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Critical Realism and the Objective Value of Sustainability contributes to the growing discussion surrounding the concept of sustainability, using a…
critical realist approach within a transdisciplinary theoretical framework to examine how sustainability objectively occurs in the natural world and in society. The book develops an ethical theory of sustainability as an objective value, rooted not in humans’ subjective preferences but in the holistic web of relationships, interdependencies, and obligations existing among living things on Earth, a web believed to have maintained life on Earth over the last 3.7 billion years. It proposes three pillars of sustainability ethics: contentment for the human existence given to us; justice (beyond distributive justice); and meaningful freedom (within ecological and moral limits). Using abductive reasoning, the book infers that there is an out-of-this-world Sustainer behind the Earth’s sustainability acting as a metaphysical source of all being and value. It argues that sustainability value, accepted as a shared understanding of the common good, must guide individual decisions and socio-economic development efforts as a matter of deliberate choice, as well as be built on the awareness that there are non-negotiable, pre-established conditions for our planet’s sustainability. This book will be of interest to students and scholars across fields of inquiry, including sustainability, sustainable development, environmental philosophy and ethics, philosophy of science, and ecological economics, and to whoever may wonder why seasons exists and why humans have creative minds.Wisdom of the Last Farmer: Harvesting Legacies from the Land
Par David Mas Masumoto. 2009
It was when David Mas Masumoto's father had a stroke on the sprawling fields of their farm that the son…
looked with new eyes on the land where he and generations of his family have toiled for decades. Masumoto -- an organic farmer working the land in California's Central Valley -- farms stories as he farms peaches. In Wisdom of the Last Farmer, an impassioned memoir of revitalization and redemption, he finds the natural connections between generation and succession, fathers and children, booms and declines as he tells the story of his family and their farm. He brings us to the rich earth of America's Fruit Basket, under the vine trellises and canes where grapes are grown, and to the fruit orchards flush with green before harvest, where he uncovers and preserves the age-old wisdom that is fast disappearing in our modern, information-driven world -- and that is urgently needed in this time of food crises and social disruption. Masumoto sees the price the family has paid to grow complex heirloom peaches -- when the market rewards tasteless, big, and red fruits -- and the challenges of maintaining traditions and integrity while working in the modern, high-pressure agricultural marketplace. As his father's health declines along with the profitability of the family farm, Masumoto has the further hard work of nursing his father back to health -- becoming master to the teacher who once schooled him -- and is driven beyond economic concerns to even larger questions of life, death, and renewal. In his gorgeous, lyrical prose, Masumoto conjures the realities of farming life while weaving in the history of American agriculture over the past century, encapsulating universal themes of work along with wisdom that could be gleaned only from the earth. By the end of the workday, he understands the feeling of accomplishment when you've done your best...and discovers that it's when he lets go -- of both his father and control of nature -- that wisdom manifests itself. And, when Masumoto's daughter intends to return to the family farm, hope is found in the generations. In the quiet eloquence of Wisdom of the Last Farmer, you will see how your own destiny is involved in the future of your food, the land, and the farm.Tropical Nature: Life and Death in the Rain Forests of Central and South America (Zona Tropical Publications)
Par Adrian Forsyth, Ken Miyata. 1987
Seventeen marvelous essays introducing the habitats, ecology, plants, and animals of the Central and South American rainforest.A lively, lucid portrait…
of the tropics as seen by two uncommonly observant and thoughtful field biologists. Its seventeen marvelous essays introduce the habitats, ecology, plants, and animals of the Central and South American rainforest. Includes a lengthy appendix of practical advice for the tropical traveler.Catalysis for Sustainability: Goals, Challenges, and Impacts (ISSN)
Par Thomas P. Umile. 2016
Catalysis for Sustainability: Goals, Challenges, and Impacts explores the intersection between catalytic science and sustainable technologies as a means to…
addressing current economic, social, and environmental problems. These problems include harnessing alternative energy sources, pollution prevention and remediation, and the manufacturing of commFrom Josh Tickell, one of America&’s most celebrated documentary filmmakers, comes a &“fascinating, easy-to-follow blueprint for how eating in ways…
