Monday, May 23, 2011

Ecotourism : Impacts, Potentials and Possibilities?

Stephen Wearing & John Neil
online access from ScienceDirect
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Ecotourism: Impacts, Potentials and Possibilities analyses the impacts of mainstream tourism in first, second and third world countries, and argues the benefits of adopting the philosophical approaches of ecotourism to create a more sustainable tourism industry in every country around the world.

Conservation and ecotourism issues are now at the forefront of public opinion. The decline of natural rainforests, loss of endangered species, global warming and land degradation have galvanised public support for conservation. Building on the success of the first edition, this text has been fully revised and updated to include:
* Updated and new international case studies
* A new chapter devoted to the theory and technique of Rapid Rural Appraisal (the practice whereby communities are empowered to improve their own environment)
* Questions and further readings at the end of each chapter to facilitate student's learning
* Critical analysis of ecotourism. Explores the movement of ideas around post-modern approaches to the field

Using relevant case studies, Ecotourism examines the potential positive social and environmental benefits of Ecotourism and is ideal for both students of tourism and practitioners within the tourism industry. Ecotourism will also be of interest to environmental groups, land managers, academics and planners.

(From the Publisher’s description)

瀕臨失衡的地球 : 生態與人類精神 (Earth In the Balance)

阿爾.戈爾 (Al Gore)
online access from Apabi
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《瀕臨失衡的地球--生態與人類精神》是美國前副總統阿爾戈爾的重要作品,初版於1992年,旨在討論生態危機與人類文明的整體關係。作者戈爾認為生態危機從根本上說是現代文明和生態系統之間的衝突,副標題“生態與人類精神”便充分體現這一貫穿整部作品的思想核心。全書分為三個部分,分別是“失衡的危險”,“尋求平衡”和“獲取平衡”。循著人類文明與地球生態關係這樣一個脈絡,戈爾將自己的親身感受和最新的科學研究結合起來,致力於探索生態系統與人類文明所共同面臨之困境的產生根源和應對之策,並以此引發讀者對環境與生態問題的真實關切和深刻思考。

(摘錄自國家林業局國家生態網: 生態文化:生態文藝:評論 (2010年8月27日))

Monday, May 16, 2011

How to Live a Low-Carbon Life: The Individual's Guide to Stopping Climate Change

Chris Goodall
online access from ProQuest Ebook Central
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That climate change is happening is now all too clear. Many of us want to take action to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions. Yet the lack of a consolidated source of reliable information on how to calculate one’s individual emissions and the difficulty in assessing different options for effectiveness and cost savings has proven to be a major stumbling block. But personal actions to reduce carbon emissions, if replicated on a sufficient scale, might just save the planet.
How to Live a Low-Carbon Life provides the first comprehensive, one-stop reference guide to calculating individual carbon emissions and it lays out clear plans for how individuals can reduce their emissions. Covering all aspects of modern life from transport to home heating to food sources and the vexing issue of vacations, the book provides easy-to-use tables for conducting a personal lifestyle carbon audit.
Easy reference tables enable rapid carbon footprint calculations, and a companion website houses downloadable spreadsheets to facilitate a complete lifestyle carbon audit as well as up-to-the minute information on new products and carbon-reducing technologies.
(Excerpt from amazon.com)

寂靜的春天 (Silent Spring)

瑞秋. 卡森 Rachel Carson
online access from SuperStar Digital Library
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《寂静的春天》於1962年在美國問世時,是一本很有爭議的書。它那驚世駭俗的關於農藥危害人類環境的預言,不僅受到與之利害攸關的生產與經濟部門的猛烈抨擊,而且也強烈震撼了社會廣大民眾。你若有心去翻閱本世紀60年代以前的報紙或書刊,你將會發現幾乎找不到“環境保護”這個詞。這就是說,環境保護在那時並不是一個存在於社會意識和科學討論中的概念。確實,回想一下長期流行於全世界的口號-- “向大自然宣戰”,“征服大自然”,在這兒,大自然僅僅是人們征服與控制的對象,而非保護並與之和諧相處的對象。人類的這種意識大概起源於洪荒的原始年月,一直持續到20世紀。沒有人懷疑它的正確性,因為人類文明的許多進展是基於此意識而獲得的,人類當前的許多經濟與社會發展計劃也是基於此意識而制定的。Rachel Carson第一次對這一人類意識的絕對正確性提出了質疑,這位瘦弱,身患癌症的女學者,她是否知道她是在向人類的基本意識和幾千年的社會傳統挑戰?《寂静的春天》出版兩年之後,她心力交瘁,與世長辭。作為一個學者與作家,卡遜所遭受的詆毀和攻擊是空前的,但她所堅持的思想終於為人類環境意識的啟蒙點燃了一盞明亮的燈。
(摘錄自www.amazon.cn)




Monday, May 9, 2011

Fast Forward: Ethics and Politics in the Age of Global Warming

William Antholis, Strobe Talbott
online access from ProQuest Ebook Central
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Those of us alive today are the first generation to know that we live in the Age of Global Warming. We may also be the last generation to have any chance of doing something about it. Our forebears had the excuse of ignorance. Our descendants will have the excuse of helplessness. We have no excuse.
—From Chapter One
Fast Forward is equal parts science primer, history lesson, policy prescription, and ethical treatise. This pithy and compelling book makes clear what we know and don’t know about global warming; why the threat demands prudent and urgent action; why the transition to a low-carbon economy will be the most difficult political and economic transaction in history; and how it requires nothing less than a revolution in our sense of civic responsibility.
William Antholis and Strobe Talbott guide the reader through two decades of climate change diplomacy, explaining the national and international factors that have influenced and often impeded the negotiations …
(Excerpt from amazon.com)

中國大歷史

黃仁宇 著
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《中國大歷史》涵蓋了從史前到當代的歷史發展過程,雖然是通史性的論著,卻突破了傳統通史的格局。寫作方式上,仍然保持黃仁宇先生的一貫風格:從小事件看大道理;從長遠的社會、經濟結構觀察歷史的脈動;從中西的比較提示中國歷史的特殊問題。解釋觀點上,黃仁宇先生仍然秉持他的「大歷史」角度,注重人物與時勢的交互作用,理念與制度的差距,行政技術與經濟組織的衝突,以及上層結構與下層結構的結合。
黃仁宇先生以他獨到的歷史眼光,賦予幽遠遼闊的中國歷史一個現代的生命,不但引人入勝,而且發人深思。
(摘錄自博客來網路書店)