Atlas of Mediterranean Environments in Europe PDF Download

Author: Paola Mairota
Publisher: Wiley
ISBN: 9780471960928
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
The Mediterranean countries of Europe have been undergoing rapid change and development over the last thirty years and especially during the last ten. These changes have occurred in all aspects of life and livelihood, and for many countries such change has had far reaching social and economic impacts. In addition, the results of centuries of distinctive man environment relationships in a climatically marginal region have been swept aside and the landscape itself is undergoing a rapid transformation. Large areas are being abandoned temporarily or permanently by rural populations; urban growth is rampant; agriculture has been intensified; and water scarcity, fed by the severe droughts of the 1980s and 1990s, has become a major environmental and resource concern. At the same time the threat of global climate change and the indication of deeper and more sustained future droughts has brought these issues into sharp focus. Based on the findings of the European Community s Medalus Project, this Atlas brings to a wide audience the background to and a contemporary understanding of the environmental crisis, which is now facing the Mediterranean region of Europe, as well as the future prospects for a solution.

Author: Jose Rubio
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 904812526X
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 156

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Book Description
Based on the suggestions made by the speakers of Plenary Session IV “Ch- lenges to the management of water resources and to countering deserti cation in the Mediterranean region” during the 15th Economic and Environmental Forum, the OCEEA proposed to organize a workshop on “Water Scarcity, Land Degra- tion and Deserti cation in the Mediterranean region – Environment and Security Aspects”. In order to build on common synergies, OSCE sought co-operation with c- leagues from NATO, in particular from the Science for Peace and Security P- gramme. NATO has a longstanding expertise on the issue and had organised in Valencia, in December 2003, a NATO scienti c workshop on “Deserti cation and Security in the Mediterranean Region”. The objective of the new proposed wo- shop would be to broaden its focus from the scienti c community to include also policy makers. 1 The workshop, aimed at government of cials from the Mediterranean Region, gathered representatives of Water management, Land degradation and Desert- cation Departments of Ministries of Environment and representatives from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs. In addition, policy makers, scientists and experts were also invited. The aim was to discuss how the OSCE, NATO and other c- petent organizations like the UNCCD, UNEP, MAP, and the EU could play a role in ensuring that environment and security linkages in terms of water scarcity, land degradation and deserti cation are addressed in the Mediterranean Region.

Author: Chris C. Park
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 9780415217712
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 716

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Book Description
The second edition of this fully integrated introductory text for courses in environmental studies and physical geography builds on the resounding success of the first edition, providing a comprehensive account of modern environmental issues and the physical and socio-economic framework in which they are set. It explains the principles and applications of the different parts of the Earth's system: the lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere and the biosphere, and explains the interrelationships within and between these systems. It explores the present environmental crisis, examines how the planet Earth fits into the wider universe and explores human-environment interactions.

Author: John B. Thornes
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134729863
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 510

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Book Description
The Mediterranean has been subject to changing human settlement and land use patterns for millennia. This book reviews both physical and social aspects of this region, in relation to its environment.

Author: Harriett Allen
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317877136
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 286

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Book Description
A core textbook series that aims to provide students with accessible, up-to-date accounts of Ecogeography - the marriage of ecology with geography - in the primary terrestrial and marine environments. This is the first book in the series on Mediterranean Ecogeography. Biological diversity in the Mediterranean Basin is amongst the highest of any region on earth, both in terms of total species numbers and endemism. The flora is estimated at about 25,000 species of flowering plants and ferns, compared with about 6000 species in non-Mediterranean Europe. About 50% of these are endemic. Diversity amongst vertebrate animals is also high, though endemism rates are lower than for plants. The high levels of diversity contribute to, and are a reflection of, the considerable variability of landscape. This results from a combination of factors including geological and tectonic history, relief and physiography, climate, geomorphological processes, hydrology, soils, the incidence of fires and impact of human activities. The landscapes of the Mediterranean Basin are thus varied and fragmented; a mosaic of ecosystems and communities. Mediterranean Ecogeography aims to examine and explain this heterogeneity, and the approach is focused on the ecogeography of the region. Analysing the factors which account for the present distributions of plants and animals, and the functioning of ecosystems within the Mediterranean Basin can help in the understanding of the relationship between people and natural ecosystems. A key to the conservation of these ecosystems is the wise use of resources, biological and physical. In addition, it is vital to assess how the natural environments of the region will respond to further change. In the last twenty years, understanding of the functioning of mediterranean-type ecosystems has advanced through several international projects. This book draws upon the findings of these, and other research in the Mediterranean Basin, to present a comprehensive text on a key region of the world, and the problems and prospects of its environmental exploitation.