that nourish and regenerate the soil can not only help reverse global warming, but also bring greater vitality to our lives&” (Wolfgang Puck). &“A must read for anyone committed to healing our bodies and our Earth&” (Deepak Chopra), Kiss the Ground explains an incredible truth: by changing our diets to a soil-nourishing, regenerative agriculture diet, we can reverse global warming, harvest healthy, abundant food, and eliminate the poisonous substances that are harming our children, pets, bodies, and ultimately our planet. This &“richly visual&” (KirkusReviews) look at the impact of an underappreciated but essential resource—the very ground that feeds us—features fascinating and accessible interviews with celebrity chefs, ranchers, farmers, and top scientists. Kiss the Ground teaches you how to become an agent in humanity&’s single most important and time-sensitive mission: reverse climate change and effectively save the world—all through the choices you make in how and what to eat. Also a full-length documentary executive produced by Leonardo DiCaprio and narrated by Woody Harrelson, &“Kiss the Ground both informs and inspires&” (Marianne Williamson, #1 New York Times bestselling author).The Flight of the Iguana: A Sidelong View of Science and Nature
Par David Quammen. 1986
The award-winning author of The Song of the Dodo examines weird and wonderful aspects of nature in this collection of…
wise, witty, and insightful essays.From tales of vegetarian piranha fish and voiceless dogs to the scientific search for the genes that threaten to destroy the cheetah, David Quammen captures the natural world with precision. Throughout, he illuminates the surprising intricacies of the natural world, and our human attitudes towards those intricacies. A distinguished essayist, Quammen’s reporting is masterful and thought provoking and his curiosity and fascination with the world of living things is infectious.The Big Thirst: The Secret Life and Turbulent Future of Water
Par Charles Fishman. 2011
Praised as &“an entertaining and torrential flow of a book&” by Nature magazine, The Big Thirstis a startling examination of…
the passing of the golden age of water and the shocking facts about how water scarcity will soon be a major factor in our lives.The water coming out of your kitchen tap is four billion years old and might well have been sipped by a Tyrannosaurus rex. Rather than only three states of water—liquid, ice, and vapor—there is a fourth, &“molecular water,&” fused into rock 400 miles deep in the Earth, and that&’s where most of the planet&’s water is found. Unlike most precious resources, water cannot be used up; it can always be made clean enough again to drink—indeed, water can be made so clean that it&’s toxic. Water is the most vital substance in our lives but also more amazing and mysterious than we appreciate. As Charles Fishman brings vibrantly to life in this surprising and mind-changing narrative, water runs our world in a host of awe-inspiring ways, yet we take it completely for granted. But the era of easy water is over.Bringing readers on a lively and fascinating journey—from the wet moons of Saturn to the water-obsessed hotels of Las Vegas, where dolphins swim in the desert, and from a rice farm in the parched Australian outback to a high-tech IBM plant that makes an exotic breed of pure water found nowhere in nature—Fishman vividly shows that we&’ve already left behind a century-long golden age when water was thoughtlessly abundant, free, and safe and entered a new era of high-stakes water. In 2008, Atlanta came within ninety days of running entirely out of clean water. California is in a desperate battle to hold off a water catastrophe. And in the last five years Australia nearly ran out of water—and had to scramble to reinvent the country&’s entire water system. But as dramatic as the challenges are, the deeper truth Fishman reveals is that there is no good reason for us to be overtaken by a global water crisis. We have more than enough water. We just don&’t think about it, or use it, smartly.The Big Thirst brilliantly explores our strange and complex relationship to water. We delight in watching waves roll in from the ocean; we take great comfort from sliding into a hot bath; and we will pay a thousand times the price of tap water to drink our preferred brand of the bottled version. We love water—but at the moment, we don&’t appreciate it or respect it. Just as we&’ve begun to reimagine our relationship to food, a change that is driving the growth of the organic and local food movements, we must also rethink how we approach and use water. The good news is that we can. As Fishman shows, a host of advances are under way, from the simplicity of harvesting rainwater to the brilliant innovations devised by companies such as IBM, GE, and Royal Caribbean that are making impressive breakthroughs in water productivity. Knowing what to do is not the problem. Ultimately, the hardest part is changing our water consciousness.As Charles Fishman writes, &“Many civilizations have been crippled or destroyed by an inability to understand water or manage it. We have a huge advantage over the generations of people who have come before us, because we can understand water and we can use it smartly.&” The Big Thirst will forever change the way we think about water, about our essential relationship to it, and about the creativity we can bring to ensuring that we&’ll always have plenty of it.Blueprint for Going Green: How a Small Foundation Changed the Model for Environmental Conservation
Par Gerald P. McCarthy. 2024
How one organization took on industrial pollution—and the lessons for our new century In 1977, one forward-thinking judge took an…
