Understanding Water in a Dry Environment PDF Download

Author: Ian Simmers
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 0203971302
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 359

View

Book Description
In order to provide water security in the twenty-first century, there is universal agreement that a continuation of current policies and extrapolation of trends is not an option. Also clear is that from both water supply and development perspectives, the world's arid and semi-arid regions are those currently and potentially experiencing the highest

Author: Margaret Somerville
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0415503965
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 224

View

Book Description
Water in a Dry Land is a story of research about water as a source of personal and cultural meaning. The site of this exploration is the iconic river system which forms the networks of natural and human landscapes of the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia. In the current geological era of human induced climate change, the desperate plight of the system of waterways has become an international phenomenon, a symbol of the unsustainable ways we relate to water globally. The Murray-Darling Basin extends west of the Great Dividing Range that separates the densely populated east coast of Australia from the sparsely populated inland. Aboriginal peoples continue to inhabit the waterways of the great artesian basin and pass on their cultural stories and practices of water, albeit in changing forms. A key question informing the book is: What can we learn about water from the oldest continuing culture inhabiting the world's driest continent? In the process of responding to this question a team of Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers formed to work together in a contact zone of cultural difference within an emergent arts-based ethnography. Photo essays of the artworks and their landscapes offer a visual accompaniment to the text on the Routledge Innovative Ethnography Series website, http://www.innovativeethnographies.net/. This book is perfect for courses in environmental sociology, environmental anthropology, and qualitative methods.

Author: Rudolph A. Rosen
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
ISBN: 1623492270
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 218

View

Book Description
This classroom resource provides clear, concise scientific information in an understandable and enjoyable way about water and aquatic life. Spanning the hydrologic cycle from rain to watersheds, aquifers to springs, rivers to estuaries, ample illustrations promote understanding of important concepts and clarify major ideas. Aquatic science is covered comprehensively, with relevant principles of chemistry, physics, geology, geography, ecology, and biology included throughout the text. Emphasizing water sustainability and conservation, the book tells us what we can do personally to conserve for the future and presents job and volunteer opportunities in the hope that some students will pursue careers in aquatic science. Texas Aquatic Science, originally developed as part of a multi-faceted education project for middle and high school students, can also be used at the college level for non-science majors, in the home-school environment, and by anyone who educates kids about nature and water. To learn more about The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, sponsors of this book's series, please click here.

Author: Ian Simmers
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 9789058096180
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 353

View

Book Description
In order to provide water security in the twenty-first century, there is universal agreement that a continuation of current policies and extrapolation of trends is not an option. Also clear is that from both water supply and development perspectives, the world's arid and semi-arid regions are those currently and potentially experiencing the highest water stresses. One third of the world's land surface is classified as arid or semi-arid, and about half of all countries are directly affected in some way by problems of aridity. The hydrology of arid and semi-arid areas is also known to be substantially different from that in more humid regions. It is therefore essential that investigation methods appropriate to the former are developed and applied, and that strategies for arid and semi-arid region water resources development recognise the principal characteristics of in-situ hydrological processes.

Author: Nora Harlow
Publisher: Timber Press
ISBN: 1643260294
Category : Gardening
Languages : en
Pages : 710

View

Book Description
Dry summer, wet winter climate? This is your must have plant guide. Selecting plants suited to your climate is the first step toward a thriving, largely self-sustaining garden that connects with and supports the natural world. With gentle and compelling text and stunning photographs of plants in garden settings, Gardening in Summer-Dry Climates by Nora Harlow and Saxon Holt is a guide to native and climate-adapted plants for summer-dry, winter-wet climates of North America's Pacific coast. Knowing what these climates share and how and why they differ, you can choose to make gardens that maintain and expand local and regional biodiversity, take little from the earth that is not returned, and welcome and accommodate the presence of wildlife. With global warming, it is now even more critical that we garden in tune with climate.

