Environmental Issues in the Mediterranean: Processes and Perspectives from the Past and Present

ISBN-13: 9781138867109 / Angielski / Miękka / 2014 / 512 str.

John B. Thornes; John Wainwright

Opis

The Mediterranean has been subject to changing human settlement and land use patterns for millennia, and has a history of human exploitation in an inherently unstable landscape. Environmental Issues in the Mediterranean reviews both physical and social aspects of this region, in relation to its environment.
Ideal for students who are studying a range of environmental issues, but want to see them linked within one regional context. The book begins with an introduction to the Mediterranean region, its history, physical and human geography and its environmental problems. It then goes on to examine:
* The Dynamic Environment - climate variables and fluctuations, vegetation, the hydrological cycle of the basin and its watershed, processes of erosion, fire and the Mediterranean Sea
*The Human Impact on the Environment - prehistoric and historic land use, traditional agriculture, rural and urban settlement and use of mineral resources
* The Mediterranean Environment Under Increasing Pressure - the present human landscape, changes in agriculture in the 20th century, the impact of depopulation, pollution, water resources, desertification and potential climatic change.
It then concludes with a discussion of the region's on-going environmental issues of water resources, land degradation, agricultural intensification and tourism, and considers how these can be approached using management techniques and national and regional policies.

Recenzje

'...this book covers a very wide range of material relating to environmental issues in the Mediterranean countries.'
'...this is a work of massive and often authoritative scholarship...[and] will providea benchmark for years to come.' -both Chris Hunt (Holocene 14)

Spis treści

1. Introduction 2. The Geological Setting 3. The Mediterranean Climate and its Evolution 4. Vegetation 5. The Hydrological Cycle of the Basin and its Watershed 6. Erosion Processes 7. Fire 8. The Mediterranean Sea 9. Background to Prehistoric and Historic Land Use 10. Traditional Land-Use Patterns 1:Agriculture 11. Traditional Land-Use Patterns 2:Rural Settlement 12. Traditional Land-Use Patterns 3:Urban settlement 13. Traditional Land-Use Patterns 4:Use of Mineral resourses 14. The Present Human Landscape 15. Agricultural Changes in the Twentieth Century 16. The Impact of Depopulation 17. Pollution 18. Water Resources 19. Desertification 20. Potential Climatic Change and its Effects 21. Key Issues for Mitigation

O autorze

John B. Thornes, John Wainwright