ecological disaster—the poisoning of the James River by Allied Chemical—and turned it into a great environmental-protection legacy. The $8 million payment made by Allied would go on to fund the game-changing Virginia Environmental Endowment.Blueprint for Going Green provides an insider&’s account of the remarkable results of this landmark ruling and the foundation it spawned. Over the following decades, the VEE helped to grow the fledgling environmental movement in Virginia into a powerful force for protecting the state&’s water quality and conserving its landscape. This inspiring story reveals how a small group can make a profound difference by engaging in public policy work, funding science to advance public policy, and helping to build a lasting and effective citizen-led environmental movement.Carbon Footprint Analysis: Concepts, Methods, Implementation, and Case Studies (Systems Innovation Book Series)
Par Matthew John Franchetti, Defne Apul. 2013
The negative impacts of carbon emissions from human activities continue to dramatically reshape the environmental, political, and social landscape. These…
impacts coupled with cap and trade schemes iterate the importance and need to properly measure and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon Footprint Analysis: Concepts, Methods, Implementation, anThe House on an Irish Hillside: A Memoir
Par Felicity Hayes-McCoy. 2012
&“A lovely writer, far superior to the average memoirist. . . . A curious mind, a perceptive observer with an artist&’s eye, a…
seeker of truth and beauty.&” —Irish IndependentFrom the moment I crossed the mountain, I fell in love with the place, which was more beautiful than any I&’d ever seen. And with a way of looking at life that was deeper, richer and wiser than any I&’d known before. . . . From the first day I came here I always knew I&’d come back. Sometimes we have to go back to our beginnings to become the person we want to be. More than a decade ago, USA Today–bestselling author Felicity Hayes-McCoy left the hectic pace of London and returned to her home country of Ireland to forge a new life in a remarkable house on the stunning Dingle peninsula. Gorgeously written, this is a life-affirming tale of rediscovering lost values and remembering the things that matter most. &“Wise, funny and touching, this book is a portrait of friendships, customs and folklore of Ireland; but what stays with you is harder to catch, like smoke or running water. It is the taste of something we all once knew, ever-present if only you look for it.&” ―Joanna Lumley, actress and author of Absolutely: A Memoir &“The book glowed . . . when I finished reading, I felt a sense of well-being, wonder and delight.&” —Alice Taylor, bestselling author of To School Through the FieldsPraise for Felicity Hayes-McCoy &“A pitch-perfect delight.&” —Marian Keyes, international bestselling author of Grown Ups on The Transatlantic Book Club &“The spot-on descriptions of Ireland&’s country roads and expansive sky all but leap off the page. . . . Maeve Binchy and Patrick Taylor fans will find much to enjoy.&” —Booklist on The Library at the Edge of the World &“Sunshine on the page.&” —Cathy Kelly, bestselling author of Between Sisters on The Month of Borrowed DreamsUnderstanding Imperiled Earth: How Archaeology and Human History Can Inform Our Planet's Future
Par Todd J. Braje. 2024
A unique introduction to how understanding archaeology can support modern-day sustainability efforts, from restoring forested land to developing fire management strategiesAn essential and…
hopeful book for climate-conscious readersThe world faces an uncertain future with the rise of climate change, biodiversity loss, deforestation, overfishing, and other threats. Understanding Imperiled Earth meets this uncertainty head-on, presenting archaeology and history as critical guides to addressing the modern environmental crisis.Anthropologist Todd J. Braje draws connections between deep history and today's hot-button environmental news stories to reveal how the study of the ancient past can help build a more sustainable future. The book covers a diverse array of interconnected issues, including: how modern humans have altered the natural world conservation work of Indigenous communitiesextinction of megafauna like dire wolves and woolly rhinocerosthe risk of deforestation highlighted by Notre Dame's destructionthe extinction crisis reflected by endangered bird species in Hawai'ifish scarcity driving demand and price, like the single blue-fin tuna fish that sold for three million dollarsimportance of "action archaeology" Braje examines how historical roots offer a necessary baseline for a healthier Earth, because understanding how the planet used to be is fundamental to creating effective restoration efforts moving forward through urban forests, sustainable food webs, and more. Understanding Imperiled Earth offers an illuminating, hopeful, and actionable approach to some of the world's most urgent problems.Beekeeping in the End Times
Par Larisa Jašarević. 2024
Every hundred years, as the story goes, two angels wonder out loud whether the bees are still swarming. For as…
