by S.A. El-Swaify and D.S. Yakowitz (1998)
Multiple Objective Decision Making for Land, Water and Environmental Management explores the following major themes: Relevance of multiple objective decision support systems (MODSS) for addressing user needs, various sectors of society, and different levels of clientele; MODSS methodologies, tools, components, and integration; economic, social, cultural, and policy issues and applications (including risk assessment, conflict resolution, and sustainable development); and applicability to global and regional issues, especially in Asia and the Pacific, including degradation processes in small island ecosystems and major river basins and competitive uses of water for agriculture and aquaculture. This book represents a forum for those interested in transforming available information into quantitative aids that facilitate decision making and offer viable solutions. It illustrates the diversity of perspectives and points of view in managing the natural resource base of our global community.
Michael Bothe and Eckard Rehbinder
"This book presents the research results of an interdisciplinary study on climate change policies by the Enforcing Environmental Policy (EEP) Network, a project supported by the Human Dimension Potential Programme of the EU."
Petri Minkkinen and Heikki Patomäki
If the plans concerning EMU will be realised, by 2002 national currencies will be replaced by the Euro and national central banks will be partially replaced by the European Central Bank. The Politics of Economic and Monetary Union starts with the argument that EMU is more a political than an economic project. The politics of EMU includes many dimensions. The book tries to explain the hegemony of the neoliberal and German vision of Europe in the context of recent developments in the global political economy. It assesses the consequences of this hegemony and the possibility for alternatives from a variety of perspectives. In many chapters, it is also argued that the legitimation problems of the Union may turn into an acute crisis also because of EMU. We should expect an actualised crisis to lead to a transformation of the Union.
Albert E. Cowdrey
Here is the story of the long interaction between humans, land, and climate in the American South. It is a tale of exploitation and erosion, of destruction, disease, and defeat, but also of the persistent search for knowledge and wisdom. It is a story whose villains were also its victims and sometimes its heroes. Ancient forces created the southern landscape, but, as Albert E. Cowdrey shows, humankind from the time of earliest habitation has been at work reshaping it. The southern Indians, far from being the "natural ecologists" of myth, radically transformed their environment by hunting and burning. Such patterns were greatly accelerated by the arrival of Europeans, who viewed the land as a commodity to be exploited for immediate economic benefit. Their greed and ignorance took a heavy toll on the land and all those it supported. Cowdrey documents not only the long decline but the painfully slow struggle to repair the damage of human folly. The eighteenth century saw widespread though ineffectual efforts to protect game and conserve the soil. In the nineteenth century the first hesitant steps were taken toward scientific flood control, forestry, wildlife protection, and improved medicine. In this century, the New Deal, the explosion in scientific knowledge, and the national environmental movement have spurred more rapid improvements. But the efforts to harness the South's great rivers, to save its wild species, and to avert serious environmental pollution have often had equivocal results.
Arthur Tatnall, Javier Osorio, Adrie Visscher
International Federation for Information Processing The IFIP series publishes state-of-the-art results in the sciences and technologies of information and communication. The scope of the series includes: foundations of computer science; software theory and practice; education; computer applications in technology; communication systems; systems modeling and optimization; information systems; computers and society; computer systems technology; security and protection in information processing systems; artificial intelligence; and human-computer interaction. Proceedings and post-proceedings of referred international conferences in computer science and interdisciplinary fields are featured. These results often precede journal publication and represent the most current research. The principal aim of the IFIP series is to encourage education and the dissemination and exchange of information about all aspects of computing. For more information about the 300 other books in the IFIP series, please visit www.springeronline.com. For more information about IFIP, please visit www.ifip.or.at.