Showing titles in Natural Resources

Humans depend on soil for 95 percent of global food production, yet let it erode at unsustainable rates. In the United States, China, and India, vast tracts of farmland will be barren of topsoil within this century. The combination of intensifying erosion caused by climate change and the increasing food needs of a growing world population is creating a desperate need for solutions to this crisis.

Humanity has used asphalt for thousands of years. This humble hydrocarbon may have glued the first arrowhead to the first shaft, but the changes wrought by this material are most dramatic since its emergence as pavement. Since the 1920s the automobile and blacktop have allowed unprecedented numbers of Americans to experience the beauty of their continent from the Adirondacks to the Rockies and beyond, to Big Sur and the Pacific Coast Highway.

Climate Change and the Road to Net-Zero is a story of how humanity has broken free from the shackles of poverty, suffering, and war and for the first time in human history, grown both population and prosperity. It’s also a story of how a single species has reconfigured the natural world, repurposed the Earth’s resources, and begun to reengineer the climate. The book uses these conflicting narratives to explore the science, economics, technology, and politics of climate change.

Water is the source of all life on planet Earth. But, to the surprise of many, we are running out of it. Why is that? To some, it is impossible to imagine a city running out of water. The possibility just doesn’t exist for so many of us who are fortunate enough to have nearly unlimited access to clean drinking water. It is something many people take for granted. But that unlimited well has a limit, and we are reaching it quicker than you might imagine.

What I'm about to tell you may sound unbelievable and even a little crazy, but if you go on this journey with me, you will be amazed at my discoveries. It all started when I found a very strange rock on a beach. The rock seemed to be glowing. It reflected the sunlight, and if you looked closely at the rock, you could almost see a village and an ocean inside. In ancient times, shamans believed that if a person went deep into a meditative state on the eve of the full moon during winter solstice, wonders would transpire in the mind of the meditator.

We are complacent. We bask in the idea that Canada holds 20% of the world’s fresh water - water crises face other countries, but not ours. We could not be more wrong. In Boiling Point, best-selling author and activist Maude Barlow lays bare the issues facing Canada’s water reserves, including long-outdated water laws, unmapped and unprotected groundwater reserves, agricultural pollution, industrial-waste dumping, boil-water advisories, and the effects of deforestation and climate change. This will be the defining issue of the coming decade, and most of us have no idea that it is on our very own doorstep.

By 2030, experts predict two-thirds of people living on this planet will not have enough water, a situation expected to result in the deaths of millions and an unprecedented rise in military conflicts. Can we as individuals hope to reverse these dire predictions? Award-winning author and water activist Florencia Ramirez believes we can if our conservation efforts focus on the 70 percent of freshwater flowing to the fields and ranches that grow our food. Eat Less Water takes the listener on a journey to meet America's food producers growing food with less water.

Although it is widely understood that energy and water are the world’s two most critical resources, their vital interconnections and vulnerabilities are less often recognized. This farsighted audiobook offers a new, holistic way of thinking about energy and water - a big picture approach that reveals the interdependence of the two resources, identifies the seriousness of the challenges, and lays out an optimistic approach with an array of solutions to ensure continuing sustainability.

Baking soda, salt, vinegar, and lemons are all you really need to do the job the most chemical cleaners can do. For those of you that are interested in finding out just how useful these items can be and how many different ways they can be used, this book is the perfect choice for you. Inside this amazing book you will discover how you can use baking soda to clean your house, including the bathrooms, without using harsh chemicals. You will also find out how easy it is to treat common ailments, such as burns and bee stings at home with the help of baking soda.

This guide is a must for those who want to enjoy the wide range of outdoor recreation opportunities in these two states. It will help you find the perfect place for a weekend getaway, an active family outing, and a quiet wilderness retreat - almost any type of outdoor experience you want. Discover wildlife refuges, state and national parks, nature and bike trails, historic sites, hiking tips, and more.

Part of a series of guides to the US State and National Parks, this is a must for both visitors and residents who want to enjoy the wide range of outdoor recreational opportunities in these two states. Follow in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark and early Native Americans, as Oregon and Washington's numerous parks, forests, and historic sites are visited in detail. This book focuses on each area's rich history and unique geographical features.

In these days of increased tension, civil unrest, and global warming, disaster preparation for the urban dweller is not something to be taken for granted. Whether you live in a high-rise apartment, or own a home in suburbia, it is critically important that you have something to help you through the first 24 to 72 hours after a disaster strikes.

This audiobook aims to provide you with more-specific information on how you can prepare for serious disasters using resources that may already be sitting in your cupboards, your attic, or your collection of junk. You will find that the humble mason jars you might be taking for granted have a lot of practical uses when it comes to disaster preparedness.

We don't want to be added to the statistics in a negative way, but if we don't prepare for these events, we just might. You see, in all these tragic cases, the civilians, the simple people, those who just want to continue living their lives, they are the ones who are always left confused and helpless. And it's not because they weren't informed - we all have access to the news now - so, the problem is not information dissemination.

In this audiobook, you will discover the systematic way of preparing your home for any disaster. The first step is gaining knowledge about your house, your location’s geographical profile, and your community. Being an independent family doesn't keep you away from being a part of your community. At the end of the day, coordinating with other community members help prepare you and your household. Upon knowing vital information, the next covered topic is carrying out the actual preparation steps.

Take a walk in the park. Or explore a forest, gorge, campground, even a historic site. Spend a week or a weekend. Go biking, hiking, fishing, boating, hunting or cross-country skiing. Or just relax and enjoy the most beautiful scenery in the West! This is a guide to the state and the national parks throughout California, the wildlife refuges, nature and bike trails, historic sites, facilities and activities at each site, and contact information. Nearly 100 state parks are described, six national parks, plus 28 other points of interest.

Details of all the state and national parks in these three states. This describes them all, from the vast national parks to little-visited wilderness preserves. Facilities, hiking trails, fees, campgrounds, fishing, canoeing, history, nearby attractions, directions - everything you need. Filled with contact numbers and addresses.

This book revisits some simple scientific research data which could be considered as the equivalent to Chicken Little's alarm call that the sky is falling. Based on materials widely distributed in the press, the author examines how the superstitions gain a place in the scientific research work, debunking some of them with simple arguments that can be taken from most high school manuals.

Born in Boston, Stephen Bodio wandered into Magdalena, New Mexico, in the 1970s while on his way to Montana and never left. He was accompanied by Betsy Huntington, who was twenty years his senior; the couple had been inseparable from the day they met. After stumbling upon a vintage home along the highway, they settled into a country life; it was the perfect way for the two of them to make their lives together in an out-of-the-way place.

In the past 30 years, China has transformed from an impoverished country where peasants comprised the largest portion of the populace to an economic power with an expanding middle class and more megacities than anywhere else on Earth. This remarkable transformation has required, and will continue to demand, massive quantities of resources. Like every other major power in modern history, China is looking outward to find them.