long as the bees are swarming, the angels are reassured, the world holds together. Still, the tale suggests, the angels live in anxious anticipation of the End. Local beekeepers in Bosnia and Herzegovina retell the old tale with growing unease, as their honeybees weather the ground effects of climate change.Beekeeping in the End Times relates extreme weather events and quieter disasters that have been altering honey ecologies across Bosnia and Herzegovina since 2014. While world-wide endangerment of pollinators, and bees in particular, has been the subject of much global concern, effects of climate change on the indispensable honeybees,remain understudied. Drawing on a five-year long study, the book suggests that local apiarists' field observations resonate with many climate biologists' concerns and speculations about the future of plant-bee relations on the warming planet. Local practice also adds to the record complex and puzzling trends that make honey scarce in otherwise lush, biodiverse landscapes.To Bosnian Muslims, honeybees are more than pollinators. They are inspired beings whose honey is another form of divinely revelation. To appreciate the meaning of honeybees and to grasp the dire ecological catastrophe underway, Jašarević reads contemporary environmental writings and Sufi texts, she listens to the seasoned beekeepers and collects local wisdom tales. From start to finish, Jašarević pores over key Islamic texts, the Quran and the Hadith, and their popular retellings. The Islamic end-times lore, the book proposes, holds surprising lessons on how to live and strive in the 'not yet,' stalling the apocalypse.Solved: How the World’s Great Cities Are Fixing the Climate Crisis
Par David Miller. 2024
If our planet is going to survive the climate crisis, we need to act rapidly. Taking cues from progressive cities…
around the world, including Los Angeles, New York, Toronto, Oslo, Shenzhen, and Sydney, this book is a summons to every city to make small but significant changes that can drastically reduce our carbon footprint. We cannot wait for national governments to agree on how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and manage the average temperature rise to within 1.5 degrees. In Solved, David Miller argues that cities are taking action on climate change because they can – and because they must. The updated paperback edition of Solved: How the World’s Great Cities Are Fixing the Climate Crisis demonstrates that the initiatives cities have taken to control the climate crisis can make a real difference in reducing global emissions if implemented worldwide. By chronicling the stories of how cities have taken action to meet and exceed emissions targets laid out in the Paris Agreement, Miller empowers readers to fix the climate crisis. As much a “how to” guide for policymakers as a work for concerned citizens, Solved aims to inspire hope through its clear and factual analysis of what can be done – now, today – to mitigate our harmful emissions and pave the way to a 1.5-degree world.Fiscal Choices: Canada after the Pandemic (The Johnson-Shoyama Series on Public Policy)
Par Michael M. Atkinson, Haizhen Mou. 2024
The COVID-19 pandemic revealed that governments can quickly respond to a fiscal crisis without becoming mired in unproductive wrangling. But…
the pandemic has also revealed the limits of traditional policy instruments in stabilizing the economy, controlling inflation, and fostering economic growth. Fiscal Choices sheds light on the economic dimensions of COVID-19 and examines the state of Canada’s fiscal policy and fiscal health following the pandemic. The book covers a cluster of key fiscal policy topics: the overall capacity of government, the growth of inequalities, the management of sovereign debt, and the troubled institutions of federalism and parliamentary government. The book draws upon candid, in-depth interviews with over 70 former and current politicians, public servants, and academic experts who aim to establish a sustainable future within an accountable political system. The book argues that although those who are entrusted with the instruments of power are intelligent and well meaning, they are reluctant to take risks or abandon well-known, if poorly performing, formulas. It concludes with a set of predictions and prescriptions rooted in a realistic interpretation of Canada’s political economy. Ultimately, Fiscal Choices presents a sober assessment of federalism and parliamentary government as instruments of democratic accountability.Understanding American Politics, Third Edition
Par Stephen Brooks, Donald E. Abelson, Melissa Haussman. 2024
Understanding American Politics provides a unique introduction to the contemporary political landscape of the United States. Placing the study of…
American politics within a broader context of other western democracies, this textbook reinforces the idea that in order to understand the American system, students need to begin by understanding their own democracy. This balanced, comparative perspective is integrated throughout to better explain and highlight the ways in which American politics and government work in relation to other democracies. Streamlined to fit easily in today’s US politics courses, the third edition is fully updated and revised to engage with key issues in American politics while providing an accessible entry to the foundations of American government that detangles the polarized analysis characterizing so much information on the study of American politics. New chapters on special interest groups and the distinct American mediascape feature alongside up-to-date analysis on civil rights and inequalities incorporated in all chapters. Ultimately, this textbook enables non-American readers to understand the how and why of American politics by relating the subject to the experience and institutions of their own countries.On Stony Ground presents a historical ethnographic account of a generation of Mennonites from the Soviet Union who, following Russia’s…
