Arid Environments and Sustainability

Arid Environments and Sustainability PDF Author: Hasan Arman
Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
ISBN: 178923154X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 120

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Book Description
Arid environments are basically associated with water scarcity. Therefore, soils will have an extremely low moisture level to support plant and animal life as well as human social life. Sustainability is the long durability of systems and processes within various adapted environmental conditions. Recently, systematic scientific studies on arid environments and sustainability have become more attractive, critical, and sound than the previous years. Sharing such experiences related to different environmental circumstances will absolutely help scientists and decision-makers to have better interpretation of their own environment. By learning lessons, appropriate, fast, and effective approaches require to implement for overwhelming such problems. Such actions will certainly lead to more secure and sustainable environments for plant, animal, and human life.

Arid Environments and Sustainability

Arid Environments and Sustainability PDF Author: Hasan Arman
Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
ISBN: 178923154X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 120

Get Book Here

Book Description
Arid environments are basically associated with water scarcity. Therefore, soils will have an extremely low moisture level to support plant and animal life as well as human social life. Sustainability is the long durability of systems and processes within various adapted environmental conditions. Recently, systematic scientific studies on arid environments and sustainability have become more attractive, critical, and sound than the previous years. Sharing such experiences related to different environmental circumstances will absolutely help scientists and decision-makers to have better interpretation of their own environment. By learning lessons, appropriate, fast, and effective approaches require to implement for overwhelming such problems. Such actions will certainly lead to more secure and sustainable environments for plant, animal, and human life.

Urban Structure in Hot Arid Environments

Urban Structure in Hot Arid Environments PDF Author: Mahmoud Tavassoli
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319390988
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 268

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Book Description
This essential reference guide to strategies and solutions for urban planning in hot arid environments reflects the journey toward many cities, towns and villages in Iran, which are documented and presented in the form of case studies and comparative analysis. It is the outcome of extensive research on the influence of historical, cultural and climatic factors on urban spatial forms and rural complexes in Iran’s Hot Arid Zone. The environment of the Hot Arid Zone offers valuable insights into how to overcome historical difficulties, how to endure harsh climatic conditions, how to be innovative and creative in responding to problems in new ways, and how to utilize natural energy sources. Considerable attention is given to the recognition of values, current problems and the renewal of traditional fabrics, urban blocks and traditional buildings. Important aspects in both academic education and in the urban design profession include traditional urban structures and traditional approaches to using natural energy as a creative process that is continuously changing and renews itself over time – a dynamic characteristic from which we can glean many lessons for the future. This book is based on a book previously published by the author in Persian. This version is an extensively revised version.

Sustainability of Engineered Rivers In Arid Lands

Sustainability of Engineered Rivers In Arid Lands PDF Author: Jurgen Schmandt
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108417035
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 305

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Book Description
Interdisciplinary volume considers how nine arid/semi-arid river basins with irrigated agriculture will survive future climate change, siltation, and decreased flow.

Biogeochemistry of Trace Elements in Arid Environments

Biogeochemistry of Trace Elements in Arid Environments PDF Author: Fengxiang X. Han
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1402060246
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 386

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Book Description
This book offers comprehensive coverage of trace elements in arid zone regions. It begins by introducing the nature and properties of arid zone soil, followed by coverage of the major aspects of the trace elements and heavy metals of most concern in the world’s arid and semi-arid soils. A comprehensive, focused case study on transfer fluxes of trace elements in Israeli arid soils is used to illustrate the themes presented in the book.

Agriculture in Semi-Arid Environments

Agriculture in Semi-Arid Environments PDF Author: A.E. Hall
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3642673287
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 357

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Book Description
The semi-arid zones of the world are fragile ecosystems which are being sub stantially modified by the activities of mankind. Increasing human populations have resulted in greater demands on semi-arid zones for providing human susten ance and the possibility that this may enhance desertification is a grave concern. These zones are harsh habitats for humans. The famines that resulted from drought during the late 1960's and the 1970's in the African Sahel illustrated the unreliability of present agricultural systems in this zone. Large fluctuations in ag ricultural production have occurred in semi-arid zones of Australia, North Ameri ca, and the Soviet Union due to periodic droughts, even though considerable ag ricultural technology has been devoted to agricultural development in these zones. The challenge to mankind is to manage these different semi-arid zones so that pro ductivity is increased and stabilized, and environmental deterioration is decreased. Irrigation can be used to increase and stabilize agricultural production in semi-arid zones as discussed in Volume 5 of this series, Arid Zone Irrigation. The present volume, Agriculture in Semi-Arid Environments, focuses on dryland farming in semi-arid zones, and is relevant to the large areas of the world where rainfall is limiting and where water is not available for irrigation. This volume is designed to assist agricultural development in these areas and consists of reviews and analyses of available information by scientists working in Africa, Australia, and at the U ni versity of California.

