Showing titles in Ecology

A collection of probing essays and weekly meditations, this book addresses how to prepare emotionally and spiritually for the impending collapse of industrial civilization. Author Carolyn Baker offers wisdom, inspiration, and a sense of spiritual purpose for anyone who is concerned about the daunting future humankind has created.

Where can you find the worst weather on earth? The surprising answer in Tying Down the Wind is: everywhere. You don’t need to climb Mount Everest or voyage to the icy desert of Antarctica to witness both the beauty and the destructiveness of weather. The same forces are at work in your own backyard.

In a centuries-old tradition, farmers in northwestern Iceland scour remote coastal plains for the down of nesting eider ducks. High inside a vast cave in Borneo, men perched atop rickety ladders collect swiftlets’ nests, a delicacy believed to be a cure for almost anything. Eiderdown and edible birds’ nests: both are luxury products, ultimately destined for the super-rich. To the rest of the world these materials are mere commodities but to the harvesters they are all imbued with myth, tradition, folklore and ritual, and form part of a shared identity and history.

The Galapagos Islands cast a truly global spell; as one of the first ever World Heritage Sites it is impossible to ignore their ecological importance. Monty Halls certainly couldn't ignore them. The Galapagos captured his imagination from his very first visit and their existence would go on to shape his family's future, as well as the future for generations to come.

Offering a bold new understanding of who we are, where we came from, and where we are going, noted ecologist Mark Bertness argues that human beings and their civilization are the products of the same self-organization, evolutionary adaptation, and natural selection processes that have created all other life on Earth. Bertness follows the evolutionary process from the primordial soup of two billion years ago through today, exploring the ways opposing forces of competition and cooperation have led to current assemblages of people, animals, and plants.

The Imperiled Ocean by ocean journalist Laura Trethewey is a deeply reported work of narrative journalism that follows people as they head out to sea. What they discover holds inspiring and dire implications for the life of the ocean - and for all of us back on land.

From increasingly severe storms to collapsing coral reefs to the displacement of Syrian citizens, in this audiobook we examine the effects of Earth’s changing climate on weather systems, ecosystems, and human habitability and what this means for our future.

An iconoclast and best-selling author of both nonfiction and fiction, Elizabeth Marshall Thomas has spent a lifetime observing, thinking, and writing about the cultures of animals such as lions, wolves, dogs, deer, and humans. In this engrossing book, she provides a plainspoken, big-picture look at the commonality of life on our planet, from the littlest microbes to the largest lizards.

An Irish Nature Year is a filled with plants, animals, birds and creepy-crawlies from all over the island of Ireland. With one short entry for every day of the year, nature columnist Jane Powers serves up five minutes worth of wonderment to enjoy on your coffee break, on your commute or to relax with at bedtime.

À l’été 2022, la France découvre avec effroi les ravages de la sécheresse. Sous nos yeux défilent des paysages irréels de lacs changés en mers végétales, les incendies se multiplient, plusieurs communes doivent être alimentées en eau par camionsciternes. L’hiver qui suit n’offre pas de meilleures conditions. Entre janvier et février 2023, la France métropolitaine fait face à 32 jours consécutifs sans pluie. Un record !

Un lobo marsupial extinto es un fantasma. Una tortuga es un espíritu antiguo que se pasea por una isla en el fin del mundo. Un oso polar disecado es la modesta prueba de una inmensa derrota. Ya sean las aguas microscópicas en las que habita el resistente tardígrado, la ardiente imaginación de la que proviene el imposible lebrílope o la reserva de Woodside, California, donde la gorila Koko aprendió lenguaje de señas, cada ecosistema se presenta como un lugar de descubrimiento, de comunión.

Et si on arrêtait de se voiler la face ? On ne sauvera pas le monde avec des pailles en bambou, du café équitable ou des sprays au vinaigre. À force d'en entendre parler, on croirait presque à une transition écologique... Pourtant, ce n'est pas en remplaçant la consommation classique par des achats "responsables" que l'on va stopper les catastrophes en cours ! Depuis des décennies, l'écologie produit des discours tièdes, habilement récupérés par le capitalisme.

From the endangered Canadian boreal forest to the environmentally threatened Svalbard archipelago off the coast of Norway, Jenna Butler takes us on a sea voyage that connects continents and traces the impacts of climate change on northern lands. With a conservationist, female gaze, she questions explorer narratives and the mythic draw of the polar North. Blending travelogue and poetic meditation on place, Jenna Butler draws listeners to the beauty and power of threatened landscapes, asking why some stories in recorded history are privileged....

Your practical guide to better health, stronger relationships, and a happier life - by reconnecting with nature. There is something simply soul-soothing about being in nature. In fact, research shows that spending time outside can improve the immune system, combat stress hormones, lower blood pressure, and boost self-esteem.

In dit hoorcollege bespreken Jan Willem Erisman en Wim de Vries de historie en de oorsprong van de stikstofproblematiek, met daarbij aandacht voor de modellen en metingen die ons in staat stellen de uitstoot en depositie van stikstofverbindingen in te schatten. Ze gaan in op de stikstofcyclus en de gevolgen van de stikstofovermaat voor lucht-, bodem- en waterkwaliteit, en daarmee voor natuur, gezondheid en klimaat. Daarnaast staan ze stil bij de mogelijke oplossingen van het probleem. Waar en hoe kunnen we de stikstofuitstoot verminderen? Met hoeveel?

An eloquent plea for compassion and respect for all species, The Humane Gardener "does the important work of speaking for the trees—and the bees, butterflies, and other living creatures that need healthy ecosystems" (BookPage). Master naturalist Nancy Lawson uses engaging anecdotes and inspired advice, profiles of home gardeners throughout the United States, and interviews with scientists and horticulturalists to demonstrate how and why to welcome wildlife to our backyards and how we can apply the broader lessons of ecology to our own outdoor spaces.

It might be their large, strangely human eyes or their dog-like playfulness, but seals have long captured people's interest and affection, making them the perfect candidate for an environmental cause, as well as the subject of decades of study. Alix Morris spends a year with these magnetic creatures and brings them to life on the page, season by season, as she learns about their intelligence, their relationships with each other, their ecosystems, and the changing climate.

Almost all environmental books treat the environmental crisis as though humans are in charge of nature, rather than part of it. The Earth and I is the first book to put all preconceived notions aside and to ask, naïvely: Who are we really? What is our relationship to the earth? How is it possible that we, out of all the millions of species, have come to destroy our common home? The answers are surprising and have far-reaching implications for those searching for solutions.

The Human Place in Nature offers a science-based bottom-up approach to our own conscious worldview by seeing it through the eyes of others. It emphasizes the role of context in evolution and the way animals internalize and engage with the contextual properties of their world that are meaningful for them. The core argument is that a context, which is subjective and comprised of the perceptual capacities, offers new insights into the evolution of mind.

In Escaping Nature, Orrin H. Pilkey and his coauthors offer concrete suggestions for how to respond to the threats posed by global climate change. They argue that while we wait for the world’s governments to get serious about mitigating climate change we can adapt to a hotter world through technological innovations, behavioral changes, nature-based solutions, political changes, and education.