-PDF Download- Human Well Being And The Natural Environment EBOOK

Human Well-Being and the Natural Environment

Author: Partha Dasgupta

Publisher: Oxford University Press on Demand

Published: 2001-11-15

Total Pages: 328

ISBN-13: 0199247889

In Human Well-Being and the Natural Environment, Partha Dasgupta explores ways to measure the quality of life. Although the problem pervades a number of academic disciplines, it is not confined to the academic realm. International organizations regularly publish cross-country estimates of the quality of life, journalists and commentators publicize them, and national governments are obliged to take note of them. Today, quality-of-life indices broker political arguments andtogether form a coin that even helps purchase economic and social policy.It is therefore ironic that indices of human well-being in current use are notably insensitive to our dependence on the natural environment, both at a moment in time and across generations. Moreover, international discussions on economic development in poor regions all too frequently ignore the natural resource base. In developing quality-of-life measures, Professor Dasgupta pays particular attention to the natural environment, illustrating how it can be incorporated, more generally, intoeconomic reasoning in a seamless manner. The result is a treatise that goes beyond quality-of-life measures and offers a comprehensive account of the newly emergent subject of ecological economics. The connections between biodiversity, ecosystem services, resource scarcities, and economic possibilitiesfor the future are developed in a quantitative, but accessible, language. Such familiar terms as 'sustainable development', 'social discount rates', and Earth's 'carrying capacity' are given a firm theoretical underpinning. The theory that is developed is then put to use in extended commentaries on the economics of population, poverty traps, global warming, structural adjustment programmes, and free trade. The author shows that, whether we are interested in valuing the state of affairs in acountry or in evaluating economic policy there, the index that should be used is the economy's wealth, which is the social worth of its capital assets. The concept of wealth adopted here is a comprehensive one, including not only manufactured assets, but also human capital, knowledge, and the naturalenvironment. Wealth is contrasted with such popular measures of human well-being as gross national product and the United Nations Development Programme's Human Development Index.Although the theory developed here is not restricted in its applicability to the circumstances facing poor countries, the exposition is prompted by the author's concerns over the dilemmas facing poor people in those parts of world. Repeatedly, he applies the theory to data on poor countries. The picture that emerges is a sobering one and contrasts sharply with that portrayed in the contemporary literature on economic development.The book has been written not only for fellow economists, but also for students of economics, environmental studies, political science, and political philosophy. It is intended even more broadly for the general citizen interested in human well-being and the centrality of the natural environment to our everyday lives.

Health and the Environment in the Southeastern United States

Author: Institute of Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2002-11-30

Total Pages: 84

ISBN-13: 0309085411

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The purpose of this regional workshop in the Southeast was to broaden the environmental health perspective from its typical focus on environmental toxicology to a view that included the impact of the natural, built, and social environments on human health. Early in the planning, Roundtable members realized that the process of engaging speakers and developing an agenda for the workshop would be nearly as instructive as the workshop itself. In their efforts to encourage a wide scope of participation, Roundtable members sought input from individuals from a broad range of diverse fields-urban planners, transportation engineers, landscape architects, developers, clergy, local elected officials, heads of industry, and others. This workshop summary captures the discussions that occurred during the two-day meeting. During this workshop, four main themes were explored: (1) environmental and individual health are intrinsically intertwined; (2) traditional methods of ensuring environmental health protection, such as regulations, should be balanced by more cooperative approaches to problem solving; (3) environmental health efforts should be holistic and interdisciplinary; and (4) technological advances, along with coordinated action across educational, business, social, and political spheres, offer great hope for protecting environmental health. This workshop report is an informational document that provides a summary of the regional meeting.

Environmental Psychology and Human Well-Being

Author: Ann Sloan Devlin

Publisher: Academic Press

Published: 2018-08-21

Total Pages: 482

ISBN-13: 0128114827

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Environmental Psychology and Human Well-Being: Effects of Built and Natural Settings provides a better understanding of the way in which mental and physical well-being is affected by physical environments, along with insights into how the design of these environments might be improved to support better health outcomes. The book reviews the history of the field, discusses theoretical constructs in guiding research and design, and provides an up-to-date survey of research findings. Core psychological constructs, such as personal space, territoriality, privacy, resilience, stress, and more are integrated into each environment covered. Provides research-based insight into how an environment can impact mental and physical health and well-being Integrates core psychological constructs, such as coping, place attachment, social support, and perceived control into each environment discussed Includes discussion of Kaplan's Attention Restoration Theory and Ulrich's Stress Reduction Theory Covers educational settings, workplace settings, environments for active living, housing for the elderly, natural settings, correctional facilities, and more

Human Well-Being and the Natural Environment

Author: Partha Dasgupta

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2001-11-15

Total Pages: 328

ISBN-13: 0191530115

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

In Human Well-Being and the Natural Environment, Partha Dasgupta explores ways to measure the quality of life. In developing quality-of-life indices, he pays particular attention to the natural environment, illustrating how it can be incorporated, more generally, into economic reasoning in a seamless manner. Professor Dasgupta puts the theory that he develops to use in extended commentaries on the economics of population, poverty traps, global warming, structural adjustment programmes, and free trade, particularly in relation to poor countries. The result is a treatise that goes beyond quality-of-life measures and offers a comprehensive account of the newly emergent subject of ecological economics. With the publication of this new paperback edition, Professor Dasgupta has taken the opportunity to update and revise his text in a number of ways, including developments to facilitate its current use on a number of gradate courses in environmental and resource economics. The treatment of the welfare economics of imperfect economies has been developed using new findings, and the Appendix has been expanded to include applications of the theory to a number of institutions, and to develop approximate formulae for estimating the value of environmental natural resources.