Hydrogeology of Arid Environments

Hydrogeology of Arid Environments PDF Author: Randolf Rausch
Publisher:
ISBN: 9783443010706
Category : Arid regions
Languages : en
Pages : 283

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Book Description
In arid and semi-arid regions groundwater is often the only natural resource for water supply. Therefore, stakeholders face great challenges in managing this resource in a responsible way. The problem is further amplified by population growth, increase in agricultural, industrial and municipal water consumption, and the threat of climate change. Therefore, an optimal use and management of the scarce groundwater resources is imperative. A precondition for this is a sound understanding of the particularities of the hydrogeology of arid and semi-arid regions as well as a proper knowledge of the water budget, water resources in storage, and water quality. This book summarizes the results of the conference "Hydrogeology of Arid Environments", which was held in March 2012 in Hannover (Germany). It gives an overview about current research on this topic with examples from arid and semi-arid areas from all over the world. The book is intended for scientists, engineers, hydrologists, hydrogeologists, and political decision makers interested in the water resources of arid and semi-arid environments.

Climate Change and Its Impact on Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity in Arid and Semi-Arid Zones

Climate Change and Its Impact on Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity in Arid and Semi-Arid Zones PDF Author: Karmaoui, Ahmed
Publisher: IGI Global
ISBN: 1522573887
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 432

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Book Description
Ecosystems provide services that are crucial and beneficial to the human population. The management and conservation of these services can assure the wellbeing of the local population. Climate Change and Its Impact on Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity in Arid and Semi-Arid Zones is an essential reference source that studies the effects of climate change on biodiversity and ecosystem services in dry regions and examines various strategic local, national, and international policy developments to help overcome these impacts. Featuring research on topics such as poverty reduction, climate change, and adaption policies, this book is ideally designed for environmentalists, policymakers, government officials, academicians, researchers, and technology developers who want to improve their understanding of climate change impact, vulnerability, and sustainability, and the strategic role of adaptation and mitigation.

The Ecolaboratory

The Ecolaboratory PDF Author: Robert Fletcher
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 081654011X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 385

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Book Description
Despite its tiny size and seeming marginality to world affairs, the Central American republic of Costa Rica has long been considered an important site for experimentation in cutting-edge environmental policy. From protected area management to ecotourism to payment for environmental services (PES) and beyond, for the past half-century the country has successfully positioned itself at the forefront of novel trends in environmental governance and sustainable development. Yet the increasingly urgent dilemma of how to achieve equitable economic development in a world of ecosystem decline and climate change presents new challenges, testing Costa Rica’s ability to remain a leader in innovative environmental governance. This book explores these challenges, how Costa Rica is responding to them, and the lessons this holds for current and future trends regarding environmental governance and sustainable development. It provides the first comprehensive assessment of successes and challenges as they play out in a variety of sectors, including agricultural development, biodiversity conservation, water management, resource extraction, and climate change policy. By framing Costa Rica as an “ecolaboratory,” the contributors in this volume examine the lessons learned and offer a path for the future of sustainable development research and policy in Central America and beyond.

Water Management in Arid and Semi-arid Regions

Water Management in Arid and Semi-arid Regions PDF Author: Phoebe Koundouri
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 1845429974
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
Water deficiency in many arid and semi-arid regions in Southern Europe is becoming a major constraint for economic welfare and sustainable regional development. These regions are characterised by high spatial and temporal imbalances of water demand and supply, seasonal water uses, inadequate water resources and poor institutional water management. The aim of this book is to formulate appropriate strategies and guidelines for water management necessary for the formulation and implementation of integrated sustainable management of water resources. Lessons are learned from various case studies, which examine competing water use patterns, compare governance structures and how these have evolved in response to scarcity, and structural and non-structural instruments to address water deficiency. Water Management in Arid and Semi-Arid Regions will appeal to policymakers in relevant countries as well as to scholars and researchers of environmental studies and economics.

The Arid Lands

The Arid Lands PDF Author: Diana K. Davis
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262034522
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 302

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Book Description
An argument that the perception of arid lands as wastelands is politically motivated and that these landscapes are variable, biodiverse ecosystems, whose inhabitants must be empowered. Deserts are commonly imagined as barren, defiled, worthless places, wastelands in need of development. This understanding has fueled extensive anti-desertification efforts—a multimillion-dollar global campaign driven by perceptions of a looming crisis. In this book, Diana Davis argues that estimates of desertification have been significantly exaggerated and that deserts and drylands—which constitute about 41% of the earth's landmass—are actually resilient and biodiverse environments in which a great many indigenous people have long lived sustainably. Meanwhile, contemporary arid lands development programs and anti-desertification efforts have met with little success. As Davis explains, these environments are not governed by the equilibrium ecological dynamics that apply in most other regions. Davis shows that our notion of the arid lands as wastelands derives largely from politically motivated Anglo-European colonial assumptions that these regions had been laid waste by “traditional” uses of the land. Unfortunately, such assumptions still frequently inform policy. Drawing on political ecology and environmental history, Davis traces changes in our understanding of deserts, from the benign views of the classical era to Christian associations of the desert with sinful activities to later (neo)colonial assumptions of destruction. She further explains how our thinking about deserts is problematically related to our conceptions of forests and desiccation. Davis concludes that a new understanding of the arid lands as healthy, natural, but variable ecosystems that do not necessarily need improvement or development will facilitate a more sustainable future for the world's magnificent drylands.