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The next few decades will see a profound energy transformation throughout the world. By the end of the century (and perhaps sooner), we will shift from fossil fuel dependence to rely primarily on renewable sources like solar, wind, biomass, and geothermal power. Driven by the need to avert catastrophic climate change and by the depletion of easily accessible oil, coal, and natural gas, this transformation will entail a major shift in how we live. What might a 100% renewable future look like? Which technologies will play a crucial role in our energy future? What challenges will we face in this transition? And how can we make sure our new system is just and equitable?In Our Renewable Future, energy expert Richard Heinberg and scientist David Fridley explore the challenges and opportunities presented by the shift to renewable energy. Beginning with a comprehensive overview of our currenergy system, the authors survey issues of energy supply and demand in key sectors of the economy, including electricity generation, transportation, buildings, and manufacturing. In their detailed review of each sector, the authors examine the mcrucial challenges we face, from intermittency in fuel sources to energy storage and grid redesign. The book concludes with a discussion of energy and equity and a summary of key lessons and steps forward at the individual, community, and national level.The transition to clean energy will not be a simple matter of replacing coal with wind power or oil with solar; it will require us to adapt our energy usage as dramatically as we adapt our energy sources. Our Renewable Future is a clear-eyed and urgguide to this transformation that will be a crucial resource for policymakers and energy activists.

One of the greatest nineteenth-century scientist-explorers, Alexander von Humboldt traversed the tropical Spanish Americas between 1799 and 1804. By the time of his death in 1859, he had won international fame for his scientific discoveries, his observations of Native American peoples and his detailed descriptions of the flora and fauna of the 'new continent'. The first to draw and speculate on Aztec art, to observe reverse polarity in magnetism and to discover why America is called America, his writings profoundly influenced the course of Victorian culture, causing Darwin to reflect: 'He alone gives any notion of the feelings which are raised in the mind on first entering the Tropics'.

In twenty short books, Penguin brings you the classics of the environmental movement.The courageous, unflinching speeches and writings collected in The Most Dammed Country in the World detail the devastating human and environmental cost of China's economic rise.Over the past 75 years, a new canon has emerged. As life on Earth has become irrevocably altered by humans, visionary thinkers around the world have raised their voices to defend the planet, and affirm our place at the heart of its restoration. Their words have endured through the decades, becoming the classics of a movement. Together, these books show the richness of environmental thought, and point the way to a fairer, saner, greener world.

A journey of discovery through our natural world.Bushcraft and survival legend Ray Mears takes us on his own lifetime's journey through the natural world, into the British countryside and across continents, and shows us how to tune our senses, enhance our experience of nature, and understand our place within it.Guiding us through practical fieldcraft tips, Ray brings us up close with creatures we share our planet with, and reveals how we can learn from them, from the stealth of the leopard to the patience and stillness of the crocodile, and even the colour-changing camouflage of the octopus.With Ray as your companion, you will unlock the hidden secrets of the wild and begin to see, instead of merely look.

This textbook introduces political ecology as an interdisciplinary approach to critically examine land and environmental issues.

Unabridged. 97 original photographs and maps. An epic account of one of the most extraordinary feats of physical and mental endurance in a battle for survival in the most extreme natural conditions. Shackleton's 800 mile voyage with a crew of five in a 22.5-foot open boat through the hurricane-force winds and gargantuan waves of the Furious Fifties is the greatest small-boat journey ever recorded. This was but one of the trials endured by the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition in this gripping account.Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton, CVO OBE, was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. His first experience of the polar regions was as third officer on Captain Scott's 1901-04 Expedition: he was sent home early on health grounds. Determined to make amends for this perceived personal failure, he returned in 1907 as leader of the Nimrod Expedition. In January 1909, he and three companions reached a record Farthest South latitude at 88°23'S, a mere 97 geographical miles (from the South Pole, by far the closest approach up to that time. Shackleton was knighted by Edward VII on his return home.This edition:covers Shackleton's final, and most dramatic Antarctic expeditionis complete and undbridgedis presented crisp well-spaced modern font which will be a pleasure to read.

