Showing titles in Ecology

Many people will remember that Rachel Carson predicted a silent spring, but she also warned of a fruitless fall, a time with no pollination and no fruit. The fruitless fall nearly became a reality when, in 2007, beekeepers watched 30 billion bees mysteriously die. And they continue to disappear. The remaining pollinators, essential to the cultivation of a third of American crops, are now trucked across the country and flown around the world, pushing them ever closer to collapse.

In the 2012 edition of its flagship report, Worldwatch celebrates the twentieth anniversary of the 1992 Earth Summit with a far-reaching analysis of progress toward building sustainable economies. Written and read in clear language, State of the World 2012 offers a new perspective on what changes and policies will be necessary to make sustainability a permanent feature of the world's economies.

After the death of his brother and the sudden end of his marriage, and after his ex-wife moved to another state leaving him alone with their two young children, Dan Glick embarked on single fatherhood in an unusual way: he took his kids on a journey around the world. The idea was to go see some of the world's rare life forms before they disappeared from the planet, and to do it before the kids themselves would grow up and chart their own paths.

Bottled water is on the verge of becoming the most popular beverage in the country. But what's the cost of all this water for us and for the environment? In this eye-opening book, Elizabeth Royte does for water what Michael Pollan did for food: She examines the people, machines, economies, and cultural trends that surround it on its journey from distant aquifers to our supermarkets and homes.

In this extraordinary narrative, Alan Tennant recounts his all-out effort to radio-track the transcontinental migration of the peregrine falcon, an investigation no one before him had ever taken to such lengths.

The sixth "mass extinction event" in the history of planet Earth is currently under way, with over two hundred species dying off every day. The cause of this seismic event is also the source of the single biggest threat to human life: our own inventions. But for all our talk about sea levels and biotechnology, do we really know what our future will actually look like? Will our immune systems be attacked by so-called super bugs, always evolving, and more easily spread than ever? Will the disappearance of numerous species cripple the biosphere?

Qualcuno si ostina a liquidare i cambiamenti climatici come fake news, ma la gran parte di noi è ben consapevole che se non modifichiamo radicalmente le nostre abitudini l'umanità andrà incontro al rischio dell'estinzione di massa. Lo sappiamo, eppure non riusciamo a crederci. E di conseguenza non riusciamo ad agire. Il problema è che l'emergenza ambientale non è una storia facile da raccontare e, soprattutto, non è una buona storia: non spaventa, non affascina, non coinvolge abbastanza da indurci a cambiare la nostra vita.

Den globala ekonomin har länge byggt på obegränsade resurser och ständig tillväxt. Nu vet vi att vårt sätt att leva är ohållbart och allt fler ser över sina konsumtionsvanor. Vi pantar burkar, sopsorterar och köper ekologiskt. Men faktum är att ett hållbart sparande kan göra mer för klimatet och för ett hållbart samhälle. Dessutom är det lönsamt då bolag som satsar på hållbarhet nu går om sina konkurrenter och får bättre avkastning.

Der Umweltjournalist Andreas Schlumberger versammelt 50 einfache Dinge, die Sie tun können, um die Welt zu retten und zeigt, dass es viele - oft überraschend einfache - Möglichkeiten gibt, den eigenen Alltag umweltverträglicher zu gestalten. Nahezu unbekannt ist: Bei unzähligen Tipps lässt sich sogar Geld sparen! Ob Ernährung, Haushalt oder Mobilität - überall verstecken sich Ausgabequellen, die der Umwelt schaden und das Portemonnaie belasten. Sie lassen sich clever umgehen, ohne Komfortverzicht und ohne am bisherigen Lebensstil zu rütteln.

Die gesammelten Reden der 16-jährigen Klimaschutz-Aktivistin Greta Thunberg dokumentieren ihren Aufruf zum weltweiten Schulstreik für das Klima. Unter #FridaysForFuture demonstrieren Tausende Schüler jeden Freitag mit ihr gemeinsam gegen CO2-Emissionen, die Verbrennung fossiler Energieträger und den menschengemachten Klimawandel. In ihren mittlerweile weltweit bekannten Reden, vor dem schwedischen Parlament, bei der Weltklimakonferenz in Kattowitz oder beim Weltwirtschaftsforum in Davos, fordert Greta Thunberg eine radikale Kehrtwende in der Klimapolitik und die Einhaltung des Pariser Klimaabkommens.