revolution and civil war, immigrated to Manitoba during the 1920s. James Urry examines how they came to terms with a new land and with their new neighbours, including other Mennonites, Ukrainians, French Canadians, and Indigenous Peoples. The book discusses the impact of the Great Depression and how the immigrants struggled with their identity in Canada as Hitler and Stalin rose to power in Germany and the USSR. It reveals the immigrants’ desire to maintain their faith, language, and culture while encouraging their children to take advantage of an education conducted mainly in English. On Stony Ground explores how prosperity following the Second World War helped the immigrants to build a community in conjunction with others, including Mennonites and non-Mennonites, and to accept their new home in Canada.An Irish Atlantic Rainforest: A Personal Journey into the Magic of Rewilding
Par Eoghan Daltun. 2022
An Post Irish Book Award Winner'An inspiring vision' Manchán Magan'The stories are absorbing, the writing charismatic and the ideas thought-provoking'…
Irish IndependentOn the Beara peninsula in West Cork, a temperate rainforest flourishes. It is the life work of Eoghan Daltun, who had a vision to rewild a 73-acre farm he bought, moving there from Dublin with his family in 2009. An Irish Atlantic Rainforest charts that remarkable journey. Part memoir, part environmental treatise, as a wild forest bursts into life before our eyes, we're invited to consider the burning issues of our time: climate breakdown, ecological collapse, and why our very survival as a species requires that we urgently and radically transform our relationship with nature. Powerfully descriptive, lovingly told, An Irish Atlantic Rainforest presents an enduring picture of the regenerative force of nature, and how one Irishman let it happen.Friends and Enemies: Essays in Canada’s Foreign Relations
Par J. L. Granatstein. 2024
Friends and Enemies presents a collection of essays on Canadian foreign policy written by J.L. Granatstein, one of the leading…
political and military historians in the country. The essays cover a period primarily from the Second World War through to the early 2000s and examine policy under prime ministers Mackenzie King, Louis St. Laurent, John Diefenbaker, Lester Pearson, and Pierre Trudeau. Based on interviews and extensive archival research, the essays reveal how Granatstein’s views shifted as he reacted to altered conditions in Canada, Canadian alliances, and the world situation.Ideology in Canadian Municipal Politics
Par Jack Lucas. 2024
One of the most peculiar features of municipal politics in Canada is how frequently local politicians, activists, and scholars disagree…
about how to describe the municipal arena. For some, municipal politics is distinct from other levels of government, a world of non-ideological elections, pragmatic and technical policymaking, and issue-by-issue policy coalitions. Others argue that municipal politics is similar to politics at other scales, with persistent axes of political disagreement and a recognizable “left” and “right.” This recurring debate features prominently in municipal election campaigns across Canada. In Ideology in Canadian Municipal Politics, Jack Lucas investigates municipal ideology in Canada. Using data from original surveys of municipal politicians and the Canadian public, the book reveals how municipal politics is clearly structured by left-right ideology. It shows that municipal politicians represent their constituents’ ideological preferences quite well: they understand their constituents’ ideological perspectives, they align with their constituents’ preferences, and they are elected in part because of their ideological alignment with voters. A lively and accessible study, Ideology in Canadian Municipal Politics will appeal to readers interested in municipal politics, political ideology, and political representation.Devoured: The Extraordinary Story of Kudzu, the Vine That Ate the South
Par Ayurella Horn-Muller. 2024
Kudzu abounds across the American South. Introduced in the United States in the 1800s as a solution for soil erosion,…
this invasive vine with Eastern Asian origins came to be known as a pernicious invader capable of smothering everything in its path. To many, the plant’s enduring legacy has been its villainous role as the “vine that ate the South.” But for a select few, it has begun to signify something else entirely. In its roots, a network of people scattered across the country see a chance at redemption—and an opportunity to rewrite a fragment of troubled history.Devoured: The Extraordinary Story of Kudzu, the Vine That Ate the South detangles the complicated story of the South’s fickle relationship with kudzu, chronicling the ways the boundless weed has evolved over centuries, and dissecting what climate change could mean for its future across the United States. From architecture teams experimenting with it as a sustainable building material, to clinical applications treating binge-drinking, to chefs harvesting it as a wild edible, environmental journalist Ayurella Horn-Muller spotlights how kudzu’s notorious reputation in America is gradually being cast aside in favor of its promise.Weaving careful research with personal stories, Horn-Muller investigates how kudzu morphed from a miraculous agricultural solution to the monstrous archetypal foe of the southern landscape. Devoured is a poignant narrative of belonging, racial ambiguity, outsiders and insiders, and the path from universal acceptance to undesirability. It is a deeply reported exploration of the landscapes that host the many species we fight to control. Above all, Devoured is an ode to the earth around us—a quest for meaning in today’s imperiled world.