Description
Book SynopsisMaster the fundamental math skills necessary to quantify andevaluate a broad range of environmental questions.
Environmental issues are often quantitative--how much land, howmany people, what amount of pollution. Computer programs areuseful, but there is no substitute for being able to use a simplecalculation to slice through to the crux of the problem. Having agrasp of how the factors interact and whether the results makesense allows one to explain and argue a point of view forcefully todiverse audiences.
With an engaging, down-to-earth style and practical problem-solvingapproach, Ecological Numeracy makes it easy to understand andmaster basic mathematical concepts and techniques that areapplicable to life-cycle assessment, energy consumption, land use,pollution generation, and a broad range of other environmentalissues. Robert Herendeen brings the numbers to life with dozens offascinating, often entertaining examples and problems.
Requiring only a moderate
Table of ContentsContext and Acclimatization.
Contributions to Environmental Impact: Analyzing the Components ofChange.
Consequences of Exponential (Geometric) Growth.
End-Use Analysis and Predicting Future Demand.
Economic Considerations, Discount Rates, and Benefit-CostAnalysis.
Limits.
Dynamics, Stocks and Flows, Age Class Effects.
Indirect Effects.
Shared Resources and the Tragedy of the Commons.
The Automobile: A Powerful Problem.
Ecological Economics and Sustainability.
Thermodynamics and Energy Efficiency.
Appendices.
References.
Index.
