This volume is a collection of seventeen essays, offering in-depth and comparative studies of areas faced with environmental crisis. Arranged in five sections that include practical and philosophical problems; Latin America; Europe; Asia and Africa. With focus on the problems faced in the Sahara Desert, the Amazon, the Punjab and a comparative study of Ethiopia and Nigeria; highlighting the seriousness of certain environmental trends and the action of governments.

This publication is extracted from a much larger report, Global Environmental Change: Research Pathways for the Next Decade, which addresses the full range of the scientific issues concerning global environmental change and offers guidance to the scientific effort on these issues in the United States. This volume consists of Chapter 7 of that report, "Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change," which was written for the report by the Committee on the Human Dimensions of Global Change of the National Research Council (NRC). It provides findings and conclusions on the key scientific questions in human dimensions research, the lessons that have been learned over the past decade, and the research imperatives for global change research funded from the United States.

How can we understand and rise to the environmental challenges of global change? One clear answer is to understand the science of global change, not solely in terms of the processes that control changes in climate and the composition of the atmosphere, but in how ecosystems and human society interact with these changes. In the last two decades of the twentieth century, a number of such research effortsâ€"supported by computer and satellite technologyâ€"have been launched. Yet many opportunities for integration remain unexploited, and many fundamental questions remain about the earth's capacity to support a growing human population. This volume encourages a renewed commitment to understanding global change and sets a direction for research in the decade ahead. Through case studies the book explores what can be learned from the lessons of the past 20 years and what are the outstanding scientific questions. Highlights include: Research imperatives and strategies for investigators in the areas of atmospheric chemistry, climate, ecosystem studies, and human dimensions of global change. The context of climate change, including lessons to be gleaned from paleoclimatology. Human responses toâ€"and forcing ofâ€"projected global change. This book offers a comprehensive overview of global change research to date and provides a framework for answering urgent questions.

This book provides a balanced account of the global environmental issues which threaten our society and which we neglect at our peril. Analysing both social and environmental components of the issues - global warming, ozone depletion, acid rain and drought - the book offers a valuable integrative approach and a detailed analysis of environmental issues in a clear, non-technical manner. Emphasising the climatological dimension common to all environmental issues, Global Environmental Issues recognises the multi-faceted nature of the issues, their common causes and the possibility of common solutions. Assessment of socio-economic, cultural amd political factors provides a balanced introduction to both the dangers and advantages of human interference with the environment. What have we done to deserve our current environmental crisis? Can we solve our current environmental problems, or is it too late? This new edition of a best selling text is completely updated and expands to include greater detail and new material such as a new section on atmospheric modelling. A glossary has been added together with a bibliography for further reading at the end of each chapter, allowing readers to develop their interest in specific areas. The interdisciplinary text will prove invaluable to students in geography, environmental studies and other courses in whcih the environmental approach is emphasised.

'Globalization' has become one of the defining buzzwords of our time - a term that describes a variety of accelerating economic, political, cultural, ideological, and environmental processes that are rapidly altering our experience of the world. It is by its nature a dynamic topic - and this Very Short Introduction has been fully updated for a third edition, to include recent developments in global politics, the global economy, and environmental issues. Presenting globalization in accessible language as a multifaceted process encompassing global, regional, and local aspects of social life, Manfred B. Steger looks at its causes and effects, examines whether it is a new phenomenon, and explores the question of whether, ultimately, globalization is a good or a bad thing. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

The Anthropocene, in which humankind has become a geological force, is a major scientific proposal; but it also means that the conceptions of the natural and social worlds on which sociology, political science, history, law, economics and philosophy rest are called into question. The Anthropocene and the Global Environmental Crisis captures some of the radical new thinking prompted by the arrival of the Anthropocene and opens up the social sciences and humanities to the profound meaning of the new geological epoch, the ‘Age of Humans’. Drawing on the expertise of world-recognised scholars and thought-provoking intellectuals, the book explores the challenges and difficult questions posed by the convergence of geological and human history to the foundational ideas of modern social science. If in the Anthropocene humans have become a force of nature, changing the functioning of the Earth system as volcanism and glacial cycles do, then it means the end of the idea of nature as no more than the inert backdrop to the drama of human affairs. It means the end of the ‘social-only’ understanding of human history and agency. These pillars of modernity are now destabilised. The scale and pace of the shifts occurring on Earth are beyond human experience and expose the anachronisms of ‘Holocene thinking’. The book explores what kinds of narratives are emerging around the scientific idea of the new geological epoch, and what it means for the ‘politics of unsustainability’.

This exciting textbook introduces students to the ways in which the theories and tools of International Relations can be used to analyse and address global environmental problems. Kate O'Neill develops an historical and analytical framework for understanding global environmental issues, and identifies the main actors and their roles, allowing students to grasp the core theories and facts about global environmental governance. She examines how governments, international bodies, scientists, activists and corporations address global environmental problems including climate change, biodiversity loss, ozone depletion and trade in hazardous wastes. The book represents a new and innovative theoretical approach to this area, as well as integrating insights from different disciplines, thereby encouraging students to engage with the issues, to equip themselves with the knowledge they need, and to apply their own critical insights. This will be invaluable for students of environmental issues both from political science and environmental studies perspectives.