The future of nature : documents of global change / edited by Libby Robin, Sverker Sörlin, Paul Warde.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Robin, Libby, 1956-

Sörlin, Sverker.

Warde, Paul.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Global environmental change.

Overpopulation.

Climatic changes.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (584 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, 2013.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This anthology provides an historical overview of the scientific ideas behind environmental prediction and how, as predictions about environmental change have been taken more seriously and widely, they have affected politics, policy, and public perception. Through an array of texts and commentaries that examine the themes of progress, population, environment, biodiversity and sustainability from a global perspective, it explores the meaning of the future in the twenty-first century. Providing access and reference points to the origins and development of key disciplines and methods, it will encourage policy makers, professionals, and students to reflect on the roots of their own theories and practices.

Contents:

The Future of Nature

Front matter

Contents

Preface

How to Use This Book

Introduction Documenting Global Change

Part 1. Population Are We Too Many, or Are We Too Greedy?

An Essay on the Principle of Population (1798)

The Shadow of the World's Future (1928)

"Ghost Acreage" (1962)

The Population Bomb (1968)

Part 2. Sustainability Are We Limited by Knowledge or Resources ?

Sylvicultura oeconomica (1713)

Sylvicultura oeconomica

The Coal Question (1865)

"Possible Limits of Raw-Material Consumption" (1956)

The Limits to Growth (1972)

Part 3. Geographies Are Human and Natural Futures Determined or Chosen?

The Pulse of Asia (1907)

"Nature Versus The Australian" (1920)

The Northward Course of Empire (1922)

Part 4. "The Environment" How Did the Idea Emerge?

How Did the Idea Emerge?

Deserts on the March (1935)

Road to Survival (1948)

Silent Spring (1962)

Part 5. Ecology How Do We Understand Natural Systems?

Essay on the Geography of Plants (1807)

"The Use and Abuse of Vegetational Concepts and Terms" (1935)

Fundamentals of Ecology (1953)

Resilience and Stability of Ecological Systems (1973)

Part 6. Technology Does Technology Create More Problems Than It Solves?

The Tree of Science (1857)

To Choose a Future (1972)

"The Dynamics of Energy Systems and the Logistic Substitution Model" (1979)

Part 7. Climate How Can We Predict Change?

"On the Transmission of Heat" (1859)

"On the Influence of Carbonic Acid in the Air upon the Temperature of the Ground" (1896)

"Seasonal Foreshadowing" (1930)

"The Artificial Production of Carbon Dioxide and Its Influence on Temperature" (1938)

"Unpleasant Surprises in the Greenhouse?" (1987)

"Climate and Atmospheric History of the Past 420,000 Years from the Vostok Ice Core, Antarctica" (1999)

Part 8. Diversity Why Do We Need It, and Can We Conserve It?

The Invaders (1958)

The Forestry Projections and the Environment: Global-Scale Environmental Impacts (1980)

"What Is Conservation Biology?" (1985)

"Radical American Environmentalism and Wilderness Preservation: A Third World Critique" (1997)

Part 9 Measuring How Do We Turn the World into Data?

An Investigation of the Currents of the Atlantic Ocean (1832)

"Current Problems in Meteorology" (1957)

Nature's Services: Societal Dependence on Natural Ecosystems (1997)

The Economics of Climate Change (2006)

Part 10. The Anthropocene How Can We Live in a World Where There Is No Nature Without People?

"The 'Anthropocene''' (2000)

"A Safe Operating Space for Humanity" (2009)

"Reducing the Future to Climate: A Story of Climate Determinism and Reductionism" (2011)

Select Bibliography

Acknowledgments

Commentators

Selection Credits

Index

About the editors

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

0-300-18847-1

OCLC:

859834462