Table of Images from the Book


This is a listing of currently available images from Environment: An Interdisciplinary Anthology


TitleCaptionImage
Figure 01.01The Larsen Ice Shelf in Antarctica, before and after its collapse in 2002. Courtesy of NASA.Figure 1.1
Figure 01.06Variations of the Earth's surface temperature in the Northern Hemisphere for the past 1,000 years. Yearly data and running average from thermometers, tree rings, corals, ice cores, and historical records. Gray represents 95 percent confidence range. Source: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.Figure 1.6
Figure 01.07Variations in rainfall in the Sahel region of Africa, measured as deviations from the long-term average. The measurements are 'normalized' in such a way that any departure from the range from -1 to +1 degrees C might occur by change, but any departure outside of this range is probably a sign of a change in weather patterns. On this evidence, the 'normal' weather in the Sahel is drier now than in the 1950s.Figure 1.7
Figure 01.08The rising trend of global sea level closely follows the rising temperature trend. Source: James Hansen/GISS.Figure 1.8
Figure 01.09This graph plots the change in position of the front of the Grindewald glacier, in Switzerland, relative to its present position since 1500. The glacier has retreated about 1.5 kilometers since 1850, and about half of this retreat has occurred since 1940. The glacial retreat mirrors the rise in global temperature.Figure 1.9
Figure 01.10As the Earth shifts into or out of an interglacial, temperature variations and changes in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere move in step. Data from the Vostok ice core.Figure 1.10
Figure 05.01The semantics of sustainable development.Figure 5.1
Figure 05.02The mainstream perception of the link between poverty and environmental degradation. Photos courtesy of Greenpeace.Figure 5.2
Figure 05.03A more realistic representation of the link between poverty and environmental degradation. Photos courtesy of Greenpeace.Figure 5.3
Figure 05.04The marginal product of increasing complexity. Photos courtesy of USDA.Figure 5.4
Figure 05.05The marginal product of increasing complexity, with technological innovation or acquisition of an energy subsidy. Photo courtesy of the City of Chicago.Figure 5.5
Figure 07.01A sign warns of danger from land mines in Mozambique. Photo by Glenn Adelson.Figure 7.1
Figure 11.03Schematic of human domination of the Earth system.Figure 11.3
Figure 11.04Human domination or alteration of several major components of the earth system, expressed as (from left to right) percentage of the land surface transformed; percentage of the current atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration that results from human action; percentage of accessible surface fresh water used; percentage of terrestrial nitrogen fixation that is human-caused; percentage of plant species in Canada that humanity has introduced from elsewhere; percentage of bird species on Earth that have become extinct in the past two millenia, almost all of them as a consequence of human activity; and percentage of major marine fisheries that are fully exploited, overexploited, or depleted.Figure 11.4
Figure 14.04The top curve is a representative BAU emissions path for global carbon emissions as CO2 from fossil fuel combustion and cement manufacture: 1.5% per year growth starting from 7.0 GtC/year in 2004. The bottom curve is a CO2 emissions path consistent with atmospheric CO2 stabilization at 500 ppm by 2125. [See also SOM text.] The bottom curve assumes an ocean uptake calculated with the High-Latitude Exchange Interior Diffusion Advection (HILDA) ocean model and a constant net land uptake of 0.5 GtC/year. The area between the two curves represents the avoided carbon emissions required for stabilization.Figure 14.4
Figure 14.05Idealization of Figure 14.4: A stabilization triangle of avoided emissions (gray) and allowed emissions (black). The allowed emissions are fixed at 7 GtC/year beginning in 2004. The stabilization triangle is divded into seven wedges, each of which reaches I GtC/year in 2054. With linear growth, the total avoided emissions per wedge is 25 GtC, and the total area of the stabilization triangle is 175 GtC. The arrow at the bottom right of the stabilization triangle points downward to emphasize that fossil fuel emissions must decline substantially below 7 GtC/year after 2054 to achieve stabilization at 500 ppm.Figure 14.5
Figure 23.03Fuel use and real GNP per year.Figure 23.3
Figure 23.04Productivity per worker-hour (as measured by real value added per worker-hour) and fuel use per worker-hour in the U.S. manufacturing sectors from 1909 to 1980. Fuel use includes fossil fuels and electricity. Background shows factory workers c. 1900. Photo courtesy of the National Park Service, Edison National Historical Site.Figure 23.4
Figure 23.05Ratio of output per unit fuel (tons per kilocalorie) used by extractive sectors of the U.S. economy; (bottom) Net energy return (EROI) over time for U.S. fossil fuel sources.Figure 23.5