ALBERT

Description / Table of Contents: With the term "Library 2.0" the editors mean an institution which applies the principles of the Web 2.0 such as openness, re-use, collaboration and interaction in the entire organization. Libraries are extending their service offerings and work processes to include the potential of Web 2.0 technologies. This changes the job description and self-image of librarians. The collective volume offers a complete overview of the topic Library 2.0 and the current state of developments from a technological, sociological, information theoretical and practice-oriented perspective

Description / Table of Contents: "An interdisciplinary study of democratic theory, empirical political science, psychology, and philosophy. Proposes a multidimensional process model of empathy that incorporates both affective and cognitive features to demonstrate the importance of empathy in fulfilling democracy's promise of giving equal consideration to all citizens in collective decisions"--Provided by publisher

Description / Table of Contents: Cover; Title; Copyright; Contents; List of Illustrations; Preface; PART ONE: What Has Controlled Earth's Climate?; CHAPTER ONE: Climate and Human History; PART TWO: Nature in Control; CHAPTER TWO: Slow Going for a Few Million Years; CHAPTER THREE: Linking Earth's Orbit to Its Climate; CHAPTER FOUR: Orbital Changes Control Ice-Age Cycles; CHAPTER FIVE: Orbital Changes Control Monsoon Cycles; CHAPTER SIX: Stirrings of Change; PART THREE: Humans Begin to Take Control; CHAPTER SEVEN: Early Agriculture and Civilization; CHAPTER EIGHT: Taking Control of Methane

Description / Table of Contents: CHAPTER NINE: Taking Control of CO[sub(2)]CHAPTER TEN: Have We Delayed a Glaciation?; CHAPTER ELEVEN: Challenges and Responses; PART FOUR: Disease Enters the Picture; CHAPTER TWELVE: But What about Those CO[sub(2)] "Wiggles"?; CHAPTER THIRTEEN: The Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Which One?; CHAPTER FOURTEEN: Pandemics, CO[sub(2)], and Climate; PART FIVE: Humans in Control; CHAPTER FIFTEEN: Greenhouse Warming: Tortoise and Hare; CHAPTER SIXTEEN: Future Warming: Large or Small?; CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: From the Past into the Distant Future; EPILOGUE; CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: Global-Change Science and Politics

Description / Table of Contents: CHAPTER NINETEEN: Consuming Earth's GiftsAfterword to the Princeton Science Library Edition; Bibliography; Figure Sources; Index; A; B; C; D; E; F; G; H; I; K; L; M; N; O; P; R; S; T; U; V; W; Y

Description / Table of Contents: The impact on climate from 200 years of industrial development is an everyday fact of life, but did humankind''s active involvement in climate change really begin with the industrial revolution, as commonly believed? Plows, Plagues, and Petroleum has sparked lively scientific debate since it was first published--arguing that humans have actually been changing the climate for some 8,000 years--as a result of the earlier discovery of agriculture. The ""Ruddiman Hypothesis"" will spark intense debate. We learn that the impact of farming on greenhouse-gas levels, thousands of years before the i

Description / Table of Contents: Wirtschaftsethik ist im Zeitalter der Globalisierung zu einem zentralen Diskussionsthema geworden. Für dieses Lehrbuch wurde nun erstmals kein systematisch-analytischer Ansatz, sondern ein historisch-genetischer Zugang zur Wirtschaftsethik gewählt. Durch die Herausarbeitung der vielfältigen und komplexen historischen Wandlungsprozesse werden pointierend Leitbilder bzw. Paradigmen der Wirtschaftsethik vorgestellt, die über den Lauf der Geschichte das Denken und Handeln geprägt haben. Ausgehend von der Entwicklung der Horden- und Stammesmoral bis hin zur Globalisierung der letzten Jahrzehnte wird ein historischer Streifzug unternommen, bei dem der Verfasser sieben wohlunterscheidbare Paradigmen herausarbeiten kann. Die Darstellung ist ein wissenschaftlich fundierter Grundriss zu einem komplexen Themenfeld an der Schnittstelle von Ökonomik, Geschichte, Theologie und Philosophie, der bewusst interdisziplinär angelegt ist, aber aufgrund seiner verständlichen Sprache sowohl für Fachleute der verschiedenen Disziplinen als auch für akademisch Vorgebildete einen Zugang zur Geschichte der Wirtschaftsethik bietet. Prof. Dr. Bernd Noll lehrt Volkswirtschaftslehre und Wirtschaftsethik an der Hochschule Pforzheim.

Description / Table of Contents: This updated and revised edition outlines strategies and models for how to use technology and knowledge to improve performance, create jobs and increase income. It shows what skills will be required to produce, sell and manage performance over time, and how manual jobs can contribute to reduce the consumption of non-renewable resources

Description / Table of Contents: This joint IEA/NEA report on electricity generating costs presents the latest data available for a wide variety of fuels and technologies, including coal and gas (with and without carbon capture), nuclear, hydro, onshore and offshore wind, biomass, solar, wave and tidal as well as combined heat and power (CHP).  It provides levelised costs of electricity (LCOE) per MWh for almost 200 plants, based on data covering 21 countries (including four major non-OECD countries), and several industrial companies and organisations.  For the first time, the report contains an extensive sensitivit

Description / Table of Contents: This topical volume focuses on the most recent advances that have been achieved in relevant fields of research of nuclear test ban monitoring, including seismology, infrasound- and hydro-acoustics, as well as nuclear physics and atmospheric backtracking. This research has been presented during the special sessions on "Research and Development in Nuclear Explosion Monitoring" convened during the 2007 and 2008 General Assemblies of the European Geosciences Union (EGU). The special sessions were introduced after the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO Prepcom) had convened a scientific symposium in 2006 on "CTBT: Synergies with Science 1996-2006 and beyond" marking the tenth anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly’s adoption of the CTBT Treaty. With regard to the seismo-acoustic fields several papers provide important updates on advances made in these fields since publication of ‘Monitoring the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty’ (see PAGEOPH topical volumes 158-159, 2001-2002). Moreover, this topical volume expands on these publications by including radionuclide and noble gas monitoring, as well as atmospheric transport modeling. In these two areas, significant progress has been made in recent years. Two papers studying the 2006 North Korean nuclear test elucidate how progress made in the relevant fields has allowed for a good understanding on the characteristics of this underground nuclear test.

Description / Table of Contents: Stress re-distribution as a result of exploitation of mineral, hydrocarbon, geothermal, and water resources cannot be eliminated. The effort must be directed to a better understanding of the underlying processes for the management of the hazard and risk associated with these operations. The study of induced seismicity has continually evolved over the past couple of decades, as underlined by both the number and complexity of applied studies required to satisfy the increased economic demands, assure the safety of the workforce and equipment, and protect the environment. A considerable effort has been put into the development of passive monitoring technology, specialized products and services being available for a wide range of applications. The recording of substantial high quality seismic data has stimulated the work on theoretical and practical aspects related to these applications, involving not only seismological knowledge, but also elements of rock mechanics, and an understanding of mining, geotechnical, and petroleum engineering. Pure and Applied Geophysics has largely contributed to raising the profile of induced seismicity research and its credibility. The range of specific analyses included in the present collection of studies expresses how powerful and resourceful passive seismic monitoring has become to so many applications. Seismic data are routinely evaluated for a series of development activities specific to each application. Engineering practice is continually improved based on trials and analyses of the ground response and stress levels, confirmed through the monitoring of seismicity. We are better equipped than ever to provide management decisions based on formalized, quantitative, and thus objective assessment.

Description / Table of Contents: Considerable progress has been made recently in quantifying geometrical and physical properties of fault surfaces and adjacent fractured and granulated damage zones in active faulting environments. There has also been significant progress in developing rheologies and computational frameworks that can model the dynamics of fault zone processes. This volume provides state-of-the-art theoretical and observational results on the mechanics, structure and evolution of fault zones. Subjects discussed include damage rheologies, development of instabilities, fracture and friction, dynamic rupture experiments, and analyses of earthquake and fault zone data.

Description / Table of Contents: Climate change is arguably the most profound challenge facing the international community in the 21st century. It is as much a challenge for poverty reduction, growth, and development as it is a global environmental issue. Climate change could undermine or reverse progress in reducing poverty and attaining the Millennium Development Goals, thereby unraveling many of the development gains of recent decades. It already threatens the livelihoods, health, and well-being of millions of people worldwide, particularly the poorest, most vulnerable groups. This book focuses attention on these previously neglected and poorly understood social dimensions of climate change. It highlights equity and vulnerability as central organizing themes and illustrates the multiple ways that pro-poor climate policy and action should be integrated into existing approaches to poverty reduction and development—from the local to the global levels. This integration is needed both in terms of pro-poor approaches to climate change adaptation and in terms of better managing the social risks and potential benefits associated with measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Description / Table of Contents: The Eco2 Cities approach is a point of departure for cities that would like to reap the many benefits of ecological and economic sustainability. It provides an analytical and operational framework that offers strategic guidance to cities on sustainable and integrated urban development. At the same time case studies are used throughout the book to provide a matter-of-fact and ground-level perspective. The Eco2 framework is flexible and easily customized to the context of each country or city. Based on the particular circumstances and the development priorities of a city - the application of the framework can contribute to the development of a unique action plan or roadmap in each case. This action plan can be triggered through catalyst projects.To support this framework, the book also begins to introduce some powerful and practical methods and tools that can further enable sustainable and integrated city planning and decision making. These include 1) operational and process methods that can strengthen collaborative decision making and cross-sector synergies in a city; 2) analytical methods ranging from diagnostics, simulation, design and scenario-generation; and 3) accounting and benchmarking methods which can help clarify, define and measure what it means to truly invest in sustainability and resilience.As additional reference reading, the book also features a series of case studies from best practice cities around the world, each demonstrating a very different dimension of the Eco2 approach. It also features a series of infrastructure sector notes (on spatial development, transport, energy, water and waste management), each of which explore sector specific issues as they pertain to urban development, and the many opportunities for coordination and integration across sectors.

Description / Table of Contents: The global financial crisis of 2008–09 did not just change the global economic order. It also changed the way we think about that order. Principles and practices that were once accepted wisdom are now in doubt or discredited. New, fundamental questions opened. And the search for answers has barely begun. For the developing world, that conceptual uncertainty is particularly uncomfortable—through a mix of good policies and good luck, they had begun to achieve real progress. Will all that now be derailed? What does the new horizon bring to them? Can they find new policy ideas that will turn the shock of the crisis into a final run toward "developed" status? How does the future look when seen from various geographic regions? Those are the kind of questions that we asked, in the summer of 2010, to some 40 development professionals working at the World Bank. This book is an unfiltered collection of their views. As seasoned practitioners in the leading development institution, they have a unique perspective from which to visualize, we would dare say "to sense", what may be coming. Some of them look at the big picture of the role that the developing world is about to play, and how it will play it. Others walk us through the conceptual links around specific issues that will affect that world—say, the likely evolution of macro-financial regulation. And others take us to continents and countries, teach us about their realities, and tell us how things will differ in the coming years. Put together, they paint a picture of reasoned optimism.

