Inventing Pollution

Inventing Pollution PDF Author: Peter Thorsheim
Publisher: Ohio University Press
ISBN: 0821446274
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 429

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Book Description
Going as far back as the thirteenth century, Britons mined and burned coal. Britain’s supremacy in the nineteenth century depended in large part on its vast deposits of coal, which powered industry, warmed homes, and cooked food. As coal consumption skyrocketed, the air in Britain’s cities and towns filled with ever-greater and denser clouds of smoke. Yet, for much of the nineteenth century, few people in Britain even considered coal smoke to be pollution. Inventing Pollution examines the radically new understanding of pollution that emerged in the late nineteenth century, one that centered not on organic decay but on coal combustion. This change, as Peter Thorsheim argues, gave birth to the smoke-abatement movement and to new ways of thinking about the relationships among humanity, technology, and the environment. Even as coal production in Britain has plummeted in recent decades, it has surged in other countries. This reissue of Thorsheim’s far-reaching study includes a new preface that reveals the book’s relevance to the contentious national and international debates—which aren’t going away anytime soon—around coal, air pollution more generally, and the grave threat of human-induced climate change.

Inventing Pollution

Inventing Pollution PDF Author: Peter Thorsheim
Publisher: Ohio University Press
ISBN: 0821446274
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 429

Get Book Here

Book Description
Going as far back as the thirteenth century, Britons mined and burned coal. Britain’s supremacy in the nineteenth century depended in large part on its vast deposits of coal, which powered industry, warmed homes, and cooked food. As coal consumption skyrocketed, the air in Britain’s cities and towns filled with ever-greater and denser clouds of smoke. Yet, for much of the nineteenth century, few people in Britain even considered coal smoke to be pollution. Inventing Pollution examines the radically new understanding of pollution that emerged in the late nineteenth century, one that centered not on organic decay but on coal combustion. This change, as Peter Thorsheim argues, gave birth to the smoke-abatement movement and to new ways of thinking about the relationships among humanity, technology, and the environment. Even as coal production in Britain has plummeted in recent decades, it has surged in other countries. This reissue of Thorsheim’s far-reaching study includes a new preface that reveals the book’s relevance to the contentious national and international debates—which aren’t going away anytime soon—around coal, air pollution more generally, and the grave threat of human-induced climate change.

A Mighty Capital under Threat

A Mighty Capital under Threat PDF Author: Bill Luckin
Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press
ISBN: 0822987449
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 264

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Book Description
Demographically, nineteenth-century London, or what Victorians called the “new Rome,” first equaled, then superseded its ancient ancestor. By the mid-eighteenth century, the British capital had already developed into a global city. Sustained by its enormous empire, between 1800 and the First World War London ballooned in population and land area. Nothing so vast had previously existed anywhere. A Mighty Capital under Threat investigates the environmental history of one of the world’s global cities and the largest city in the United Kingdom. Contributors cover the feeding of London, waste management, movement between the city’s numerous districts, and the making and shaping of the environmental sciences in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

The Illusory Boundary

The Illusory Boundary PDF Author: Martin Reuss
Publisher: University of Virginia Press
ISBN: 0813930537
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 329

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Book Description
The view of nature and technology inhabiting totally different, even opposite, spheres persists across time and cultures. Most people would consider an English countryside or a Louisiana bayou to be "natural," though each is to an extent the product of technology. Pollution, widely thought to be a purely man-made phenomenon, results partly from natural processes. All around us, things from the natural world are brought into the human world. At what point do we consider them part of culture rather than nature? And does such a distinction illuminate our world or obscure its workings? This compelling new book challenges the view that a clear and unwavering boundary exists between nature and technology. Rejecting this dichotomy, the contributors show how the history of each can be united in a constantly shifting panorama where definitions of "nature" and "technology" alter and overlap. In addition to recognizing the artificial divide between these two concepts, the essays in this book demonstrate how such thinking may affect societies’ ability to survive and prosper. The answers and ideas are as numerous as the landscapes they consider, for there is no single path toward a more harmonious vision of technology and nature. Technologies that work in one place may not in another. Nature that is preserved in one community might become the raw material of technological progress somewhere else. Add to this the fact that the natural world and technology are not passive players, but are profoundly involved in cultural construction. Understanding such dynamics not only reveals a new historical complexity; it prepares us for coping with many of the most difficult and pressing social issues facing us today. Contributors Peter Coates * Craig E. Colten * Stephen H. Cutcliffe * Hugh S. Gorman * Betsy Mendelsohn * Joy Parr * Peter C. Perdue * Sara B. Pritchard * Martin Reuss * William D. Rowley * Edmund Russell * Joel A. Tarr * Ann Vileisis * James C. Williams * Thomas Zeller

Material Concerns

Material Concerns PDF Author: Tim Jackson
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 113478760X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
Material Concerns offers new perspectives on key environmental issues - pollution prevention, ecological economics, limits to sustainability, consumer behaviour and government policy. The first non-technical introduction to preventative environmental management, Material Concerns offers realistic prospects for improving the quality of life.

The Contamination of the Earth

The Contamination of the Earth PDF Author: Francois Jarrige
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262542730
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 481

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Book Description
The trajectories of pollution in global capitalism, from the toxic waste of early tanneries to the poisonous effects of pesticides in the twentieth century. Through the centuries, the march of economic progress has been accompanied by the spread of industrial pollution. As our capacities for production and our aptitude for consumption have increased, so have their byproducts--chemical contamination from fertilizers and pesticides, diesel emissions, oil spills, a vast "plastic continent" found floating in the ocean. The Contamination of the Earth offers a social and political history of industrial pollution, mapping its trajectories over three centuries, from the toxic wastes of early tanneries to the fossil fuel energy regime of the twentieth century.

