The environment Books

Book SynopsisThe concept of a livable smart city presented in this book highlights the relevance of the functionality and integrated resilience of viable cities of the future. It critically examines the progressive digitalization that is taking place and identifies the revolutionized energy sector as the basis of urban life. The concept is based on people and their natural environment, resulting in a broader definition of sustainability and an expanded product theory. Smart City 2.0 offers its residents many opportunities and is an attractive future market for innovative products and services. However, it presents numerous challenges for stakeholders and product developers.Table of ContentsChallenges for Cities.- Product Development for Cities.- Social Change in Cities.- Digitalization of Urban Life.- Profile of Smart City 2.0.

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Book SynopsisDaten für die Praxisanwendung.- Hinweise zur Bemessung.- Zusammenhänge von Stoffstrommanagement und Gärrestaufarbeitung.- Strategien und Maßnahmen zur Prozessoptimierung sowie Anlageertüchtigung.- Zukunftsoptionen für Biogasanlagen.

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Book SynopsisNachhaltig mobil.- Konzeption der Befragung zum Mobilitätsverhalten der UA Ruhr-Angehörigen. Mobilitätspraktiken und Mobilitätsbedarfe.- Mobilität zwischen den Standorten der UA Ruhr.- Homeoffice während der Corona Pandemie.- Studium während der Corona Pandemie.- Zahlungsbereitschaft von Studierenden für ein universitäres, integriertes und nachhaltiges Mobilitätsangebot.- Partizipative Gestaltung von Zukunftsszenarien nachhaltiger Mobilität.- Das Reallabor als Testfeld nachhaltiger Mobilität.- Mit dem Rad oder mit dem Auto zur Uni?.- Agentenbasierte Modellierung und Simulation komplexer Systeme.

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Book SynopsisI  Introduction: The Postcolonial Legacy of Climate Change.- Postcolonial South Africa’s Water and Aridity in the Era of Climate Change.- Undoing the Dualisms: Towards an Ecofeminist Postcolonial Environmental Justice.- Postcolonial and or Decolonial Perceptions in Framing Different Responses to Climate Crisis.- Climate Change Knowledge and Epistemic Injustice in a Postcolonial Context.- Participatory Governance in Botswana’s Climate Change Policy: The Case of the Kgotla.- Decolonial Reflexivity and Climate Change Scholarship in Botswana.- Transnational Climate Change Governance and the Postcolonial Appendices: The Case of the IPCC.

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Book SynopsisThe book presents a comprehensive and systematic account of the concept, the current status and the costs of the German energy transition: the Energiewende. Written by an insider who has been working in the German energy industry for over 20 years, it follows a strictly non-political, neutral approach and clearly outlines the most relevant facts and figures. In particular, it describes the main impacts of the Energiewende on the German power system and Germany’s national economy. Furthermore, it addresses questions that are of global interest with respect to energy transitions, such as the cost to the national economy, the financial burden on private households and companies and the actual effects on CO2 emissions. The book also discusses what could have been done better in terms of planning and implementing the Energiewende, and identifies important lessons for other countries that are considering a similar energy transition.Table of ContentsIntroduction.- Part I: The German Energy Transition - What is Driving It?.- Part II: The German Energy Transition - Where Does Germany Stand Today?.- Part III: The German Energy Transition - What Does It Really Cost?.- Part IV: The German Energy Transition - Lessons to be Learned.