Description / Table of Contents: Our understanding of calcium carbonate precipitation within freshwater carbonate systems is being revolutionized by new quantitative approaches at both field and laboratory scale. These systems cover a diverse range of topical research areas including tufas, speleothems, stromatolites and microbial processes. Progress by various international research groups has been impressive, with major contributions to such areas as climate change, absolute dating, carbon sequestration, and biofilm construction and precipitation. A diverse sample of interrelated research is presented that provides a tantalizing glimpse of the interplay between microbial, geochemical and physical processes that control the development of tufas and speleothems. This volume will provide a cross-disciplinary platform that will stimulate further exchanges about new concepts, methodologies and interpretations associated with freshwater carbonates. In particular, it will help reinforce the importance of cross-discipline research: the driving force behind the new field of Geobiology.

Description / Table of Contents: The Mesozoic Era begins with the approximately 50-million-year-long Triassic Period, a major juncture in Earth history when the vast Pangaean supercontinent completed its assembly and began its fragmentation, and the global biota diversified and modernized after the end-Permian mass extinction, the most extensive biotic decimation of the Phanerozoic. The temporal ordering of geological and biotic events during Triassic time thus is critical to the interpretation of some unique and pivotal events in Earth history. This temporal ordering is mostly based on the Triassic timescale, which has been developed and refined for nearly two centuries. This book reviews the state of the art of the Triassic timescale and includes comprehensive analyses of Triassic radio-isotopic ages, magnetostratigraphy, isotope-based and cyclostratigraphic correlations and timescale -relevant marine and non-marine biostratigraphy.

Description / Table of Contents: This volume contains a collection of stratigraphic and diagenetic case studies of Mesozoic and Cenozoic carbonate sequences from the Tethyan realm. High levels of industry and academic interest in the region have generated numerous multi-disciplinary studies of these sequences, a selection of which are presented in this volume. The studies presented are based on both comprehensive subsurface datasets from important hydrocarbon-bearing strata of the Middle East and the excellent surface exposures in the region of interest. The studies presented in this volume may serve as suitable starting points in the development of age and architecture specific carbonate reference models. Such models can form the basis of internally consistent models for carbonate deposition, sequence development and reservoir performance. Ideally such models, suitably scaled, will be equally applicable to academic studies, the exploration and development phases of the field life cycle and in the prediction of future reservoir performance.

Description / Table of Contents: Reservoir compartmentalization - the segregation of a petroleum accumulation into a number of individual fluid/pressure compartments - controls the volume of moveable oil or gas that might be connected to any given well drilled in a field, and consequently impacts ‘booking’ of reserves and operational profitability. This is a general feature of modern exploration and production portfolios, and has driven major developments in geoscience, engineering and related technology. Given that compartmentalization is a consequence of many factors, an integrated subsurface approach is required to better understand and predict compartmentalization behaviour, and to minimize the risk of it occurring unexpectedly. This volume reviews our current understanding and ability to model compartmentalization. It highlights the necessity for effective specialist discipline integration, and the value of learning from operational experience in: detection and monitoring of compartmentalization; stratigraphic and mixed-mode compartmentalization; and fault-dominated compartmentalization.

Description / Table of Contents: Governments often pursue a variety of economic, social and political objectives through their allocation policies that go beyond the maximization of the net present value of the economic rent. The optimal allocation policy depends on a range of country specific and exogenous factors. Despite the variety of factors influencing optimal design, most countries use similar solutions. In particular, when auctions or administrative procedures are used, most governments opt for simple simultaneous multi-object sealed-bid rounds. While this may appear to be paradoxical, there is a practical explanation. It is true that more complex bidding forms might increase rent capture at bidding. However, the potential marginal gain is often limited, owing to most E&P projects’ high level of uncertainty and risk. In addition market mechanisms, such as joint bidding and secondary markets, and the fiscal regime are widely used in the petroleum sector to correct inefficiency at the time of allocation.

Description / Table of Contents: Unter Bibliothek 2.0 verstehen die Herausgeber eine Einrichtung, die die Prinzipien des Web 2.0 wie Offenheit, Wiederverwendung (ReUse), Kollaboration und Interaktion in der Gesamtorganisation anwendet. Bibliotheken erweitern Serviceangebote und Arbeitsabläufe um die Möglichkeiten der Web 2.0-Technologien. Dies verändert Berufsbild und Selbstverständnis der Bibliothekare. Der Sammelband bietet einen kompletten Überblick zum Thema Bibliothek 2.0 und den aktuellen Stand der Entwicklungen aus technologischer, soziologischer, informationstheoretischer sowie praxisorientierter Sicht.

Description / Table of Contents: Echinoderms are a vast group of spiny-skinned animals including starfish, brittle-stars, sea urchins, sand dollars, feather stars, sea lilies and sea cucumbers. These relatives of chordates and hemichordates have inhabited the world’s oceans for more than 500 million years. Modern members of the Echinodermata are, with over 7 000 species, an integral part of marine communities from the intertidal to the deep sea. Echinoderms play a major ecological role in marine habitats and are of economic importance in fisheries, aquaculture and biomedicine. The present volume contains the abstracts of lectures and posters presented during the 7th European Conference on Echinoderms (ECE) as well as excursion guides. This year’s conference was held at the northern campus of the Georg-August University in Göttingen, Germany, from October 2-9, 2010. More than 100 biologists, palaeontologists and other scientists from 25 countries participated.

Description / Table of Contents: Companies are increasingly aware of the need to address climate change. However, while many companies are taking action to address climate change, many others are still lagging behind. This report surveys responsible business practices addressing climate change and driving the shift to a low-carbon economy. It summarises policies, regulations and other instruments in support of a low-carbon economy in OECD countries and emerging economies, and analyses corporate responses to these drivers. Using the principles of responsible business conduct identified in the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, this report reviews three key areas of corporate action: accounting for greenhouse gas emissions; achieving emissions reductions; and engaging suppliers, consumers and other stakeholders.

Description / Table of Contents: This report synthesizes knowledge about the effects of natural hazards on human welfare, particularly in its economic aspects. It is a remarkable combination of case studies, data on many scales, and the application of economic principles to the problems posed by earthquakes, abnormal weather, and the like. It provides a deep understanding of the relative roles of the market, government intervention, and social institutions in determining and improving both the prevention and the response to hazardous occurrences. The report looks at disasters primarily through an economic lens. Economists emphasize self-interest to explain how people choose the amount of prevention, insurance, and coping. But lenses can distort as well as sharpen images, so the report also draws from other disciplines: psychology to examine how people may misperceive risks, political science to understand voting patterns, and nutrition science to see how stunting in children after a disaster impairs cognitive abilities and productivity as adults much later. Peering into the future, the report shows that growing cities will increase exposure to hazards, but that vulnerability will not rise if cities are better managed. The intensities and frequencies of hazards in the coming decades will change with the climate, and the report examines this complicated and contentious subject, acknowledging all the limitations of data and science.

Description / Table of Contents: This wide area of the Alpine–Himalayan belt evolved through a series of tectonic events related to the opening and closure of the Tethys Ocean. In doing so it produced the largest mountain belt of the world, which extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans. The basins associated with this belt contain invaluable information related to mountain building processes and are the locus of rich hydrocarbon accumulations. However, knowledge about the geological evolution of the region is limited compared to what they offer. This has been mainly due to the difficulty and inaccessibility of cross-country studies. This Special Publication is dedicated to the part of the Alpine–Himalayan belt running from Bulgaria to Armenia, and from Ukraine to the Arabian Platform. It includes twenty multidisciplinary studies covering topics in structural geology/tectonics; geophysics; geochemistry; palaeontology; petrography; sedimentology; stratigraphy; and subsidence and lithospheric modelling. This volume reports results obtained during the MEBE (Middle East Basin Evolution) Programme and related projects in the circum Black Sea and peri-Arabian regions.

Description / Table of Contents: During the last three decades geosciences and geo-engineering were influenced by two essential scenarios: First, the technological progress has changed completely the observational and measurement techniques. Modern high speed computers and satellite based techniques are entering more and more all geodisciplines. Second, there is a growing public concern about the future of our planet, its climate, its environment, and about an expected shortage of natural resources. Mathematics concerned with geoscientific problems, i.e., Geomathematics, is becoming increasingly important. The "Handbook of Geomathematics" as a central reference work in this area comprises the following scientific fields: (I) observational and measurement key technologies; (II) modelling of the system Earth (geosphere, cryosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, biosphere); (III) analytic, algebraic, and operator-theoretic methods; (IV) statistical and stochastic methods; (V) computational and numerical analysis methods; (VI) historical background and future perspectives.

Description / Table of Contents: Limestone is a highly successful and widely used building material, found in many important historic buildings and new monuments around the world. Whilst its success reflects its durability under a wide range of environmental conditions, there are still important questions surrounding the selection, use and conservation of building limestones. In order to make best use of new limestone today, and to conserve old limestone most effectively, we need to bring modern research methods to bear on understanding the characteristics of different limestones, what mortars to use, and how key limestones have responded to polluted atmospheres. This volume brings together recent inter-disciplinary research on these issues, illustrating the diversity of innovative techniques that are now being applied to furthering our understanding of building limestones.

Description / Table of Contents: Today's enormous development challenges are complicated by the reality of climate change�the two are inextricably linked and together demand immediate attention. Climate change threatens all countries, but particularly developing ones. Understanding what climate change means for development policy is the central aim of the World Development Report 2010. It explores how public policy can change to better help people cope with new or worsened risks, how land and water management must adapt to better protect a threatened natural environment while feeding an expanding and more prosperous population, and how energy systems will need to be transformed.The report is an urgent call for action, both for developing countries who are striving to ensure policies are adapted to the realities and dangers of a hotter planet, and for high-income countries who need to undertake ambitious mitigation while supporting developing countries efforts. A climate-smart world is within reach if we act now to tackle the substantial inertia in the climate, in infrastructure, and in behaviors and institutions; if we act together to reconcile needed growth with prudent and affordable development choices; and if we act differently by investing in the needed energy revolution and taking the steps required to adapt to a rapidly changing planet.In the crowded field of climate change reports, WDR 2010 uniquely: -- emphasizes development -- takes an integrated look at adaptation and mitigation -- highlights opportunities in the changing competitive landscape and how to seize them -- proposes policy solutions grounded in analytic work and in the context of the political economy of reform

Description / Table of Contents: Fjords are glacially over-deepened, semi-enclosed marine basins, but are often neglected as a sedimentary realm. They represent the transition from the terrestrial to the marine environment and as such have the potential to preserve evidence of environmental change. Typically most fjords have been glaciated a number of times and some high-latitude fjords still possess a resident glacier. The stratigraphic record in fjords largely preserves a glacial–deglacial cycle of deposition. Sheltered water and high sedimentation rates potentially make fjords ideal depositional environments for preserving continuous records of climate and environmental change with high temporal resolution. Fjords are also referred to as miniature oceans providing the unique opportunity to study marine processes in great detail. With predictions of warming climates, changing ocean circulation and rising sea levels, this volume is a timely look at these environmentally sensitive coastlines.

