Global Resources and the Environment

An illustrated overview of the sustainability of natural resources and the social and environmental issues surrounding their distribution and demand.

Chadwick Dearing Oliver (Author), Fatma Arf Oliver (Author)

9781316625415, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 21 June 2018

536 pages, 209 b/w illus. 13 colour illus. 24 maps 31 tables
24.7 x 17.5 x 2.7 cm, 1.11 kg

'This book is an extremely helpful and timely contribution for the current or would-be professional at the international scale. It provides thorough information on the world and by region, and presents it using smart, easy-to-understand figures and graphs that synthesize a broad spectrum of knowledge. Using copious data analysis, this work carefully balances current theories and empirical lessons to propose doable actions and a promising future, but not without paying attention to dead ends and misconceptions.' Gerardo Segura, Senior Natural Resources Management Specialist, World Bank

In the past few decades, sustainability of natural resources and the social and environmental issues that surround them have become increasingly topical. This multidisciplinary book discusses the complex relationships between society, natural resources and the environment. Major resources including water, agriculture, energy, minerals and forests are considered, as well as different facets of the environment including climate, landforms and biodiversity. Each resource is discussed in the context of both environmental and socio-economic factors affecting their present and future distribution and demand. Presenting a balanced, comprehensive overview of the issues surrounding natural resources and sustainability, this accessible volume will be of interest to policy makers, resource managers, graduate students and researchers in the natural and social sciences.

Preface
Part I. Introduction, Dynamic Systems, and Change: 1. Socio-environmental systems
2. A perspective on dynamic systems
3. Change, sustainability, and resilience
Part II. People: 4. Where people live, communicate, and interact
5. People, societies, populations, and changes
6. Resources, governments, and other social influences
Part III. Climates: 7. Global distribution of climates
8. Greenhouse gases, atmosphere, and climates
9. Past and future climate changes
Part IV. Landforms: 10. Landforms and soils
11. Bedrock landforms
12. Landforms of transported materials
Part V. Biodiversity: 13. Biodiversity: individual species
14. Biodiversity: communities and landscapes
15. Robust and threatened species, communities
16. Managing biodiversity
Part VI. Water: 17. The hydrologic cycle
18. The annual hydrograph and water use
19. Managing and mitigating the hydrologic system
Part VII. Agriculture: 20. Food groups and nutrition
21. Agriculture and the green revolution
22. Future agriculture production and distribution
Part VIII. Energy: 23. Energy sources, the energy cycle, exergy
24. Conserving energy and renewable energy
25. Future energy: reducing fossil fuel use
Part IX. Minerals: 26. Rocks and mineral properties, mining
27. Rocks and minerals: production, use, and distribution
Part X. Forests: 28. Forests, ecosystem services, and timber
29. Forest distribution, area, and volume changes
30. Silviculture, forest degradation, and landscape management
Part XI. Perspective: 31. Integrating the environment, resources, and people
Appendix I. Country groups used in analyses
Appendix II. Elements, chemical symbols, atomic numbers, and masses
Index.

Subject Areas: Horticulture [TVS], Sustainable agriculture [TVF], Environmental science, engineering & technology [TQ], Environmental management [RNF], Forestry & related industries [KNAL], Environmental economics [KCN]