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisA special volume in the Chinese Research Perspectives on the Environment series, this English-language volume is an edited collection of articles from the Chinese-language volume of The Annual Review of Low-Carbon Development in China (2011-2012). This is a pioneering volume on China's low-carbon development efforts, challenges, plans, trends, and policy recommendations, all based on research conducted by the Climate Policy Initiative at Tsinghua University, China. In this work, key results in China's 11th Five-Year Plan are explored by reviewing China's performance against targets, while the implementation of key policies and institutions are described with a focus on the effectiveness of low-carbon development policies in China during the period of 2005-2010. In addition, focus is placed on key indicators of low-carbon development such as energy consumption, CO2 emission, and low-carbon technologies. It discusses issues ranging from the low-carbon transformation of China’s economy to innovative low-carbon technologies, from low-carbon financing and incentive policies to changes in the business sector and consumer behaviors. The compilation offers not only insights on facts, but also introduces discussion on some of the more controversial issues China faces as it works to meet climate and energy challenges up through 2020.Table of Contents1. CHINA'S TRANSITION TOWARD A LOW-CARBON ECONOMY DURING THE 11TH FYP PERIOD 1.1 THE 11TH FYP PERIOD: CHINA'S TRANSITION TOWARD LOW-CARBON DEVELOPMENT 1.2 ANALYSIS OF CHINA’S LOW-CARBON DEVELOPMENT DURING THE 11TH FYP PERIOD 1.3 CHARACTERISTICS OF CHINA’S LOW-CARBON DEVELOPMENT DURING THE 11TH FYP PERIOD 1.4 ACHIEVEMENTS AND CHALLENGES OF CHINA’S LOW-CARBON DEVELOPMENT 2. DEVELOPMENT OF LOW-CARBON TECHNOLOGIES DURING THE 11TH FYP 2.1 PROGRESS MADE IN APPLICATIONS OF LOW-CARBON TECHNOLOGIES 2.2 CHARACTERISTICS OF LOW-CARBON TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT DURING THE 11TH FYP 2.3 SUMMARY APPENDIX 2-1 3. ADJUSTMENT OF THE ECONOMIC STRUCTURE 3.1 GDP STRUCTURE 3.2 SCALE OF PRODUCTION AND ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE 3.3 INDUSTRY REALLOCATION LED TO THE CHANGES OF REGIONAL STRUCTURE APPENDIX 3-1 CALCULATION METHOD OF STRUCTURAL ENERGY-SAVING 4. LOW-CARBON DEVELOPMENT POLICY 4.1 LOW-CARBON DEVELOPMENT POLICY FRAMEWORK IN THE 11TH FYP 4.2 POLICY REVIEW 4.3 POLICY FEATURES OF 11TH FYP 5. INSTITUTIONAL INNOVATION OF LOW-CARBON DEVELOPMENT 5.1 PRESSURE TO SAVE ENERGY AND REDUCE CARBON EMISSIONS CALLS FOR INSTITUTIONAL INNOVATION 5.2 INSTITUTIONAL INNOVATION IN LOW-CARBON DEVELOPMENT IN THE 11TH FYP 5.3 CHARACTERISTICS AND INFLUENCE OF LOW-CARBON DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTION IN THE 11TH FYP 6. LOW-CARBON INVESTMENT AND FINANCING 6.1 LOW-CARBON INVESTMENT 6.2 LOW-CARBON FINANCING 7. LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND LOW-CARBON DEVELOPMENT 7.1 LOCAL GOVERNMENT’S LOW-CARBON DEVELOPMENT BEHAVIOR DURING 11TH FYP 7.2 PROMOTION AND LIMITATION FACTORS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT’S LOW-CARBON DEVELOPMENT 7.3 BRIEF REMARKS ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT’S LOW-CARBON DEVELOPMENT BEHAVIOR DURING THE 11TH FYP 8. ENTERPRISES' RESPONSIVENESS TO LOW-CARBON DEVELOPMENT 8.1 SCHEMES BY ENTERPRISES TO CONSERVE ENERGY 8.2 MECHANISMS AFFECTING ENERGY-SAVING BEHAVIOR OF ENTERPRISES 8.3 PROBLEMS AND CHALLENGES 9. IMPACT ON LOW-CARBON DEVELOPMENT BY PUBLIC CONSUMPTION BEHAVIOR 9.1 CHANGE OF PUBLIC CONSUMPTION BEHAVIOR POSES A CHALLENGE TO LOW-CARBON DEVELOPMENT 9.2 URBAN RESIDENTIAL HOUSING SPACE GROWS FAST 9.3 DRAMATIC CHANGE TOWARDS THE CAR 9.4 THE PUBLIC HAS THE WILL, ABILITY AND MEANS TO FULFILL LOW-CARBON POLICIES. 10. OUTLOOK OF CHINA’S ENERGY CONSERVATION AND EMISSIONS REDUCTION IN THE 12TH FYP PERIOD 10.1 COMPARISON OF TARGETS AND POLICIES IN THE 12TH FYP AND THE 11TH FYP 10.2 A MORE DIFFICULT MISSION OF ENERGY CONSERVATION 10.3 NON-FOSSIL ENERGY CHALLENGES 10.4 INTERNATIONAL PRESSURE OF THE 12TH FYP

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Book SynopsisThe essays collected in The Peace of Nature and the Nature of Peace consider connections between ecology, environmental ethics, nonviolence, and philosophy of peace. Edited by Andrew Fiala, this book includes essays written by important scholars in the field of peace studies, pacifism, and nonviolence, including Michael Allen Fox, Andrew Fitz-Gibbon, Bill Gay, and others. Topics include: ecological consciousness and nonviolence, environmental activism and peace activism, the environmental impact of militarism, native and indigenous peoples and peace, food ethics and nonviolence, and other topics. The book should be of interest to scholars, students, and activists who are interested in the relationship between peace movements and environmentalism.Table of Contents00 Preface, Andrew Fiala 1. Introduction: Violence and Nonviolence in the Environmental Movement, Andrew Fiala, Fresno State University 2. Return to Earth, Andrew Fitz-Gibbon, SUNY Cortland 3. Reflections on Violence, Michael Fox, Queens University/University of New England 4. On War and the Environment, Lloyd Steffen, Lehigh University 5. Negative Impacts of Militarism, Bill Gay, University of North Carolina, Charlotte 6. Nature and Human Dwelling, Wendy Hamblet, North Carolina A&T 7. Moral Extensionism and Nonviolence, Sanjay Lal, Clayton State University 8. Anthropocentrism, Conservatism and Green Political Thought, Michael Hemmingsen, McMaster University 9. Guerrilla Gardening for Peace: Existentialist Ethics in Food Deserts, Damon Boria, Purdue University 10. Slow Violence and Agriculture, Jonathan McConnell, Purdue University 11. Kant’s Duty Ethics as a complement for resolving socio-political conflict in Africa, Solomon Laleye, Adekunle Ajasin University (Nigeria) 12. Sequoyah and Seattle: Chief World Systems, Dave Boersema, Pacific University 13. The Beloved Community, Andrew Fitz-Gibbon, SUNY Cortland

