In this unique and innovative contribution to environmental security, an international team of scholars explore and estimate the intermediate-term security risks that climate change may pose for the United States, its allies and partners, and for regional and global order through the year 2030. In profiles of forty-two key countries and regions, each contributor considers the problems that climate change will pose for existing institutions and practices. By focusing on the conduct of indiv...

An energy industry insider delivers hard truths about the reality of fracking.Conventional wisdom has North America entering a new era of energy abundance thanks to shale gas. But has industry been honest? Cold, Hungry and in the Dark argues that declining productivity combined with increasing demand will trigger a crisis that will cause prices to skyrocket, damage the economy, and have a profound impact on the lives of nearly every North American.Re...

Twenty thousand years ago our planet was an icehouse. Temperatures were down six degrees; ice sheets kilometres thick buried much of Europe and North America and sea levels were 130m lower. The following 15 millennia saw an astonishing transformation as our planet metamorphosed into the temperate world upon which our civilisation has grown and thrived. One of the most dynamic periods in Earth history saw rocketing temperatures melt the great ice sheets like butter on a hot summer's day; fe...

Permaculture is a design system for sustainable human habitats and basis of a worldwide citizen-led movement present in over 100 countries.For decades, permaculture practitioners have devised creative responses to changes in local climatic conditions. In doing so, they have developed a collective knowledge and experience invaluable to global efforts to address climate change.This book seeks to bring this expertise from the margins into the centre of policy debates and mainstream action. It de...

The most important climate agreement in history, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change represents the commitment of the nations of the world to address and curb climate change. Signed in December 2015, it entered into force on 4th November 2016. Countries are moving into implementation, and efforts at all levels will be needed to fulfill its ambitious goals. The Paris Climate Agreement: Commentary and Analysis combines a comprehensive legal appraisal and critique of the new Agreem...

This important compendium deals with the primary world problems of global warming and the coming energy crisis. In alternating chapters, it lays out the nature of the two interrelated problems, and specifies the various economic considerations. Thus, it describes the coming shortfall of fossil fuel energy in detail and then presents the economic factors governing possible solutions.Written by two world renowned academics — a physicist who writes about the nature of the problem, and an econ...

International agreements such as the Kyoto Protocol, EU regulation and country-specific national climate policies offer some hope of addressing climate change. But all too often implementation of these high level objectives is derailed at the sub-national, local and - perhaps most important - individual level, by a variety of structural, policy and perceived barriers that result in a failure of effective action.Drawing on original research from Sweden, a world leader in effective e...

This book offers an interdisciplinary discussion of the fundamental issues concerning policies for sustainable transition to renewable energies from the perspectives of sociologists, physicists, engineers, economists, anthropologists, biologists, ecologists and policy analysts. Adopting a combined approach, these are analysed taking both complex systems and social practice theories into consideration to provide deeper insights into the evolution of energy systems.The book then draw...

Seaweeds, also known as macroalgae, are among the most important primary producers and act as ecological engineers on rocky coasts of the world’s oceans. In addition to their extreme ecological importance they are also of high economic relevance. Complementing available textbooks with its more research-oriented approach, this volume contains 22 chapters by renowned experts, grouped in five parts. In Part I fundamental processes and acclimation strategies of seaweeds towards the abiotic env...

This book features articles that analyze current agricultural issues and knowledge. It also proposes novel, environmentally friendly solutions that are based on integrated information from such fields as agronomy, soil science, molecular biology, chemistry, toxicology, ecology, economics and the social sciences.Coverage examines ways to produce food and energy in a sustainable way for humans and their children. Inside, readers will find articles that explore climate change, increas...

This authoritative but highly accessible book presents the reader with a powerful framework for understanding the critical role of the energy return on investment (EROI) in the survival and well-being of individuals, ecosystems, businesses, economies and nations. Growth and development are fundamental and ubiquitous processes at all scales, from individuals to food crops to national economies. While we are all familiar with the concepts of economic growth and living standards as measured b...

This book elaborates how water, soil, and waste may be managed in a nexus and how this approach may help combat global change. In addition to providing a brief account on nexus thinking and how it may help us tackle issues important to the world community such as food security, the book presents the environmental resource perspective of three main aspects of global change: climate change, urbanization, and population growth.Taking as its point of departure the thematic discussions ...