Stability of Life on Earth: Principal Subject of Scientific Research in the 21st Century (Springer Praxis Books)

A good reading copy. Hardcover, xvii + 165pp, bibliography, index. Ex-university library, marked "withdrawn": an external stamp on all outer page edges and internal library markings, a gentle paperclip mark on upper edge of last few leaves. Pages are clean and bright with a hint of age-toning to margins/edges, unmarked text: no writing, no highlighting of any kind. An indentation with short creases/folds to lower outer corner of most pages throughout the book. Firm secure binding. Boards are storage- and shelfworn, with indentations and edgewear (noticeably scuffed all outer corners with short edge-nicks). Published without a dust jacket. --- This book shows how human activity on local, regional and global scales has perturbed natural biogeochemical cycles, "colliding" with Nature. The authors demonstrate how the scale and intensity of human-induced destruction of Nature and resultant feedback mechanisms have continuously expanded. They consider the likelihood of increasing numbers of natural disasters as a result of such activities, and propose that sustainable development become a principal research topic for the 21st Century. --- Contents: 1. Ecological-Geographic Space: A Fresh View of Old Problems 2. Geographical Environment: Structure and Processes 3. Structural Units of the Geographical Environment 4. Humans Are Changing the Geographic Environment 5. Formation of the World Community and Its Ideologies 6. The 20th Century: Time of Confrontation With Nature 7. The Scientific Basis of Life Sustainability 8. The Carbon Budget, Role of Biota, and Ecosystem Cost 9. Territorial Expansion as One of Mechanisms for Enhancement of Damage From Natural Hazards.…