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Book SynopsisThis volume of the Chinese Research Perspectives on the Environment series is a translation of selections from the 2014 or the 9th edition of the Annual Report on Environment Development of China. Friends of Nature, which has been organizing the writing and compilation of the Annual Report, is the first and continues to be one of the most influential Chinese environmental NGO. Articles in the current volume, written by a group of academics, independent scholars, activists and journalists cover recent development in a host of environment-related issues in China, including water and air pollution, the evolving role of NGO, pollution’s impact on human health, progress in environmental legislation and species protection, and the environmental consequences of poor urban planning.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements List of Contributors List of Figures and Tables Introduction: On Environmental and Ecosystem Protection: What Have We Done? by LI Dun Chapter 1: Competition for Water Resources and Its Economic and Political Implications by GUO Weiqing and ZHOU Yu Chapter 2: Initial Exploration of Environmental NGOs’ Involvement in Environmental Mass Incidents by LI Bo Chapter 3: Correlation between Water Pollution and Deaths Caused by Digestive Tract Tumors in the Huai River Basin by YANG Gonghuan Chapter 4: The Urgent Need for an Environment and Health Law: A Study of 63 Health Hazard Incidents by LV Zhongmei & HUANG Kai Chapter 5: Environmental and Health Risks: Unusual Expansion of Waste Incineration in China Needs Attention by YANG Changjiang Chapter 6: War on Smog by LIU Xiaoxing Chapter 7: Smog Brings Widespread and Far-Reaching Impact to Human Health by LIN Na Chapter 8: Environmental PILs Returned to the Starting Point in 2013 by LIN Yanmei and WANG Xiaoxi Chapter 9: The Revision of China’s Environmental Protection Law from a Minor Change to a Critical Improvement by QIE Jianrong Chapter 10: Ecological Red Lines: Concept, Features and Supervision by ZOU Changxin Chapter 11: How to Restore the Siberian Tiger Population at Changbai Mountain by PIAO Zhengji Chapter 12: The Siege of Cities by Chemical Plants: How to Make a Breakthrough? by PENG Liguo Chapter 13: The 2012 Pollution Information Transparency Index (PITI) Fourth Annual Assessment of Environmental Transparency in 113 Chinese Cities: Bottlenecks & Breakthroughs Chapter 14: The “Last” Report on China’s Rivers by LI Bo, YAO Songqiao, YU Yin and GUO Qiaoyu Chapter 15: Report on Applying for the Disclosure of Information on 122 Municipal Solid Waste Incineration Plants across China by Wuhu Ecology Center Chapter 16: Annual Indexes of the Environment Green Papers 2013—Changing Trends of the Environment in China Chapter 17: Major Environmental Incidents and Events in 2013

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Book SynopsisIn Silver by Fire, Silver by Mercury: A Chemical History of Silver Refining in New Spain and Mexico, 16th to 19th Centuries, Saul Guerrero combines historical research with geology and chemistry to refute the current prevailing narrative of a primitive effort dominated by mercury and its copious emissions to the air. Based on quantitative historical data, visual records and geochemical fundamentals, Guerrero analyses the chemical and economic reasons why two refining processes had to share production, creating along the way major innovations in the chemical recipes, milling equipment, mercury recycling practice, and industrial architecture and operations. Their main environmental impact was lead fume and the depletion of woodlands from smelting, and the transformation of mercury into calomel during the patio process.Table of ContentsGeneral Series Editor’s Preface Acknowledgements List of Illustrations Guide to the text Introduction 1 The genesis and nature of silver ores  Why Spain?  To have and have not  Old World silver ores  New World silver ores  A red herring  The other chemical keys  The immoveable object and the unstoppable force  The table is set 2 The dry refining process: smelting of silver ores  Deceitful mercury  Smelting of silver ores: the human context  The chemistry of smelting and the nature of the ore  The architecture of smelting in New Spain  The infrastructure of smelting in New Spain  Plata de fuego (silver by fire) 3 The dry refining process: its impact on the environment  Lead: the nature of its consumption  Lead: the directionality of its loss  Lead: its source  Charcoal and the scale of depletion of woodland  The local environmental impact of smelting  A straightforward decision 4 The wet refining process: the chemistry of the patio process  Plus ça change  The alchemy of Mercury  The gold connection  The complex mechanism of a mercury-based refining process  The correspondencia: the key to the fate of mercury  The loss of calomel  The stages in the use of mercury to refine gold and silver ores  The twists in the trail  Mercury-based refining of silver ores: the human factor  Plata de azogue (silver by mercury) 5 The physical infrastructure of the patio process  The patio process  The architecture of the patio process  The environmental impact vectors of the patio process  A unique industrial effort 6 The Hacienda Santa María de Regla  The nineteenth century  The Adventurers in the Mines of Real del Monte  The Hacienda de Regla  Main process areas  The mass balance of the silver refining processes at Regla, 1872 to 1888 7 The patio process and smelting at Regla  The keys to an efficient patio process at Regla  The challenges of the smelting process at Regla  The efficiency of extracting silver at Regla  The labour force at Regla  The mass balance for the patio process at Regla  The mass balance for smelting at Regla  The environmental loss vectors in the period 1872 to 1888  A snapshot of a refining hacienda 8 The economies of refining silver  Roads to riches  Refining costs in New Spain, as reported  The refining costs at Regla  The false positives of the patio process  Silver in the context of other commodity trades  The bottom line 9 The environmental impact of silver refining: a shift of paradigm  The base line  An estimate of the breakdown of silver production by refining process by Caja  Aggregate totals for New Spain  Aggregate totals for Mexico, 1820 to 1900  Environmental impact vectors, sixteenth to nineteenth century  What did they know and when did they know it?  Was mercury the indispensable key to silver in the New World? Epilogue Appendix A: The accounting books of Regla Appendix B: Sensitivity matrix for refining costs Appendix C: Estimates of silver production by Caja and refining process, including balance of mercury consumption and physical losses Glossary of technical terms in Spanish Archival sources Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThis volume is a translation of China Low-Carbon Development Report (2013), originally published in Chinese. The articles report findings from research conducted by the Climate Policy Initiative at Tsinghua University. The focus of this volume is energy. Following an overview of the politics and economics of the implementation of low carbon development policies and related institutional innovations, the topical reports examine three key areas of low-carbon development in China: innovative practices in energy conservation, investment in and financing for energy efficiency improvements, and for renewable energy development. Four articles are devoted to assessing the Target-oriented Accountability System, two survey the country’s recent efforts to boost investment in energy efficiency improvements, and four look at clean energy development. The translator of this volume is Jiang Mengying (蒋梦莹).Table of ContentsList of Figures and Tables 1 Policy Implementation and Institutional Innovation of China’s Low-carbon Development 2 Mechanism Innovation in China’s Energy Conservation 3 Ways to Implement the Energy Conservation Target-oriented Accountability System 4 Performance of the Energy Conservation Target-oriented Accountability System 5 Functional Mechanism of the Energy Conservation Target-oriented Accountability System 6 Overview of Energy Efficiency Financing and Its Effec 7 Energy Efficiency Financing 8 Features of Investment and Finance in Wind Power Generation and Photovoltaic Power Generation in China 9 Wind Power Finance 10 Photovoltaic Power Generation Finance 11 Demand for Renewable Energy Investment during the “12th Five-Year Plan” Period and the Policy Implications 12 Policy Instruments Used for Low Carbon Pilots 13 Summary of Low Carbon Pilots 14 Low Carbon Development Indicator Appendix I: Glossary Appendix II: Comparison Table of English Abbreviations Index

