

Part III. Climates:
7. Global Distribution of Climates
8. Greenhouse Gases, Atmosphere, and Climates
9. Past and Future Climate Changes

Part IV. Landforms:
10. Landforms and Soils
11. Bedrock Landforms
12. Landforms of Transported Materials

Part V. Biodiversity:
13. Biodiversity: Individual Species
14. Biodiversity: Communities and Landscapes
15. Robust and Threatened Species, Communities
16. Managing Biodiversity

Part VI. Water:
17. The Hydrologic Cycle
18. The Annual Hydrograph and Water Use
19. Managing and Mitigating the Hydrologic System

Part VII. Agriculture:
20. Food Groups and Nutrition
21. Agriculture and the Green Revolution
22. Future Agriculture Production and Distribution

Part VIII. Energy:
23. Energy Sources, the Energy Cycle, Exergy
24. Conserving Energy and Renewable Energy
25. Future Energy: Reducing Fossil Fuel Use

Part IX. Minerals:
26. Rocks and Mineral Properties, Mining
27. Rocks and Minerals: Production, Use, and Distribution

Part X. Forests:
28. Forests, Ecosystem Services, and Timber
29. Forest Distribution, Area, and Volume Changes
30. Silviculture, Forest Degradation, and Landscape Management

Part XI. Perspective:
31. Integrating the Environment, Resources, and People

Appendix I. Country Groups Used in Analyses
Appendix II. Elements, Chemical Symbols, Atomic Numbers, and Masses
Index

Customer Reviews

Biography

Chad Oliver is the Pinchot Professor of Forestry and Environmental Studies and Director of the Global Institute of Sustainable Forestry at Yale. His research focuses on global issues of landscape management, and he has considerable experience advising public and private forest resource organizations in the United States and abroad. He is the author of the highly cited book: Forest Stand Dynamics, now in its second edition (1990, McGraw Hill; 1996, Wiley).

Fatma Oliver was a statistical consultant for the Boeing Company until her retirement in 2000. She is the author of scientific and technical papers.