Author: United States. National Park Service
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Conservation of natural resources
Languages : en
Pages : 124

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Author: Jeff Antonelis-Lapp
Publisher: Washington State University Press
ISBN: 1636820654
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 365

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Book Description
A magnificent active volcano, Mount Rainier ascends to 14,410 feet above sea level--the highest in Washington State. The source of five major rivers, it has more glaciers than any other peak in the contiguous U.S. Its slopes are home to ancient forests, spectacular subalpine meadows, and unique, captivating creatures. In Tahoma and Its People, a passionate, informed, hands-on science educator presents a natural and environmental history of Mount Rainier National Park and the surrounding region. Jeff Antonelis-Lapp explores geologic processes that create and alter landscapes, interrelationships within and between plant and animal communities, weather and climate influences on ecosystems, and what linked the iconic mountain with the people who traveled to it for millennia. He intersperses his own direct observation and study of organisms, as well as personal interactions with rangers, archaeologists, a master Native American weaver, and others. He covers a plethora of topics: geology, archaeology, indigenous villages and use of resources, climate and glacier studies, alpine and forest ecology, rivers, watershed dynamics, keystone species, threatened wildlife, geological hazards, and current resource management. Numerous color illustrations, maps, and figures supplement the text. 2020 Banff Mountain Book Competition Finalist, Mountain Environment and Natural History category

Author: Jonathan A. Czuba
Publisher: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 150

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Book Description
A study of the geomorphology of rivers draining Mount Rainier, Washington, was completed to identify sources of sediment to the river network; to identify important processes in the sediment delivery system; to assess current sediment loads in rivers draining Mount Rainier; to evaluate if there were trends in streamflow or sediment load since the early 20th century; and to assess how rates of sedimentation might continue into the future using published climate-change scenarios. Rivers draining Mount Rainier carry heavy sediment loads sourced primarily from the volcano that cause acute aggradation in deposition reaches as far away as the Puget Lowland. Calculated yields ranged from 2,000 tonnes per square kilometer per year [(tonnes/km2)/yr] on the upper Nisqually River to 350 (tonnes/km2)/yr on the lower Puyallup River, notably larger than sediment yields of 50–200 (tonnes/km2)/yr typical for other Cascade Range rivers. These rivers can be assumed to be in a general state of sediment surplus. As a result, future aggradation rates will be largely influenced by the underlying hydrology carrying sediment downstream. The active-channel width of rivers directly draining Mount Rainier in 2009, used as a proxy for sediment released from Mount Rainier, changed little between 1965 and 1994 reflecting a climatic period that was relatively quiet hydrogeomorphically. From 1994 to 2009, a marked increase in geomorphic disturbance caused the active channels in many river reaches to widen. Comparing active-channel widths of glacier-draining rivers in 2009 to the distance of glacier retreat between 1913 and 1994 showed no correlation, suggesting that geomorphic disturbance in river reaches directly downstream of glaciers is not strongly governed by the degree of glacial retreat. In contrast, there was a correlation between active-channel width and the percentage of superglacier debris mantling the glacier, as measured in 1971. A conceptual model of sediment delivery processes from the mountain indicates that rockfalls, glaciers, debris flows, and main-stem flooding act sequentially to deliver sediment from Mount Rainier to river reaches in the Puget Lowland over decadal time scales. Greater-than-normal runoff was associated with cool phases of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. Streamflow-gaging station data from four unregulated rivers directly draining Mount Rainier indicated no statistically significant trends of increasing peak flows over the course of the 20th century. The total sediment load of the upper Nisqually River from 1945 to 2011 was determined to be 1,200,000±180,000 tonnes/yr. The suspended-sediment load in the lower Puyallup River at Puyallup, Washington, was 860,000±300,000 tonnes/yr between 1978 and 1994, but the long-term load for the Puyallup River likely is about 1,000,000±400,000 tonnes/yr. Using a coarse-resolution bedload transport relation, the long-term average bedload was estimated to be about 30,000 tonnes/yr in the lower White River near Auburn, Washington, which was four times greater than bedload in the Puyallup River and an order of magnitude greater than bedload in the Carbon River. Analyses indicate a general increase in the sediment loads in Mount Rainier rivers in the 1990s and 2000s relative to the time period from the 1960s to 1980s. Data are insufficient, however, to determine definitively if post-1990 increases in sediment production and transport from Mount Rainier represent a statistically significant increase relative to sediment-load values typical from Mount Rainier during the entire 20th century. One-dimensional river-hydraulic and sediment-transport models simulated the entrainment, transport, attrition, and deposition of bed material. Simulations showed that bed-material loads were largest for the Nisqually River and smallest for the Carbon River. The models were used to simulate how increases in sediment supply to rivers transport through the river systems and affect lowland reaches. For each simulation, the input sediment pulse evolved through a combination of translation, dispersion, and attrition as it moved downstream. The characteristic transport times for the median sediment-size pulse to arrive downstream for the Nisqually, Carbon, Puyallup, and White Rivers were approximately 70, 300, 80, and 60 years, respectively.