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Book SynopsisEcowomanism emerges from third wave womanist thought that emphasises interdisciplinary, interreligious and intergenerational dialogue as approaches to environmental ethics. Ecowomanism unashamedly validates the importance of the perspectives of women of color, and especially the voices, perspectives and contributions of women of African descent.Table of ContentsIntroduction. Ecowomanism: Earth Honoring Faiths  Melanie L. Harris Ecowomanism. An Introduction  Melanie L. Harris Nankani Women’s Spirituality and Ecology  Rose Mary Amenga-Etego Turning Weapons into Flowers. Ecospiritual Poetics and Politics of Bön and Ecowomanism  Xiumei Pu Seeds of Light, Flowers of Power, Fruits of Change. Ecowomanism as Spiritualized Ecological Praxis  Layli Maparyan Between Dishwater and the River. Toward an Ecowomanist Methodology  Sofía Betancourt Afro-Brazilian Religion, Resistance and Environmental Ethics. A Perspective from Candomblé  Valdina Oliveira Pinto and Rachel E.Harding Earth Hope. A Letter  Mercy Oduyoye Index

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Book SynopsisThe inspiration for this book arose out of a large international conference: the ninth World Environmental Education Congress (WEEC) organized under the theme of Culture/Environment. Similarly, the theme for this book focuses on the Culture/Environment nexus. The book is divided into two parts: Part 1 consists of a series of research studies from an eclectic selection of researchers from all corners of the globe. Part 2 consists of a series of case studies of practice selected from a wide diversity of K-Postsecondary educators. The intent behind these selections is to augment and highlight the diversity of both cultural method and cultural voice in our descriptions of environmental education practice. The chapters focus on a multi-disciplinary view of Environmental Education with a developing view that Culture and Environment may be inseparable and arise from and within each other. Cultural change is also a necessary condition, and a requirement, to rebuild and reinvent our relationship with nature and to live more sustainably. The chapters address the spirit of supporting our praxis, and are therefore directed towards both an educator and researcher audience. Each chapter describes original research or curriculum development work.Table of ContentsList of Figures and Tables 1. Culture and Environment: Weaving New Connections  David B. Zandvliet Part 1 2. A Methodological Approach to the Study of Environmental Education through Drawings  Antonio Fernández Crispín, Marisela de Niz Robles, Verónica Ruíz Pérez, Norma A. Hernández and Javier Benayas del Álamo 3. Paradigms in the Relationship between Human Beings and Nature in the Andes  Germán Vargas Callejas 4. Using a Digital Picture Book to Promote Understanding of Human-Wildlife Conflict  Shiho Miyake 5. Examining the Role of Indigenous Knowledge in Sustainable Living in the North Rupununi (Guyana)  Paulette Bynoe 6. How Many Butterflies Will Lose Their Habitats? Communicating Biodiversity Research Using the Example of European Butterflies  Karin Ulbrich, Elisabeth Kühn, Oliver Schweiger and Josef Settele 7. The Agroecological Movement in Galicia (Spain)  Kylyan M. Bisquert and Pablo Á. Meira 8. The Sacred Sites of Dan Populations in Côte d’Ivoire: Environmental Conservation Factors  Dien Kouaye Olivier 9. From the Bubble to the Forest: Nature School Environmental Education  Barry Wood 10. Developing and Motivating Young Leaders for Sustainability: A Developmental Framework  Patricia Armstrong and Annette Gough Part 2 11. Teaching Global Indigenous Content to Young Learners  Sophia Hunter and Carolynn Beaty 12. Climate Change and Agricultural Production: Hands-on Active Classroom Learning in Estonia  Margit Säre 13. Outdoor Education in the Slovenian School System Supports Cultural and Environmental Education  Darja Skribe Dimec 14. Environmental Power Plant Project: Environmental Education in a Conservation Area  Micheli Kowalczuk Machado, Estevão Brasil Ruas Vernalha and João Luiz Hoeffel 15. A Pilot Program on Avifauna in French Guiana  Judith Priam and Jean-Pierre Avril 16. Renewable Energies: A Thematic Connection between Subjects  Nelson Arias Ávila, Verónica Tricio Gómez, Jessica Mayorga Buchelly and Jenny Ortega Vásquez 17. The Environmental Sustainability Game  Mauricio Guerrero Alarcon, Olivia Leon Valle and Alfonso Rivas Cruces 18. Drawing Meaning from Nature: Observation, Symbols and Stories  Zuzana Vasko and Robi Smith 19. Youth Engagement for Environmental Education and Sustainable Lifestyles  Brian Olewe Waswala, Otieno Nickson Otieno and Jared Buoga 20. Case Studies for Maintaining and Enhancing Urban Greenery  Kieu Lan Phuong Nguyen, Ho-Wen Chen, Khanh Ly Le and Xuan Hoan Nguyen 21. Integrating Teaching and Learning Around the Seven Sustainable Development Goals of the Well-Being of Future Generations Act 2015 (Wales)  Carolyn S. Hayles 22. Sustainable Education: Essential Contributions to a ‘Quadruple Helix’ Interaction and Sustainable Paradigm Shift  Dirk Franco, Alain De Vocht, Tom Kuppens, Hilda Martens, Theo Thewys, Bernard Vanheusden, Marleen Schepers and Jean Pierre Segers 23. Communicating about Greater Burlington Regional Centre of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development (GBRCE) with Sustainability Stories  Thomas R. Hudspeth 24. Ecomuseums in Saskatchewan: Viewing Networks and Partnerships through a Regional and Project-Specific Lens  Adela Tesarek Kincaid, Glenn C. Sutter and Anna M. H. Hall 25. Weaving Traditional Ecological Knowledge into Indigenous Youth Education: A Case Study in an Indigenous Rice Paddy Cultural Landscape, Taiwan  Kuang-Chung Lee 26. Discovering Nature in the Technological Age  Dylan Leech

