Barnes & Noble thesaurus of biology: The principles of biology explained and illustrated

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The Biologist's Dictionary.......2003-03-15

Well, it's like a dictionary, but all about Biology. And when you're studying Biology, and come across a term you don't know, in a text for a class or just in reading for one's own enjoyment, this is much more helpful than many glossaries. Items are arranged alphabetically in the back and by subject throughout the text. Numerous pictures and diagrams help give a more expansive idea of the term. If you've ever used a dictionary, and you study Biology, you need this book.

Book Description

The degree to which human conditions and the natural environment are vulnerable to the potential effects of climate change is a key concern for governments and the environmental science community worldwide. This book from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provides the best available base of scientific information for policymakers and public use. The Regional Impacts of Climate Change: An Assessment of Vulnerability reviews state-of-the-art information on potential impacts of climate change for ecological systems, water supply, food production, coastal infrastructure, human health, and other resources for ten global regions. It also illustrates that the increasing costs of climate and climate variability, in terms of loss of human life and capital due to floods, storms, and droughts, are a result of the lack of adjustment and response in society's policies and use of resources. This book points to management options that would make many sectors more resilient to current variability in climate and thus help these sectors adapt to future changes in climate. This book will become the primary source of information on regional aspects of climate change for policymakers, the scientific community, and students.

The Impact of Climate Change on Regional Systems: A Comprehensive Analysis of California (New Horizons in Environmental Economics)

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The Impact of Climate Change on Regional Systems: A Comprehensive Analysis of California (New Horizons in Environmental Economics)

Manufacturer: Edward Elgar Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1845427475

Book Description

Climate scientists have determined that recent global temperature increases are due in large part to increased greenhouse gas emissions from human activities. Even if mitigation of these gases begins immediately, there is every reason to believe that climate change will continue to occur. Every region in the world ought to forecast, as the contributors do in this study of California (a region of broad variation and high population), how it will be affected by climate change and how it might best adapt.

Models are used to estimate potential physical and biological impacts, efficient adaptations, and residual damages from climate change. The contributors cover a broad array of climate change impacts on affected market sectors (including water supply, agriculture, coastal resources, timber, and energy demand) as well as ecosystems and biodiversity. An integrated hydrologic-agriculture model is developed to explore how the region would adapt to changes in water flows. Interactions between climate impacts and population and economic growth, urbanization, and technological change are also explored. For example, the study examines how both climate change and projected land development affect the region's terrestrial ecosystems and biodiversity.

Book Description

Climate and economies have interdependent dynamics. Even though the pace of climate change is probably much slower than the speed of adjustment of the world economies, the global climate change impact of economic development and growth has to be controlled and taken into account in the policy assessment process. Integrated assessment models are now trying to capture the different feedbacks that link the climate system and the development of human societies. This book reviews the different approaches used to model these dynamic interactions between climate and economies and proposes new avenues of research in this domain. In fourteen chapters this book deals with various aspects of the building of integrated assessment models, either by coupling economic growth and climate change modules, or using mathematical models of viability or dynamic game theory to represent the interactions between the world regions concerned. It also focuses on more specific economic equilibrium models that can be used to assess international climate policies and it addresses the modelling of impacts of climate change in Switzerland as a test region.

This book is the result of several years of joint research in an interdisciplinary project on the human dimension of climate change. It proposes innovative ways to include climate simulation modules in optimal economic growth models; it explores the possible use of computable general economic equilibrium models coupled with paradigms of game theory to assess the dividends of cooperation in climate policies; it reports on the building of multi-region dynamic energy-technology-environment models to assess the possible response of the world energy system to a global cap on GHG emissions, and it shows how to model the impacts of climate change at a regional level.

This book is meant to serve as a reference work for researchers and graduate students who engage in interdisciplinary studies at the boundary between Earth and Social sciences.

