U.S. Health in International Perspective

U.S. Health in International Perspective
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 421
Release: 2013-04-12
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0309264146

The United States is among the wealthiest nations in the world, but it is far from the healthiest. Although life expectancy and survival rates in the United States have improved dramatically over the past century, Americans live shorter lives and experience more injuries and illnesses than people in other high-income countries. The U.S. health disadvantage cannot be attributed solely to the adverse health status of racial or ethnic minorities or poor people: even highly advantaged Americans are in worse health than their counterparts in other, "peer" countries. In light of the new and growing evidence about the U.S. health disadvantage, the National Institutes of Health asked the National Research Council (NRC) and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to convene a panel of experts to study the issue. The Panel on Understanding Cross-National Health Differences Among High-Income Countries examined whether the U.S. health disadvantage exists across the life span, considered potential explanations, and assessed the larger implications of the findings. U.S. Health in International Perspective presents detailed evidence on the issue, explores the possible explanations for the shorter and less healthy lives of Americans than those of people in comparable countries, and recommends actions by both government and nongovernment agencies and organizations to address the U.S. health disadvantage.

Survival and Sustainability

Survival and Sustainability
Author: Hüseyin Gökçekus
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 1468
Release: 2011-03-23
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3540959912

The International Conference on Environment: Survival and Sustainability, held at the Near East University, Nicosia, Northern Cyprus 19-24 February 2007, dealt with environmental threats and proposed solutions at all scales. The 21 themes addressed by the conference fell into four broad categories; Threats to Survival and Sustainability; Technological Advances towards Survival and Sustainability; Activities and Tools for Social Change; Defining Goals for Sustainable Societies. Activities and tools that move the society towards greater sustainability were emphasized at the conference. These included environmental law and ethics, environmental knowledge, technology and information systems, media, environmental awareness, education and lifelong learning, the use of literature for environmental awareness, the green factor in politics, international relations and environmental organizations. The breadth of the issues addressed at the conference made clear the need for greatly increased interdisciplinary and international collaboration the survival and sustainability concept. The exchanges at the conference represent a step in this direction.

Understanding Environmental Issues

Understanding Environmental Issues
Author: Susan Buckingham
Publisher: SAGE
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2008-05-13
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1849206384

"Understanding Environmental Issues provides an excellent foundation for developing critical thinking about contemporary environmental concerns and the ways in which these are debated, represented and managed. The book should achieve its aim of stimulating students to engage with how ideas of sustainability and environmental justice can be applied both in policy and in practical action." - Gordon Walker, Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University "The arena of environmental issues is a minefield for undergraduate students seeking clarity about key problems and solutions. This is where Understanding Environmental Issues will play a major role, providing a stimulating guide through the wealth of material and complex ideas. In particular the unification of social and physical science in the case studies provides a holistic approach to the subject that is essential for students and a refreshing innovation for environmental textbooks." - Anna R. Davies, Trinity College, University of Dublin There is now an unprecedented interest in, and concern about, environmental problems. Understanding Environmental Issues explains the science behind these problems, as well as the economic, political, social, and cultural factors which produce and reproduce them. This book: Explains, clearly and concisely, the science and social science necessary to understand environmental issues. Describes - in section one - the philosophies, values, politics, and technologies which contribute to the production of environmental issues. Uses cases on climate change, waste, food, and natural hazards in section two to provide detailed illustration and exemplification of the ideas described in section one. The conclusion, a case study of Mexico City, draws together the key themes Vivid, accessible and pedagogically informed, Understanding Environmental Issues will be a key resource for undergraduate and taught postgraduate students in Geography, Environment, and Ecology; as well as students of the social sciences with an interest in environmental issues.

The Ethics of Environmental Concern

The Ethics of Environmental Concern
Author: Robin Attfield
Publisher: University of Georgia Press
Total Pages: 276
Release: 2011-03-15
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 0820340251

First published in 1983, The Ethics of Environmental Concern has become a classic in the relatively new field of environmental ethics. Examining traditional attitudes toward nature, and the degree to which these attitudes enable us to cope with modern ecological problems, Robin Attfield looks particularly at the Judeo-Christian heritage of belief in humankind's dominion, the tradition of stewardship, and the more recent belief in progress to determine the extent to which these attitudes underlie ecological problems and how far they embody resources adequate for combating such problems. He then examines concerns of applied ethics and considers our obligations to future generations, the value of life, and the moral standing and significance of nonhumans. Simultaneously, he offers and defends a theory of moral principles appropriate for dealing with such concerns as pollution, scarce natural resources, population growth, and the conservation and preservation of the environment. The second edition includes a new preface and introduction, as well as a bibliographic essay and an updated list of references incorporating relevant scholarship since the publication of the first edition.

Environmental Issues

Environmental Issues
Author: Robert L. McConnell
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2002
Genre: Environmental sciences
ISBN: 9780130920416

This textbook examines 27 issues currently critical to the global environment in the areas of population and migration, consumption and quality of life, energy use and conservation, pollution and climate change, the hydrosphere, and environmental health. The second edition adds a section on using math in the environmental sciences. Annotation copyrighted by Book News Inc., Portland, OR.