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Book SynopsisThis volume of the Chinese Research Perspectives on the Environment series is a translation of selections from the 2015 or the 10th edition of the Annual Report on Environment Development of China. Friends of Nature, which has been organizing the writing and compilation of the Annual Report, is the first and continues to be one of the most influential Chinese environmental NGO. Articles in the current volume, written by a group of academics, independent scholars, activists and journalists cover recent development in a host of environment-related issues in China, including air pollution control, plans and policies on coal consumption, recent developments in environmental criminal justice, China’s role in Antarctic marine conservation, among other topics.Table of ContentsList of Figures and Tables 1 China’s Growing Environmental Civil Society  ZHANG Shiqiu 2 Lessons from “APEC Blue” about Air Pollution Control in China  ZHAO Lijian 3 Controlling Aggregate Coal Consumption: Plans and Policies  CHEN Dan, LIN Mingche, and YANG Fuqiang 4 Revisiting the Private Automobile Ownership Debate after 20 Years  SHI Jian 5 Soil Remediation: Still a Long Road Ahead  LIU Hongqiao 6 Progress in China’s Environmental Legislation in 2014  QIE Jianrong 7 The Financial Sector and Environmental Risks: Understanding the New Environmental Protection Law  WANG Xiaojiang and WANG Tianju 8 Recent Developments in Environmental Criminal Justice  YU Haisong and MA Jian 9 Environmental Information Disclosure Made Breakthroughs in 2013–2014  WU Qi 10 China’s New Urbanization Plan and Sustainable Consumption  CHEN Hongjuan and CHEN Boping 11 The Imminent Threat of Tropical Viruses: Lessons from the 2014 Ebola Outbreak in Africa  SHEN Xiaohui 12 Chinese React to Jack Ma’s Hunting Trip to UK  LIU Qin 13 Reflections on Outbound Investment by China’s Mining Industry  BAI Yunwen and BI Lianshan 14 A Case for Banning Illegal Timber Imports in China  YI Yimin 15 Chinese Involvement in Brazil’s Development: Massive Investments Bring Environmental and Cultural Challenges  ZHOU Lei and Petras Shelton ZUMPANO 16 China’s Role in Antarctic Marine Conservation  CHEN Jiliang 17 Real-time Information Disclosure under Blue Sky Roadmap II  Jointly released by the Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs; Society of Entrepreneurs & Ecology (SEE); the Institute of Environmental Policy and Planning, Renmin University of China; Friends of Nature; EnviroFriends; Nature University 18 An NGO Review of China’s Carbon Market  Greenovation Hub 19 Perverse Incentives: Electricity Generation through Waste Incineration and Renewable Energy Subsidy  The Rock Environment & Energy Institute Appendix I: Chronicle of Major Events in 2014 Appendix II: Green Book of Environment Evaluation of China’s Environmental Performance in 2014 Appendix III: Air Quality Ranking for 2014 of Provincial Capitals and Central Government-Controlled Municipalities Appendix IV: List of Environmental Protection Laws and Regulations Released in 2014 Appendix V: A Letter to the Government about Mandatory Protective Book Jackets Appendix VI: Friends of Nature Suggestions for Amending the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law Appendix VII: Friends of Nature Continues to Urge Relaxation of Eligibility Requirements for Litigants in Environmental Public Interest Suits Appendix VIII: A Petition Calling for Releasing for “Soliciting Public Opinions and Ensuring that the Newly Revised Standards for Controlling Pollution from Residential Waste Incineration by July 1, 2014” Appendix IX: 2014 Winners of Ford Motor Conservation & Environmental Grants, China Appendix X: 2014 Winners of Best Environmental Report Award in China Appendix XI: 2014 Winners of UNEP Champions of the Earth Award Appendix XII: 2014 Winners of the Green China • 2014 Environmental Protection Achievement Award Index

