Environmental Engineering & Technology

An environmental expert unleashes a scientific, fact-based broadside against eco-alarmism and the excesses of the left, arguing that climate change and other environmental problems are real but not apocalyptic and require practical, not radical, solutions. Many environmentalists ...claim the world as we know it will soon come to an end unless we radically change how we live our lives. They demand we stop eating meat, ban plastics, and significantly reduce how much we drive and fly. Climate change is real, says Michael Shellenberger in Apocalypse Never, but it's not the end of the world. It is not even our most serious environmental problem. Most environmental trends, including population, pollution, and resource use, are all going in the right direction. The left profits from hyping climate change as apocalypse while opposing obvious solutions. Schemes like The Green New Deal would transfer wealth to well-connected elites, raise energy costs, and hurt wildlife. Poverty, not prosperity, is the real enemy of the environment. We use can produce more food using less land and water, move from wood to coal to natural gas to nuclear, and safely capture and contain plastic waste. But all of that will require standing up to the eco-alarmism in the way of environmental protection.
Read more

Now a National Bestseller! Climate change is real but it's not the end of the world. It is not even our most serious environmental problem. Michael Shellenberger has been fighting for a greener planet for decades. He helped save the world's last unprotected redwoods. He co-create...d the predecessor to today's Green New Deal. And he led a successful effort by climate scientists and activists to keep nuclear plants operating, preventing a spike of emissions. But in 2019, as some claimed billions of people are going to die, contributing to rising anxiety, including among adolescents, Shellenberger decided that, as a lifelong environmental activist, leading energy expert, and father of a teenage daughter, he needed to speak out to separate science from fiction. Despite decades of news media attention, many remain ignorant of basic facts. Carbon emissions peaked and have been declining in most developed nations for over a decade. Deaths from extreme weather, even in poor nations, declined 80 percent over the last four decades. And the risk of Earth warming to very high temperatures is increasingly unlikely thanks to slowing population growth and abundant natural gas. Curiously, the people who are the most alarmist about the problems also tend to oppose the obvious solutions. What's really behind the rise of apocalyptic environmentalism There are powerful financial interests. There are desires for status and power. But most of all there is a desire among supposedly secular people for transcendence. This spiritual impulse can be natural and healthy. But in preaching fear without love, and guilt without redemption, the new religion is failing to satisfy our deepest psychological and existential needs.
Read more

This book analyses water allocation law and policy in New Zealand and offers a comparative analysis with Australia. In New Zealand it is generally accepted that water allocation law has failed to be adequately addressed and New Zealand is now faced with the problem of over-alloca...tion in many catchments. In comparison, Australia has extensive experience in reforming its water law and policy over the last twenty years. This book provides a comparative and critical analysis of the lessons that New Zealand can learn from the Australian experience and offers guidance for the improvement of water allocation outcomes in New Zealand. Starting with the background of water allocation law and policy in New Zealand, the book traces the evolution of legal policies, including the 1967 Water and Soil Conservation Act and the 1991 Resource Management Act, and examines the role they have played in current water allocation issues. The book situates these findings within global challenges, such as the impact of climate change, and the global scarcity of and increasing demand for freshwater resources. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars researching water law and policy, natural resource management and environmental law more broadly. It was also be of use to policymakers and professional involved in developing and implementing water allocation laws and policies.
Read more

A guide to the theory and strategic approach to achieving an ideal museum environment for collections and people. This book emphasizes the need for planning and the role of the building as the first line of defence against environmental damage. Issues of monitoring and control ar...e detailed.
Read more

Fundamentals of Hydrology provides an absorbing and comprehensive introduction to the understanding of how fresh water moves on and around the planet and how humans affect and manage the freshwater resources available to them. The book consists of three parts, each of fundamental... importance in the understanding of hydrology: * The first section deals with processes within the hydrological cycle, our understanding of them, and how to measure and estimate the amount of water within each process. This also includes an analysis of how each process impacts upon water quality issues. * The second section is concerned with the measurement and analytical assessment of important hydrological parameters such as streamflow and water quality. It describes analytical and modelling techniques used by practising hydrologists in the assessment of water resources. * The final section of the book draws together the first two parts to discuss the management of freshwater with respect to both water quality and quantity in a changing world. Fundamentals of Hydrology is a lively and accessible introduction to the study of hydrology at university level. It gives undergraduates a thorough understanding of hydrological processes, knowledge of the techniques used to assess water resources and an up-to-date overview of water resource management. Throughout the text examples and case studies from all around the world are used to clearly explain ideas and techniques. Short chapter summaries, essay questions, guides to further reading, website links and a glossary are also included. The third edition provides new and updated case study material and includes a new chapter on measuring streamflow. This chapter has particular reference to recent technological advances in this field and the challenges in maintaining a high quality river flow data set.
Read more