Wicked Environmental Problems

Wicked Environmental Problems
Author: Peter J. Balint
Publisher: Island Press
Total Pages: 267
Release: 2012-06-22
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1610910478

"Wicked" problems are large-scale, long-term policy dilemmas in which multiple and compounding risks and uncertainties combine with sharply divergent public values to generate contentious political stalemates; wicked problems in the environmental arena typically emerge from entrenched conflicts over natural resource management and over the prioritization of economic and conservation goals more generally. This new book examines past experience and future directions in the management of wicked environmental problems and describes new strategies for mitigating the conflicts inherent in these seemingly intractable situations. The book: reviews the history of the concept of wicked problems examines the principles and processes that managers have applied explores the practical limitations of various approaches Most important, the book reviews current thinking on the way forward, focusing on the implementation of "learning networks," in which public managers, technical experts, and public stakeholders collaborate in decision-making processes that are analytic, iterative, and deliberative. Case studies of forest management in the Sierra Nevada, restoration of the Florida Everglades, carbon trading in the European Union, and management of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in Tanzania are used to explain concepts and demonstrate practical applications. Wicked Environmental Problems offers new approaches for managing environmental conflicts and shows how managers could apply these approaches within common, real-world statutory decision-making frameworks. It is essential reading for anyone concerned with managing environmental problems.

Environmental Management: Issues and Concerns in Developing Countries

Environmental Management: Issues and Concerns in Developing Countries
Author: Pradip K. Sikdar
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 387
Release: 2021-03-17
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 303062529X

This book deals with issues and concerns for the human environment in the developing countries incorporating natural processes and systems, pollution removal technology, energy conservation, environmental impact assessment process, economics, culture, political structure and societal equity from a management point of view. Solutions to the emerging problems of the environment need a paradigmatic shift in approach from a process based model to a socio-political-economic model. Hence environmental management should involve equality and control over use of the finite natural resources and the balance between Earth’s biocapacity and humanity’s ecological footprint. Changes such as green technologies, human population stabilization and adoption of ecologically harmonious lifestyles are absolutely essential and will require redesigning of political institutions, policies and revisiting forgotten skills of sustainable practices of environmental management. These challenges should centre on environment governance using the concepts of common property, equity and security. This book is relevant for academics, professionals, administrators and policy makers who are concerned with various aspects of environment management and governance.

The Environmental Impact of Overpopulation

The Environmental Impact of Overpopulation
Author: Trevor Hedberg
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 263
Release: 2020-04-14
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1351037005

This book examines the link between population growth and environmental impact and explores the implications of this connection for the ethics of procreation. In light of climate change, species extinctions, and other looming environmental crises, Trevor Hedberg argues that we have a collective moral duty to halt population growth to prevent environmental harms from escalating. This book assesses a variety of policies that could help us meet this moral duty, confronts the conflict between protecting the welfare of future people and upholding procreative freedom, evaluates the ethical dimensions of individual procreative decisions, and sketches the implications of population growth for issues like abortion and immigration. It is not a book of tidy solutions: Hedberg highlights some scenarios where nothing we can do will enable us to avoid treating some people unjustly. In such scenarios, the overall objective is to determine which of our available options will minimize the injustice that occurs. This book will be of great interest to those studying environmental ethics, environmental policy, climate change, sustainability, and population policy.

Grand Challenges in Environmental Sciences

Grand Challenges in Environmental Sciences
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 107
Release: 2001-05-24
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 0309072549

Scientists have long sought to unravel the fundamental mysteries of the land, life, water, and air that surround us. But as the consequences of humanity's impact on the planet become increasingly evident, governments are realizing the critical importance of understanding these environmental systemsâ€"and investing billions of dollars in research to do so. To identify high-priority environmental science projects, Grand Challenges in Environmental Sciences explores the most important areas of research for the next generation. The book's goal is not to list the world's biggest environmental problems. Rather it is to determine areas of opportunity thatâ€"with a concerted investmentâ€"could yield significant new findings. Nominations for environmental science's "grand" challenges were solicited from thousands of scientists worldwide. Based on their responses, eight major areas of focus were identifiedâ€"areas that offer the potential for a major scientific breakthrough of practical importance to humankind, and that are feasible if given major new funding. The book further pinpoints four areas for immediate action and investment.

Global Environmental Issues

Global Environmental Issues
Author: Frances Harris
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2005-01-28
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0470093951

Meeting the needs of upper level students, this book treats global environmental problems as complex issues with a network of human and biophysical causes. Each chapter interlinks human demands on the Earth's resources to natural biophysical change - not simply a 'cause and effect' treatment of global issues and environmental change Includes coverage of contemporary hot topics such as biodiversity, urbanisation and sustainable development Global case studies (two per chapter) contextualise theory for students "This book should have considerable appeal among undergraduate and postgraduate students in a broad range of disciplines. Frances Harris has assembled a team of well-qualified authors, who between them consider such important environmental issues as climate and sea level change, biodiversity, GM crops, energy supply, urbanization, pollution and sustainable development. The style is clear and non-technical, the coverage is global and the text is supported by numerous figures and illustrations. Boxed case studies provide useful exemplification of general issues. I have no doubt that this book will be very popular with my own students, in providing detailed analysis of a range of key environmental issues which are frequently reported in the media." Tony Binns, University of Sussex, UK "This book usefully realises that environmental issues are a complex blend of contested science, broader socio-political contexts and the concerns, values, attitudes and livelihoods of individuals. Written by internationally recognised authors, it covers major global issues such as pollution, energy, climate change, sea level rise, food production, urbanisation and sustainability in an informative way, with abundant case studies and illustrations, which clearly exemplify just how complex the facets of the issues can be. It does not offer easy solutions but it is a good exercise in awareness for the reader." Stephen Trudgill, Robinson College, University of Cambridge, UK