Environmental Change in Mountains and Uplands

AvMartin Beniston

Häftad, Engelska, 2000

Del i serien Key Issues in Environmental Change

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Beskrivning

Mountain environments are often perceived to be austere, isolated, and inhospitable. In fact, these areas are of immense value to mankind, providing direct life support to close to 10 percent of the world's population and sustaining a wide variety of species - many of which are endemic to this environment.'Environmental Change in Mountains and Uplands' provides detailed account of the fragile and marginal physical and socio-economic systems which make up the world's mountain regions. Discussing the direct and indirect impacts of human interference on environmental ecosystems, it then turns to the social and economic consequences of such environmental change - both upon the mountain environment itself and upon the populations who depend on mountain resources for their economic sustenance.This book includes a review of possible implications for adaption and mitigation strategies in a global context. Working within a broad temporal scale, it draws upon paleoenvironmental records to document past changes which have occured in the absence of major anthropogenic influences, as well as utilising modelling as a means to assessing future environmental change.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum:2000-03-27
Mått:189 x 246 x 10 mm
Vikt:350 g
Format:Häftad
Språk:Engelska
Serie:Key Issues in Environmental Change
Antal sidor:188
Förlag:Taylor & Francis Ltd
ISBN:9780340706367

Utforska kategorier

Geografi inom Naturvetenskap och teknik
Historisk geografi inom Historia och arkeologi

Mer om författaren

Professor of Geography, University of Fribourg, Switzerland.

Recensioner i media

Not only serves as a primary reference and standard concerning mountain research but also transmits the spirit of collective responsibility for a fragile part of our planet.Bulletin of the World Meteorological OrganizationProvides some valuable and generally accessible insight into issues related to environmental change in general and mountain environments in particular. it is therefore not only a useful book to complement undergraduate courses addressing environmental change and/or mountain environments, but is also of value to readers with a range of backgrounds who seek an introductory text to these themes, be they environmentalists, people involved in outdoor education or just mountain enthusiasts.The Holocene...a broad but interesting book. The author should be pleased to have produced one of few teaching-level texts that will inspire and support students of all abilities and provide the better students with an excellent entry point to the more advanced literature.Progress in Physical Geography

Innehållsförteckning

Part 1 - Mountains and uplands an introductionMountain regions of the worldImportance of mountain regions to humankindCurrent environmental and socio-economic information and statisticsEnvironmental stresses: the emergence of the human factorGlobal environmental change: fundamental issuesPart 2 - Characterization of mountain environmentsClimateHydrological systemsCryosphereSoilsEcological systems and biodiversityHuman environmentsData for research on mountain environmentsPart 3 - Past environmental change in mountains and uplandsProxy data: reconstructing the pastEnvironmental change in the distant pastMountain environments during the last major glaciationMountain environments during the HoloceneClimatic change in the 20th centuryPart 4 - Modelling approaches to assess environmental changeThe significance of modellingSpatial and temporal scalesGlobal and regional climate modelsSemi-empirical methods and statistical downscaling techniquesEcosystem modelsIntegrated assessment models (IAM)Limits and range of application of modelsPart 5 - Natural forcingsThe causal mechanisms of anthropogenic pressures on the environmentEnvironmental pollutionLand-use changesClimatic changePart 6 - Impact of environmental change on natural systemsChallenges for impacts assessmentsImpacts on hydrologyImpact on mountain cryosphereExtreme events and their impacts on geomophologic features