Author: Jérémie Gilbert
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192515187
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 340

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Book Description
Natural resources and their effective management are necessary for securing the realisation of human rights. The management of natural resources is linked to broad issues of economic development, as well as to political stability, peace and security, but it is also intimately connected to the political, economic, social and cultural rights of individuals and communities relying on these resources. The management of natural resources often leads to ill-planned development, misappropriation of land, corruption, bad governance, misaligned budget priorities, lack of strong institutional reforms and weak policies coupled with a continued denial of the human rights of local communities. This book argues that human rights law can play an important role in ensuring a more effective and sustainable management of natural resources, putting forward the idea of a human rights-based normative framework for natural resource management. It offers a comprehensive analysis of the different norms, procedures, and approaches developed under human rights law that are relevant to the management of natural resources. Advocating for a less market and corporate approach to the control, ownership, and management of natural resources, this book supports the development of holistic and coherent integration of human rights law in the overall international legal framework governing the management of natural resources.

Author: Steven R. Beissinger
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022642314X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 455

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Book Description
“An eclectic, enjoyable mix of literature reviews, personal experience and case studies, and practical advice from . . . leaders in their subdisciplines.” —Eleanor J. Sterling, Chief Conservation Scientist, Center for Biodiversity & Conservation, American Museum of Natural History With the US National Park Service over one hundred years old, parks and protected areas worldwide are under increasing threat from storms and fires of greater severity, plant and animal extinctions, the changing attitudes of a public that has become more urbanized, and the political pressures of narrow special interest groups. In the face of such rapid environmental and cultural changes, Science, Conservation, and National Parks gathers a group of renowned scholars—including Edward O. Wilson, Jane Lubchenco, Thomas Dietz, and Monica Turner—who address these problems and in the hope of securing a future for protected areas that will push forward the frontiers of biological, physical, and social science in and for parks. Contributors provide answers to a number of key conservation questions, such as: How should stewardship address climate change, urban encroachment and pollution, and invasive species? How can society, especially youth, become more engaged with nature and parks? What are appropriate conservation objectives for parks in the Anthropocene? Charting a course for the parks of the next century, Science, Conservation, and National Parks catalyzes the continued evolution of US park conservation policy, and serves as an inspiration for parks, conservation, and management worldwide. “Offers a refreshing holistic treatment of the linkages and mutual dependencies between parks and science. Compelling.” —William B. Monahan, USDA Forest Service and formerly of the US National Park Service “This is a testament to what can be achieved by determined conservationists.” —Biodiversity and Conservation journal

Author: Timothy J. Sullivan
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1351671928
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 565

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Book Description
A variety of air pollutants are emitted into the atmosphere from human-caused and natural emissions sources throughout the United States and elsewhere. These contaminants impact sensitive natural resources in wilderness, including the national parks. The system of national parks in the United States is among our greatest assets. This book provides a compilation and synthesis of current scientific understanding regarding the causes and effects of these pollutants within national park lands. It describes pollutant emissions, deposition, and exposures; it identifies the critical (tipping point) loads of pollutant deposition at which adverse impacts are manifested.

Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 490

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Author: United States. Congress. House. Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Legislative oversight
Languages : en
Pages : 216

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Author: Asit K. Biswas
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3540893466
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 279

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Book Description
This is the first book to authoritatively assess how water management will be shaped by 2020 due to forces within and outside the water sector. It offers a pragmatic assessment arrived at by experts from different parts of the world and different fields.

Author: Francesca Romanin Jacur
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004305661
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 482

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Book Description
The growing demand for natural resources has triggered a “race” to their exploitation and possession, especially in developing countries. Most desired are water, land, forests, raw materials (oil, gas, mineral and precious stones), fisheries and genetic resources. Emerging economies, Western states, multinational corporations and international financial institutions have become the biggest “buyers” in a race that on one hand strengthens economies and creates investment opportunities and on the other threatens local communities and environmental protection. Natural Resources Grabbing: An International Law Perspective aims at filling a gap in the legal literature by addressing the adverse effects that large-scale investments in natural resources may pose to fundamental human rights and the protection of the environment.