"Over recent decades, a wide variety of studies and assessment reports has portrayed a stark picture of humanity's detrimental impacts on our planet's life and environmental health. Climate change is at the heart of many of these impacts. This cannot be allowed to continue, given the relentless human population growth and ever-expanding energy and resource consumption. We have but one planet, and its ecosystem services are essential to our survival. But the doomsday scenario can still be averted; humanity stands at a crossroads where it must take the route of sustainable behavior. Decisive action can still make a significant difference to climate change. This is humanity's greatest challenge. To have any chance of success, however, the time to act can be delayed no longer. Instead, it is right now: today is the future. This book documents a wealth of ways to adjust the trajectory of climate change. It outlines measures to drive massive reductions of greenhouse gas emissions, to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, and to reflect part of the incoming energy from the Sun. For all measures, the book evaluates both advantages and disadvantages. Finally, it discusses the need to protect ourselves from impacts that have become inevitable already, and looks at how society may be driven to get the job done. In short, this book provides powerful facts and arguments to support informed choices"--

Johnston unpacks and critiques the legal, economic, and scientific basis for precautionary climate policies pursued in the United States. In doing so, he reveals an alternative approach to climate change policy that would enable the US to efficiently adapt to a changing climate and radically reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.

It's time for the real story behind climate change. Climate change has been a hot topic in recent years. Everyone has something to say about global warming, but most of the information has been presented in one-sided fashion. With so many conflicting views, it has been difficult to determine the best course of action to solve the problem everyone's talking about. Now, author Steven E. Sondergard presents the balanced approach needed for appropriate solutions. Weighing both sides of the issue, readers will finally be able to find the truth about global warming. Complete with extensive research and numerous calculations testing theories, Sondergard provides readers with an unbiased, in-depth look at the many questions frequently asked, such as: bull; What is climate, and what causes it to change? bull; Are all greenhouse gases created equal? bull; Is global warming real? bull; What impact does mankind have on increased greenhouse gases? bull; Can mankind take action to avoid a climate 'jump'? bull; How much should human-caused greenhouse gas production be reduced? bull; What is the outlook for fossil fuels? bull; What can we reasonably do? Find a balanced and realistic view of climate change with Sondergard's thought-provoking Climate Balance.

It's time for the real story behind climate change. Climate change has been a hot topic in recent years. Everyone has something to say about global warming, but most of the information has been presented in one-sided fashion. With so many conflicting views, it has been difficult to determine the best course of action to solve the problem everyone's talking about. Now, Steven E. Sondergard presents the balanced approach needed for appropriate solutions. Weighing both sides of the issue, readers will finally be able to find the truth about global warming. Complete with extensive research and numerous calculations testing theories, Sondergard provides readers with an unbiased, in-depth look at the many questions frequently asked, such as: What is climate, and what causes it to change? Are all greenhouse gases created equal? Is the globe really warming? What impact does mankind have on increased greenhouse gases? Can mankind take action to avoid a climate "jump"? How much should human-caused greenhouse gas production be reduced? What is the outlook for fossil fuels? What can we reasonably do? Find a balanced and realistic view of climate change with Sondergard's thought-provoking Climate Balance.

As the world population grows, so does the demand for food, putting unprecedented pressure on agricultural lands. In many desert dryland regions, however, intensive cultivation is causing their productivity to decline precipitously. "Rewilding" the least productive of these landscapes offers a sensible way to reverse the damage, recover natural diversity, and ensure long-term sustainability of remaining farms and the communities they support. This accessibly written, groundbreaking contributed volume is the first to examine in detail what it would take to retire eligible farmland and restore functioning natural ecosystems. The lessons in Rewilding Agricultural Landscapes will be useful to conservation leaders, policymakers, groundwater agencies, and water managers looking for inspiration and practical advice for solving the complicated issues of agricultural sustainability and water management.

How trade imbalances spurred on the global financial crisis and why we aren't out of trouble yet China's economic growth is sputtering, the Euro is under threat, and the United States is combating serious trade disadvantages. Another Great Depression? Not quite. Noted economist and China expert Michael Pettis argues instead that we are undergoing a critical rebalancing of the world economies. Debunking popular misconceptions, Pettis shows that severe trade imbalances spurred on the recent financial crisis and were the result of unfortunate policies that distorted the savings and consumption patterns of certain nations. Pettis examines the reasons behind these destabilizing policies, and he predicts severe economic dislocations that will have long-lasting effects. Demonstrating how economic policies can carry negative repercussions the world over, The Great Rebalancing sheds urgent light on our globally linked economic future.

Enough of the imbalance that is causing the degradation of our environment, the demise of our democracies, and the denigration of ourselves. Enough of the pendulum politics of left and right and paralysis in the political center. We require an unprecedented form of radical renewal. In this book Henry Mintzberg offers a new understanding of the root of our current crisis and a strategy for restoring the balance so vital to the survival of our progeny and our planet. With the collapse of the communist regimes of Eastern Europe, Western pundits declared that capitalism had triumphed. They were wrong—balance triumphed. A healthy society balances a public sector of respected governments, a private sector of responsible businesses, and a plural sector of robust communities. Communism collapsed under the weight of its overbearing public sector. Now the “liberal democracies” are threatened—socially, politically, even economically—by the unchecked excesses of the private sector. Radical renewal will have to begin in the plural sector, which alone has the inclination and the independence to challenge unacceptable practices and develop better ones. Too many governments have been co-opted by the private sector. And corporate social responsibility can't compensate for the corporate social irresponsibility we see around us “They” won't do it. We shall have to do it, each of us and all of us, not as passive “human resources,” but as resourceful human beings. Tom Paine wrote in 1776, “We have it in our power to begin the world over again.” He was right then. Can we be right again now? Can we afford not to be?