Come limitare l'impatto dei consumi di energia sull'uomo e sull'ambiente, senza compromettere lo sviluppo economico? Un impiego delle fonti rinnovabili, e in particolare dell'energia solare, è ormai ritenuto necessario e possibile, anche in ampie proporzioni. Nel volume si discutono gli aspetti tecnologici ed economici dello sfruttamento dell'energia solare e si offre un quadro delle politiche nazionali e dell'Unione europea nel settore.

Barcellona, Manchester o Salonicco, Torino, Bari o Genova: cosa hanno in comune queste città? Il fatto che possono essere considerate smart, misurandole con diversi parametri che vanno dai trasporti all'istruzione, dalla sanità alla sostenibilità ambientale all'innovazione tecnologica. Smart city è dunque una definizione complessa cha allude ad una trasformazione delle nostre attuali città con l'obiettivo non solo del superamento delle emergenze energetiche ed ambientali, ma anche della qualità del vivere per il cittadino e per la comunità, sul piano sociale ed economico.

L'economia mondiale si è sviluppata nel secondo dopoguerra grazie alla grande disponibilità dei combustibili fossili senza che si tenesse conto né del vincolo di scarsità, né dell'impatto sull'ambiente che la loro combustione comporta. Oggi ci troviamo costretti a ripensare le scelte di approvvigionamento energetico.

Dans ce guide pratique, ludique et convivial, le nutritionniste Bernard Lavallée nous donne une foule de conseils, de trucs et d'astuces pour que le respect et la protection de l'environnement se fassent aussi dans notre assiette. Manger local, choisir la pêche durable, produire moins de déchets, cuisiner les aliments fatigués, produire sa nourriture, etc.

Sols contaminés, eaux souillées, rejets toxiques, etc. Si la présence de polluants dans la biosphère remonte à la nuit des temps, l'augmentation de la population de la planète et l'accroissement des activités humaines ont provoqué une multiplication des cas de pollution depuis le début de l'ère industrielle.

Le réchauffement climatique et le rôle des activités humaines sur notre climat deviennent de plus en plus perceptibles et occupent une place grandissante dans notre vie quotidienne. Lutter contre le réchauffement climatique est un véritable défi : c'est celui que s'est fixé Jean Jouzel tout au long de sa carrière scientifique.

Transition énergétique, révolution numérique, mutation écologique... Politiques, médias, industriels nous promettent en chœur un nouveau monde enfin affranchi du pétrole, des pollutions, des pénuries et des tensions militaires. Cet ouvrage, fruit de six années d'enquête dans une douzaine de pays, nous montre qu'il n'en est rien ! En nous émancipant des énergies fossiles, nous sombrons en réalité dans une nouvelle dépendance : celle aux métaux rares. Graphite, indium, tungstène, terres rares.

In The Marsh Builders, Sharon Levy delves into the intertwined histories of wetlands loss and water pollution. The book's springboard is the tale of a years-long citizen uprising in Humboldt County, California, which led to the creation of one of the first US wetlands designed to treat city sewage. The book explores the global roots of this local story: the cholera epidemics that plagued 19th-century Europe; the researchers who invented modern sewage treatment after bumbling across the insight that microbes break down pollutants in water; and more.

Roderick Nash's classic study of changing attitudes toward wilderness during American history, as well as the origins of the environmental and conservation movements, has received wide acclaim since its initial publication in 1967. For the fifth edition, Nash has written a new preface and epilogue that brings Wilderness and the American Mind into dialogue with contemporary debates about wilderness.

One cannot turn on the news today without a report on an extreme-weather event or the latest update on Antarctica. But while our politicians argue, the truth is that climate change is already here. Nobody knows this better than Indigenous peoples, who, having developed an intimate relationship with ecosystems over generations, have observed these changes for decades. For them, climate change is not an abstract concept or policy issue, but the reality of daily life.