Description / Table of Contents: Elevation data are a critical element in most geoscience applications. From geological mapping to modelling Earth systems and processes geologists need to understand the shape of the Earth's surface. Vast amounts of digital elevation data exist, from large-scale global to smaller scale regional datasets, and many datasets have been merged to improve scale and accuracy. For each application, decisions are made on which elevation data to use driven by cost, resolution and accuracy. This publication shows the current status of available digital elevation data and illustrates the key applications. The types of data assessed include: ASTER stereo satellite imagery, Shuttle Radar Topographic Mapping data, airborne laser and radar such as NEXTMap, and Multibeam Bathymetry. Applications covered include: glacial deposits, landslides, coastal erosion and other geological hazards. Technical issues discussed include: accuracy analysis, derived product creation, software comparisons and copyright considerations. This volume is a comprehensive look at elevation models for geoscience.

Description / Table of Contents: Einen Überblick für Einsteiger, die ihr gedrucktes Kulturgut durch Digitalisierung schützen und zugänglich machen möchten, bietet dieses Handbuch. Es stellt die einzelnen Phasen des Digitalisierungsprozesses vor und liefert weitere, ergänzende Informationen für die detaillierte Beschäftigung mit diesem Thema.

Description / Table of Contents: The World Bank eAtlas of the Millennium Development Goals lets you visualize and map the indicators that measure progress toward the Goals, with clear explanations of each Goal and its related Targets as the context. When you select an indicator, the eAtlas creates a world map keyed to that indicator, with country rankings and data in your choice of tables or graphs. You can pan or zoom to view different countries or regions, view the dynamic change in that map with a time series, compare two maps and sets of data, and do much more.

Description / Table of Contents: Climate change is likely to have significant impacts on the agricultural sector to which farmers will have to adapt. While agriculture is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, it is also a source of carbon storage in soils. This report examines the economic and policy issues related to the impacts of climate change on agriculture and adaptation responses and to the mitigation of greenhouse gases from agriculture. It outlines research undertaken and underway in other national and international research agencies. It also highlights some of the knowledge gaps on the impacts of climate change on food production and the uncertainties of those impacts in a global context that warrant further research efforts. In particular, the report analyzes marginal abatement cost curves, which show the relative costs of achieving reductions in greenhouse gas emission through the implementation of different actions in the agricultural sector. The aim of the report is to help guide policy makers in the design of policies to address climate change issues in agriculture.

Description / Table of Contents: The discovery of dinosaurs and other large extinct ‘saurians’ - a term under which the Victorians commonly lumped ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, pterosaurs and their kin - makes exciting reading and has caught the attention of palaeontologists, historians of science and the general public alike. The papers in this collection go beyond the familiar tales about famous ‘fossil hunters’ and focus on relatively little-known episodes in the discovery and interpretation (from both a scientific and an artistic point of view) of dinosaurs and other inhabitants of the Mesozoic world. They cover a long time span, from the beginnings of ‘modern’ scientific palaeontology in the 1700s to the present, and deal with many parts of the world, from the Yorkshire coast to Central India, from Bavaria to the Sahara. The characters in these stories include professional palaeontologists and geologists (some of them well-known, others quite obscure), explorers, amateur fossil collectors, and artists, linked together by their interest in Mesozoic creatures.

Description / Table of Contents: Several different databases and models have been developed over many years of petrological study carried out by several European and non-European groups on mantle xenoliths, peridotite massifs, ophiolites and mafic magmas spanning in age from Archaean to Recent times. This volume aims to bring together these different approaches and to integrate the geochemical perceptions of the European upper mantle. The papers include regional petrological studies of the European lithospheric mantle, from Spain to the Pannonian Basin, from Corsica and Serbia as far north as Svalbard. Six contributions are based on studies of mantle xenoliths, while the remaining three deal with ophiolitic and peridotitic complexes. A further article provides an update on the textural classification of mantle rocks using a computer-aided approach and there is an introductory overview.

Description / Table of Contents: Global warming and changes in climate will have severe and lasting impacts on national efforts to alleviate poverty and promote sustainable development. Some of the world s poorest countries and communities are the most vulnerable and are already suffering the consequences. Yet often these countries are rich in natural capital, ecosystems, and biodiversity that can contribute to solutions as they can to climate change. Biodiversity is the foundation and mainstay of agriculture, forests, and fisheries. Biological resources provide the raw materials for livelihoods, agriculture, medicines, trade, tourism, and industry. Forests, grasslands, freshwater, and marine and other natural ecosystems provide a range of services, often not recognized in national economic accounts but vital to human welfare: regulating water flows and water quality, flood control, pollination, decontamination, carbon sequestration, soil conservation, and nutrient and hydrological cycling. Current efforts to address climate change focus mainly on reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, mainly through cleaner energy strategies, and on attempting to reduce vulnerability of the communities at risk by improving infrastructure to meet new energy and water needs. This book book sets out a compelling argument for including ecosystem-based approaches to mitigation and adaptation as a third essential pillar in national strategies to address climate change. Such ecosystem-based strategies can offer cost-effective, proven and sustainable solutions contributing to, and complementing, other national and regional adaptation strategies.

Description / Table of Contents: How much is a cleaner environment worth? For policy makers, that question goes largely unanswered. It's not that the environment is seen as unimportant. It's simply much easier to compare the costs and benefits of tangible projects such as airports and electrical grids, than it is to weigh the merits of a landfill cleanup. Over the past decades, the World Bank has undertaken a systematic effort to put a monetary value on environmental degradation, which results sparked policy changes. This book brings together the best case studies of the Cost of Environmental Degradation undertaken in the Middle East and North Africa region and summarizes the major policy impacts at the national and regional levels. The case studies evaluate in monetary terms the annual damages caused by economic activities to natural resources and environment – water, forests, agricultural land, air quality, waste and coastal zone – and reflects the estimates as percentages of the countries’ gross domestic product. It then captures the estimated values in a holistic picture and illuminates their concrete implications on policy, investments, and institutions for the selected countries and for the region as a whole. In addition to being a multi-nation effort, the book stands out by applying updated methods and techniques to estimate natural resource damages both in times of peace and of conflict. This is particularly relevant for the Middle East and North Africa, a region located at the crossroads of different cultures, continents, and religions. This book is primarily targeted at policy makers at the regional, national and local levels and to decision makers in government agencies, NGOs, and natural resource development institutions. It is suitable for use in training courses of decision makers working in environment, forests and water related fields. The book should also be of interest to advanced undergraduates, master’s level students and undergraduates.

Description / Table of Contents: The invasion of the land by plants (‘terrestrialization’) was one of the most significant evolutionary events in the history of life on Earth, and correlates in time with periods of major palaeoenvironmental perturbations. The development of a vegetation cover on the previously barren land surfaces impacted on the global biogeochemical cycles and the geological processes of erosion and sediment transport. The terrestrialization of plants preceded the rise of major new groups of animals, such as insects and tetrapods, the latter numbering some 24 000 living species, including ourselves. Early land-plant evolution also correlates with the most spectacular decline of atmospheric CO2 concentration of Phanerozoic times and with the onset of a protracted period of glacial conditions on Earth. This book includes a selection of papers covering different aspects of the terrestrialization, from palaeobotany to vertebrate palaeontology and geochemistry, promoting a multidisciplinary approach to the understanding of the co-evolution of life and its environments during Early to Mid-Palaeozoic times.

Description / Table of Contents: Governments and civil society in Latin America and the Caribbean should be well informed about the potential costs and benefits of combating climate change, their policy options over the next decades, and the global context for these policy decisions. At the same time, the global community needs to be better informed about the unique perspective of the Latin American and Caribbean region: problems the region will face, its potential contributions toward combating global warming, and how to maximize this potential while continuing to maintain growth and reduce poverty. This book, a companion volume to Low Carbon, High Growth: Latin American Responses to Climate Change, seeks to help fill both these needs.

Description / Table of Contents: There is an increasing consensus in the scientific community that climate change is a real and present threat. Despite the large uncertainty on the timing, magnitude and even the direction of some of the physical and economic effects of this phenomenon, it is widely accepted that these effects will be regionally differentiated and that developing countries and lower income populations will tend to suffer the most. In this context, it is critical that Latin American and Caribbean countries develop their own strategies for adapting to the various impacts of climate change and for contributing to global efforts aimed at mitigation.\'Low Carbon, High Growth\' contributes to these efforts by addressing a number of questions related to the causes and consequences of climate change in Latin America. What are the likely impacts of climate change in the region? Which countries and regions will be most affected? What can governments do to tackle the challenges associated with adapting to climate change? What role can Latin America and the Caribbean play in the area of climate change mitigation? How can the international community best help the region respond? While the study does not attempt to provide definitive answers to these questions, its goal is to contribute new information and analysis to help inform the public policy debate on this important issue.

Description / Table of Contents: The Zagros fold-thrust belt (ZFTB) extends from Turkey to the Hormuz Strait, resulting from the collision of the Arabian and Eurasian plates during Cenozoic times, and separates the Arabian platform from the large plateaux of central Iran. To the east a pronounced syntaxis marks the transition between the Zagros collision belt and the Makran accretionary wedge. In the ZFTB, the Proterozoic to Recent stratigraphic succession pile is involved in huge folds, and offers the opportunity to study the stratigraphic and tectonic evolution of the Palaeo-Tethyan margin. Few recent data were widely available on the southern Tethys margin preserved in the Zagros Mountains. The Middle East Basins Evolution (MEBE) program was an excellent opportunity to go back to the field and to collect new data to better constrain the evolution of this margin. In this volume the structure of the Zagros Mountains is explored through different scales and using different methodologies.

Description / Table of Contents: During the last decades, the monitoring and modelling of various geodynamic processes have gained ever increasing importance. In particular, temporal variations of the deformation and gravity fields recorded by new types of geodetic measuring techniques and reflecting isostatic, tectonic or volcanic processes in the earth's interior as well as climatologically induced changes on its surface have opened new avenues. The present volume succeeds a similar topical volume published in 2007 and reflects the most recent developments in these fields of research. Part of the papers in this book were presented at the second workshop on 'Deformation and Gravity Change: Indicators of Isostasy, Tectonics, Volcanism and Climate Change' that took place at the Casa de los Volcanes on Lanzarote, Spain, during March 27-30, 2007. It was jointly organized and supported by the International Association of Geodesy (IAG), the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science, the Spanish Council for Scientific Research and the Cabildo Insular de Lanzarote. The workshop also served as the second meeting of the members of the IAG Working Group ICCT2 on 'Dynamic Theories of Deformation and Gravity Fields'.

Description / Table of Contents: Das lösungsorientierte und praktische Handbuch zum Windows Server 2008 R2 mit zahlreichen fundierten Hintergrundinformationen! Der Autor Ulrich B. Boddenberg greift bei der Beschreibung des Servers auf seine praktischen Erfahrungen in zahlreichen Projekten bei mittleren und großen Kunden zurück. Denn ein modernes Betriebssystem wie Windows Server 2008 R2 bietet weit mehr als nur die Möglichkeit, Programme auszuführen. Er beschreibt alle zentralen Technologien, wie die Virtualisierung mit Hyper-V, Active Directory, Terminaldienste und den Webserver IIS. Neben diesen konkreten Technologien geht es auch um Grundlagen wie Netzwerkprotokolle, Kerberos-Authentifizierung oder die eingesetzte Hardware. Zentrale Aspekte wie Performance, Verfügbarkeit und Sicherheit ziehen sich durch das gesamte Buch.

