Book review essay: Perspectives on environmental ethics

Most introductory texts in environmental ethics (and philosophy in general) are anthologies, and there are advantages to this approach. No philosopher is an expert on all aspects of the field, especially if practical concerns such as climate change, population, biodiversity and globalization are addressed. Moreover, if a course is taught by a single professor, an anthology exposes students to different positions on controversial topics written by their advocates, not merely mediated through the professor’s worldview. Another advantage is that students have to grapple with challenging material that was written for professionals and academics, not just students

Environmental ethics in a New Zealand context

Environmental ethics has many strands and roots but there is increasing for a holistic approach. Such an approach, which is consistent with te ao Maori and tikanga Maori, is especially appropriate for New Zealand

American Mass Media and Sustainable Development

The American mass media overwhelmingly promote a consumer culture, while paying scant attention to the effects this culture has on the environment. American film and television, especially, is reaching more and more people worldwide, thus promoting wasteful overconsumption on a global scale by encouraging people to abandon traditional, sustainable lifestyles and to aspire to an unsustainable consumerist lifestyle. Hollywood has produced many highly successful movies addressing major social issues, including environmental issues such as chemical pollution, nuclear radiation, and global warming, yet it fails to tie these concerns to the consumerist behaviour that is at the root of these problems. Although it may be too much to expect the American mass media to actively promote sustainable development, it is surely irresponsible to promote consumerism as if it had no adverse environmental consequences. Of course, ultimate power rests with the consumer, without whom there would be no audience to make moves for: but the decision about which movies to make, and where to release them, is in the hands of production companies. They have responsibilities not only to present generations but also to future ones

Improving the health of people with multimorbidity: the need for prospective cohort studies

The dramatic rise in long-term conditions (LTCs) represents a major challenge for individuals, families, and health care systems worldwide. Due to the scale of this rise, the management of patients with LTCs largely falls within the domain of primary rather than secondary care, at least in countries with well-developed primary care systems. For example, in the UK, which has a comprehensive primary care system based around general practice (trained family physicians working in multidisciplinary teams) and funded by the National Health Service (NHS), primary care contacts account for around 90% of the total activity of the NHS, and patients with LTCs account for 80% of general practice consultations. Effective primary care and community-based management of people with LTCs is thus a top priority

Dual turbopump liquid hydrogen feed system experience

Design and development of dual turbopump liquid hydrogen feed syste

Late-successional and old-growth forests in the northeastern United States: Structure, dynamics, and prospects for restoration.

Abstract Restoration of old-growth forest structure is an emerging silvicultural goal, especially in those regions where old-growth abundance falls below the historic range of variability. However, longitudinal studies of old-growth dynamics that can inform silvicultural and policy options are few. We analyzed the change in structure, including stand density, diameter distribution, and the abundance of large live, standing dead, and downed dead trees on 58 late-successional and old-growth plots in Maine, USA, and compared these to regional data from the U.S. Forest Inventory and Analysis program. Structural dynamics on the late-successional plots reflected orderly change associated with density-dependent growth and mortality, but dynamics on the old-growth plots were more variable. Some plots experienced heavy mortality associated with beech bark disease. Diameter distributions conformed poorly to a classic exponential distribution, and did not converge toward such a distribution at the plot scale. Although large live trees showed a broad trend of increasing density in regional forests, recent harvesting patterns offset a considerable fraction of those gains, while mean diameter was static and the number of large dead trees was weakly declining. Even though forests of the northeast are aging, changes in silviculture and forest policy are necessary to accelerate restoration of old-growth structure