Global Atmospheric Change and its Impact on Regional Air Quality (Nato Science Series 4 : Earth and Environmental Sciences, Volume 16)

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Global Atmospheric Change and its Impact on Regional Air Quality (Nato Science Series 4 : Earth and Environmental Sciences, Volume 16)

Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1402009593

Book Description

There is growing evidence that the changing global atmosphere is impacting urban and regional air quality and that emissions from great urban conurbations are significantly influencing global change. This book presents the topics needed to understand possible changes in regional and global atmospheric air quality. Air quality measurements reveal the influence of anthropogenic emissions on the background atmosphere, especially at regional and local scales, superimposed on a background of biogenic emissions. The book also deals with possible changes in atmospheric chemistry in remote areas due to the impact of halogens, halogen oxides, and organic sulphur compounds. Important areas that need to be known in detail for the modelling of these influences are ozone formation, radical mechanisms in the gas phase, oxidation processes in the aqueous phase, and the formation of aerosols. All these are discussed on the basis of both laboratory studies and field measurements. The various observational data, emission data and chemical mechanisms are needed as inputs for modelling the regional impact of anthropogenic emissions and global change. The book presents a great amount of material from the Russian Federation and other East European countries that is not available in Western journals.

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Global Change and Regional Impacts

Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 3540438246

Book Description

Global climatic change will most likely affect natural resources and human living conditions in semiarid regions. This volume presents disciplinary as well as integrative methods to assess these impacts considering the interactions between climate variability and change, water availability, land-use systems, and quality of life. Taking the semiarid northeastern area of Brazil as an example, a wide range of expertise and knowledge (from integrated water analyses to transregional migration) is necessary to understand the complex relationship between natural and socio-economic systems. Tools to integrate this knowledge and make it available for the strategic planning of sustainable development are described. This book is a summary of the main research results and the presentations given at the final conference of the WAVES Program on June 25-26 2001 in Fortaleza (Brazil).

From the reviews:

"This book focuses on results from a joint German-Brazilian program (Water Availability and Vulnerability of Ecosystems and Society, or WAVES) to assess the socioeconomic impacts that global change will have on northeast Brazil. This book, divided into eight parts, describes the many factors that should be included in developing scenarios for future planning purposes. The book provides useful information concerning the complex multidisciplinary task of developing scenarios that can aid decision makers in formulating plans for sustainable development in an area that is highly vulnerable to climate variability and change. For someone who is unfamiliar with the semiarid northeast Brazil region, the book provides considerable useful background information." (Vernon E. Kousky, BULLETIN OF THE AMERICAN METEORLOGICAL SOCIETY, December 2004)

Global Warming and the American Economy: A Regional Assessment of Climate Change Impacts (New Horizons in Environmental Economics)

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Global Warming and the American Economy: A Regional Assessment of Climate Change Impacts (New Horizons in Environmental Economics)

Manufacturer: Edward Elgar Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1840645938

Regional Impacts of Global Climate Change: Assessing Change and Response at the Scales That Matter : October 19-21, 1993 Richland, Washington, U.S.A.

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Regional Impacts of Global Climate Change: Assessing Change and Response at the Scales That Matter : October 19-21, 1993 Richland, Washington, U.S.A.
Wash.) Hanford Symposium on Health and the Environment (32nd : 1993 : Richland
Manufacturer: Battelle Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Regional Innovation, Knowledge and Global Change (Science, Technology, and the International Political Economy Series,)

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Regional Innovation, Knowledge and Global Change (Science, Technology, and the International Political Economy Series,)
Zoltan Acs
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

Among the interesting developments of the 20th century has been the economic rise of such nations as Japan and Taiwan and the relative decline of Latin American countries, of the UK, and so on. In order to understand this ebb and flow, economists have begun to appreciate the evolutionary nature of socio-economic change, the important role that technological and research capabilities play in this dynamic, and the apparently paradoxical observation that globalization typically relies on local behaviour. An analytic lens has been developed by Lundvall, Freeman, Nelson and others, called "the national system of innovation." This approach recognizes both the highly creative nature of economic growth and economic adjustment in a turbulent world and the highly uneven or lumpy distribution of growth. This approach leads to an understanding that economic growth is not a "national" phenomenon, but a highly specific reaction to change: hence the rise of Silicon Valley. What is missing in the national systems approach isa mechanism through which to understand innovation when the realistic unit of analysis is no longer the nation state. In this volume, some of the leading scholars in the field set out to broaden the systems of innovation approach conceptually and empirically, to include both subnational and transnational systems of innovation.

Another reason for concern: regional and global impacts on ecosystems for different levels of climate change [An article from: Global Environmental Change]

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Another reason for concern: regional and global impacts on ecosystems for different levels of climate change [An article from: Global Environmental Change]
R. Leemans , and B. Eickhout
Manufacturer: Elsevier
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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ASIN: B000RQZVAQ

Book Description

This digital document is a journal article from Global Environmental Change, published by Elsevier in 2004. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
This study assesses the impacts of climate change on species, ecosystems and landscapes over a range of increasing global mean temperatures and the corresponding temperature and precipitation patterns. Results from IMAGE, a so-called integrated assessment model, are used to link different ecological impacts to different levels of climate change. The analysis shows that, although there are large regional differences, even small increases in global mean temperatures will considerably impact many species, ecosystems and landscapes. Between 1^oC and 2^oC increases in global mean temperatures most species, ecosystems and landscapes will be impacted and adaptive capacity will become limited. With the already ongoing high rate of climate change, the decline in biodiversity will therefore accelerate and simultaneously many ecosystem services will become less abundant.

Meteorological impact assessment of possible large scale irrigation in Southwest Saudi Arabia [An article from: Global and Planetary Change]

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Meteorological impact assessment of possible large scale irrigation in Southwest Saudi Arabia [An article from: Global and Planetary Change]
H.W. Ter Maat , R.W.A. Hutjes , R. Ohba , H. Ueda , and Bi
Manufacturer: Elsevier
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Water Supply & Land Use | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000PC035K

Book Description

This digital document is a journal article from Global and Planetary Change, published by Elsevier in 2006. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
On continental to regional scales feedbacks between landuse and landcover change and climate have been widely documented over the past 10-15 years. In the present study we explore the possibility that also vegetation changes over much smaller areas may affect local precipitation regimes. Large scale (~10^5 ha) irrigated plantations in semi-arid environments under particular conditions may affect local circulations and induce additional rainfall. Capturing this rainfall 'surplus' could then reduce the need for external irrigation sources and eventually lead to self-sustained water cycling. This concept is studied in the coastal plains in South West Saudi Arabia where the mountains of the Asir region exhibit the highest rainfall of the peninsula due to orographic lifting and condensation of moisture imported with the Indian Ocean monsoon and with disturbances from the Mediterranean Sea. We use a regional atmospheric modeling system (RAMS) forced by ECMWF analysis data to resolve the effect of complex surface conditions in high resolution (@Dx=4 km). After validation, these simulations are analysed with a focus on the role of local processes (sea breezes, orographic lifting and the formation of fog in the coastal mountains) in generating rainfall, and on how these will be affected by large scale irrigated plantations in the coastal desert. The validation showed that the model simulates the regional and local weather reasonably well. The simulations exhibit a slightly larger diurnal temperature range than those captured by the observations, but seem to capture daily sea-breeze phenomena well. Monthly rainfall is well reproduced at coarse resolutions, but appears more localized at high resolutions. The hypothetical irrigated plantation (3.25 10^5 ha) has significant effects on atmospheric moisture, but due to weakened sea breezes this leads to limited increases of rainfall. In terms of recycling of irrigation gifts the rainfall enhancement in this particular setting is rather insignificant.