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Book SynopsisThe volume Environmental Change and African Societies contributes to current debates on global climate change from the perspectives of the social sciences and the humanities. It charts past and present environmental change in different African settings and also discusses policies and scenarios for the future. The first section, “Ideas”, enquires into local perceptions of the environment, followed by contributions on historical cases of environmental change and state regulation. The section “Present” addresses decision-making and agenda-setting processes related to current representations and/or predicted effects of climate change. The section “Prospects” is concerned with contemporary African megatrends. The authors move across different scales of investigation, from locally-grounded ethnographic analyses to discussions on continental trends and international policy. Contributors are: Daniel Callo-Concha, Joy Clancy, Manfred Denich, Sara de Wit, Ton Dietz, Irit Eguavoen, Ben Fanstone, Ingo Haltermann, Laura Jeffrey, Emmanuel Kreike, Vimbai Kwashirai, James C. McCann, Bertrand F. Nero, Jonas Ø. Nielsen, Erick G. Tambo, Julia Tischler.Table of ContentsForeword Acknowledgements List of Illustrations List of Abbreviations Notes on Contributors Introduction: Environmental Change and African Societies Julia Tischler and Ingo Haltermann Part 1 Ideas 1 To See or Not to See: On the ‘Absence’ of Climate Change (Discourse) in Maasailand, Northern Tanzania Sara de Wit 2 Perspectives on Climate Change in Makonde District, Zimbabwe since 2000 Vimbai Kwashirai Part 2 Past 3 Environmental and Climate Change in Africa: Global Drought and Local Environmental Infrastructure Emmanuel Kreike 4 Shamba Forestry in Colonial Kenya: Colonial Dominance or African Opportunity? Ben Fanstone Part 3 Present 5 I’m Staying! Climate Variability and Circular Migration in Burkina Faso Jonas Østergaard Nielsen 6 Living with a Changing Climate in sub-Saharan Africa: More of the Same Joy Clancy 7 Sustainable Mauritius? Environmental Change, Energy Efficiency, and Sustainable Development in a Small Island State in the Indian Ocean Laura Jeffery 8 Transformative Learning for Global Change? Reflections on the wascal Master Programme in Climate Change and Education in the Gambia Irit Eguavoen and Erick Tambo Part 4 Prospects 9 Africa in Transition: What Role for the Environment? Ton Dietz 10 Africa’s High Modernism: Historical Ecologies of Climate Change and Hydrologies of Watersheds (Blue Nile and Zambezi) James C. McCann 11 Increasing Urbanisation and the Role of Green Spaces in Urban Climate Resilience in Africa Bertrand F. Nero, Daniel Callo- Concha, and Manfred Denich Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisOver 8,200 large city fires broke out between 1000 and 1939 CE in Central Europe. Prometheus Tamed inquires into the long-term history of that fire ecology, its local and regional frequencies, its relationship to climate history. It asks for the visual and narrative representation of that threat in every-day life. Institutional forms of fire insurance emerged in the form of private joint stock companies (the British model, starting in 1681) or in the form of cameralist fire insurances (the German model, starting in 1676). They contributed to shape and change society, transforming old communities of charitable solidarity into risk communities, finally supplemented by networks of cosmopolite aid. After 1830, insurance agencies expanded tremendously quickly all over the globe: Cultural clashes of Western and native perceptions of fire risk and of what is insurance can be studied as part of a critical archaeology of world risk society and the plurality of modernities.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements List of Figures and Tables 1 Introduction 2 Spaces, Value, Presentism: Premodern Insurance  1 The Commercial Communication System around 1400  2 Insurance as an Accounting Trick between the World of Nature and the World of Values  3 Premiums of Presentism: Hidden Forces within the History of Law  4 International Trade Law and Insurance as an Achievement of the Moderni  5 Summary 3 The Danger between Nature and Culture: The Quotidian Threat of Urban Fires in the Premodern Era  1 The “Reality” of the Danger: Fire Cycles, Fire Frequencies   1.1 The “Fire Gap”   1.2 8,200 Fires in Germany and Austria   1.3 Trends in Fire Frequencies According to Fire Insurance Statistics   1.4 War and Fire Trends   1.5 Climate and Fire Trends   1.6 The Fire Ecology of Hamburg   1.7 Summary  2 The Perception of Danger   2.1 The Theology of Divine Punishment and the Fire Events of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries: Security Losses, Security Gains   2.2 Visualization and Affect    2.2.1 The Modernity of City Fire Images and Their Dutch Provenance    2.2.2 A Discrepancy: Mythological/Biblical City Fire Paintings vs. the Low Number/Quality of Paintings of “Real” City Fires    2.2.3 Early Modern Image Theory and Disaster Images    2.2.4 Temporalization, Eventfulness and Affect Control    2.2.5 Threat Perception, Security Requirements, and Emotionalization   2.3 Ground Zeros: Visualization and Time Horizons  3 Developmental Trends of “Real-Assecuration”: Fire Policey, Construction   3.1 The Security Regimes between the Late Middle Ages and the Enlightenment and between the City and the Territories   3.1.1 Cologne: An Important Medieval Imperial City   3.1.2 The German Center of Security Innovations: Hamburg   3.1.3 The State’s “Images” of the City Collective: An Approach to Disaster Memory and to Learning from Disaster (e.g., Prussia)   3.2 Panaceas: from “Local Knowledge” to Science and Back Again to Popular Enlightenment  4 Summary 4 The Epochal Threshold of the Security Regimes 1680–1700  1 Laboratories of Innovation: Hamburg and Berlin---1680–1700   1.1 London: Nicholas Barbon    1.1.1 Protostatistics, Protoprobabilistic Reasoning, and the Conflict between State and Private Economies    1.1.2 Nicholas Barbon: Building Speculator and Growth Theorist    1.1.3 Insurance Innovation and the “Financial Revolution”   1.2 Hamburg and Leibniz    1.2.1 The Hamburg General Fire Fund: Innovation without an Inventor    1.2.2 Transformation into an Element of Economic Provisioning: Leibniz     1.2.2.1 Before Leibniz: The Rulership Contract and Disaster Insurance around 1600     1.2.2.2 Leibniz and the Territorial Institutionalization of Insurance     1.2.2.3 “Real-Assecuration”: The Founding of the Berlin Academy and Fire Association   1.3 Summary: The Power of Analogies  2 Religious Culture and “Insurance”   2.1 Max Weber, the Protestant Ethic, Calvin(ism), and Economics   2.2 A Historiographical Gap: Insuring and Religious Denominations   2.3 Insurance History and Protestantism: The Search for Evidence 5 The Emergence of the Normal Secure Society  1 Insurance and Social Structures   1.1 Collective Solidarity: from Risk Communities to Cosmopolitical Aid in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries   1.2 Insurance as Emerging from Notions of Social Contract and Moral Duty  2 State and Society in the Code of Numbers  3 Time Instead of Space: Sustainability and Insurance 6 The Globalization of Safety Regimes: The Return of Space  1 Hamburg  2 Istanbul  3 Bombay/Calcutta  4 China  5 USA/New York  6 Comparative Analysis 7 Conclusion Appendix 1 Academic Legal Treatises and Dissertations on the Assecuratio (in Chronological Order) Appendix 2 Chronological List of Cameralist Fire Insurance Foundations in Germany Appendix 3 Cameralist Treatises of Brandkassen and Insurances Sources and Literature Index Locorum Index Nominum Index Rerum