"e;This is an important book for anyone interested in the ethical interrelationships of things, places, and people, and it is a book that is not just read but taken in."e; -Library JournalFeaturing a new introduction by Robert Hass, the nine captivatingly meditative essays in The Practice of the Wild display the deep understanding and wide erudition of Gary Snyder in the ways of Buddhist belief, wildness, wildlife, and the world. These essays, first published in 1990, stand as the mature centerpiece of Snyder's work and thought, and this profound collection is widely accepted as one of the central texts on wilderness and the interaction of nature and culture.

An enchanting book about the orchard that Raymond Blanc planted in the Oxfordshire countryside. Full of ancient varieties of fruit, each one is celebrated through anecdotes and recipes, weaving a rich story about our country's past.

Lavishly illustrated reference to wild flowers, trees, shrubs, herbs, cacti, weeds, grasses, aquatic-plants and mosses.

This stunning new atlas is your first class pass on a world tour of the homes of Earth's most amazing animals. The latest exciting title in DK's popular illustrated atlas series maps out the habitats of the world's most incredible mammals, fish, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates. Whether it's plotting the range of a lion, following the flight paths of birds, or tracking great white sharks in the oceans, you will see exactly where and how almost 100 extraordinary animal species live. What makes Animal Atlas unique is the maps themselves. Each one is individually commissioned in 3D, with detail to show the habitat of each animal, as well as its geographic location. This reveals an astonishing amount of information about the behaviour of these animals, from how polar bears adapt to survive in freezing Arctic conditions to how African elephants survive in the heat of the Sahara desert. There is also a focus on the conservation and protection of animals. Maps reveal the shrinking territories of some species, showing where they used to roam in the past compared to what's left of their range today. Whether you are doing a homework project or simply want to know more about what animal lives where, Animal Atlas is the perfect reference for home or school.

The ideal portable companion, the world-renowned Collins Gem series returns with a fresh new look and updated material.This is the perfect pocket guide for nature enthusiasts keen to identify the most commonly seen trees, whether they are out on the town or strolling through the countryside.Authoritative text, beautiful photographs and detailed illustrations show not only the overall shape of the tree but also details of leaf shape, flowers, fruits and bark.Features both deciduous and evergreen species, with information on the origin of each species, its height, preferred habitat and growing conditions. Illustrations of cones, catkins, nuts and fruits allow you to distinguish between similar species at a glance.This new edition builds on the strengths of the best-selling, unrivalled original, now expanded to include over 220 trees and shrubs that are native to or flourish in Britain and northern Europe.

A short, fun, fierce manifesto for a fairer, more effective environmentalism (with a lot less shopping!).

This book is the first to explore and highlight the history of the plants mentioned in the Qur'?n, many of which are part of our everyday life, from pomegranates and grapes to ginger and garlic. Stunning botanical paintings bring the plants to life.

Reflecting on nature's unknowable and mysterious qualities, Grounded explores how we can therapeutically benefit from a deeper connection with nature.

An expose on the fashion industry written by the Observer's 'Ethical Living' columnist, examining the inhumane and environmentally devastating story behind the clothes we so casually buy and wear.Coming at a time when the global financial crisis and contracting of consumer spending is ushering in a new epoch for the fashion industry, To Die For offers a very plausible vision of how green could really be the new black.Taking particular issue with our current mania for both big-name labels and cheap fashion, To Die For sets an agenda for the urgent changes that can and need to be made by both the industry and the consumer. Far from outlining a future of drab, ethical clothing, Lucy Siegle believes that it is indeed possible to be an 'ethical fashionista', simply by being aware of how and where (and by whom) clothing is manufactured.The global banking crisis has put the consumer at a crossroads: when money is tight should we embrace cheap fast fashion to prop up an already engorged wardrobe, or should we reject this as the ultimate false economy and advocate a return to real fashion, bolstered by the principles of individualism and style pedigree?In this impassioned book, Siegle analyses the global epidemic of unsustainable fashion, taking stock of our economic health and moral accountabilities to expose the pitfalls of fast fashion. Refocusing the debate squarely back on the importance of basic consumer rights, Siegle reveals the truth behind cut price, bulk fashion and the importance of your purchasing decisions, advocating the case for a new sustainable design era where we are assured of value for money: ethically, morally and in real terms.