Description / Table of Contents: This study from the Independent Evaluation Group draws lessons for development and climate change mitigation from the World Bank Group’s far-reaching portfolio of projects in energy, forestry, transport, coal power, and technology transfer. Reviewing what has worked, what hasn’t, and why, the evaluation’s key findings include: Energy efficiency can offer countries direct economic returns that dwarf those of most other development projects, while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Tropical forest protected areas, on average, significantly reduce tropical deforestation, preserving carbon and biodiversity. Deforestation rates are lower in areas that allowed sustainable use by local populations than in strictly protected areas. Deforestation rates were lowest of all in indigenous forest areas. For renewable energy projects, long-duration loans have been important in making projects financially viable.. But at prevailing carbon prices, carbon offset sales had little impact on most renewable energy projects’ rate of returns, and did not address investors’ need for up-front capital. Technology transfer – broadly understood to include diffusion of technical and financial innovations related to low-carbon development – has worked well when the logic of piloting and demonstration is well thought out, and when grants are used to mitigate the risk of pioneering efforts.

Description / Table of Contents: Introduction: Australian geomorphology into the 21st century / Paul Bishop and Brad Pillans / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 346, 1-6, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP346.1 --- A theory (involving tropical cyclones) on the formation of coarse-grained sand beach ridges in NE Australia / Jonathan Nott / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 346, 7-22, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP346.2 --- Sheltered sandy beaches of southwestern Australia / A. Travers, M. J. Eliot, I. G. Eliot and M. Jendrzejczak / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 346, 23-42, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP346.3 --- Are the Murray Canyons offshore southern Australia still active for sediment transport? / S. Schmidt, P. De Deckker, H. Etcheber and S. Caradec / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 346, 43-55, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP346.4 --- East Australian marine abrasion surface / Bruce G. Thom, Jock B. Keene, Peter J. Cowell and Marc Daley / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 346, 57-69, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP346.5 --- Geoarchaeology in Australia: understanding human-environment interactions / Simon J. Holdaway and Patricia C. Fanning / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 346, 71-85, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP346.6 --- Ecogeomorphology in the Australian drylands and the role of biota in mediating the effects of climate change on landscape processes and evolution / David Dunkerley / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 346, 87-120, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP346.7 --- History of Australian aridity: chronology in the evolution of arid landscapes / Toshiyuki Fujioka and John Chappell / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 346, 121-139, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP346.8 --- The Australian desert dunefields: formation and evolution in an old, flat, dry continent / Paul P. Hesse / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 346, 141-164, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP346.9 --- Advances in Quaternary studies in Tasmania / Eric A. Colhoun, Kevin Kiernan, Timothy T. Barrows and Albert Goede / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 346, 165-183, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP346.10 --- ‘Of droughts and flooding rains’: an alluvial loess record from central South Australia spanning the last glacial cycle / David Haberlah, Peter Glasby, Martin A. J. Williams, Steven M. Hill, Frances Williams, Edward J. Rhodes, Victor Gostin, Anthony O'Flaherty and Geraldine E. Jacobsen / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 346, 185-223, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP346.11 --- Eroding Australia: rates and processes from Bega Valley to Arnhem Land / Arjun M. Heimsath, John Chappell and Keith Fifield / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 346, 225-241, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP346.12 --- Tectonic geomorphology of Australia / Mark C. Quigley, Dan Clark and Mike Sandiford / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 346, 243-265, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP346.13 --- Lithology and the evolution of bedrock rivers in post-orogenic settings: constraints from the high-elevation passive continental margin of SE Australia / Paul Bishop and Geoff Goldrick / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 346, 267-287, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP346.14 --- Rethinking eastern Australian caves / R. A. L. Osborne / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 346, 289-308, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP346.15 --- Oxygen-isotope dating the Yilgarn regolith / Allan. R. Chivas and Julius. R. Atlhopheng / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 346, 309-320, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP346.16

Description / Table of Contents: Der „World Ocean Review“ erscheint 2010 das erste Mal und soll in Zukunft in regelmäßigen Abständen herausgegeben werden. Entstanden ist ein umfassender und profunder Bericht, der den Zustand der Weltmeere und die Wirkungszusammenhänge zwischen dem Ozean und ökologischen, ökonomischen und gesellschaftspolitischen Bedingungen aufzeigt. Die wissenschaftlich gesicherten Erkenntnisse sollen all denen dienen, die sich aktiv und fundiert an den aktuellen Diskussionen im Umfeld der Meeresforschung beteiligen möchten.

Description / Table of Contents: Onshore fold–thrust belts are commonly perceived as ‘difficult’ places to explore for hydrocarbons and are therefore often avoided. However, these belts host large oil and gas fields and so these barriers to effective exploration mean that substantial unexploited resources may remain. Over time, evaluation techniques have improved. It is possible in certain circumstances to achieve good 3D seismic data. Structural restoration techniques have moved into the 3D domain and increasingly sophisticated palaeo-thermal indicators allow better modelling of burial and uplift evolution of source and reservoirs. Awareness of the influence of pre-thrust structure and stratigraphy and of hybrid thick and thin-skinned deformation styles is augmenting the simplistic geometric models employed in earlier exploration. But progress is a slow, expensive and iterative process. Industry and academia need to collaborate in order to develop and continually improve the necessary understanding of subsurface geometries, reservoir and charge evolution and timing; this publication offers papers on specific techniques, outcrop and field case studies.

Description / Table of Contents: Air pollution is about five decades or so old field and continues to be a global concern. Therefore, the governments around the world are involved in managing air quality in their countries for the welfare of their citizens. The management of air pollution involves understanding air pollution sources, monitoring of contaminants, modeling air quality, performing laboratory experiments, the use of satellite images for quantifying air quality levels, indoor air pollution, and elimination of contaminants through control. Research activities are being performed on every aspect of air pollution throughout the world, in order to respond to public concerns. The book is grouped in five different sections. Some topics are more detailed than others. The readers should be aware that multi-authored books have difficulty maintaining consistency. A reader will find, however, that each chapter is intellectually stimulating. Our goal was to provide current information and present a reasonable analysis of air quality data compiled by knowledgeable professionals in the field of air pollution.

Description / Table of Contents: Climate change is emerging as one of the most important issues of our time, with the potential to cause profound cascading effects on ecosystems and society. However, these effects are poorly understood and our projections for climate change trends and effects have thus far proven to be inaccurate. In this collection of 24 chapters, we present a cross-section of some of the most challenging issues related to oceans, lakes, forests, and agricultural systems under a changing climate. The authors present evidence for changes and variability in climatic and atmospheric conditions, investigate some the impacts that climate change is having on the Earth's ecological and social systems, and provide novel ideas, advances and applications for mitigation and adaptation of our socio-ecological systems to climate change. Difficult questions are asked. What have been some of the impacts of climate change on our natural and managed ecosystems? How do we manage for resilient socio-ecological systems? How do we predict the future? What are relevant climatic change and management scenarios? How can we shape management regimes to increase our adaptive capacity to climate change? These themes are visited across broad spatial and temporal scales, touch on important and relevant ecological patterns and processes, and represent broad geographic regions, from the tropics, to temperate and boreal regions, to the Arctic.

Description / Table of Contents: Sea level rise, more intense storm surges, and other climate change impacts will pose serious threats to large number of people living along the worlds coasts. This guidebook covers thirteen main adaptation technologies for coastal erosion and flooding due to climate change. For each technology, the authors present a technology description, its advantages and disadvantages, costs and benefits, institutional organisation requirements and detailed examples about its application. This guidebook is co-authored by Matthew M. Linham and Robert J. Nicholls from the University of Southampton. Professor Nicholls is one of the top international experts on coastal impacts and adaptation to climate change, with an emphasis on seal level rise. This guidebook will be a useful handbook for policy makers and coastal zone project planners. This publication is one of the adaptation and mitigation technology guidebooks produced as part of the GEF-funded Technology Needs Assessment (TNA) project. This project is undertaken by UNEP and URC in 36 developing countries.

Description / Table of Contents: This is a collective volume on present-day globalisation with nine chapters from authors of several academic disciplines. It covers wide aspects, ranging from the nature, impact, challenges and implications of globalisation to responses from a country or community when facing globalisation today or tomorrow. Policy suggestions are also made. This book will hence help the reader to understand the currently debated issues.

Description / Table of Contents: This special issue of Pure and Applied Geophysics is one of two volumes containing an augmented collection of papers originating from the Evison Symposium on Seismogenesis and Earthquake Forecasting held in Wellington, New Zealand, in February 2008. The volumes honor Frank Evison's interest in earthquake generation and forecasting. A biography of Frank Evison and a list of his publications is included, as well as review papers and new research papers in the field. The volume includes papers related to Frank's most abiding interest of precursory earthquake swarms. The research contributions cover a range of current forecasting methods such as the Epidemic-Type Aftershock model, the Every Earthquake a precursor According to Scale model, Pattern Informatics, Reverse Tracing of Precursors, stochastic models of elastic rebound, and methods for handling multiple precursors. The methods considered employ a variety of statistical approaches to using previous seismicity to forecast future earthquakes, including regional and global earthquake likelihood models and alarm-type forecasts. The forecast time-frames of interest range from the short time-frame associated with clustering of aftershocks to the long time-frame associated with recurrence of major earthquakes. A recurring theme is the assessment of forecasting performance, whether by likelihood scores, skill scores, error diagrams, or relative operating characteristic tests. The volume will be useful to students and professional researchers who are interested in the earthquake preparation process and in converting that understanding into forecasts of earthquake occurrence.

Description / Table of Contents: This special issue of Pure and Applied Geophysics is the second of two volumes containing an augmented collection of papers originating from the Evison Symposium on Seismogenesis and Earthquake Forecasting held in Wellington, New Zealand, in February 2008. The volumes honor Frank Evison's interest in earthquake generation and forecasting. This volume includes descriptions of earthquake forecasting test centers through the Collaboratory for the Study of Earthquake Predictability (CSEP) program and the first results from the Regional Earthquake Likelihood Model (RELM) experiment in California. Other papers discuss methods of testing predictions, in particular by the use of error diagrams. There is discussion of prediction methodologies using seismicity, including an application of the statistical technique of Hidden Markov Models to identify changes in seismicity and a new technique for identifying precursory quiescence. Several papers employ other data besides seismicity, such as geologically determined faults, calculations of stress changes via Coulomb stress modeling, tomographically determined velocity structure, groundwater, crustal deformation, and comparisons of real earthquakes to synthetic seismicity determined from hypothesized earthquake physics. One paper focuses on the prediction of human casualties in the event that a large earthquake occurs anywhere on the globe. The volume will be useful to students and professional researchers who are interested in the earthquake preparation process and in converting that understanding into forecasts of earthquake occurrence.

Description / Table of Contents: Climate change has been the source of immense challenges for ethical, economic or political analysts. We are aware of the scale of the action required to be taken and the areas in which that action is needed namely efficient energy use, low carbon technologies or deforestation. We have an idea of which technologies need to be developed. We understand the basic economic policy incentives in favour of reducing emissions, stopping deforestation and promoting more sensible use of our natural environment and its resources. The main challenge today is to obtain political adherence to actually accomplishing these changes.

