Global Environmental Issues, 2nd edn (Open University U206)

by Alan Reddish (Author), Roger Blackmore (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  1996

  $3.25

  This text is the last of a series of four volumes on environmental issues, particularly concerned with global problems, the available scientific information, which is necessarily incomplete, and the reasons of the policy makers. Ten authors contribute to six chapters. The first five deal with particular topics where some progress has been made with international agreement: the Law of the Sea, atmospheres and climate change, the ozone layer and - more all-embracing and elusive - sustainable development. The last chapter surveys the various participants in the complex political debates on these crucial questions, considers their various value positions and speculates on possible futures.

• Used

  Paperback
  1991

  $3.25

  Evaluates the sustainability of current energy and mineral use, in terms of resource availability, the environmental impacts of extraction, processing and disposal of the emergence of political pressure groups and parties opposed to current practices. Minerals and energy are dealt with together through three stages. First, overall patterns of supply and demand are outlined. Then the impacts of current practices, from the local impacts of mining, through the regional and sometimes international impacts of processing and dumping with their effects on air pollution and on water bodies. Finally, proposals for amelioration are examined, ranging from land reclamation, controls on emissions and waste management to alternative energy and mineral recycling. Analysis of environmental politics shows some movement from scattered reaction against particularly offensive parts of energy or mineral cycles, through, more systematic green parties in some countries and towards increasing international recognition of a need for new policies.

• Used

  Hardcover
  1996

  $3.25

  The third of four volumes on environmental issues, this text concentrates on major factors in the modern technological society - energy, minerals, manufacturing, waste disposal - their environmental effects, and how these might be changed. Nine authors contribute to seven chapters. The first three chapters deal with energy - principles, effects of present policies and more sustainable futures. The next two chapters consider mineral resources and the effects of mining and processing. The impact of manufacturing, particularly the hazards of the chemical industry, and methods of reducing them, follow. Finally, waste disposal is represented by a discussion of the particular political issues raised by radioactive wastes. Student activities are provided.