This book records the issues that were discussed and debated at the Rio Earth Summit, and contains the eight papers presented at a workshop organized by the Royal Institute of International Affairs in October 1992. Participants - including senior policy-makers from EC countries, from the private sector, academia, and interested groups - discussed energy efficiency policy, CO2 emissions policy and industry, the distributional effects of a carbon ...

"It is said that the seafloor is a desert, a vast and uniform wasteland, all but devoid of life. Textbooks on the shelf in my laboratory say so. But I know that is not true", writes scientist and submersible pilot Cindy Lee Van Dover in the Introduction to Deep-Ocean Journeys. Van Dover has ventured miles below surface waves to the bottom of the sea, driven by her desire to understand the complex and thriving ecosystems recently discovered near ...

Written in clear and concise language, with easy-to-read charts and tables, STATE OF THE WORLD presents a view of our changing world that we, and our leaders, cannot afford to ignore. Topics include an assessment of the world's forests, an analysis of the decline of fisheries around the world, a survey of all major groups of vertebrate fauna facing severe stress, and the financial aspects of sustainable development. ...

Fullerenes or"buckyballs,"a new carbon-based family of materials, have fascinated the scientific community for the past few years. These materials are likely to find applications ranging from lubricants to batteries to biological magic bullets, which will be of great importance in the science and technology of the next century. This carefully edited volume, the first to include Frans Spaepen as co-editor, summarizes our present understanding in ...

Science and Ecosystem Management in the National Parks presents twelve case studies of long-term research conducted in and around national parks that address major natural resource issues. These cases demonstrate how the use of longer time scales strongly influences our understanding of ecosystems and how interpretations of short-term patterns in nature often change when viewed in the context of long-term data sets. Most important, they show ...

Why have the farms, forests, lochs and hills generated such passionate disagreement? Written in the light of international thinking in environmental management and of the author's practical experience in the Scottish highlands, this book tackles the hottest current debates--land reform, the future of farming, public access, conservation of moorland and birds of prey, the place of forestry, and the control of alien species and red deer--and takes ...

The philosophy of deep ecology originated in the 1970s with the Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess and has since spread around the world. Its basic premises are a belief in the intrinsic value of nonhuman nature, a belief that ecological principles should dictate human actions and moral evaluations, an emphasis on noninterference into natural processes, and a critique of materialism and technological progress.This book approaches deep ecology as a ...

Why is the sea salty? Does the ocean ever freeze? How did the pistol shrimp get its name? Answers to these and many other questions in this handy question-and-answer guide to life forms thriving along the ocean's edge. ...

This book provides a broad overview of plant and animal ecology in the Mojave Desert. ...

Contrary to conventional wisdom, the desert isn't defined by high temperatures, but rather by the lack of moisture. This compelling book provides all the facts on what deserts are, where they are located, and how their inhabitants survive the extremes. Using charts of desert regions around the world and wonderful full-color photos, this book identifies plant life such as the saguaro cactus and the Joshua tree; animal life such as camels and ...