Description / Table of Contents: The chapters in this volume represent an extensive review of the material presented by the invited speakers at a short course on Theoretical and Computational Methods in Mineral Physics held prior (December 10-12, 2009) to the Annual fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco, California. The meeting was held at the Doubletree Hotel & Executive Meeting Center in Berkeley, California. Mineral physics is one of the three pillars of geophysics, the other two being geodynamics and seismology. Geophysics advances by close cooperation between these fields. As such, mineral physicists investigate properties of minerals that are needed to interpret seismic data or that are essential for geodynamic simulations. To be useful, mineral properties must be investigated in a wide range of pressures, temperatures, and chemical compositions. The materials and conditions in the interior of Earth and other terrestrial planets present several challenges. The chemical composition of their mantles is complex with at least five major oxide components and tens of solid phases. Today, these challenges are being addressed by a combination of experimental and computational methods, with experiments offering precise information at lower pressures and temperatures, and computations offering more complete and detailed information at conditions more challenging to experiments. While bulk properties of materials are fundamental to understanding a planet’s state, atomistic inspection of these complex materials are fundamental to understanding their properties. A connection is then established between atomic and planetary scale phenomena, which mineral physicists are in a unique position to appreciate. This book presents a set of review articles offering an overview of contemporary research in computational mineral physics. Fundamental methods are discussed and important applications are illustrated. The opening chapter by John Perdew and Adrienn Ruzhinszky discusses the motivation, history, and expressions of Kohn-Sham Density Functional Theory (DFT) and approximations for exchange and correlation. This is the established framework for investigation of a condensed matter system’s ground state electronic density and energy. It also discusses the recent trend to design higher-level semi-local functionals, with solid state applications in mind. It presents arguments in favor of semi-local approximations for condensed matter and discusses problematic cases where fully non-local approximations are needed. The following article by Yan Zhao and Donald Truhlar, demonstrates current research in search of appropriate exchange and correlation energy functionals. It reviews the performance of families of local, semi-local, and fully non-local exchange and correlation functionals: the so-called “Minnesota” functionals. These new functionals have been designed to give broad accuracy in chemistry and perform very well in difficult cases where popular functionals fail badly. The prospects for their successful applications are encouraging. Stefano Baroni, Paolo Gianozzi, and Eyvaz Isaev, introduce Density Functional Perturbation Theory, a suitable technique to calculate vibrational properties of extended materials using a combination of density functional theory and linear response techniques. This method gives very accurate phonon frequencies which, in combination with the quasi-harmonic approximation, allow one to study thermal properties of materials. The next chapter by Renata Wentzcovitch, Yonggang Yu, and Zhongqing Wu review the applications of density functional perturbation theory to the investigation thermodynamic properties and phase relations in mantle minerals. The series of studies summarized in this review have explored the accuracy of DFT within its most popular approximations for exchange and correlation energy in combination with the quasiharmonic approximation to offer results with useful accuracy for geophysical studies. The following article by Renata Wentzcovitch, Zhongqing Wu, and Pierre Carrier, summarizes the combination of the quasiharmonic approximation with elasticity theory to investigate thermoelastic properties of minerals at conditions of the Earth interior. Some unfamiliar but essential aspects of the quasiharmonic approximation are discussed. Thermoelastic properties of minerals are essential to interpret seismic observations. Therefore, some examples of interpretation of seismic structures are reviewed. The article by David Ceperley, returns to the fundamental theme of calculations of ground state energy in condensed matter and introduces Quantum Monte Carlo methods. These methods treat exactly the quantum many-body problem presented by a system of electrons and ions. They treat electrons as particles rather than a scalar charge-density field, as done by DFT. These are computationally intensive methods but the only exact ones. The following article by Lubos Mitas and Jindrich Kolorenc, reviews applications of these methods to transition metals oxides, materials that have some aspects in common with mantle minerals. One of the examined systems, FeO, is a most important component of mineral solid solutions. Matteo Cococcioni continues exploring the same theme. He discusses a modified density functional useful for addressing cases like FeO, which are untreatable by standard DFT. The DFT + Hubbard U method (DFT+U) is a practical approximate method that enables investigations of electronically and structurally complex systems, like minerals. The application of this method to a contemporary and central problem in mineral physics, pressure and temperature induced spin-crossovers in mantle minerals, is reviewed in the next chapter by Han Shu, Koichiro Umemoto, and Renata Wentzcovitch. The geophysical implications of the spin-crossover phenomenon, an electronic transition, are still unclear but some possibilities are suggested. Michael Ammann, John Brodholt, and David Dobson discuss simulations of bulk ionic diffusion. This property plays an important role in chemical exchange between and within crystalline and melt phases. It plays an important role in the kinetics of phase transitions, compositional zoning, mineral growth, and other important geochemical processes. It can also control rheological properties, especially in the diffusion creep regime, and thus the time scale of mantle convection. This is a very difficult property to investigate at combined pressures and temperature conditions of the mantle, therefore, calculations play a very important role in this area. Phillip Carrez and Patrick Cordier discuss modeling of dislocations and plasticity in deep Earth materials. This article focuses on recent developments in dislocation modeling and applications to our understanding of how the direction of mantle flow is recorded in polycrystalline texture. Next, the article by Stephen Stackhouse and Lars Stixrude, discusses theoretical methods for calculating lattice thermal conductivity in minerals, which controls the cooling of Earth’s core. Measurements of thermal conductivity at lower mantle conditions are very challenging to experiments and calculations are a valuable alternative to learning about this property. This article describes the most common methods to calculate this property and presents a review of studies of the lattice thermal conductivity of periclase. Artem Oganov discusses the prediction of high pressure crystal structures. A genetic algorithm for structural prediction is described and numerous applications predicting new phases with novel properties and phases that can explain experimental data so far not understood is presented. This is a most recent development on the subject of structural predictions, a subject that has been pursued by simulations for several decades now. The possibility of predicting structure and composition by this method is also pointed out. Koichiro Umemoto and Renata Wentzcovitch continue on the same theme of structural prediction by a different approach: combination of phonon calculations and variable cell shape molecular dynamics. The former indicates unstable displacement modes in compressed structures; the latter searches for structures resulting from the superposition of these unstable modes to the compressed lattice. This approach is illustrated with the search of mineral structures at multi-Mbar pressures that are still challenging to static or dynamic compression experiments, but have great interest in view of the discovery of terrestrial exoplanets with several Earth masses. The following chapter by Koichiro Umemoto is on simulations of phase transitions on a different class of planet forming material: H2O-ice. Ice has a rich phase diagram but many of its phase relations are unknown: large hysteresis precludes their direct measurements in manageable time scales. Therefore, calculations acquire special significance but they are also challenging, the main reasons being the description of hydrogen bond by DFT and hydrogen disorder. Dario Alfè presents a review of first principles calculations of properties of iron at Earth’s core conditions. This chapter includes examples of applications of multiple techniques used in studies of high temperature properties, structure, and melting lines. Results from Quantum Monte Carlo are compared with those from DFT, and results from molecular dynamics simulations are contrasted with predictions of quasiharmonic theory. These comparisons are instructive and illustrate the breadth of research in computational mineral physics. The following chapter by Bijaya Karki turns to DFT based simulations of another type of melt: ionic silicates and oxides. The article discusses the methodology used in these simulations and specially developed methods to analyze the results. The properties of interest are high temperature equations of state, thermodynamics properties, atomic and electronic structure, and self-diffusion and viscosity. Visualization of atomic motion is one of the valuable approaches discussed to gain insight into changes in melt structure with pressure and temperature. These studies are illustrated for 3 melts along the MgO-SiO2 join. The following three articles are devoted primarily to the introduction of inter-atomic potentials of broad applicability and relatively high accuracy, and applications to large scale simulations. The first article by Julian Gale and Kate Wright describes the current status of the derivation of force-fields and their applications to static and lattice dynamic calculations in mineral physics. This is done in the context of the General Utility Lattice Program (GULP), which has become quite popular. A selection of applications illustrating the possibilities of this code is then presented. Victor Vinograd and Bjoern Winkler illustrate another important type of application of force-field models: an efficient cluster expansion method to investigate binary mineral solid solutions. The article focuses on a rock-salt system but the technique is general. This type of problem is central to mineral physics and ingenious combinations of first principles methods, force-field models, and purely parameterized free energy expressions, combined with molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo techniques are necessary to address this problem. The predictive treatment of properties of ionic solid solutions is a major challenge in mineral physics. Mark Ghiorso and Frank Spera discuss long duration large scale molecular dynamics simulations using empirical pair-potentials. This article illustrates the concrete requirements on the number of atoms and time scales necessary to obtain information on transport properties such as shear viscosity and lattice thermal conductivity using Green-Kubo theory. These more than 1000-atom and pico-second simulations also improve the statistics in the estimation of equilibrium properties. Finally, the article by Lars Stixrude and Carolina Lithgow-Bertelloni on the thermodynamics of Earth’s mantle, gives an overview of how the elucidation of materials behavior governs planetary processes. It explains how the complexity of the Earth’s mantle demands methods that are complementary to first principles calculations and experiments. These methods must allow one to interpolate among and extrapolate from results on minerals with limited compositions to the full chemical richness of the silicate mantle. It then illustrates how the derived properties of multi-phase multi-component systems are used to address mantle heterogeneity on multiple length scales, ranging from that of the subducting slab to the possibility of mantle-wide radial variations in bulk composition.

Description / Table of Contents: This book explores how efficiency is measured and reported at coal-fired power plants. Armed with this information, policy makers would be in a better position to monitor and, if necessary, regulate how coal is used for power generation. The tools and techniques described will be of value to anyone with an interest in the more sustainable use of coal. Coal is the biggest single source of energy for electricity production and its share is growing. The efficiency of converting coal into electricity matters: more efficient power plants use less fuel and emit less climate-damaging carbon dioxide. This book explores how efficiency is measured and reported at coal-fired power plants. With many different methods used to express efficiency performance, it is often difficult to compare plants, even before accounting for any fixed constraints such as coal quality and cooling-water temperature. Practical guidelines are presented that allow the efficiency and emissions of any plant to be reported on a common basis and compared against best practice. A global database of plant performance is proposed that would allow under-performing plants to be identified for improvement. Armed with this information, policy makers would be in a better position to monitor and, if necessary, regulate how coal is used for power generation. The tools and techniques described will be of value to anyone with an interest in the more sustainable use of coal.

Description / Table of Contents: This joint report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) is the seventh in a series of studies on electricity generating costs. It presents the latest data available for a wide variety of fuels and technologies, including coal and gas (with and without carbon capture), nuclear, hydro, onshore and offshore wind, biomass, solar, wave and tidal as well as combined heat and power (CHP). It provides levelised costs of electricity (LCOE) per MWh for almost 200 plants, based on data covering 21 countries (including four major non-OECD countries), and several industrial companies and organisations. For the first time, the report contains an extensive sensitivity analysis of the impact of variations in key parameters such as discount rates, fuel prices and carbon costs on LCOE. Additional issues affecting power generation choices are also examined. The study shows that the cost competitiveness of electricity generating technologies depends on a number of factors which may vary nationally and regionally. Readers will find full details and analyses, supported by over 130 figures and tables, in this report which is expected to constitute a valuable tool for decision makers and researchers concerned with energy policies and climate change.