Geoengineering is the deliberate and large-scale intervention in the Earth's climate system in an attempt to mitigate the adverse effects of global warming. Now that a climate emergency is upon us, claims that geoengineering is inevitable are rapidly proliferating. How did we get into this? What options make it onto the table? Which are left out? Whom does geoengineering serve? These are some of the questions that the thinkers contributing to this volume are exploring.

A fundamental understanding of acoustic detection principles, study planning, data handling, properties of bat calls, manual identification of species, automatic species recognition, analysis of results, quality assurance and the background physics of sound.

A guide for communities to face the challenges of climate change and begin their 'energy descent'. The argument that 'small is inevitable' is upbeat and positive and utterly convincing.

Could an Irish monk in the sixth century really have sailed all the way across the Atlantic in a small open boat, thus beating Columbus to the New World by almost a thousand years? Relying on the medieval text of St. Brendan, award-winning adventure writer Tim Severin painstakingly researched and built a boat identical to the leather curragh that carried Brendan on his epic voyage. He found a centuries-old, family-run tannery to prepare the ox hides in the medieval way; he undertook an exhaustive search for skilled harness makers (the only people who would know how to stitch the three-quarter-inch-thick hides together); he located one of the last pieces of Irish-grown timber tall enough to make the mainmast. But his courage and resourcefulness were truly tested on the open seas, including one heart-pounding episode when he and his crew repaired a dangerous tear in the leather hull by hanging over the side--their heads sometimes submerged under the freezing waves--to restitch the leather. A modern classic in the tradition of Kon-Tiki, The Brendan Voyage seamlessly blends high adventure and historical relevance. It has been translated into twenty-seven languages since its original publication in 1978.With a new Introduction by Malachy McCourt, author of A Monk Swimming

Originally published as The God Species: How the Planet Can Survive the Age of HumansThe green movement has got it very wrong.Nature no longer controls our planet - it is humanity, 'the god species', that must save the environment we have inflicted unprecedented damage upon. And the tools we must use are the very technologies that environmentalist have told us for years will spell disaster: nuclear power, GM food and geo-engineering.In this blistering and urgent manifesto, Mark Lynas identifies a new future for the green movement and an entirely fresh agenda for how we will save the Earth, and ourselves.

A beautifully illustrated compendium of plant discovery and exploration - where horticulture and adventure collide.

Twenty years ago, Dan Pearson was invited to make a garden at the 240-hectare Tokachi Millennium Forest in Hokkaido, Japan. Part of the intention was to entice city dwellers to reconnect with nature and improve land that had been lost to intensive agriculture and this was achieved along with much more. By tuning into the physical and cultural essence of the place and applying a light touch in terms of cultivation, this world-class designer created a remarkable place which has its heart in Japan's long-held respect for nature and its head in contemporary ecological planting design. The bold, uplifting sweep of the Meadow Garden mixes garden plants with natives while the undulating landforms of the Earth Garden bring sculptural connection with the mountains beyond. Under the skilful custodianship of Midori Shintani, the garden has evolved beautifully to reflect principles that lie at the heart of Japanese culture: observation of seasonal changes, practical tasks carried out with care and an awareness of the interconnectedness of all living things. This beautiful, instructive book allows us all to experience something of the Tokachi effect, gain expert insights into how to plant gardens that feel right for their location, and reconnect with the land and wildlife that surround us.