Scare Pollution

Scare Pollution PDF Author: Steven Milloy
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780998259710
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
What is Scare Pollution about? Scare Pollution reveals the shockingly fraudulent science behind EPA's flagship regulatory program which has been used to destroy the coal industry, justify global warming rules, and assert EPA's control over our fossil fuel-dependent economy. Author Steve Milloy's expose tells the story of how he uncovered the fraud via his investigative journalism, original scientific research and revealing interactions with EPA, Congress, federal courts and green activists. What is Scare Pollution's main theme? EPA's economy-destroying rules depend on the false claim that particulate matter (i.e. soot from smokestacks and tailpipes) is so toxic it kills 570,000 Americans per year. EPA claims even brief exposures to typical outdoor levels in the U.S. can kill almost instantly. Milloy thoroughly debunks this claim in multiple and creative ways - thereby clearly revealing the outrageous and costly fraud EPA has perpetrated on Americans. What's timely about Scare Pollution? President-elect Trump promised to rein in the out-of-control EPA. Scare Pollution shows just how out-of-control EPA is and offers a road map for reforming the agency. What are some of Scare Pollution's highlights? Milloy Uncovers EPA's Illegal Human Experiments - After EPA falsely claimed before Congress that inhaling even tiny amounts of soot was deadly, the agency sought to justify those outrageous claims with illegal experiments on elderly and sick subjects making them inhale diesel exhaust in an "exposure chamber." EPA even experimented on 10-year old children with diesel exhaust. The Exposure of EPA's Secret Science - To avoid scrutiny of its false claims, EPA hid scientific data for more than 20 years - despite numerous demands from Congress including by subpoena and bills passed. Scare Pollution shows how Milloy discovered a treasure trove of data and led a team of scientific researchers to debunk EPA's claims with new data. Finally, a Much-Awaited Explanation of the Likely Cause of Historical Episodes of 'Killer' Air Pollution. - EPA often cites fatal historical air pollution incidents to needlessly alarm the public about current air quality. Milloy finally debunks these claims with convincing analysis pointing to the likely actual culprit(s). Who endorses Scare Pollution? "As a leader in the fight to protect our environment and public health for nearly three decades, I am keenly aware of the scientific shortcomings of EPA's agenda-driven air regulations that impose significant costs on our economy while yielding no meaningful benefits. Scare Pollution provides great insight into these problems and contributes to a timely discussion for how to reform the EPA." - Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.), Chairman, Committee on Environment and Public Works "Twenty years ago, I chaired the committee of independent science advisors reviewing EPA's determination that fine particulate matter causes mortality at concentrations commonly experienced in outdoor air in the US. Most of the advisors doubted the EPA's finding for a number of reasons including the lack of a plausible biological mechanism, but the agency set stringent standards anyway. Scare Pollution confirms the committee's original doubts in unique and compelling ways, and indicates that EPA's human exposure scientists do not believe the Agency's determination either. It's a must read for those interested in how science is used at the EPA." - Dr. George T. Wolff, former Chairman of the EPA Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee."

State, Science and the Skies

State, Science and the Skies PDF Author: Mark Whitehead
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1444399861
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 222

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Book Description
Utilizing environmental archival materials from the UK, State, Science and the Skies presents a groundbreaking historical account of the development of a state science of atmospheric pollution. Offers the most extensive historical and geographical account of atmospheric government and pollution in Britain, available today Presents archival material from 150 years of British history that represents an original contribution to our knowledge of the history of science and government Develops an innovative combination of Foucauldian history of government with a history of atmospheric science Raises crucial questions about the nature of state/science relations and the conditions under which environmental knowledge is produced

Silent Spring

Silent Spring PDF Author: Rachel Carson
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 9780618249060
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 404

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Book Description
The essential, cornerstone book of modern environmentalism is now offered in a handsome 40th anniversary edition which features a new Introduction by activist Terry Tempest Williams and a new Afterword by Carson biographer Linda Lear.

The Smoke of London

The Smoke of London PDF Author: William M. Cavert
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107073006
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 295

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Book Description
William M. Cavert investigates the origins of urban air pollution, explaining how this problem arose during the early modern period.

Ecocriticism

Ecocriticism PDF Author: Greg Garrard
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 100084126X
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 206

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Book Description
Ecocriticism explores the ways in which we imagine and portray the relationship between humans and the environment across many areas of cultural production, including Romantic poetry, wildlife documentaries, climate models, the Hollywood blockbuster The Day After Tomorrow, and novels by Margaret Atwood, Kim Scott, Barbara Kingsolver and Octavia Butler. Greg Garrard’s animated and accessible volume responds to the diversity of the field today and explores its key concepts, including: pollution pastoral wilderness apocalypse animals Indigeneity the Earth. Thoroughly revised to reflect the breadth and diversity of twenty-first-century environmental writing and criticism, this edition addresses climate change and justice throughout, and features a new chapter on Indigeneity. It also presents a glossary of terms and suggestions for further reading. Concise, clear and authoritative, Ecocriticism offers the ideal introduction to this crucial subject for students of literary and cultural studies.