Ecosystems and Human Well-being

Author: Joseph Alcamo

Publisher:

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Ecosystems and Human Well-Being is the first product of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, a four-year international work program designed to meet the needs of decisionmakers for scientific information on the links between ecosystem change and human well-being. The book offers an overview of the project, describing the conceptual framework that is being used, defining its scope, and providing a baseline of understanding that all participants need to move forward. The Millennium Assessment focuses on how humans have altered ecosystems, and how changes in ecosystem services have affected human well-being, how ecosystem changes may affect people in future decades, and what types of responses can be adopted at local, national, or global scales to improve ecosystem management and thereby contribute to human well-being and poverty alleviation. The program was launched by United National Secretary-General Kofi Annan in June 2001, and the primary assessment reports will be released by Island Press in 2005. Leading scientists from more than 100 nations are conducting the assessment, which can aid countries, regions, or companies by: providing a clear, scientific picture of the current sta

Handbook on Wellbeing, Happiness and the Environment

Author: David Maddison

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2020-05-29

Total Pages: 448

ISBN-13: 1788119347

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This topical and engaging Handbook brings together cutting-edge research on the relationship between happiness and the natural environment. With interdisciplinary contributions from top scholars, it explores the role of happiness research as a new approach to environmental social science, illustrating the critical links between human wellbeing, happiness and the environment.

The Good in Nature and Humanity

Author: Stephen R. Kellert

Publisher: Island Press

Published: 2013-04-10

Total Pages: 277

ISBN-13: 1610910761

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Scientists, theologians, and the spiritually inclined, as well as all those concerned with humanity's increasingly widespread environmental impact, are beginning to recognize that our ongoing abuse of the earth diminishes our moral as well as our material condition. Many people are coming to believe that strengthening the bonds among spirituality, science, and the natural world offers an important key to addressing the pervasive environmental problems we face.The Good in Nature and Humanity brings together 20 leading thinkers and writers -- including Ursula Goodenough, Lynn Margulis, Dorion Sagan, Carl Safina, David Petersen, Wendell Berry, Terry Tempest Williams, and Barry Lopez -- to examine the divide between faith and reason, and to seek a means for developing an environmental ethic that will help us confront two of our most imperiling crises: global environmental destruction and an impoverished spirituality. The book explores the ways in which science, spirit, and religion can guide the experience and understanding of our ongoing relationship with the natural world and examines how the integration of science and spirituality can equip us to make wiser choices in using and managing the natural environment. The book also provides compelling stories that offer a narrative understanding of the relations among science, spirit, and nature.Grounded in the premise that neither science nor religion can by itself resolve the prevailing malaise of environmental and moral decline, contributors seek viable approaches to averting environmental catastrophe and, more positively, to achieving a more harmonious relationship with the natural world. By bridging the gap between the rational and the religious through the concern of each for understanding the human relation to creation, The Good in Nature and Humanity offers an important means for pursuing the quest for a more secure and meaningful world.

Natural Environments and Human Health

Author: Alan W Ewert

Publisher: CABI

Published: 2014-04-25

Total Pages: 250

ISBN-13: 1845939190

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The role natural environments play in human health and wellbeing is attracting increasing attention. There is growing medical evidence that access to the natural environment can prevent disease, aid recovery, tackle obesity and improve mental health. This book examines the history of natural environments being used for stress-reduction, enjoyment, aesthetics and catharsis, and traces the development of the connection between humans and the environment, and how they impact our personal and collective health.

Sustainable Management of Natural Resources

Author: Michel De Lara

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2008-08-07

Total Pages: 264

ISBN-13: 3540790748

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Nowadays, environmental issues including air and water pollution, climate change, overexploitation of marine ecosystems, exhaustion of fossil resources, conservation of biodiversity are receiving major attention from the public, stakeholders and scholars from the local to the planetary scales. It is now clearly recognized that human activities yield major ecological and envir- mental stresses with irreversible loss of species, destruction of habitat or c- matecatastrophesasthemostdramaticexamplesoftheire?ects.Infact,these anthropogenic activities impact not only the states and dynamics of natural resources and ecosystems but also alter human health, well-being, welfare and economic wealth since these resources are support features for human life. The numerous outputs furnished by nature include direct goods such as food, drugs, energy along with indirect services such as the carbon cycle, the water cycle and pollination, to cite but a few. Hence, the various ecological changes our world is undergoing draw into question our ability to sustain economic production, wealth and the evolution of technology by taking natural systems into account. The concept of “sustainable development” covers such concerns, although no universal consensus exists about this notion. Sustainable development - phasizes the need to organize and control the dynamics and the complex - teractions between man, production activities, and natural resources in order to promote their coexistence and their common evolution. It points out the importance of studying the interfaces between society and nature, and es- ciallythecouplingbetweeneconomicsandecology.Itinducesinterdisciplinary scienti?c research for the assessment, the conservation and the management of natural resources.