International Perspectives On Global Environmental Change

Environmental change is increasingly considered a critical topic for researchers across multiple disciplines, as well as policy makers throughout the world. Mounting evidence shows that environments in every part of the globe are undergoing tremendous human-induced change. Population growth, urbanization and the expansion of the global economy are putting increasing pressure on ecosystems around the planet. To understand the causes and consequences of environmental change, the contributors to this book employ spatial and non-spatial data, diverse theoretical perspectives and cutting edge research tools such as GIS, remote sensing and other relevant technologies. International Perspectives on Global Environmental Change brings together research from around the world to explore the complexities of contemporary, and historical environmental change. As an InTech open source publication current and cutting edge research methodologies and research results are quickly published for the academic policy-making communities. Dimensions of environmental change explored in this volume include: Climate change Historical environmental change Biological responses to environmental change Land use and land cover change Policy and management for environmental change

This collected volume deals with emerging issues related to climate variation, climate change and adaptation technologies, with a special focus on Latin American countries. Presenting a variety of adaptation strategies and projects currently being undertaken and implemented, the book showcases how Latin American nations are struggling to meet the challenges of climate change. Latin America as a whole and Central America in particular is one of the most vulnerable regions of the world and is severely affected by recurrent extreme climate-related events. This volume documents and analyzes the main challenges and lessons learned, serving to disseminate knowledge beyond the region and enhance international research and policy cooperation.

Climate change and depletion of the ozone layer are two examples of dramatic changes in the Earth's natural environment which raise new questions in international relations. The nine chapters in this book explore some of the theoretical and policy problems that are posed by global environmental change. The variety of perspectives employed - international relations theory, international political economy, international law, strategic studies, North-South issues and Eastern Europe - illustrates the complexity of the issues involved.

Over the years, environmental change has sharpened significant dynamic evolution and knowledge in organizational structures of organisms, from cellular/molecular to macro-organism level including our society. Changes in social and ecological systems due to environmental change will hopefully result in a shift towards sustainability, with legislative and government entities responding to diverse policy and management issues concerning the building, management and restoration of social-ecological systems on a regional and global scale. Solutions are particularly needed at the regional level, where physical features of the landscape, biological systems and human institutions interact. The purpose of this book is to disseminate both theoretical and applied studies on interactions between human and natural systems from multidisciplinary research perspectives on global environmental change. It combines interdisciplinary approaches, long-term research and a practical solution to the increasing intensity of problems related to environmental change, and is intended for a broad target audience ranging from students to specialists.

How can a divided world share a single planet? As the environment rises ever higher on the global agenda, the discipline of International Relations (IR) is engaging in more varied and transformative ways than ever before to overcome environmental challenges. Focusing in particular on the key trends of the past 20 years, this volume explores the main developments in the global environmental crisis, with each chapter considering an environmental issue and an approach within IR. In the process, adjacent fields including energy politics, science and technology, and political economy are also touched on. Traditions and Trends in Global Environmental Politics is aimed at anybody interested in the key international environmental problems of the day, and those seeking clarification and inspiration in terms of approaches and theories that decode how the environment is accounted for in global politics. It will be an essential resource for students and scholars of global environmental politics and governance, environmental studies and IR.

This volume discusses the challenges of Latin America in global environmental geopolitics. Written by leading experts, this book brings together Latin American research on global environmental change. They cover a range of topics such as climate change, water, forest and biodiversity conservation connected with science policies, public opinion, priorities of international funds, and international politics of Latin American countries. The book describes the discrepancy between the international priorities and the regional needs or country interests. It includes several case studies and analyses the cooperation in multilateral negotiations on climate change. It also offers a synthesis of debates around global environmental changes and Latin American politics, which the authors have previously promoted in different academic events in South America, including in Santiago de Chile in Chile, and Buenos Aires and Ushuaia in Argentina. This book assesses the environmental problems from different perspectives, highlights the scientific development in the environmental changes affecting Latin America and offers a new view on geopolitics to help face those issues. Specialist readers in international relations, political sciences, environmental sciences, geography and geopolitics will appreciate this up-to-date examination of Latin America and the global environmental change.

Revised and updated throughout, this unique anthology examines global environmental politics from a range of perspectives and captures the voices of both the powerless and the powerful. Paradigms of sustainability, environmental security, and ecological justice illustrate the many ways environmental challenges and their solutions are framed in contemporary international debates about climate, water, forests, toxics, energy, food, and biodiversity. Organized thematically, the selections offer a truly global scope. Seventeen new readings explore climate justice, globalization, land and water grabs, climate change and conflict, China’s international environmental relations, and the future of climate politics in the wake of the Paris Agreement. This book stresses the underlying questions of power, interests, authority, and legitimacy that shape environmental debates, and it provides readers with a global range of perspectives on the critical challenges facing the planet and its people. This new edition of Green Planet Blues connects directly with a wide-range of upper-level undergraduate and graduate-level courses.

Experts investigate how states and other actors can improve inter-institutional synergy and examine the complexity of overlapping environmental governance structures. Institutional interaction and complexity are crucial to environmental governance and are quickly becoming dominant themes in the international relations and environmental politics literatures. This book examines international institutional interplay and its consequences, focusing on two important issues: how states and other actors can manage institutional interaction to improve synergy and avoid disruption; and what forces drive the emergence and evolution of institutional complexes, sets of institutions that cogovern particular issue areas. The book, a product of the Institutional Dimensions of Global Environmental Change research project (IDGEC), offers both theoretical and empirical perspectives. Chapters range from analytical overviews to case studies of institutional interaction, interplay management, and regime complexes in areas including climate change, fisheries management, and conservation of biodiversity. Contributors discuss such issues as the complicated management of fragmented multilateral institutions addressing climate change; the possible “chilling effect” on environmental standards from existing commitments; governance niches in Arctic resource protection; the relationships among treaties on conservation and use of plant genetic resources; causal factors in cross-case variation of regime prevalence; and the difficult relationship between the World Trade Organization and multilateral environmental agreements. The book offers a broad overview of research on interplay management and institutional complexes that provides important insights across the field of global environmental governance.