Description / Table of Contents: Opportunities to Transform the Electricity Sector in Major Economies

Description / Table of Contents: ETP2010 will build on the success of earlier editions, by providing decision makers with more detailed practical information and tools that can help kick-start the transition to a more secure, sustainable and affordable energy future. The new publication will present: - Updated scenarios with greater regional detail providing insights on which new technologies will be most important in the different regions of the world; - Sectoral deep dives highlighting the key technological challenges and opportunities in each of the main energy-using sectors and the new policies that will be needed to realise change; - Roadmaps and transition pathways identifying the technical and policy barriers to accelerated deployment of the most important clean technologies and how these can be overcome.

Description / Table of Contents: Global warming resulting from the use of fossil fuels is threatening the environment and energy efficiency is one of the most important ways to reduce this threat. Industry, transport and buildings are all high energy-using sectors in the world and even in the most technologically optimistic perspectives energy use is projected to increase in the next 50 years. How and when energy is used determines society's ability to create long-term sustainable energy systems. This is why this book, focusing on energy efficiency in these sectors and from different perspectives, is sharp and also important for keeping a well-founded discussion on the subject.

Description / Table of Contents: This study is motivated by the need to give the reader a broad view of the developments, key concepts, and technologies related to information society evolution, with a focus on the wireless communications and geoinformation technologies and their role in the environment. Giving perspective, it aims at assisting people active in the industry, the public sector, and Earth science fields as well, by providing a base for their continued work and thinking.

Description / Table of Contents: Risk management is an important part of governance sciences and has applications in several domains ranging from enterprise risk management to environmental surveillance. The ideas and approaches described in the book deal with general aspects of risk management as well as the peculiarities arising from given application domains. With contributions from researchers and practitioners in different fields, Advances in Risk Management will provide you with valuable insights into the evolution of models, methodologies and technologies necessary for an effective implementation of risk management systems.

Description / Table of Contents: This first “World Ocean Review” is published in 2010 and will be followed by periodic updates in the future. The result is a comprehensive, detailed and unique report about the state of the world’s oceans and their interplay with ecological, economic and sociopolitical conditions. Its aim is to increase public awareness of the interconnected nature of the diverse aspects of the marine environment and thus to boost marine conservation.

Description / Table of Contents: Glaciers and glacier forelands are the most impressive landscapes in the inner Oetz Valley (Tyrol, Austria). Since 1858, the glaciers of the area are retreating more or less continuously, releasing new areas for colonization. The main aim of book no. 1 of the Alpine Research Centre Obergurgl is to present the research at the Rotmoosferner glacier foreland and the knowledge of glacial environments in a comprehensive way. The book provides baseline informations for students, prospective scientists, field courses and for interested lay people. | Gletscher und Gletschervorfelder prägen in besonders eindrucksvoller Weise das innere Ötztal (Tirol, Österreich). Sie sind von besonderem wissenschaftlichem Interesse, zumal der Gletscherrückgang nun seit 1858 nahezu kontinuierlich anhält. Das Buch Nr. 1 der Alpinen Forschungsstelle Obergurgl verdeutlicht in umfassender Weise die Forschungstätigkeit speziell im Gletschervorfeld des Rotmoosferners und in seinem weiteren Umfeld. Grundlageninformationen werden bereitgestellt für Studierende, angehende WissenschaftlerInnen, Exkursions- und PraktikumsleiterInnen, aber auch für interessierte Laien.

Description / Table of Contents: This volume honours the career of Brian F. Windley, who has been hugely influential in helping to achieve our current understanding of the evolution of the continental crust, and who has inspired many students and scientists to pursue studies on the evolution of the continents. Brian has studied processes of continental formation and evolution on most continents and of all ages, and has educated and inspired two generations of geologists to undertake careers in studies of continental evolution. The volume is organized into six sections, including: oceanic and island arc systems and continental growth; tectonics of accretionary orogens and continental growth; growth and stabilization of continental crust; collisions and intraplate processes; Precambrian tectonics and the birth of continents; and active tectonics and geomorphology of continental collision and growth zones.

Description / Table of Contents: Energy is intrinsic to urban settlements, embedded in the built environment, and directly used to power socio-economic activity, transport and communications, and enable the provision of municipal services. In response to the crucial role of urban energy efficiency for environmentally sustainable and inclusive development processes, ESMAP’s Energy Efficient Cities Initiative (EECI) was launched in October 2008 to facilitate the implementation of practical energy solutions that meet the development priorities of cities, and simultaneously build their climate resilience. Chapter 1 begins with a contextual background on the inter-related associations between energy, socio-economic progress and urbanization. This edited volume compiles seven topical papers presented at the two EECI sponsored sessions during the World Bank’s fifth Urban Research Symposium, held at Marseille, France, June 28-30, 2009. Chapters 2–8 comprise the papers presented at these sessions: i) tools and assessment approaches on energy efficient urban development, and ii) good practices that promote low carbon sectoral interventions. The analytical tools and policy insights offered in this volume extend from integrated assessments of new cities to the impacts of socio-economic, climate and demographic changes on existing cities. Sector-specific interventions are discussed in the context of tools to ‘green’ buildings in Australia, the transformation to efficient lighting systems in the Philippines, and Demand Responsive Transport Systems in France. In addition, the documentation and benchmarking of a variety of low-carbon and carbon neutral good practices provides a range of practical insights on plausible energy efficient interventions in urban sectors. Thus the chapters in this publication comprise significant contributions to the ESMAP objective of mainstreaming and leveraging knowledge and initiatives on urban energy efficiency. Following from them, the last chapter 9 provides a contextual overview of ESMAP’s programmatic priorities to support energy efficient urban growth, to be effected through EECI.

Description / Table of Contents: Disequilibrium textures versus equilibrium modelling: geochronology at the crossroads / Igor M. Villa / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 332, 1-15, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP332.1 --- Argon enters the retentive zone: reassessment of diffusion parameters for K-feldspar in the South Cyclades Shear Zone, Ios, Greece / M. A. Forster and G. S. Lister / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 332, 17-34, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP332.2 --- Serrated quartz grain boundaries, temperature and strain rate: testing fractal techniques in a syntectonic granite / Manish A. Mamtani and R. O. Greiling / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 332, 35-48, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP332.3 --- Microstructure and elastic anisotropy of naturally deformed leucogneiss from a shear zone in Montalto (southern Calabria, Italy) / Rosolino Cirrincione, Eugenio Fazio, Renée Heilbronner, Hartmut Kern, Kurt Mengel, Gaetano Ortolano, Antonino Pezzino and Rosalda Punturo / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 332, 49-68, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP332.4 --- Geometry of intercrystalline brine in plastically deforming halite rocks: inference from electrical resistivity / Tohru Watanabe / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 332, 69-78, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP332.5 --- Brittle plus plastic deformation of gypsum aggregates experimentally deformed in torsion to high strains: quantitative microstructural and texture analysis from optical and diffraction data / M. Zucali, V. Barberini, D. Chateigner, B. Ouladdiaf and L. Lutterotti / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 332, 79-98, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP332.6 --- Numerical modelling of spontaneous slab breakoff dynamics during continental collision / Cyrill Baumann, Taras V. Gerya and James A. D. Connolly / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 332, 99-114, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP332.7 --- Present-day vertical isostatic readjustment of the Western Alps revealed by numerical modelling and geodetic and seismotectonic data / Annalisa Gardi, Stéphane Baize and Oona Scotti / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 332, 115-128, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP332.8 --- Block model versus thermomechanical model: new insights on the present-day regional deformation in the surroundings of the Calabrian Arc / Raffaele Splendore, Anna Maria Marotta, Riccardo Barzaghi, Alessandra Borghi and Letizia Cannizzaro / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 332, 129-147, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP332.9 --- The role of mantle hydration in continental crust recycling in the wedge region / Marco Meda, Anna Maria Marotta and Maria Iole Spalla / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 332, 149-172, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP332.10 --- Three-dimensional evaluation of fabric evolution and metamorphic reaction progress in polycyclic and polymetamorphic terrains: a case from the Central Italian Alps / Francesca Salvi, Maria Iole Spalla, Michele Zucali and Guido Gosso / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 332, 173-187, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP332.11 --- The interaction of deformation and metamorphic reactions / Bruce E. Hobbs, Alison Ord, Maria Iole Spalla, Guido Gosso and Michele Zucali / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 332, 189-223, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP332.12

Description / Table of Contents: East Asia has experienced the fastest economic growth in the world over the last three decades, accompanied by a 10-fold gross domestic product increase and rapid urbanization. Energy consumption has more than tripled during this period and is expected to double over the next 20 years. This remarkable trend has led to twin energy challenges in the region - environmental sustainability and energy security. Written for an audience of energy policy makers and practitioners, Winds of Change explores the region’s energy future over the next two decades through two energy scenarios. It outlines the strategic direction East Asia’s energy sector must take to meet its growing energy demand in an environmentally sustainable manner, and presents a pathway of policy frameworks and financing mechanisms to get there. The six East Asian countries - China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam - examined in this book could, with the right policies and financing, stabilize CO2 emissions by 2025, improve their local environment, and enhance energy security without compromising economic growth. They must move their energy sectors toward much higher efficiency and more widespread use of low-carbon technologies, while obtaining substantial financing and low-carbon technologies from developed countries. This clean energy revolution requires major policy and institutional reforms, including energy pricing reforms, regulations such as energy efficiency standards, financial incentives such as feed-in tariffs for renewable energy, and accelerated research and development. Finally, building low-carbon cities will be key to containing the rapid urban energy growth through compact urban design, public transport, clean vehicles, and green buildings. The window of opportunity is closing fast - delaying action would lock the region into a longlasting high-carbon infrastructure. The technical and policy means exist for such transformational changes, but only strong political will and unprecedented international cooperation will make them happen.

Description / Table of Contents: “Extreme City - Climate change and the transformation of the waterscape” is the book about the results of the Intensive Learning Programme held recently at the Iuav University (Venice, 3rd – 15th April 2010) with the projectual explorations of the EMU students and the teachers contributions. The goals of the intensive programme have been to deal with changes in the water space in climate change conditions. A “research by design” approach was chosen as the starting point of a reflection on techniques and forms of knowledge which use the project to tackle complex issues. A multidisciplinary approach has been proposed to deal with the vulnerability of a dispersedly inhabited region.

Description / Table of Contents: The Berlin Workshop Series 2010 presents selected papers from meetings held September 28-30, 2008, at the eleventh annual forum co-hosted by InWEnt and the World Bank in preparation for the Bank's annual World Development Report. At the 2008 meetings, key researchers and policy makers from Europe, the United States, and developing countries met to explore the problems that climate governance poses for development, which are later examined in depth in the World Development Report 2010. This volume presents papers from the Berlin workshop sessions on climate governance and development, covering climate change as a development priority; policies and technologies for energy and development; natural resource governance for adaptation, mitigation, and development; non-state actors and climate governance; financing adaptation and mitigation in an unequal world; and changing institutions of governance for climate change.

