Technocrats and the Politics of Drought and Development in Twentieth-Century Brazil

Technocrats and the Politics of Drought and Development in Twentieth-Century Brazil
Author: Eve E. Buckley
Publisher: UNC Press Books
Total Pages: 299
Release: 2017-07-28
Genre: History
ISBN: 1469634317

Eve E. Buckley’s study of twentieth-century Brazil examines the nation’s hard social realities through the history of science, focusing on the use of technology and engineering as vexed instruments of reform and economic development. Nowhere was the tension between technocratic optimism and entrenched inequality more evident than in the drought-ridden Northeast sertão, plagued by chronic poverty, recurrent famine, and mass migrations. Buckley reveals how the physicians, engineers, agronomists, and mid-level technocrats working for federal agencies to combat drought were pressured by politicians to seek out a technological magic bullet that would both end poverty and obviate the need for land redistribution to redress long-standing injustices.

Waiting for Rain

Waiting for Rain
Author: Nicholas Gabriel Arons
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
Total Pages: 292
Release: 2004-10
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9780816523306

"Drawing on interviews with artists and poets and on his own experiences in the Brazilian Northeast, Arons has written an account of how drought has impacted the region's culture. He intertwines ecological, social, and political issues with the words of some of Brazil's most prominent authors and folk poets to show how themes surrounding drought - hunger, migration, endurance, nostalgia for the land - have become deeply embedded in Nordeste identity. Through this tapestry of sources, Arons shows that what is often thought of as a natural phenomenon is actually the result of centuries of social inequality, political corruption, and unsustainable land use."--BOOK JACKET.

Drought in Brazil

Drought in Brazil
Author: Erwin De Nys
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 247
Release: 2016-08-05
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 149876567X

Drought is a slow-onset natural hazard that is often referred to as a creeping phenomenon. The challenge of monitoring drought’s onset and evolution, and identifying its termination or end is one that scientists, natural resource managers, and decision makers have been struggling with for decades. However, drought management must be aimed at reducing the risks of future drought events on economies, the environment, and the social fabric of regions. As with many countries, droughts are often managed as a crisis in Brazil, rather than events for which officials and communities proactively prepare. Although droughts are not new to Brazil, the recent spate of droughts in the poverty stricken semi-arid Northeast and the industrial hub of São Paulo in the Southeast has forced the country to think more seriously about finally changing its drought policies and management approaches. The book is told through the perspectives of the ministers and secretaries, state policy and technical officials, civil society organizations, and development practitioners that helped to facilitate the shift in paradigm in Brazil from crisis management and towards proactive management of droughts. It is written in a style that is appealing to both technical and non-technical audiences, and aims to provide a framework and lessons for other countries to consider when embarking upon similar efforts to improve their own drought policy and management systems.

Climate Change and Water

Climate Change and Water
Author: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change / Working Group Technical Support Unit
Publisher:
Total Pages: 200
Release: 2008
Genre: Climatic changes
ISBN: 9789291691234

The Technical Paper addresses the issue of freshwater. Sealevel rise is dealt with only insofar as it can lead to impacts on freshwater in coastal areas and beyond. Climate, freshwater, biophysical and socio-economic systems are interconnected in complex ways. Hence, a change in any one of these can induce a change in any other. Freshwater-related issues are critical in determining key regional and sectoral vulnerabilities. Therefore, the relationship between climate change and freshwater resources is of primary concern to human society and also has implications for all living species. -- page vii.

Evaluating Climate Change Action for Sustainable Development

Evaluating Climate Change Action for Sustainable Development
Author: Juha I. Uitto
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 365
Release: 2017-01-11
Genre: Science
ISBN: 331943702X

This book is open access under a Creative Commons license. This authoritative book presents the ever progressing state of the art in evaluating climate change strategies and action. It builds upon a selection of relevant and practical papers and presentations given at the 2nd International Conference on Evaluating Climate Change and Development held in Washington DC in 2014 and includes perspectives from independent evaluations of the major international organisations supporting climate action in developing countries, such as the Global Environment Facility. The first section of the book sets the stage and provides an overview of independent evaluations, carried out by multilateral development banks and development organisations. Important topics include how policies and organisations aim to achieve impact and how this is measured, whether climate change is mainstreamed into other development programs, and whether operations are meeting the urgency of climate change challenges. The following sections focus on evaluation of climate change projects and policies as they link to development, from the perspective of international organisations, NGO’s, multilateral and bilateral aid agencies, and academia. The authors share methodologies or approaches used to better understand problems and assess interventions, strategies and policies. They also share challenges encountered, what was done to solve these and lessons learned from evaluations. Collectively, the authors illustrate the importance of evaluation in providing evidence to guide policy change to informed decision-making.