Amazon.com

Readers could be excused for expecting a book entitled Iron, Nature's Universal Element: Why People Need Iron & Animals Make Magnets to be little more than a 200-page filmstrip. But biological physicist Eugenie Vorburger Mielczarek and science writer Sharon Bertsch McGrayne infuse their subject with a surprising vitality, exploring the history of life on earth and the breadth of physiological processes in which iron is essential. Following the scientists who research deep-sea vents, animal migration, and genetic and dietary deficiency diseases, they craft stories of great drama--the image of the growing army of blue-green algae dumping poisonous oxygen into the atmosphere and turning the ocean's iron to rust is powerful and lasting. How this highly stable metallic nutrient, vital in small doses but lethal when set free, is regulated and absorbed by our bodies (we have no means of excreting it except good old-fashioned bloodletting) makes for compelling reading, especially as the authors tie it to increasingly common health problems. With nearly 25 percent of the world's children suffering from iron deficiency anemia, the problem is strikingly crucial to public health. Will we apply our knowledge for the benefit of all people? Iron, Nature's Universal Element makes the case for further research and, more importantly, faster action. --Rob Lightner

Customer Reviews:

Iron, the unsung story of this element in biological systems.......2001-01-17

This book, written by physicist Eugenie Vorburger Mielczarek and science writer Sharon Berstch McGrayne, covers the wide-ranging role of iron in living organisms ranging from the early forms of life to the plants and animals of today. The treatment includes not only sufficient scientific background material to explain the processes, but also interesting details about the investigators who were involved in the key discoveries along the way. It is aimed at general readership and reviews studies which are not widely known to nonspecialists.

The result is a fascinating story of way starting from the way in which life may have first emerged in an oxygen-poor environment at thermal springs in the sea, possibly involving complex organic molecules containing iron and sulfur. Later, as plants evolved to be capable of photosynthesis, the oxygen content of the atmosphere gradually increased. This had a huge impact on both the chemical composition of the oceans as well as leading to the evolution of complex plants and animals. The way in which iron plays an essential role in facilitating the efficient use of oxygen to provide energy in animals is discussed in this book in a way which would enable the nonscientist to grasp the fundamentals of these processes. In addition, the dramatic dire consequences to plants and animals growing in iron-deficient environments is pointed out.

Finally, this book addresses the mystery of animal migration in birds and other animals. This unusual phenomenon appears to be associated with earth's magnetic field in some cases. The discovery of magnetite (a crystalline form of iron oxide which is magnetic) crystals in the brains of some birds and fish points to a possible mechanism whereby magnetic effects can be associated with the direction-finding capabilities of some organisms. The ability of organisms to "maufacture" magnetic inorganic crystals certainly does appear remarkable.

Thus, readers of this book will be exposed to a engrossing treatment of the many ways in which the element iron has played an essential part in important biological processes and phenomena.

fascinating info on iron.......2001-01-15

a book which comprises in a language accessible to all many different and important discoveries about the necessity for iron on the earth. many fascinating interviews with the scientists who did the research. It teaches much about a variety of disciplines; chemistry, biology, geology, physics, oceanography and others. very interesting and easy to understand. IF the composition of the world and its organisms fascinates you, you must read this book.

What Our Professors Never Told Us.......2000-12-13

This fascinating book is about the often-neglected but vitally important roles of iron in biology. Each chapter is discreet, easily read, exciting, and thought-provoking. For example, until reading this book, I did not realize that the growth of prehistoric life was limited by bacteria's ability to acquire iron. A chapter describes how early life used reduced iron for energy because oxygen was not yet available. Other, more modern chapter topics include biological magnets, hemochromatosis, and the devastating effects of iron deficiency anemia in 3rd world.

Iron, Nature's Universal Element: Why People Need Iron And Animals Make Magnets

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Iron, Nature's Universal Element: Why People Need Iron And Animals Make Magnets
Eugenie Vorburger Mielczarek , and Sharon Bertsch McGrayne
Manufacturer: Diane Pub Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 075678784X

Book Description

After surviving 10 "mad" years in publishing, Stripburger is proud to present another special, all-English edition. This time the subtitle is "Comics Questioning Sanity," with fresh, radical, non-moralizing and even humorous submissions that will hopefully shatter the taboo called Madness. Covered by a brainstorming painting by Matthias Lehmann, this volume is filled with stories about living with madness, madness as a blind belief system, mad society, medical treatment and other acute psychotic phenomena.

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