Description / Table of Contents: Wenn Sie ein Buch suchen, dass Ihnen bei allen Fragen der C#-Entwicklung zuverlässig mit Rat und Tat zur Seite steht, dann ist unser bewährtes Kompendium genau das Richtige für Sie. Mittlerweile in der 5. Auflage erschienen, dient es ambitionierten Ein- und Umsteigern durch seine strukturierte Vorgehensweise und die zahlreichen Anwendungsbeispiele als praxisorientierte Einführung; Fortgeschrittene und Profis unterstützt es als Nachschlagewerk optimal bei ihrer täglichen Arbeit. In den ersten Kapiteln werden zunächst die Grundlagen von C#, .NET und der objektorientierten Programmierung vermittelt. Es folgen Kapitel zur effizienten Entwicklung mit Visual Studio 2010, zur Fehlerbehandlung sowie zu fortgeschrittenen C#-Themen wie LINQ, Multithreading, Serialisierung u.v.m. Den größten Themenblock bildet die Entwicklung von grafischen Benutzeroberflächen. Neben einer fundierten Einführung in die WPF und XAML erfahren Sie hier alles Notwendige, um auch komplexe Anwendungen zu gestalten. Anschließend wird die Datenbankprogrammierung mit ADO.NET ausführlich behandelt und zu guter Letzt die Weitergabe von .NET-Anwendungen thematisiert. So sind Sie für Ihren Arbeitsalltag bestens gerüstet!

Description / Table of Contents: Climate events, storms, damage. Dans le monde d'aujourd'hui, presque tous les événements naturels extrêmes pourraient être qualifiés de désastre. Sur les 25 catastrophes les plus couteuses depuis 1970, toutes sont survenues après 1987 et 23 d'entre elles sont liées aux conditions climatiques. Et cela n'arrive pas qu'aux autres. La France, elle non plus, n'est pas épargnée : 88 morts et 9 milliards d'euros de dégats pour les tempêtes de décembre 1999, près de 15000 décès pour la canicule du 1er au 20 aout 2003. La récente tempête Xynthia, avec ses ruptures de digues, a provoqué 53 morts, s'ajoutant à tant d'autres tragédies survenues dans des zones inondables, et nous interrogeant. Sommes-nous prêts par exemple à affronter une crue comparable à celle de 1910 dans le Paris de demain? Dans le contexte actuel de changement climatique, nous savons que nous devons nous préparer à des événements extrêmes plus dangereux, quelquefois inédits. Ces événements voient leurs effets amplifiés par le développement urbain, le surpeuplement des zones littorales et l'anthropisation des milieux naturels. Ils représentent de véritables « trappes à pauvreté » pour les pays les plus pauvres de la Planète. C'est l'objet de ce rapport de l'Académie des Sciences qui analyse la question de ces événements climatiques extrêmes et de leurs conséquences prévisibles sur les systèmes économiques, sociaux, sanitaires et de sécurité.Un réel besoin d'anticipation existe donc : notre pays est-il prêt à y répondre? Participe-t-il suffi samment aux actions internationales visant à réduire les risques? Dispose-t-il d'une information scientifique appropriée?

Description / Table of Contents: The transport sector is currently responsible for 23% of energy-related CO2 emissions, and transport associated CO2 emissions will more than double by 2050. This working paper evaluates the potential costs and benefits of using natural gas as a vehicle fuel for road transportation, as well as the policy related to its market development.

Description / Table of Contents: For the first time, the IEA has merged its medium-term market reports for oil and gas, thereby giving readers a broader perspective on global trends. Critical questions persist for both markets, including whether economic and energy demand outlooks are clearer than in mid-2009. For the first time, the IEA has merged its medium-term market reports for oil and gas, thereby giving readers a broader perspective on global trends. Critical questions persist for both markets, including whether economic and energy demand outlooks are clearer than in mid-2009. Do oil markets show a genuine structural shift in demand patterns? Will they sustain a nascent recovery in upstream spending evident in 2010? And how long will current levels of OPEC spare capacity persist? For the gas market, will demand recover from its collapse in 2009? How long will the gas glut last? Will unconventional gas revolutionise gas markets outside North America? And how is consumption changing in China, Russia and the Middle East? Medium-Term Oil and Gas Markets 2010 presents a comprehensive outlook for oil and gas market fundamentals over the next three to five years. The oil market analysis develops two demand scenarios that reflect uncertainties about the path of economic recovery after the global slow-down in 2008/09. Market balances are generated from detailed analysis of upstream investment projects, oil field decline rates, product-by-product demand trends, and refinery investment and operations. The gas market analysis assesses prices, unconventional gas, future demand developments and LNG markets, as well as investment across the gas value chain. With a focus on key producers (including Russia, the Caspian region and the Middle East) and rising LNG exporters (such as Australia), it examines implications for global gas markets.

Description / Table of Contents: Oil and gas markets have been marked by an increased divergence in recent months. On the one hand, oil market developments have generated an unpleasant sense of déja vu: rapid demand growth in emerging markets eclipsed sluggish supply growth to push prices higher even before the conflict in Libya tightened supplies still further. Oil prices around $100/bbl are weighing down on an already-fragile macroeconomic and financial situation in the OECD, pressuring national budgets in the non-OECD and causing price inflation of other commodities, as well as political concerns about speculation. There is an uncanny resemblance to the first half of 2008. On the other hand, in the world of natural gas an amazing disconnect has developed as demand recovered to well above pre-financial-crisis levels in most major regions. Gas markets have tightened in Europe and Asia, where prices are about twice the level seen in the United States, as the unconventional gas revolution is in full swing. From the upstream implications of the Arab Spring to the macroeconomic consequences of the eurozone crisis, energy markets are experiencing one of the most uncertain periods in decades. Medium-Term Oil and Gas Markets 2011 provides a comprehensive outlook for oil and gas fundamentals through 2016. The oil market analysis covers demand developments on a product-by-product and key-sector basis, as well as a detailed bottom-up assessment of upstream and refinery investments, trade flows, oil products supply and OPEC spare capacity. The gas market analysis offers a region-by-region assessment of demand and production, infrastructure investment, price developments and prospects for unconventional gas. It also examines the globalising LNG trade.

Description / Table of Contents: Scaling-up investment in energy efficiency is essential to achieving a sustainable energy future. Despite energy efficiency’s recognised advantages as a bankable investment with immense climate change mitigation benefits, most of the energy efficiency potential remains untapped and the investment gap to achieve climate goals is tremendous. This report seeks to improve understanding as to why this is so, and what can be done about it.

Description / Table of Contents: This paper reviews key design features of mandatory emissions trading systems that had been established or were under consideration in 2010, with a particular focus on implications for the energy sector. Putting a price on greenhouse gas emissions is a cornerstone policy in climate change mitigation. To this end, many countries have implemented or are developing domestic emissions trading systems.

Description / Table of Contents: In the April 2010 Oil Market Report (OMR), the IEA included a supplementary report on the prospects to 2015 for the supply of natural gas liquids (NGLs), especially in light of new developments in natural gas production. At a time when economic, regulatory and geopolitical uncertainties are stretching lead times for expanding global crude oil supply, rising NGL and condensate availability can act as a pressure valve for the global oil market. Frequently overlooked as a component of production growth, nonetheless IEA estimates see up to 60% of expected oil supply increases through mid-decade deriving from NGLs. This timely report tries to present a clear view of the component parts of the NGL value chain, highlights optimal gas and NGL development strategies and presents detailed country and region specific forecasts for NGL supply through 2015.

Description / Table of Contents: Concentrating solar thermal power and fuels will be part of the energy technology revolution necessary to mitigate climate change while ensuring affordable energy supply. The ETP BLUE Map scenario, which assessed strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by half in 2050, concluded that CSP will provide several percent of the necessary emissions reductions to achieve stabilisation in the most cost-effective manner. CSP requires strong sunshine and clear skies. Thanks to its thermal storage and hybridisation possibilities, CSP provides firm and dispatchable electricity.

Description / Table of Contents: Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Power is a commercially available and reliable technology with a significant potential for long-term growth in nearly all world regions. This technology roadmap estimates that by 2050, PV could provide 11% of global electricity production and avoid 2.3 gigatonnes (Gt) of CO2 emissions per year. Achieving this roadmap’s vision requires an effective, long-term and balanced policy effort in the next decade to allow for optimal technology progress, cost reduction and ramp-up of industrial manufacturing for mass deployment. Further, governments will need to provide long-term targets and supporting policies in order to build confidence for investments in manufacturing capacity and deployment of PV systems. With effective policies in place, PV on residential and commercial buildings could achieve grid parity – i.e. with electricity grid retail prices – by 2020 in many regions. In this scenario, utility-scale PV could become competitive in the sunniest regions by 2030 and provide 5% of global electricity by 2050. As PV matures into a mainstream technology, grid integration and management and energy storage become key issues. The PV industry, grid operators and utilities would need to develop new technologies and strategies to integrate large amounts of PV into flexible, efficient and smart grids.

Description / Table of Contents: This paper is part of the IEA ongoing analysis of global renewable energy markets and policies. It focuses on six Southeast Asian countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The report investigates the potentials and barriers for scaling up market penetration of renewable energy technologies in the electricity, heating and transport sectors in the six countries.

Description / Table of Contents: This paper looks at three clean energy product categories: equipment energy efficiency; low-carbon transport, including high-efficiency vehicles and electric/plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (EV/PHEVs); and solar photovoltaic (PV) power. Each section identifies ways to enhance global co-operation among major economies through case studies and examples, and ends with specific suggestions for greater international collaboration on market transformation efforts. An annex with more detailed case studies on energy-efficient electric motors, televisions, external power supplies and compact fluorescent lights is included in the paper.

Description / Table of Contents: The purpose of this report is to help EE practitioners, government officials and stakeholders to establish the most effective EE governance structures, given their specific country context. It also aims to provide readers with relevant and accessible information to support the development of comprehensive and effective governance mechanisms. The International Energy Agency (IEA) conducted a global review of many elements of EE governance,including legal frameworks, institutional frameworks, funding mechanisms, co-ordination mechanisms and accountability arrangements, such as evaluation and oversight. The research tools included a survey of over 500 EE experts in 110 countries, follow-up interviews of over 120 experts in 27 countries and extensive desk study and literature searches on good EE governance.

Description / Table of Contents: The IEA estimates that, if implemented globally without delay, the 25 IEA Energy Efficiency recommendations could save 8.2 Gt CO2 per year by 2030. Yet many governments struggle with their implementation and thus miss a great part of the energy efficiency potential. The new IEA series Policy Pathways: Showing the way to energy efficiency implementation now aims to assist countries with improving energy efficiency policies. It features practical ‘how-to’ guides for designing, implementing and evaluating energy efficiency policies and achieving greater improvement.

Description / Table of Contents: The contributions in this book present an overview of cutting edge research on natural gas which is a vital component of world's supply of energy. Natural gas is a combustible mixture of hydrocarbon gases, primarily methane but also heavier gaseous hydrocarbons such as ethane, propane and butane. Unlike other fossil fuels, natural gas is clean burning and emits lower levels of potentially harmful by-products into the air. Therefore, it is considered as one of the cleanest, safest, and most useful of all energy sources applied in variety of residential, commercial and industrial fields. The book is organized in 25 chapters that cover various aspects of natural gas research: technology, applications, forecasting, numerical simulations, transport and risk assessment.

