Книга из популярной серии «100 великих» рассказывает о самых удивительных, захватывающих загадках и тайнах неживой природы, растительного мира и царства животных, а также о невероятных, но вполне реальных существах, больше похожих на персонажи мифов и легенд. Тунгусский «зал саркофагов» и балтийские «гейзеры», поющие барханы и огнедышащие призраки, гигантская трава и чудо-кактусы, реликтовые ящеры и сумчатый дьявол, мокеле-мбембе и птица Рух... Все непознанное, малоизученное и труднообъяснимое заставляет людей задуматься о тайнах нашего мира, дает сюжеты для фантастических романов и кинофильмов, подвигает ученых на научные исследования и экспедиции, а любителей-энтузиастов — на смелые догадки. Будущее все настойчивее ставит вопрос: найдут ли люди пути к достойному сосуществованию как друг с другом, так и с миром природы, или человечество погрузится в пучину климатических, генетических и психотронных войн?

In this “chilling, in-depth examination of a rapidly emerging global crisis” (In These Times), Maude Barlow and Tony Clarke, two of the most active opponents to the privatization of water show how, contrary to received wisdom, water mainly flows uphill to the wealthy. Our most basic resource may one day be limited: our consumption doubles every twenty years—twice the rate of population increase. At the same time, increasingly transnational corporations are plotting to control the world’s dwindling water supply. In England and France, where water has already been privatized, rates have soared, and water shortages have been severe. The major bottled-water producers—Perrier, Evian, Naya, and now Coca-Cola and PepsiCo—are part of one of the fastest-growing and least-regulated industries, buying up freshwater rights and drying up crucial supplies. A truly shocking exposé that is a call to arms to people around the world, Blue Gold shows in frightening detail why, as the vice president of the World Bank has pronounced, “The wars of the next century will be about water.”

The field of environmental ethics is a new but now well-established sub-discipline of philosophy. Emerging in the mid-1970s, the field coalesced with the inaugural volume of the journal Environmental Ethics in 1979 and developed rapidly. By the turn of the century, most colleges and universities offered courses, if not major programs of study, in this important discipline. The Encyclopedia of Environmental Ethics and Philosophy addresses the needs of upper high school students, undergraduate researchers, teachers and professors, as well as general readers by examining the philosophical and ethical issues underlying contemporary and historical environmental issues, policies, and debates. More than 300 peer-reviewed articles cover concepts, institutions, topics, events and people, including global warming, animal rights, environmental movements, alternative energy, green chemistry, industrial ecology, and eco-sabotage. Encyclopedia of Environmental Ethics and Philosophy joins the suite of other MacMillan applied ethics titles: Encyclopedia of Bioethics and the Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Ethics. Additional features include 200 photographs and illustrations, thematic outline, annotated bibliography, and a comprehensive index.

Vol. 2 : Arachnids, Birds, Crustaceans, Insects and Molluscs. - 320 p.

As environmental security gains increasing attention, there is a pressing need for rigorous examinations of environmental causes of conflict and the potential for conflict resolution. Environmental Conflict explores the relationship between environmental degradation or scarcity and either intrastate or interstate violent conflict. Informed by theoretical perspectives, a major strength is the focus on demanding empirical tests of hypothesized relationships between environmental factors and violence. Identifying the causes of conflict can assist in developing meliorative measures. The contributors are eminent scholars who address a pressing issue in innovative ways.

We don’t have an energy crisis. We have a consumption crisis. And this book, which takes aim at cherished assumptions regarding energy, offers refreshingly straight talk about what’s wrong with the way we think and talk about the problem. Though we generally believe we can solve environmental problems with more energy—more solar cells, wind turbines, and biofuels—alternative technologies come with their own side effects and limitations. How, for instance, do solar cells cause harm? Why can’t engineers solve wind power’s biggest obstacle? Why won’t contraception solve the problem of overpopulation lying at the heart of our concerns about energy, and what will? This practical, environmentally informed, and lucid book persuasively argues for a change of perspective. If consumption is the problem, as Ozzie Zehner suggests, then we need to shift our focus from suspect alternative energies to improving social and political fundamentals: walkable communities, improved consumption, enlightened governance, and, most notably, women’s rights. The dozens of first steps he offers are surprisingly straightforward. For instance, he introduces a simple sticker that promises a greater impact than all of the nation’s solar cells. He uncovers why carbon taxes won’t solve our energy challenges (and presents two taxes that could). Finally, he explores how future environmentalists will focus on similarly fresh alternatives that are affordable, clean, and can actually improve our well-being. Watch a book trailer.

With shortages, volatile prices and nearly one billion people hungry, the world has a food problem—or thinks it does. Farmers, manufacturers, supermarkets and consumers in North America and Europe discard up to half of their food—enough to feed all the world's hungry at least three times over. Forests are destroyed and nearly one tenth of the West's greenhouse gas emissions are released growing food that will never be eaten. While affluent nations throw away food through neglect, in the developing world crops rot because farmers lack the means to process, store and transport them to market. But there could be surprisingly painless remedies for what has become one of the world's most pressing environmental and social problems. Waste traces the problem around the globe from the top to the bottom of the food production chain. Stuart’s journey takes him from the streets of New York to China, Pakistan and Japan and back to his home in England. Introducing us to foraging pigs, potato farmers and food industry CEOs, Stuart encounters grotesque examples of profligacy, but also inspiring innovations and ways of making the most of what we have. The journey is a personal one, as Stuart is a dedicated freegan, who has chosen to live off of discarded or self-produced food in order to highlight the global food waste scandal. Combining front-line investigation with startling new data, Waste shows how the way we live now has created a global food crisis—and what we can do to fix it. 8 pages of illustrations

В монографии дана характеристика бриофлоры степной зоны Европы на фоне антропогенного прессинга на природу. Приведена история изучения мохообразных, анализируется таксономическая, эволюционно-географическая, биоморфологическая, экологическая и ценотическая структура бриофлоры, рассматриваются основные этапы истории формирования бриофлоры, изменения бриофлоры под антропогенным воздействием, показано, что для охраны редких видов созданы 8 заказников, на 19 заказников и 2 национальных парка подготовлены материалы.

В монографии описаны структура, генетические связи флоры юго-востока Украины, выявлены взаимосвязи процессов флорогенеза и синантропизации растительного покрова. Рассмотрены вопросы антропогенной трансформации флоры (обеднение генетического разнообразия, занос и экспансия адвентивных видов, тератогенез, особенности пространственной дифференциации). Предложено понятие о типах трансформированных флор, описаны шесть таких типов. Обсуждена фитосозологическая концепция направленной трансформации флор. Для ботаников, экологов, специалистов по охране окружающей среды, преподавателей и студентов вузов.

Батумский ботанический сад расположен на берегу Черного моря, в 9 км к северу от Батуми, между платформами «Зеленый мыс» и «Ботанический сад».Основание Сада связано с активной деятельностью профессора Андрея Николаевича Краснова, посвятившего последние годы осуществлению многолетней мечты о превращении заболоченной Колхиды в страну цитрусовых садов, чайных и бамбуковых плантаций. В путеводителе описываются основные ценные экзотические и местные растения, произрастающие на глазных экскурсионных маршрутах Батумского ботанического сада, с указанием их морфологических, биоэкологических и хозяйственных особенностей. утеводитель предназначен для посетителей, знакомящихся с растительным богатством Сада.