Nature

Metal Ions and the Route to Life provides the empirical groundwork to interested researchers and the general public for revisiting their preconceived ideas about the origin of life and for appreciating the absolute indispensability of metal ions in life.

A vivid history of the American Prairie and an urgent call to understand and protect this natural wonder, which rivals the rainforest in its biological diversity and, with little notice, is disappearing even faster.The North American prairie is an ecological marvel. One cubic yard of prairie sod contains so many organisms that it rivals the tropical rainforest for biological diversity. And like the rainforest, it showcases nature’s prodigious talent for symbiosis. The lush carpet of grasses feeds a huge population of grazing animals and is home to some of the nation's most iconic creatures--bison, elk, wolves, pronghorn, prairie dogs, and bald eagles. These creatures return the favor by spreading nitrogen and seeds across the prairie in their manure, and the grazers in turn feed prairie predators, and when they die, they return their store of organic matter to the living soil.When European settlers encountered the prairie nearly 200 years ago, rather than recognizing a natural wonder they saw a daunting landscape of root-tangled soil. But with the development of the steel plow, artificial drainage, and nitrogen fertilizers, in mere decades they converted the prairie into some of the richest farmland on Earth—a transformation unprecedented in human history. American farmers fed the industrial revolution and made North America a breadbasket for the world, but their progress came at a terrible cost: the forced dislocation of indigenous peoples, pollution of the continent’s rivers, and the catastrophic loss of wildlife. Today, as these trends build toward an environmental crisis, industrial agriculture has resumed its assault on the prairie, plowing up the remaining grasslands at the rate of one million acres a year. Farmers have an opportunity to protect this extraordinary landscape, but trying new ideas can mean ruin in a business with razor-thin margins and will require help from Washington, D.C., and from consumers who care about the land that feeds them.Veteran journalists and Midwesterners Dave Hage and Josephine Marcotty follow the history of humanity's relationship with this incredible land, offering a deep, compassionate analysis of the difficult decisions as well as opportunities facing agricultural and Indigenous communities. Sea of Grass is a vivid portrait of one of the world's most miraculous and significant ecosystems, making clear why the future of this region is of essential concern far beyond the heartland.

Photocatalytic Perovskite Materials: Green Sustainable Process for Chemical and Environmental Engineering and Science (GSPCEES) contains up-to-date information on hot topics concerning perovskite-based photocatalysts. The book gives readers an in-depth glance at photocatalysis via perovskite semiconductors and their applications in a diverse range of industries. It provides an overview of the historical development of conventional catalysis and (perovskite) photocatalysis, its challenges, strategies for improvement, and methods for synthesis and selectivity enhancement. Users will find applications for solar hydrogen production, solar-driven fuel generation, volatile organic compounds, CO2 reduction, environmental remediation, degrading organic pollutants from wastewater, and organic reactions.In addition, the book deals with photocatalytic behavior of inorganic halide perovskites, organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite photocatalysts, organic-organic composite perovskite for photocatalysis, metal halide perovskite quantum dots, perovskite-based oxynitrides for photocatalysis, visible light active perovskites based photocatalysts, surface modification of perovskite materials to improve photocatalytic activity, and charge separation in perovskite nanostructures.

Containing more than 1,600 photos and drawings, this magnificent handbook is the definitive guide to the tracks and signs of European animals.

Originally published in 1961, this book comprises of 14 studies by scholars and officials with first-hand experience of Africa and deals with the nature and organization of population censuses and with the many uses to which their results may be put.

Beginning with a study of a suburb of Athens, this book charts the occurrence of a range of radical social changes as the locality adapts itself to processes of globalization, broadening its analysis to as to offer a theoretical account of the dynamic interaction of the local with the global wherever it occurs in (sub)urban space.

Provides insights into the regional and local factors influencing water insecurity and its effects on people's daily lives. With practical policy advice, this is a key resource for policy makers and practitioners, as well as researchers in geography, development studies, environmental science, anthropology, economics, and political science.

As urban populations grow unprecedentedly, cities worldwide face pressures from rapid expansion, climate change, and social inequalities. Resilient Urbanism critically examines how cities, towns, and informal settlements adapt to these multifaceted challenges, exploring urban resilience in the 21st century.

A compelling proposal for new international law and institutions to address the planetary crisis that improves biodiversity protection, supports Indigenous peoples, and prevents catastrophic climate change.In The Ecology Politic, Anthony Burke and Stefanie Fishel contend that the roots of our planetary crisis lie in the modern state: in its destructive entanglement with capitalism and its colonial legacies of extraction and oppression. This, in turn, has shaped global governance and international law, as they continue to fail to curb global heating, deforestation, and extinction. In a far-reaching critique of the foundational political theory of the modern state—the Body-Politic—the authors insist that nothing less than a radically different model of the polity—an Ecology Politic—is needed if we are to escape this impasse.Burke and Fishel argue that the international rule of law enacts a sovereign ban of nature that appropriates nonhuman lives for profit and use while denying them political and legal standing. We fail because we rely on the very institutions, worldviews, and systems that generated the crisis to solve it. The authors reconsider political power, agency, scale, and democracy in the Anthropocene and assert a biospheric ethic that values the entangled planetary structure of matter, energy, and life. Further, they argue for more-than-human beings to be represented in an ecological democracy that flows across borders. In short, they imagine a polity whose fundamental purpose is to protect planetary ecosystems and nurture interlocking systems of social and ecological justice.

"Traces anti-env. from the 19th-c frontier to the 1950s suburb, from the shuttered shops of Main St to Trump Country and presents a political theory of anti-env. grounded in class struggle"--

A model for developing a co-creative partnership with all life

Today the Northeast of Scotland is the picture of peace and tranquillity. Some of the highest quality agricultural land is to be found here. But it was not always like this. Written for the non-expert and including stunning photographs and diagrams, this is the essential introduction to the geology and landforms of this part of Scotland.

Over a year of walks through the fields, woods and wetlands near her home, Octavie Wolters shares her thoughts and worries with blackbirds and magpies, swallows and oystercatchers, and receives their wisdom in return. This Will Last Forever is a gorgeously illustrated memoir of a year in nature, a journey through the seasons and a reminder that comfort and enlightenment can be found in the everyday wonder of the wild world.

Filled with artifacts, drawings, maps, and historical photographs from the Peary MacMillan Arctic Museum collections, Peary's Arctic Quest provides a richly illustrated overview of Robert Peary's quest to reach the North Pole.

A timely and essential dive into the relationship between cities, health and the economy, offering actionable solutions that can change the way we live and generate wealth.