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Book SynopsisThe volume Middle East and North Africa: Climate, Culture and Conflicts focuses on the intricate interrelationships between nature, culture and society in this ecologically, historically and politically fragile region. As such, it debates ideas of eco-theology from Muslim and Jewish perspectives, followed by mythological interpretations and geo-archeological resp. historical analyses of the interrelationships and impacts of climate and other environmental factors on the development of ancient civilizations and cultures. The section “Present” addresses current conflict scenarios as a result of climate change, i.e. water scarcity, droughts, desertification and similar factors. The final section is concerned with potentials of international cooperation in pursuit of developing and ensuring sustainable energy resources and moves across different scales of environmental and religious education, from awareness raising to perspectives of best practice examples. Contributors are Katajun Amirpur, Helmut Brückner, Eckart Ehlers, Max Engel, Kerstin Fritzsche, Ursula Kowanda-Yassin, Tobias von Lossow, Ephraim Meir, Rosel Pientka-Hinz, Matthias Schmidt, and Franz Trieb.Table of ContentsForeword Acknowledgements List of Figures, Maps, and Tables List of Abbreviations Notes on Contributors Introduction: The Mena Region: Climate, Culture, and Conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa  Eckart Ehlers and Katajun Amirpur Part 1: Ideas 1 And We Shall Save the Earth: Muslim Environmental Stewards  Katajun Amirpur 2 Wonder, Gratitude, and Justice as Ingredients for a Jewish Eco-Theology  Ephraim Meir Part 2: Past 3 Holocene Climate Variability of Mesopotamia and its Impact on the History of Civilisation  Max Engel and Helmut Brückner 4 Destructive Waters—Refreshing Waters: Ancient Near Eastern Aquatic Symbolism at the Dawn of History  Rosel Pientka-Hinz 5 Deserts—Wind—Water: Strategies of Human Adaptations and Renewable Resources in Extremely Arid Environments. A Historical Retrospective  Eckart Ehlers Part 3: Present 6 The Vanishing of Iran’s Lake Urmia  Matthias Schmidt 7 Water in the Middle East: Hotspots of Scarcity and Conflict  Tobias von Lossow 8 Climate Change and the Emerging Information Societies in the Arab Region  Kerstin Fritzsche Part 4: Prospects 9 DESERTEC: Europe—Middle East—North Africa Cooperation for Sustainable Energy  Franz Trieb 10 Connecting Religion and the Environment in Islamic Education: Raising Awareness, Exploring Perspectives, and Defining Best Practice  Ursula Kowanda-Yassin Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisEnvironmental justice is the subtext of this collection of anxieties around the need for a sustainable future on Planet Earth. Thinkers and scholars from a diversity of backgrounds reflect on what it means and how cultures must change to greet this future. From Romania to Mexico, Bosnia to Canada, Sweden to California authors analyze and recount community experiences and expectations leading to justice for land, sea, air and wildlife. The kind of ethical weltanschauung for a society in which this kind of justice is achievable is suggested. The collection points to the myriad of single instance decisions that we must all make in living our daily lives whether in our homes, workplaces or leisure time. From good policies to sound management, governments, corporations and community-based organizations will find prudent praxis from cover to cover.Table of ContentsForeword Dennis Pavlich: Introduction List of Abbreviations Values and Signification: Foundations for Environmental Justice Mark H. Dixon: Environmental Virtue Ethics: Core Concepts and Values Eurig Scandrett: Knowledge and Valuation in Environmental Justice Struggles Rasmus Karlsson: Advanced Technology Paths to Intergenerational Justice Heuristic Strategies on Political, Economic and Social Issues Joanna Burch Brown: Compensation and Climate Change: Three Exploratory Games Lucie Middlemiss: Community Action for Individual Sustainability: Linking Sustainable Consumption, Citizenship and Justice Mary Stroud: Eco-Composition Pedagogy: The Environmental Imperative for L’écriture Féminine F. Medardo Tapia Uribe: Building Democratic Citizenship on Environmental Local Problems in Mexico Environmental Justice and Law Sofia de Abreu Ferreira: Fundamental Environmental Rights in EU Law: An Analysis of the Right of Access to Environmental Information Erika Techera: Customary Law and Community Based Conservation of Marine Areas in Fiji Precarious Technologies? Rafaela Hillerbrand: Unintended Consequences and Risky Technologies: A Virtue-Ethical Approach to the Moral Problems Caused by Genetic Engineering Nicoleta Dospinescu: The Marketing of GM Products: Between Economic Growth and Ecology Embedding Environmental Justice in Local, Social Frameworks Vanesa Castán Broto and Claudia Carter: Environmental Justice within Local Discourses about Coal-Ash Pollution in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina Elaine Anderson: Adaptations to Environmental Sustainability: The Story of the Delta Farmland and Wildlife Trust Dennis Pavlich and Spencer Rose: University Autonomy and Sustainability: A Case Study of the University of British Columbia Index Notes on Contributors