Author: Walter Leal Filho
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9783642386695
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0

View

Book Description
The Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation addresses the scientific, social, political and cultural aspects of climate change in an integrated and coherent way. The multi-volume reference focuses on one of the key aspects of climate change: adaptation and how to handle its impacts on physical, biotic and human systems, analyzing the social and normative scientific concerns and presenting the tools, approaches and methods aimed at management of climate change impacts. The high-quality, interdisciplinary contributions provides state-of-the-art descriptions of the topics at hand with the collective aim of offering, for a broad readership, an authoritative, balanced and accessible presentation of the best current understanding of the nature and challenges posed by climate change. It serves not only as a valuable information source but also as a tool to support teaching and research and as help for professionals to assist in decision-making.

Author: Nancy J. Ondra
Publisher: Storey Publishing
ISBN: 158017423X
Category : Gardening
Languages : en
Pages : 145

View

Book Description
From spring green to winter gold, the drama of grasses is nonstop. One of the few books available that advises the gardener on how to uses grasses in the garden, "Grasses" features plans and practical advice for more than 24 unique gardens. The book includes an identification guide to the plants and features more than 150 color photos, illustrations, and landscape plans.

Author: William M. Alley
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300220383
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 304

View

Book Description
An engaging call to understand and protect groundwater, the primary source of drinking water for almost half of the world's population Groundwater is essential for drinking water and food security. It provides enormous environmental benefits by keeping streams and rivers flowing. But a growing global population, widespread use of industrial chemicals, and climate change threaten this vital resource. Groundwater depletion and contamination has spread from isolated areas to many countries throughout the world. In this accessible and timely book, hydrology expert William M. Alley and science writer Rosemarie Alley sound the call to protect groundwater. Drawing on examples from around the world, including case studies in the United States, Canada, Australia, India, and Sub-Saharan Africa, the authors examine groundwater from key scientific and socioeconomic perspectives. While addressing the serious nature of groundwater problems, the book includes stories of people who are making a difference in protecting this critical resource.

Author: Emily O'Gorman
Publisher: University of Washington Press
ISBN: 0295749040
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 284

View

Book Description
In the name of agriculture, urban growth, and disease control, humans have drained, filled, or otherwise destroyed nearly 87 percent of the world’s wetlands over the past three centuries. Unintended consequences include biodiversity loss, poor water quality, and the erosion of cultural sites, and only in the past few decades have wetlands been widely recognized as worth preserving. Emily O’Gorman asks, What has counted as a wetland, for whom, and with what consequences? Using the Murray-Darling Basin—a massive river system in eastern Australia that includes over 30,000 wetland areas—as a case study and drawing on archival research and original interviews, O’Gorman examines how people and animals have shaped wetlands from the late nineteenth century to today. She illuminates deeper dynamics by relating how Aboriginal peoples acted then and now as custodians of the landscape, despite the policies of the Australian government; how the movements of water birds affected farmers; and how mosquitoes have defied efforts to fully understand, let alone control, them. Situating the region’s history within global environmental humanities conversations, O’Gorman argues that we need to understand wetlands as socioecological landscapes in order to create new kinds of relationships with and futures for these places.

Author: Fred Pearce
Publisher: Beacon Press
ISBN: 9780807085738
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 340

View

Book Description
In this groundbreaking book, veteran science correspondent Fred Pearce travels to more than thirty countries to examine the current state of crucial water sources. Deftly weaving together the complicated scientific, economic, and historic dimensions of the world water crisis, he provides our most complete portrait yet of this growing danger and its ramifications for us all. "A strong-and scary-case that a worldwide water shortage is the most fearful looming environmental crisis. With a drumbeat of facts both horrific (thousands of wells in India and Bangladesh are poisoned by fluoride and arsenic) and fascinating (it takes 20 tons of water to make one pound of coffee), the former New Scientist news editor documents a "kind of cataclysm" already affecting many of the world"s great rivers." -Publishers Weekly, starred review "Oil we can replace. Water we can"t-which is why this book is both so ominous and so important." -Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature