Suchergebnisse

"The environmental histories of the Arctic and Antarctica are characterised by contrast and contradiction. These are places that have witnessed some of the worst environmental degradation in recent history. But they are also the locations of some of the most farsighted measures of environmental protection. They are places where people have sought to conquer nature through exploration and economic development, but in many ways they remain wild and untamed. They are the coldest places on Earth, yet have come to occupy an important role in the science and politics of global warming. Despite being located at opposite ends of the planet and being significantly different in many ways, Adrian Howkins argues that the environmental histories of the Arctic and Antarctica share much in common and have often been closely connected. This book also argues that the Polar Regions are strongly linked to the rest of the world, both through physical processes and through intellectual and political themes. As places of inherent contradiction, the Polar Regions have much to contribute to the way we think about environmental history and the environment more generally"--

"Rivers are central to our identity as New Zealanders. They shape our landscape, forming the fertile plains we live and farm on, and provide the water that is so critical to our lives and economy. Since Europeans first settled in New Zealand, rivers have been exploited for both personal and public gain. We have taken water from rivers, returning it laden with pollutants; we have harnessed them for irrigation and to generate electricity. After nearly two centuries of taking our rivers for granted, we are facing a crisis. New Zealand's Rivers: An environmental history tells the story of how we got to this point. It examines: the richly textured relationship between Māori and awa (rivers), how European settlers perceived and utilised rivers, the introduction of trout and salmon, and the role of acclimatisation societies as the earliest advocates for our rivers, the hydroelectricity schemes, which reached their peak in the 'Think Big' era, recreational boating, including the invention of the jet boat on our unique braided rivers, the environmental movement and protection of rivers, the impact of agriculture on rivers, the efforts of Māori to assert mana (authority) over their awa through Treaty claims and other means. New Zealand's Rivers is a must-read for all New Zealanders interested in the future of our environment and economy. Confronting the history of our complex - and often conflicted - relationship with rivers is critical to building a shared understanding of how to better manage this precious resource into the future"--Inside front cover

The Ottoman Empire was one of the greatest early modern world empires [...] This edited volume is the first collective effort to take an original look at the Ottomans through the lense of environmental history. In its wide-ranging essays, environmental perspectives illuminate diverse historical processes and events in the long history of the Ottoman Empire. [...]

Japan: a land plagued by volcanoes, earthquakes and typhoons, yet blessed with a climate suitable for all manner of agriculture and forestry, and positioned where ocean currents collide and bring an abundance of the ocean's resources to its people; a country which moved quickly from an agrarian pre-industrial society to become one of the world's great economic powerhouses in only a few decades, spoiling water, air and land in the process, bringing misery to many of its people; a country with expansionist desires, colonizing neighboring lands, leading to war, defeat, destruction and, for the first time in history, nuclear devastation and its aftermath; a land and its people which share a remarkable resilience and ability to evaluate and correct their mistakes and renew their trajectory towards a better future.

"To an extent undreamed of by any other species, the human race has changed this planet forever. In Cataclysms, Laurent Testot surveys the long history of human influence on Earth and finds that mass extinctions, deforestation, global warming, ocean acidification, unchecked pollution, and endless violence have been only some of the costs of human innovation and progress. Testot's approach, however, while sweeping, is light and approachable, telling the story-sometimes rambunctious, sometimes appalling-of how a glorified monkey transformed its own environment beyond all recognition. We can see in this telling our own contemporary concerns with the state and fate of the planet, but Testot imparts a fresh appreciation of the depth, scope, and force of the history behind them"--

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. Hunter-Gatherings and Fisherfolk: 10,000 to 5000 BP -- Chapter 3. Shafts of Sunlight: Agriculturalists -- Chapter 4. Closed and Open Systems, AD 550 To AD 1700 -- Chapter 5. Building Jerusalem: The Eighteen Century -- Chapter 6. Industrial Growth: Material Empires, 1800-1914 -- Chapter 7. 'A Fit Country for Heroes', 1914-50 -- Chapter 8. A Post-industrial World, 1950 to the Present -- Chapter 9. Experience and Meaning -- Appendix 1. The Changing Environment From the Air -- Notes -- Biographies -- Glossary -- A Selected Bibliography -- Index