Author: W.G. Kepner
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1402037600
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 593

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Book Description
This book provides a multi-lateral forum for cooperation, information exchange, and dialogue among the environmental, development, foreign and security policy communities within the Mediterranean Region and thus may provide a precedent for further cooperation and partnership, including other more advanced conferences and publications, on assessing the condition of the entire region and the subsequent impacts and linkages to environmental security.

Author: N. A. Geeson
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470856866
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 456

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Book Description
Desertification includes land degradation due to both climatic and anthropogenic causes, where land includes water, soil, and the biosphere. This book presents the most recent findings from the European Community's MEDALUS project, which was formed to understand and manage semi-arid environments that are undergoing great change. * Covers climate and land use processes and responses in the Mediterranean * First book to provide guidelines for the management of land degradation in Mediterranean environments * Based on first-hand experience of the problems by those responsible for solving them

Author: Maria Giaoutzi
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351878638
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description
Tourist visits used to be a less common activity in the past. However, more people than ever now make leisure trips, making this an era of mass tourism. This drastic change in spatial behaviour is not only caused by economic prosperity, but the scale of this phenomenon means that it is able to generate economic growth, making tourism a key factor in regional development policy. One of the main challenges of current regional policy is to market the attractiveness of an area, thereby increasing tourist visits and subsequent revenue. In particular, regions are attempting this through the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), which offer information on interesting places, and efficient methods for organizing and booking trips. This book examines the interconnections between tourism, ICT and regional development. Bringing together a range of European case studies illustrating various ICT and policy innovations, it not only critiques current activity by regions in terms of tourism development, but also considers how this sector is likely to continue to grow.

Author: Roy H. Behnke
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 364216014X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 560

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Book Description
The question in the title of this book draws attention to the shortcomings of a concept that has become a political tool of global importance even as the scientific basis for its use grows weaker. The concept of desertification, it can be argued, has ceased to be analytically useful and distorts our understanding of social-environmental systems and their resiliency, particularly in poor countries with variable rainfall and persistent poverty. For better policy and governance, we need to reconsider the scientific justification for international attempts to combat desertification. Our exploration of these issues begins in the Sahel of West Africa, where a series of severe droughts at the end of the 20th century led to the global institutionalization of the idea of desertification. It now seems incontrovertible that these droughts were not caused primarily by local land use mismanagement, effectively terminating a long-standing policy and scientific debate. There is now an opportunity to treat this episode as an object lesson in the relationship between science, the formation of public opinion and international policy-making. Looking beyond the Sahel, the chapters in this book provide case studies from around the world that examine the use and relevance of the desertification concept. Despite an increasingly sophisticated understanding of dryland environments and societies, the uses now being made of the desertification concept in parts of Asia exhibit many of the shortcomings of earlier work done in Africa. It took scientists more than three decades to transform a perceived desertification crisis in the Sahel into a non-event. This book is an effort to critically examine that experience and accelerate the learning process in other parts of the world.

Author: Alan P. Dykes
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470711213
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
The Times (Obituaries, 4 August 2008) reported that “John Thornes was one of the most eminent and influential physical geographers of his generation.” John’s keen interest in understanding landform processes and evolution was furthered through a variety of methods and informed across a range of disciplinary boundaries. In particular he pushed for better integration of monitoring, theoretical and simulation modelling, field and laboratory experimentation and remote sensing techniques. Although dominated by an interest in the Mediterranean region and problems of land degradation, his research activities ranged across a number of time scales and with other environmental perspectives. This collection of papers reflects this wide range of John’s interests through the recent work of scientists and professionals most strongly influenced by his rigorous training or leadership. The thematic focus of the book, which runs through all of the main contributions, is the integration of different methodologies and the application of this approach to improved understanding of natural systems and the development of appropriate strategies for environmental and resource management. Short overviews of John’s contributions to geomorphological research are also presented to provide context for the origins of this book.