Suchergebnisse

Intro -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1: Confrontation -- 2: The Making of Early Environmentalists -- 3: The Environment and Public Health -- 4: The Farmers -- 5: Agricultural Mechanization -- 6: Corn -- 7: Wheat -- 8: Ecological Science -- 9: The Environmentalists Begin to Organize -- 10: Rice -- 11: Environmental Reforms -- 12: A Mature Environmental Protection Agency -- 13: Ecology and Agriculture -- 14: Environmental Update -- 15: Genetic Modification -- 16: Government Programs in Agricultural Research -- 17: International Agricultural Research -- Glossary -- Further Reading -- Web Sites -- Index.

Environmental scientists play a key role in society's responses to environmental problems, and many of the studies they perform are intended ultimately to affect policy. The precautionary principle, proposed as a new guideline in environmental decision making, has four central components: taking preventive action in the face of uncertainty; shifting the burden of proof to the proponents of an activity; exploring a wide range of alternatives to possibly harmful actions; and increasing public participation in decision making. In this paper we examine the implications of the precautionary principle for environmental scientists, whose work often involves studying highly complex, poorly understood systems, while at the same time facing conflicting pressures from those who seek to balance economic growth and environmental protection. In this complicated and contested terrain, it is useful to examine the methodologies of science and to consider ways that, without compromising integrity and objectivity, research can be more or less helpful to those who would act with precaution. We argue that a shift to more precautionary policies creates opportunities and challenges for scientists to think differently about the ways they conduct studies and communicate results. There is a complicated feedback relation between the discoveries of science and the setting of policy. While maintaining their objectivity and focus on understanding the world, environmental scientists should be aware of the policy uses of their work and of their social responsibility to do science that protects human health and the environment. The precautionary principle highlights this tight, challenging linkage between science and policy.

Describes new ways of looking at environmental science and politics, and discusses the problems of formulating and implementing environmental policy, particularly in the global arena and in developing countries.

Within both the social and environmental sciences, much of the data collected is within a spatial context and requires statistical analysis for interpretation. The purpose of this book is to describe current methods for the analysis of spatial data. Methods described include data description, map interpolation, and exploratory and explanatory analyses. The book also examines spatial referencing, and methods for detecting problems, assessing their seriousness and taking appropriate action are discussed. This is an important text for any discipline requiring a broad overview of current theoretical and applied work for the analysis of spatial data sets. It will be of particular use to research workers and final year undergraduates in the fields of geography, environmental sciences and social sciences