Suchergebnisse

Intro -- Title page -- Copyright page -- Preface to the Seventh Edition -- About the Companion Website -- Part I: The Past and Present -- 1: Introduction -- The development of ideas -- The development of human population and stages of cultural development -- Hunting and gathering -- Humans as cultivators, keepers and metal workers -- Modern industrial and urban civilizations -- 2: The Human Impact on Vegetation -- Introduction -- The use of fire -- Fires: natural and anthropogenic -- Some consequences of fire suppression -- Some effects of fire on vegetation -- The role of grazing -- Deforestation -- Secondary rain forest -- The human role in the creation and maintenance of savanna -- The spread of desert vegetation on desert margins -- The maquis of the Mediterranean lands -- The prairies and other mid-latitude and high-altitude grasslands -- Post-glacial vegetational change in Britain and Europe -- Lowland heaths -- Introduction, invasion and explosion -- Air pollution and its effects on plants -- Forest decline -- Miscellaneous causes of plant decline -- The change in genetic and species diversity -- Conclusion: threats to plant life -- 3: Human Influence on Animals -- Domestication of animals -- Dispersal and invasions of animals -- Human influence on the expansion of animal populations -- Causes of animal contractions and decline: pollution -- Habitat change and animal decline -- Other causes of animal decline -- Animal extinctions in prehistoric times -- Modern-day extinctions -- 4: The Human Impact on the Soil -- Introduction -- Salinity: natural sources -- Human agency and increased salinity -- Irrigation salinity -- Dryland salinity -- Urban salinity -- Interbasin water transfers -- Coastal zone salinity -- Consequences of salinity -- Reclamation of salt-affected lands -- Lateritization -- Accelerated podzolization and acidification.

Deserts are areas of great landform diversity and distinctiveness. In the past there was a shortage of desert World Heritage nominations. This situation persists, though shows some improvement. However, there are also desert landform complexes associated with mixed World Heritage sites and sites on various national World Heritage tentative lists. There are also two desert UNESCO Global Geoparks, both of which are in China. In recent years there has been the development of geotourism in arid regions and this has led to a greater interest in the economic value of geoconservation. However, there are various landscape threats that need consideration and management, including off-road driving, military activity, urbanization, river diversions, quarrying and mining, development associated with energy industries, and anthropogenic climate changes. In this paper, the concentration is on warm desert landscapes, and on conservation of geomorphological features, rather than, for instance, sites of particular stratigraphic or paleontological value.

The Earth Transformed answers the need for a concise, non-technical introduction to the ways in which the natural environment has been and is being affected by human activities. It is simply and engagingly written, and illustrated with maps, diagrams, figures and photographs. Among the subjects described and considered by the authors are desertification, deforestation, wetland management, biodiversity, climatic change, air pollution, the impact of cities on climate and hydrology, erosion, salinization, waste disposal, sea level rise, marine pollution, coral reef degradation and aquaculture

The Earth Transformed answers the need for a concise, non-technical introduction to the ways in which the natural environment has been and is being affected by human activities. It is simply and engagingly written, and illustrated with maps, diagrams, figures and photographs. Among the subjects described and considered by the authors are desertification, deforestation, wetland management, biodiversity, climatic change, air pollution, the impact of cities on climate and hydrology, erosion, salinization, waste disposal, sea level rise, marine pollution, coral reef degradation and aquaculture. Th.