| Description |
1 online resource (275 p.) |
| Contents |
About the author xiii -- Preface. . xv -- Acknowledgements. xix -- Prologue -- Some experiences in my lifetime xxi -- Chapter 1 Introduction -- setting the scene. 1 -- 1.1 Where We are Today . 1 -- 1.2 How We Got Here . 2 -- 1.3 Going from Here . . 4 -- 1.4 Some Scenarios . 4 -- 1.4.1 Fossil fuels 5 -- 1.4.2 Food. . 6 -- 1.4.3 Renewable energy -- critical minerals . . 7 -- 1.4.4 Economics 7 -- 1.5 Overview of the Book . . 7 -- Chapter 2 Systems thinking . . 11 -- 2.1 Systemic Approach . 12 -- 2.2 Feedback 15 -- 2.3 Wicked Problems . 15 -- 2.4 Hyperobjects. 16 -- 2.5 The UN Sustainable Development Goals . 17 -- 2.6 Global Risks . 18 -- Chapter 3 Climate today . . 19 -- 3.1 The 1992 RIO Conference . 21 -- 3.2 Climate as Reported by IPCC in 2021 23 -- 3.3 Climate Pioneers . 26 -- 3.4 The Million-Year Perspective . 27 -- 3.5 The CO2 -- Budget 28 -- 3.6 The COP26 Agreements . 29 -- 3.7 Deforestation 31 -- 3.8 Actions Needed 34 -- Chapter 4 Global warming impacts . 35 -- 4.1 Global Impact of Climate Change . 37 -- 4.2 Weather vs Climate . 37 -- 4.3 Extreme Weather. 38 -- 4.3.1 Human-made vulnerability 42 -- 4.4 Temperature . 42 -- 4.5 Rossby Waves 45 -- 4.6 Droughts 46 -- 4.7 Air Pollution from Wildfires 47 -- 4.8 Precipitation . 48 -- 4.9 Methane 49 -- 4.10 Other Significant Greenhouse Gases 52 -- 4.10.1 Nitrous oxide . 52 -- 4.10.2 Hydrofluorocarbons . 52 -- 4.11 Climate Feedback Mechanisms . 52 -- 4.12 The Human Cost of Climate Change. 54 -- 4.13 Actions Needed 55 -- Chapter 5The water perspective . . 57 -- 5.1 How We Got Here 59 -- 5.1.1 Drinking water 59 -- 5.1.2 Sanitation 60 -- 5.1.3 Water stress 60 -- 5.2 The State of Water Resources. 60 -- 5.2.1 Water quantity 61 -- 5.2.2 Water quality . 63 -- 5.2.3 Natural disasters and water . 64 -- 5.2.4 Glacier mass loss 64 -- 5.2.5 Water supply from glaciers 65 -- 5.2.6 Sea level rise and land subsidence 66 -- 5.2.7 Predicting future water resources 67 -- 5.2.8 Water conflicts 67 -- 5.3 Energy for Water Supply and Water Treatment 68 -- 5.3.1 Source water abstraction and conveyance . 68 -- 5.3.2 Desalination . . 69 -- 5.3.3 Irrigation and groundwater use 70 -- 5.3.4 Wastewater treatment -- water resource recovery . 72 -- 5.4 Water Impact on Hydropower 73 -- 5.5 Economics, Tariffs, and the Value of Water . 74 -- 5.6 Food Consumption Impact on Water 78 -- 5.6.1 Water use 78 -- 5.7 Lifestyle and Water Consumption . 79 -- 5.8 Our Attitude to Nature . . 80 -- 5.9 Actions Needed 82 -- Chapter 6 The energy perspective . 85 -- 6.1 How We Got Here . . 87 -- 6.1.1 Global energy . 87 -- 6.1.2 Electrical energy 88 -- 6.1.3 Transport 90 -- 6.2 Energy Consumption Today . . 92 -- 6.3 Climate and Energy Interactions . . 93 -- 6.4 Water Needs for Energy . 95 -- 6.5 Fossil Fuel Production -- Impact on Water and Environment 97 -- 6.5.1 Tar sand operations . . 97 -- 6.5.2 Hydraulic fracturing 100 -- 6.5.3 Flaring 101 -- 6.5.4 Coal 102 -- 6.5.5 Oil accidents and oil pollution 104 -- 6.6 Biofuel Production. 106 -- 6.6.1 Water use . 107 -- 6.6.2 Burning wood 108 -- 6.7 Electric Power Production 109 -- 6.8 Hydropower 110 -- 6.8.1 Impact of reservoirs. 110 -- 6.9 Thermal Electric Power Generation Systems. 112 -- 6.9.1 Nuclear power . 113 -- 6.9.2 Fossil-fuelled power systems 115 -- 6.9.3 Water requirements . 115 -- 6.10 Carbon Capture . 117 -- 6.11 Solar and Wind Power . 119 -- 6.11.1 Energy efficiency and consumption 119 -- 6.11.2 Solar .120 -- 6.11.3 Wind power . 121 -- 6.12 Energy Storage 122 -- 6.12.1 Batteries 122 -- 6.12.2 Hydrogen .125 -- 6.13 Critical Resources for Renewable Energy 127 -- viii Water Interactions -- A Systemic View -- 6.13.1 Cobalt128 -- 6.13.2 Lithium . 131 -- 6.14 Energy and Public Health. 133 -- 6.14.1 Coal and public health 135 -- 6.14.2 Biomass burning . 135 -- 6.15 Actions Needed . 135 -- Chapter 7 The food perspective . . 137 -- 7.1 Food and Climate Change 139 -- 7.1.1 Global meat production and consumption 140 -- 7.1.2 Environmental impact. 142 -- 7.2 Land Area for Food 143 -- 7.3 Food Waste. 145 -- 7.4 Water for Food 147 -- 7.4.1 Irrigation, water efficiencies, and available technologies 147 -- 7.4.2 Water quality 148 -- 7.5 Energy for Food . 149 -- 7.5.1 Irrigation 149 -- 7.5.2 Fertilizers . 150 -- 7.6 Conservation Agriculture . 