Description / Table of Contents: Vibrations are a part of our environment and daily life. Many of them are useful and are needed for many purposes, one of the best example being the hearing system. Nevertheless, vibrations are often undesirable and have to be suppressed or reduced, as they may be harmful to structures by generating damages or compromise the comfort of users through noise generation of mechanical wave transmission to the body. the purpose of this book is to present basic and advanced methods for efficiently controlling the vibrations and limiting their effects. Open-access publishing is an extraordinary opportunity for a wide dissemination of high quality research. This book is not an exception to this, and I am proud to introduce the works performed by experts from all over the world.

Description / Table of Contents: The world's reliance on existing sources of energy and their associated detrimental impacts on the environment- whether related to poor air or water quality or scarcity, impacts on sensitive ecosystems and forests and land use - have been well documented and articulated over the last three decades. What is needed by the world is a set of credible energy solutions that would lead us to a balance between economic growth and a sustainable environment. This book provides an open platform to establish and share knowledge developed by scholars, scientists and engineers from all over the world about various viable paths to a future of sustainable energy. It has collected a number of intellectually stimulating articles that address issues ranging from public policy formulation to technological innovations for enhancing the development of sustainable energy systems. It will appeal to stakeholders seeking guidance to pursue the paths to sustainable energy.

Description / Table of Contents: The Earth's climate varies through geological time as a result of external, orbital processes, as well as the positions of continents, growth of mountains and the opening and closure of oceanic gateways. Climate modelling suggests that the intensity of the Asian monsoon should correlate, at least in part, with the uplift history of the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalaya, as well as the evolution of gateways and the retreat of shallow seas in Central Asia. Long-term reconstructions of both mountain building and monsoon activity are key to testing the proposed links. This collection of papers presents a series of new studies documenting the variations of the Asian monsoon on orbital and tectonic timescales, together with the impact this has had on environmental conditions. The issue of which proxies are best suited to measuring monsoons is addressed, as is the effect that the monsoon has had on erosion and the formation of the stratigraphic record both on and offshore.

Description / Table of Contents: The world's mountain ranges are the clearest manifestations of long-term deformation of the continental crust. As such they have attracted geological investigations for centuries. Throughout this long history of research a few keynote publications stand out. One of the most important is the Geological Survey's 1907 Memoir on The Geological Structure of the North-West Highlands of Scotland. The Memoir summarized some of the Geological Survey's finest work, and outlined many of the principles of field-based structural and tectonic analysis that have subsequently guided generations of geologists working in other mountain belts, both ancient and modern. The thematic set of 32 papers in this Special Publication celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 1907 Memoir by placing the original findings in both historical and modern contexts, and juxtaposing them against present-day studies of deformation processes operating not only in the NW Highlands, but also in other mountain belts.

Description / Table of Contents: Natural stone is considered to be a versatile, durable and aesthetically pleasing building material. From the beginning of civilization, important structures and monuments have been built from, or based on, natural stone. Until the end of the nineteenth century, the use of local stone resources was mostly in balance with the local environment. Strict environmental legislation has resulted in the closing of many long-standing quarries in industrialized countries, which has led to a shortage of traditional stone varieties. This has caused problems for restoration practice. Cheap, imported stone from less industrialized countries has become more widely available in recent years. Some of the issues related to built stone conservation and restoration covered by this volume are: the establishment of inventories of possible replacement stones; understanding the decay mechanism and use of preventive conservation methods for slowing down decay processes; evaluation of the properties of natural stone; and assessing the risks of using replacement stones of different qualities.

Description / Table of Contents: Für alle Regionen, die auf den Tourismus als ökonomisches Standbein setzen, ist ein marktfähiges Alleinstellungsmerkmal wichtig. Die Kulturlandschaft in ihrer jeweils besonderen Eigenart bietet hierfür ein endogenes Potenzial, das es zu erschließen, aber gleichermaßen auch zu schützen gilt. Doch viele kulturlandschaftliche Charakteristika und Besonderheiten eröffnen sich nicht unmittelbar, sondern müssen erst herausgearbeitet und „interpretiert“ werden. Darin liegt die grundlegende Herausforderung. Der vorliegende Band beinhaltet zum einen theoretische Auseinandersetzungen mit dem Thema Kulturlandschaftsforschung aus der Perspektive verschiedener wissenschaftlicher Fachrichtungen, zum anderen praxisbezogene Fallbeispiele, die aufzeigen, wie die Forschungsergebnisse einem Freizeitpublikum auf interessante Art und Weise vermittelt werden können. Denn die Kulturlandschaft ist beides – wissenschaftliches Forschungsobjekt und Vermittlungsraum im Kontext touristischer Freizeitgestaltung.

Description / Table of Contents: Although the climate of the Earth is continually changing from the very beginning, anthropogenic effects, the pollution of the air by combustion and industrial activities make it change so quickly that the adaptation is very difficult for all living organisms. Researcher's role is to make this adaptation easier, to prepare humankind to the new circumstances and challenges, to trace and predict the effects and, if possible, even decrease the harmfulness of these changes. In this book we provide an interdisciplinary collection of new studies and findings on the score of air pollution.

Description / Table of Contents: Our planet is nowadays continuously monitored by powerful remote sensors operating in wide portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Our capability of acquiring detailed information on the environment has been revolutionized by revealing its inner structure, morphology and dynamical changes. The way we now observe and study the evolution of the Earth’s status has even radically influenced our perception and conception of the world we live in. The aim of this book is to bring together contributions from experts to present new research results and prospects of the future developments in the area of geosciences and remote sensing; emerging research directions are discussed. The volume consists of twenty-six chapters, encompassing both theoretical aspects and application-oriented studies. An unfolding perspective on various current trends in this extremely rich area is offered. The book chapters can be categorized along different perspectives, among others, use of active or passive sensors, employed technologies and configurations, considered scenario on the Earth, scientific research area involved in the studies.

Description / Table of Contents: The past decade has witnessed a major global shift in thinking about water, including the role that water infrastructure plays in sustainable development. This rethinking aims to balance better the social, economic, and environmental performance aspects in the development and management of large dams. Infrastructure strategies must complement strategies for water, environment, and energy security and for emerging concerns to reduce vulnerability in water resource systems to climate change on the horizon. Communication is central to multi-stakeholder dialogue and partnerships at all levels needed to achieve sustainability and governance reform in water resource management and infrastructure provision. At the same time, communication drives the advocacy to mobilize political will and public support for beneficial change and continuous improvement in practices. This case study emphasizes that is not only important to mobilize all opportunities to reconcile water demand and supply in river basins that are coming under increasing levels of water stress, but also to integrate effectively governance and anti-corruption reforms and sustainability improvements into all stages of the planning and project cycle - adding value for stakeholders.

Description / Table of Contents: This book is intended to introduce the reader to examples of the range of practical problems posed by "Global Warming". It includes 11 chapters split into 5 sections. Section 1 outlines the recent changes in the Indian Monsoon, the importance of greenhouse gases to life, and the relative importance of changes in solar radiation in causing the changes. Section 2 discusses the changes to natural hazards such as floods, retreating glaciers and potential sea level changes. Section 3 examines planning cities and transportation systems in the light of the changes, while section 4 looks at alternative energy sources. Section 5 estimates the changes to the carbon pool in the alpine meadows of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The 11 authors come from 9 different countries, so the examples are taken from a truly international set of problems.

Description / Table of Contents: This book addresses the implications of climate change on indigenous peoples and communities living in the highlands, lowlands, and coastal areas of Latin America and the Caribbean. Across the region, indigenous people already experience the negative effects of climate change and variability. Their livelihoods are threatened by insecure food supplies and poor health. In addition, their cultural integrity is challenged: Indigenous peoples often blame themselves for the changes they observe in nature, despite their limited emission of greenhouse gasses. This book shows the complexity of how indigenous communities are affected by climate change, explores options for improving resilience, and provides guidance in the design of effective and sustainable adaptations. 'Changing climates of the world create new challenges not only for mainstream societies, but for indigenous and subsistence societies as well. The marginalized populations of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) have long paid a price for their isolation from the colonial societies, but now the natural foundations of their marginal, traditional habitats and cultural spaces are being changed in ways that are yet to be fathomed. Kronik and Verner systematically and fairly thoroughly substantiate the effects of changing climate on the flora and fauna and patterns of life among indigenous populations in four regions of LAC: the Amazon, Andean and sub-Andean South America, and the Caribbean. Examinations of the vulnerabilities, adjustments, and potential adaptations of an assortment of peoples in each region illuminate the complexities of understanding what the world is up against with climate change, and can help to inform thinking about how the future will unfold. An extraordinary report of rigorous research that ought to be replicated everywhere.

Description / Table of Contents: This book is a collection of 19 excellent works presenting different applications of several MATLAB tools that can be used for educational, scientific and engineering purposes. Chapters include tips and tricks for programming and developing Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs), power system analysis, control systems design, system modelling and simulations, parallel processing, optimization, signal and image processing, finite different solutions, geosciences and portfolio insurance. Thus, readers from a range of professional fields will benefit from its content.

Description / Table of Contents: Chapter 1: UnBBayes: Modeling Uncertainty for Plausible Reasoning in the Semantic Web by Rommel Carvalho, Kathryn Laskey, Paulo Costa, Marcelo Ladeira, Laecio Santos and Shou Matsumoto --- Chapter 2: Alternative Bootstrapping Design for the PORTAL-DOORS Cyberinfrastructure with Self-Referencing and Self-Describing Features by Carl Taswell --- Chapter 3: Providing Semantic Content for the Next Generation Web by Irina Efimenko, Serge Minor, Anatoli Starostin, Grigory Drobyazko and Vladimir Khoroshevsky --- Chapter 4: Sustainable Advantage for the Investor Relations Team through Semantic Content by Daniel Hladky --- Chapter 5: Semantic Infrastructures by Jiri Dokulil, Jakub Yaghob and Filip Zavoral --- Chapter 6: Prime Number Labeling Scheme for Transitive Closure Computation by Gang Wu and Juanzi Li --- Chapter 7: Towards an Automatic Semantic Data Integration: Multi-agent Framework Approach by Miklos Nagy and Maria Vargas-Vera --- Chapter 8: Using Semantic Technology to Enable Behavioural Coordination of Heterogeneous Systems by Artem Katasonov and Vagan Terziyan --- Chapter 9: Leveraging Semantic Web Computing for Context-Aware Software Engineering Environments by Roy Oberhauser --- Chapter 10: Reasoning and Representing Viewpoints on the Semantic Web by Christiana Panayiotou --- Chapter 11: Semantic Web Technologies for Managing EHR-related Clinical Knowledge by Catalina Martinez-Costa, Marcos Menarguez-Tortosa, Jose Alberto Maldonado and Jesualdo Tomas Fernandez-Breis --- Chapter 12: Use Case Semantics for Business Process Validation by Michael Wolters and German Nemirovskij --- Chapter 13: Semantic-based eService Delivery for eGovernment Domain by Luis Alvarez Sabucedo, Luis Anido Rifon, Flavio Corradini, Alberto Polzonetti and Barbara Re --- Chapter 14: Context-aware Service Composition and Change-over Using BPEL Engine and Semantic Web by Yoji Yamato, Yuusuke Nakano and Hiroshi Sunaga --- Chapter 15: Metaphor and the Semantic Web by Jonathan Biguenet, Bogdan D. Czejdo and John Biguenet --- Chapter 16: Code Clone Detection Using String Based Tree Matching Technique by Ali Selamat and Norfaradilla Wahid