Showing titles in Environmental

In 2006, John Doerr was moved by Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth and a challenge from his teenage daughter: “Dad, your generation created this problem. You better fix it.” Since then, Doerr has searched for solutions to this existential problem - as an investor, an advocate, and a philanthropist. Fifteen years later, despite breakthroughs in batteries, electric vehicles, plant-based proteins, and solar and wind power, global warming continues to get worse. Its impact is all around us: droughts, floods, wildfires, the melting of the polar ice caps.

Water is the most fundamental of survival needs. While many communities around the world are used to struggling with water shortages, many of us have no clue what we would do in this sort of situation.

Never have so many undertaken such a widespread, hurried attempt to remake the world. Predictably, our hubris has led to unintended—and sometimes disastrous—consequences. Over the Seawall tells us the stories behind these unintended consequences and the fixes that can do more harm than good. From seawalls in coastal Japan, to the reengineered waters in the Ganges River Delta, to the artificial ribbon of water supporting both farms and urban centers in parched Arizona, Stephen Robert Miller traces the histories of engineering marvels that were once deemed too smart and too big to fail.

Weaving together findings from a wide range of disciplines, Power traces how four key elements developed to give humans extraordinary power: Tool making ability, language, social complexity, and the ability to harness energy sources - most significantly, fossil fuels. It asks whether we have, at this point, overpowered natural and social systems, and if we have, what we can do about it. Has Homo sapiens - one species among millions - become powerful enough to threaten a mass extinction and disrupt the Earth's climate?

In Secondhand, Adam Minter delves into the vast, multibillion-dollar industry that resells used stuff around the world. He follows the trail of unwanted objects from the closets, garages, and storage units of Middle America to epic used-goods markets in Canada, Mexico, Japan, Ghana, India, Malaysia, and beyond. Secondhand takes us through the often painful and heartbreaking process of cleaning out a lifetime’s worth of possessions and shows that used stuff still has a place in a world that values the new and shiny.

The Mississippi. The Missouri. The Ohio. America’s rivers are the very lifeblood of our country. We need them for nourishing crops, for cheap bulk transportation, for hydroelectric power, for fresh drinking water. Rivers are also part of our mythology, our collective soul; they are Mark Twain, Led Zeppelin, and the Delta Blues. But as infrastructure across the nation fails and climate change pushes rivers and seas to new heights, we’ve arrived at a critical moment in our battle to tame these often-destructive forces of nature.

Burn looks beyond renewable biomass or carbon capture energy systems to offer a bigger and bolder vision for the next phase of human progress, moving carbon from wasted sources into soils and agricultural systems to rebalance the carbon, nitrogen, and related cycles; enhance nutrient density in food, rebuild topsoil, and condition urban and agricultural lands to withstand flooding and drought; to cleanse water by carbon filtration and tropic cascades within the world’s rivers, oceans, and wetlands.

Steered by Tom Szaky, recycling pioneer, eco-capitalist, and founder and CEO of TerraCycle, this audiobook explores current issues of production and consumption, practical steps for improving packaging and reducing waste today, and big ideas and concepts that can be carried forward. Intended to help every business from a small start-up to a large established consumer product company, this audiobook serves as a source of knowledge and inspiration. The message from these pioneers is not to scale back, but to innovate upward.

In 2015, wildlife filmmaker Tom Mustill was whale watching when a humpback breached onto his kayak and nearly killed him. A video clip of the event went viral, and Tom found himself inundated with theories about what happened. He became obsessed with trying to find out what the whale had been thinking. He wished he could just ask it. In the process of making a film about his experience, he discovered that might not be such a crazy idea.

“Domine el examen EPA 608: Su guía completa para la certificación de manejo de refrigerantes” es un recurso esencial para los técnicos del sector de la refrigeración y el aire acondicionado. Esta completa guía cubre todos los aspectos de la gestión de refrigerantes, desde la comprensión de los ciclos básicos de refrigeración hasta la manipulación de sistemas de alta y baja presión y el mantenimiento de pequeños electrodomésticos. Profundiza en las propiedades y la manipulación de las mezclas de refrigerantes, las responsabilidades éticas y medioambientales y los últimos ...

Waste. We spend a great deal of energy trying to avoid it, but once you train your eyes to look for it, you’ll see it all around you - in your home, your business, and your everyday life. In Wasted, futurist Byron Reese and entrepreneur Scott Hoffman take readers on a fascinating journey through this modern world of waste, drawing on science, economics, and human behavior to envision what a world with far less of it - or none of it at all - might look like.

Building a Resilient Tomorrow does not dwell on overhyped descriptions of apocalyptic climate scenarios, nor does it travel down well-trodden paths surrounding the politics of reducing carbon emissions. Instead, it starts with two central facts: Climate impacts will continue to occur, and we can make changes now to mitigate their effects.

Essential Rainwater Harvesting is a comprehensive manual for designing, building, and maintaining water-harvesting systems for the warm and cold climates of the world. Presenting design considerations and approaches for the most common household rainwater supply scenarios.

In Anna Clark's full account of this American tragedy, The Poisoned City recounts the gripping story of Flint’s poisoned water through the people who caused it, suffered from it, and exposed it. It is a chronicle of one town, but could also be about any American city, all made precarious by the neglect of infrastructure and the erosion of democratic decision making. Places like Flint are set up to fail - and for the people who live and work in them, the consequences can be fatal.

A decade to save the planet. That's the current call to arms. Targets are set, governments vow to do their bit and on a societal level we are encouraged to do ours by choosing to forego all things plastic. The question is whether this is the right decision or are we inadvertently at risk of doing more harm than good? Are there other factors in play needing equal consideration? The book will follow the story of plastic, and to an extent rubber (known collectively as polymers), and all with an eye to the overarching theme of the environment.

Resisting Garbage presents a new approach to understanding practices of waste removal and recycling in American cities, one that is grounded in the close observation of case studies while being broadly applicable to many American cities today.

Harvesting rainwater doesn’t have to be a complicated process, and by following the right principles, you can not only create your own RWH system that works for your requirements, but also scale it when you need to expand–all without wasting time or money.

As a changing climate threatens the whole country with deeper droughts and more furious floods that put ever more people and property at risk, Texas has become a bellwether state for water debates. Will there be enough water for everyone? Is there the will to take the steps necessary to defend ourselves against the sea? Is it in the nature of Americans to adapt to nature in flux?

Embark on a captivating journey through the concrete jungles to discover the bountiful nature hidden within city limits in the groundbreaking eBook, "City Greens." As you flip through its chapters, let the urban landscape transform before your eyes into a rich mosaic of wild edibles—unveiling a world where every nook and cranny offers wholesome, nutritious foods, providing sustenance far beyond what meets the eye. "City Greens" isn't just a guide; it's a map to treasures untold, an invitation to embark on an urban forager's journey that spans from the bustling city streets to the ...

Growing up in Iraq, Yasmin Ali regularly experienced power cuts - ironic for a country rich in oil and sunshine. Now as an engineer working in energy, Yasmin has a deep appreciation for what these resources mean for our lives. In Power Up she takes us on a journey across the globe to reveal the bigger picture, from solar panel farms shimmering in the desert to power stations hidden deep in the mountains. We discover where we get energy from, how it is moved and used around the world - and why we need to understand the whole system if we want to transition towards a clean, green future.