The Asian monsoon and associated river systems supply the water that sustains a large portion of humanity, and has enabled Asia to become home to some of the oldest and most productive farming systems on Earth. This book uses climate data and environmental models to provide a detailed review of variations in the Asian monsoon since the mid-Holocene, and its impacts on farming systems and human settlement. Future changes to the monsoon due to anthropogenically-driven global warming are also...

A brand new edition of the definitive textbook on humankind’s impact on the Earth’s environment—now in full colorThis classic text explores the multitude of impacts that humans have had over time upon vegetation, animals, soils, water, landforms, and the atmosphere. It considers the ways in which climate changes and modifications in land cover may change the environment in coming decades. Thoroughly revised to cover the remarkable transformation in interest that hu...

Mountains represent one of the most inspiring and attractive natural features on the surface of the earth. Visually, they dominate the landscape. However, the increasing realization of the fragility of mountain areas because of changes in land use, management and climate, combined with an understanding of their importance for water and other natural resources, has resulted in a growing interest in mountain environments in recent years. Hence, Mountain Geomorphology represents a timely and ...

Written by one of Korea's most respected earth scientists, Geology and Sedimentology of the Korean Peninsula analyzes sedimentary facies, basin evolution, and sequence stratigraphy to provide answers to depositional processes and environmental changes through the Earth's history, including tectonic events, climate changes, and sea-level fluctuations. This is one of the first books covering the geology of the Korean peninsula. It offers an in-depth exploration of this region, which also all...

Rivers provide the primary link between land and sea. Utilizing the world's largest database, this book presents a detailed analysis and synthesis of the processes affecting fluvial discharge of water, sediment and dissolved solids. It also discusses the ways in which climatic variation, episodic events and anthropogenic activities - past, present and future - affect the quantity and quality of river discharge. The book contains more than 165 figures - many in full color - including global...

Fossil Mammals of Asia, edited by and with contributions from world-renowned scholars, is the first major work devoted to the late Cenozoic (Neogene) mammalian biostratigraphy and geochronology of Asia. This volume employs cutting-edge biostratigraphic and geochemical dating methods to map the emergence of mammals across the continent. Written by specialists working in a variety of Asian regions, it uses data from many basins with spectacular fossil records to establish a groundbr...

Reconstructing climatic changes in deserts and their margins at a variety of scales in space and time, this book draws upon evidence from land and sea, including desert dunes, wind-blown dust, river and lake sediments, glacial moraines, plant and animal fossils, isotope geochemistry, speleothems, soils, and prehistoric archaeology. The book summarises the Cenozoic evolution of the major deserts of the Americas, Eurasia, Africa and Australia, and the causes of historic floods and droughts. ...

Expert petroleum geologists David Roberts and Albert Bally bring you Regional Geology and Tectonics: Phanerozoic Rift Systems and Sedimentary Basins, volume two in a three-volume series covering Phanerozoic regional geology and tectonics. Experience in analyzing and assessing rifts—locations where the Earth’s outer shell and crust have been stretched over time by seismic activity—is critical for you as an exploration geologist in identifying Earth’s most lucrative...

The Anthropocene is a major new concept in the Earth sciences and this book examines the effects on geomorphology within this period. Drawing examples from many different global environments, this comprehensive volume demonstrates that human impact on landforms and land-forming processes is profound, due to various driving forces, including: use of fire; extinction of fauna; development of agriculture, urbanisation, and globalisation; and new methods of harnessing energy. The book explores...

A comprehensive review of dryland climates and their relationship to the physical environment, hydrology, and inhabitants. Chapters are divided into five major sections on background meteorology and climatology; the nature of dryland climates in relation to precipitation and hydrology; the climatology and climate dynamics of the major dryland regions on each continent; and life and change in the world's drylands. It includes key topics such as vegetation, geomorphology, desertification, mi...

This book presents the state-of-the-art of knowledge in assessing, mapping, and modeling mangrove ecosystem services and outlines various scientific tools and techniques, including environmental scenario-building, spatial and econometric modelling to understand the fluctuations and future availability of mangrove ecosystem services. The book also highlights the current gaps and measures in policy planning and outlines the avenues for capacity building. Through case studies and thematic rev...

Drought is one of the likely consequences of climate change in many regions of the world. Together with an increased demand for water resources to supply the world's growing population, it represents a potentially disastrous threat to water supplies, agriculture and food production, leading to famine and environmental degradation. Yet predicting drought is fraught with difficulty.The aim of this book is to provide a review of the historical occurrence of global drought, particularl...