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Book SynopsisThere have always been some uninhabitable places, but in the last century human beings have produced many more of them. These anti-landscapes have proliferated to include the sandy wastes of what was once the Aral Sea, severely polluted irrigated lands, open pit mines, blighted nuclear zones, coastal areas inundated by rising seas, and many others. The Anti-Landscape examines the emergence of such sites, how they have been understood, and how some of them have been recovered for habitation. The anti-landscape refers both to artistic and literary representations and to specific places that no longer sustain life. This history includes T. S. Eliot’s Wasteland and Cormac McCarthy’s The Road as well as air pollution, recycled railway lines, photography and landfills. It links theories of aesthetics, politics, tourism, history, geography, and literature into the new synthesis of the environmental humanities. The Anti-Landscape provides an interdisciplinary approach that moves beyond the false duality of nature vs. culture, and beyond diagnosis and complaint to the recuperation of damaged sites into our complex heritage. This is the first volume in the new series Studies in Environmental Humanities.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction “The Anti-Landscape”, David E. Nye I. The Threatened Landscape “Skyscapes and Anti-Skyscapes: Making the Invisible Visible”, James Rodger Fleming “Step after Step the Ladder is Ascended. Human Agency in Irrigated (anti) Landscapes”, Maurits W. Ertsen “Landscape, Anti-landscape and the Western Political Imagination: J. B. Jackson’s Challenge to Environmentalism”, Mark Luccarelli II. Anti-Landscapes “Modernism and the Creation of Anti-Landscapes: The Valley of Ashes in Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Los Angeles in Chandler’s The Big Sleep”, Anna Flügge “A Landscape of Fear: Cormac McCarthy’s The Road”, Øyunn Hestetun “Anesthetic Landscapes: Reflections on the Photography of John Ganis”, Hannes Bergthaller “Fear and Fascination: Anti-Landscapes between Material Resistance and Material Transcendence”, Werner Bigell “Lost Landscapes: Degraded Landscape as Anti-Landscape”, Maunu Häyrynen III. Recoveries “Landscapes of Waste: Malmberget and Ignalina as Cultural Tools in Heritage Processes”, Anna Storm “Reinventing New York’s High Line”, Nikolet Jensen Afterword “View from the Dump: Stige Ø and the Question of Anti-Landscapes”, Sarah S. Elkind Contributors Index

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Book SynopsisThe purpose of this book is to get a practical understanding of the most common processing techniques in earthquake seismology. The book deals with manual methods and computer assisted methods. Each topic will be introduced with the basic theory followed by practical examples and exercises. There are manual exercises entirely based on the printed material of the book, as well as computer exercises based on public domain software. Most exercises are computer based. The software used, as well as all test data are available from http://extras.springer.com. This book is intended for everyone processing earthquake data, both in the observatory routine and in connection with research. Using the exercises, the book can also be used as a basis for university courses in earthquake processing. Since the main emphasis is on processing, the theory will only be dealt with to the extent needed to understand the processing steps, however references will be given to where more extensive explanations can be found. Includes: • Exercises • Test data • Public domain software (SEISAN) available from http://extras.springer.comTrade ReviewFrom the reviews:“A book useful for training students in basic analysis skills … . The book has a clear target audience: the routine analysts who manually process seismic network data. … The approach could be characterized as suitably utilitarian. A strength of the book is the assumption that operators will use one of the existing seismic data analysis systems. The authors have a fairly wide knowledge of present systems and data recording formats and present some useful critiques of them.” (George Helffrich, Geological Magazine, February, 2011)“The book presents a very good overview of the routine data processing in earthquake seismology. It should find its place at every seismological data center, serving as a general guide, a reminder of the issues that are not part of the data center’s everyday routine and an overview for the data center’s beginners or for visitors.”­­­ (Pawel Wiejacz, Pure and Applied Geophysics, Vol. 168, 2011)Table of ContentsPreface. 1. Introduction. 1.1. Earthquakes. 1.2. Recording seismic events and picking phases. 1.3. Locating earthquakes. 1.4. Magnitude. 1.5. Fault plane solution. 1.6. Further data analysis. 1.7. Software. 2. Earth structure and seismic phases. 2.1. Earth structure. 2.2. Seismic rays. 2.3. Seismic phases. 2.4. Travel times. 2.5. Seismic phases at different distances. 2.6. Determination of structure. 2.7. Exercises. 3. Instruments and waveform data. 3.1. Seismic sensors. 3.2. Seismic recorders. 3.3. Correction for instrument response. 3.4. Waveform formats. 3.5. Seismic noise. 3.6. Exercises. 4. Signal processing. 4.1. Filtering. 4.2. Spectral analysis and instrument correction. 4.3. Reading seismic phases. 4.4. Correlation. 4.5. Particle motion and component rotation. 4.6. Resampling. 4.7. Software. 4.8. Exercises. 5. Location. 5.1. Single station location. 5.2. Multiple station location. 5.3. Computer implementation. 5.4. Error quantification and statistics. 5.5 Relative lovation methods. 5.6. Practical considerations in earthquake locations. 5.7. Software. 5.8. Exercises. 6. Magnitude. 6.1. Amplitude and period measurements. 6.2. Local magnitude ML . 6.3. Coda magnitude Mc. 6.4. Body wave magnitude mb. 6.5. Broad band body wave magnitude mB. 6.6. Surface wave magnitude Ms. 6.7. Broad band surface wave magnitude MS. 6.8. Lg – wave magnitude. 6.9. Moment magnitude MW. 6.10. Energy magnitude Me. 6.11. Comparison of magnitude scales. 6.12. Summary. 6.13. Average magnitude and station corrections. 6.14. Adjusting magnitude scales to local or regional conditions. 6.15. Exercises. 7. Focal mechanism and seismogram modeling. 7.1. Fault geometry. 7.2. Source radiation. 7.3. Fault plane solution in practice. 7.4. Obtaining polarity. 7.5. Fault plane solutionusing local data and polarity. 7.6. Composite fault plane solution. 7.7. Fault plane solution using global data. 7.8. Fault plane solution using amplitudes. 7.9 Moment tensor. 7.10. Moment tensor inversion. 7.11. Seismogram modeling. 7.12. Software. 7.13. Exercises. 8. Spectral analysis. 8.1. Attenuation. 8.2. Seismic source model. 8.3. Geometrical spreading. 8.4. Self similarity and seismic source spectra. 8.5. Determination of Q. 8.6. Soil amplification. 8.7. Exercises. 9. Array processing. 9.1. Basic array parameters. 9.2. Beam forming. 9.3. Frequency – wavenumber analysis (fk). 9.4. Array response. 9.5. Processing software. 9.6. Using array measurements for identifying phases. 9.7. Exercises. 10. Operation. 10.1. Data and data storage. 10.2. Routine processing. 10.3. Data exchange. 10.4. Earthquake statistics. 10.5. Software. 10.6. Exercises. References. Software references. Index.

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