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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Aqua Science Through The Ages. An Illustrated History Of Water, Fathi Habashi Jan 2010

Aqua Science Through The Ages. An Illustrated History Of Water, Fathi Habashi

Fathi Habashi

Water a component of the Four Elements considered by the ancient philosophers as essential for survival, played, and is still playing an essential role in society. Great civilizations in ancient times developed along great rivers. The ancient peoples knew how to manage water supplies by digging canals, controlling floods, and using water for irrigation. They designed equipment that used water to measure the time, to determine the density of solids, to fight fires, and to create vacuum. Modern engineers exploited water flow to design and construct huge hydroelectric power stations. Waterways and navigation systems were also an essential element for …


Climate Change And Freshwater Resources, Noah D. Hall, Bret B. Stuntz, Robert H. Abrams Jan 2008

Climate Change And Freshwater Resources, Noah D. Hall, Bret B. Stuntz, Robert H. Abrams

Noah D Hall

The Earth’s climate is warming. This is the unequivocal conclusion of climate scientists. Despite the complexities of climatology, certain consistent trends emerge with implications for water availability: as the world gets warmer, it will experience increased regional variability in precipitation, with more frequent heavy precipitation events and more susceptibility to drought. These simple facts will have a profound impact on freshwater resources throughout the United States, as the warmer climate will reduce available water supplies and increase water demand. Unfortunately, current water law and policy are not up to the new challenges of climate change and resulting pressures on freshwater …


Resilience In Ecology And Belief, Ram Ranjan Aug 2007

Resilience In Ecology And Belief, Ram Ranjan

Ram Ranjan

TThis paper explores the crucial linkage between societal risk perception and the survival of threatened ecosystems exhibiting non-linear stock dynamics. Perception of risk over specie’s importance and over its survival chances may be subject to resilience and therefore may differ from actual risks. Whereas, ecosystems stand a better chance of survival if they aren’t stressed beyond their resilience thresholds. When an ecosystem’s sustainability and the subjective perception of risks of their loss are both influenced by the stock of a common natural resource, several resource management outcomes are possible, not all of which may ensure the sustainability of the ecosystem. …