Latin America and the Caribbean

Latin America and the Caribbean
Author: Brian W. Blouet
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 408
Release: 2015-01-20
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1118729846

Updated and revised with many new detailed maps and photographs, Latin America and the Carribbean: A Systematic and Regional Survey, 7th Edition enables geographers to explore the changes and major issues facing this dynamic region today. The historical material has been streamlined in order to focus on contemporary issues. A new chapter was written to focus on Brazil and the Amazonia region. Key environmental issues are highlighted in new boxes throughout the chapters.

In Search of the Amazon

In Search of the Amazon
Author: Seth Garfield
Publisher: Duke University Press
Total Pages: 358
Release: 2014-02-03
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0822377179

Chronicling the dramatic history of the Brazilian Amazon during the Second World War, Seth Garfield provides fresh perspectives on contemporary environmental debates. His multifaceted analysis explains how the Amazon became the object of geopolitical rivalries, state planning, media coverage, popular fascination, and social conflict. In need of rubber, a vital war material, the United States spent millions of dollars to revive the Amazon's rubber trade. In the name of development and national security, Brazilian officials implemented public programs to engineer the hinterland's transformation. Migrants from Brazil's drought-stricken Northeast flocked to the Amazon in search of work. In defense of traditional ways of life, longtime Amazon residents sought to temper outside intervention. Garfield's environmental history offers an integrated analysis of the struggles among distinct social groups over resources and power in the Amazon, as well as the repercussions of those wartime conflicts in the decades to come.

International Rainwater Catchment Systems Experiences: Towards water security

International Rainwater Catchment Systems Experiences: Towards water security
Author: José Arturo Gleason Espíndola
Publisher: IWA Publishing
Total Pages: 271
Release: 2020-05-15
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1789060575

From time immemorial, people have been managing rain. The availability of water and water sources determined where people would be able to live. Adequate rainfall decided on the quality of agriculture. Technical advances and finance may have enabled societies to inhabit big cities and expand agriculture into dry areas, but only because of the resource rain provided through the water cycle. Due to population growth, pollution, and climate change, water scarcity will be one of the most critical problems all around the world in the next 15 years. Today, around 10% of the world’s population lacks a proper water supply service. Harvesting rainwater and using it for drinking, domestic, industrial, and agricultural uses will help to supply quality water to urban and rural populations. Divided into four sections, basic concepts, narratives of RWH, programs implemented by diverse sectors of society, and notable cases, the book summarizes experiences from 14 different countries all around the globe, developed and developing countries, urban and rural areas. The subject of this book is related to the promotion of different international rainwater experiences that provides sustainable water services and climate resilience, including technical aspects and socio-cultural and policy affairs. This book was written for all people interested in sustainable rainwater management. Students, people just starting in the subject, and experts will find this book interesting as it creates an overview of rainwater harvesting practice and technology all around the world. We encourage all readers to read these stories and arguments at your leisure. Some many ideas and techniques can be picked up and applicable for serving the last 10% that is waiting for water security and proper water service.

Drought and Water Crises

Drought and Water Crises
Author: Donald A. Wilhite
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 424
Release: 2005-03-22
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 1420028383

Today the world is facing a greater water crisis than ever. Droughts of lesser magnitude are resulting in greater impact. Even in years with normal precipitation, water shortages have become widespread in both developing and developed nations, in humid as well as arid climates. When faced with severe drought, governments become eager to act. Unfort

Global Water Security

Global Water Security
Author: World Water Council
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 292
Release: 2018-02-02
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9811079137

This book highlights the relationship between the water sector and various other sectors in order to establish an improved understanding of the importance of water resources as an essential cross-cutting vector of socio-economic development. The book is both policy and practice oriented and is not constrained by existing definitions on water security. It includes actual experiences of policy, management, development and governance decisions taken within the water sector, and examples on how these have affected the energy and agricultural sectors as well as impacted the environment, and vice versa, as appropriate. It also discusses trade-offs, short and long-term implications, lessons learnt, and the way forward. The book includes case studies on cities, countries and regions such as Australia, China, Singapore, Central Asia, Morocco, Southern Africa, France, Latin America, Brazil and California.