Environment Energy And Natural Resource Management In The Baltic Region

Comprehensive Security for the Baltic explores the extent to which regional cooperation on environmental protection and natural-resource utilization serves as a confidence-building measure that fosters comprehensive international security. The contributors first provide an overview of the concept of regional political security and the extent to which environmental security might contribute to the former. They then give a detailed overview of the Baltic, examining the formal mechanisms and organizations for regional environmental cooperation, and formulating the means for building regional confidence. Finally they consider the extent to which regional security contributes to a sustainable future, not only at the regio

This volume presents a reconstruction of the formation of the environmental conditions and biota in the present-day Baltic Sea area during the last glacial cycle and thereafter under the influence of extra-terrestrial, climatic and geological factors. Abiotic conditions in the contemporary Baltic Sea (water salinity, temperature, oxygen and light conditions, currents and other water movements) are characterized and in this background the natural regional system of the sea has been generated. Important issues are considered such as life forms in the Baltic and their dependence on the natural environment (both in the conditions of the relative stable environment and during the regime shifts), as well as anthropogenic influences and the basic differences between the areas of the World Ocean and the brackish Baltic Sea. This book also equips readers with basic principles of assessments and management of ecosystems and fish resources (including the long-term assessment and forecast on ecosystems and fish resources) and provides information on the structures of international collaboration developed in the Baltic Sea.

This book focuses on providing an overview of all our available natural resources, considering the sustainability and potential for power generation of each. Energy efficiency prospects of each natural resource are examined in the context of society’s key energy needs- Heating/cooling, Electric Power, Transportation and Industrial Production. Geography, climate and demographics are all discussed as key vectors impacting the comparative opportunities for self-sustenance around the globe. The authors provide in-depth coverage of renewable energy upscale and energy efficiency improvements in industry and society within a historical context, including a keen look at the variable effectiveness of different policy tools that have been used to support the transition away from unsustainable resource use. Finally, suggestions for more sustainable futures are provided, from improved policy measures, to new technological horizons in areas from offshore wind and marine energy to biogas and energy storage.

Eight countries are used as templates for an examination from an economic perspective of the environmental and resource problems in the Nordic and Baltic region. Specific environmental issues assessed include international environmental cooperation, political debates that affect policies, and the impact of international financial assistance. Chapters consider such topics as fish stocks, geothermal power, and desertification in Iceland and nuclear power, pollution, and restructuring in Lithuania. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR