An urgent and timely story of the contentious politics of incorporating environmental justice into global climate change policy Although the science of climate change is clear, policy decisions about how to respond to its effects remain contentious. Even when such decisions claim to be guided by objective knowledge, they are made and implemented through political institutions and relationships—and all the competing interests and power struggles that this implies. Michael Méndez tells a timely story of people, place, and power in the context of climate change and inequality. He explores the perspectives and influence low†‘income people of color bring to their advocacy work on climate change. In California, activist groups have galvanized behind issues such as air pollution, poverty alleviation, and green jobs to advance equitable climate solutions at the local, state, and global levels. Arguing that environmental protection and improving public health are inextricably linked, Mendez contends that we must incorporate local knowledge, culture, and history into policymaking to fully address the global complexities of climate change and the real threats facing our local communities.

The handbook Global Environmental Change is intended to serve as a reliable and comprehensive resource to attend the needs of researchers, teachers, students, and professionals working in science and policy aspects relevant to environment and sustainability. Entries in the handbook are arranged by major section, and are extensively cross-referenced to allow users to find related titles in a user-friendly way. The handbook is available as a printed volume and as an on-line reference work.

Environmental Change and Human Development focuses on environmental change and human fortunes. While there is a large and rapidly expanding literature dealing with how people affect the environment, less attention has been given in recent years to how the environment shapes human development. In an ever more crowded world there is a need for anticipatory environmental management, and a crucial input to this is consideration of the interaction between environment and humans. The environment is not as stable, benign or controllable as people like to think. The world population is vastly larger than it has ever been and is still growing, and humans increasingly upset nature through pollution and other activities. While modern communications may help environmental managers, rapid travel also increases the dispersal of diseases and pests. Technological advance and social development is not all beneficial; some innovations have the effect of making people more vulnerable to disruption by natural disaster, and citizens are often less able to cope with changed conditions than people were in the past. Environmental Change and Human Development addresses key issues such as soil degredation, natural climatic variations and volcanic activity, and provides geography and earth sciences students with an essential introduciton to the major debates surrounding this topic.

Climate Change: Evidence and Causes is a jointly produced publication of The US National Academy of Sciences and The Royal Society. Written by a UK-US team of leading climate scientists and reviewed by climate scientists and others, the publication is intended as a brief, readable reference document for decision makers, policy makers, educators, and other individuals seeking authoritative information on the some of the questions that continue to be asked. Climate Change makes clear what is well-established and where understanding is still developing. It echoes and builds upon the long history of climate-related work from both national academies, as well as on the newest climate-change assessment from the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. It touches on current areas of active debate and ongoing research, such as the link between ocean heat content and the rate of warming.

Birds as Monitors of Environmental Change looks at how bird populations are affected by pollutants, water quality, and other physical changes and how this scientific knowledge can help in predicting the effects of pollutants and other physical changes in the environment.

The United States is among the wealthiest nations in the world, but it is far from the healthiest. Although life expectancy and survival rates in the United States have improved dramatically over the past century, Americans live shorter lives and experience more injuries and illnesses than people in other high-income countries. The U.S. health disadvantage cannot be attributed solely to the adverse health status of racial or ethnic minorities or poor people: even highly advantaged Americans are in worse health than their counterparts in other, "peer" countries. In light of the new and growing evidence about the U.S. health disadvantage, the National Institutes of Health asked the National Research Council (NRC) and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to convene a panel of experts to study the issue. The Panel on Understanding Cross-National Health Differences Among High-Income Countries examined whether the U.S. health disadvantage exists across the life span, considered potential explanations, and assessed the larger implications of the findings. U.S. Health in International Perspective presents detailed evidence on the issue, explores the possible explanations for the shorter and less healthy lives of Americans than those of people in comparable countries, and recommends actions by both government and nongovernment agencies and organizations to address the U.S. health disadvantage.

This book identifies areas that represent new needs and opportunities for human factors research in the coming decades. It is forward-looking, problem oriented, and selectively focused on national or global problems, including productivity in organizations, education and training, employment and disabilities, health care, and environmental change; technology issues, including communications technology and telenetworking, information access and usability, emerging technologies, automation, and flexible manufacturing, and advanced transportation systems; and human performance, including cognitive performance under stress and aiding intellectual work.