152 -- 7.7 Food-Related Health . 155 -- 7.7.1 Targets for food production and consumption . 155 -- 7.7.2 Health risks factors . 156 -- 7.8 Actions Needed . 157 -- Chapter 8 Economics 159 -- 8.1 Inequalities . 160 -- 8.1.1 Climate change. 162 -- 8.1.2 Water inequalities 162 -- 8.1.3 Energy inequalities . 163 -- 8.1.4 Land use and deforestation. 163 -- 8.1.5 Food inequalities . 164 -- 8.2 Economic Consequences of Climate Change . 164 -- 8.2.1 The polluter pays principle . 165 -- 8.2.2 Paying for climate change 165 -- 8.3 Doughnut Economics 167 -- 8.3.1 Circular economics . 169 -- 8.4 Energy Subsidies 169 -- 8.5 Actions Needed . 170 -- Chapter 9 Lifestyle 173 -- 9.1 The Real Difficulty . 173 -- 9.2 Relation Between Wealth and Emissions 174 -- 9.3 Measuring National Emissions . . 176 -- 9.4 Consumption Patterns. . 177 -- 9.4.1 Apparel industry . 178 -- 9.4.2 Aviation . 179 -- 9.5 Actions . . 180 -- Chapter 10 Crisis or hope 183 -- A1 Units. 187 -- Large numbers . 187 -- Power and energy . 187 -- Mass and volume . 188 -- A2 Glossary 189 -- A3 Abbreviations 191 -- Notes 193 -- References 205 -- Index 217 |
| Summary |
During the last two decades, the interrelationship between water and energy has become recognized. Likewise, the couplings to food and agriculture are getting increasingly obvious and alarming. In the last year, a record number of extreme weather events have been reported from most parts of the world. This is a visible demonstration how consequences of climate change must be understood and alleviated. The impacts of economics, lifestyle, and alarming inequalities are becoming increasingly recognisable. If the wealthy part of the world is not willing not make radical changes it does not matter what the less wealthy half of the global population will do to meet the climate and resource crisis. The purpose of the book is to demonstrate and describe how climate change, water, energy, food, and lifestyle are closely depending on each other. It is not sufficient to handle one discipline isolated from the others. This is the traditional ìcomponent viewî. The book defines and describes a systems view. The communications and relationships between the ìcomponentsî have to be described and recognized. Consequently, the development of one discipline must be approached from a systems perspective. At the same time, the success of the systems perspective depends on the degree of knowledge of the individual parts or disciplines. The catchphrase of systems thinking has been caught in the phrase, ìThe whole is more than the sum of its partsî. The idea is not new: the origin of this phrase is to be found already in Aristotleís Metaphysics more than 2300 years ago. The text may serve as an academic text (in engineering, economics, and environmental science) to introduce senior undergraduate and graduate students into systems thinking. Too often education encourages a ìsiloî thinking. Current global challenges canít be solved in isolation; they depend on each other. For example, water professionals should have a basic understanding of energy issues. Energy professionals ought to understand the dependency on water. Economic students should learn more how economy depends on natural resources like energy and water. Economics must include the environmental impact and ecological ceiling of economic activities |
| Notes |
English |
|
Description based on print version record |
| In |
OAPEN (Open Access Publishing in European Networks) OAPEN |
| Subject |
Science.
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science (modern discipline)
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Technology & Engineering / Mining.
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Science / Applied Sciences.
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Science / Environmental Science.
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Science
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| Form |
Electronic book
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| ISBN |
9781789062892 |
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1789062896 |
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9781789062915 |
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1789062918 |
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