In August 1937, after almost 20 years of hard work and collaboration between the US Government, local hiking groups, and private land owners, the Appalachian Trail was completed.
Recognizing the need to protect imperiled species, the United States Congress pass the Endangered Species Act on 28 December 1973.
The Future of Food examines genetically engineered foods, patenting, and the corporatization of food.
Vaclav Smil shows why energy transitions are inherently complex and prolonged affairs, and how ignoring this raises unrealistic expectations that the United States and other global economies can be weaned quickly from a primary dependency on fossil fuels.
In the United States the 1985 Farm Bill lead to the creation of a program called the Conservation Reserve Program. It allows farmers to enter into a rental contract in which they are paid for idling and reverting agricultural land to natural ecosystems for conservation purposes.
This article analyzes how World War II impacted both the marine and the terrestrial environment of the North Atlantic, triggered major political and economic decisions with profound cultural implications, and eventually induced a change in ocean management.
Is a world without waste truly achievable? The essays in this volume of RCC Perspectives discuss zero waste as a vision, as a historical concept, and as an international practice. Going beyond the motto of “reduce, reuse, recycle,” they reflect on the feasibility of creating closed material cycles and explore real-world examples of challenges and successes on the way to zero waste.
Content
The history of aluminum not only illustrates how upcycling has helped producers increase profitability since the 1950s by turning low value materials into high value products; it also shows how the transformation processes involved in a circular system of reuse can challenge its environmental sustainability.
Beginning in the pre-modern world, the Volga and Mississippi Rivers both served as critical trade routes connecting cultures in an extensive exchange network, while also sustaining populations through their surrounding wetlands and bottomlands. In modern times, “Mother Volga” and the “Father of Waters” became integral parts of national identity, contributing to a sense of Russian and American exceptionalism. Rivers, Memory, and Nation-Building discusses their histories, through which we derive a more nuanced view of human interaction with the environment, which adds another lens to our understanding of the past.
DeB. Richter addresses the problem with declensionist narratives of the environment, proposing the Georgic narrative as a valuable alternative.
