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An investigation of science, politics and our food production system, this text exposes the bogus science, political interference and flawed policies that threaten our food supply. The author tells the story of BSE, revealing how top scientists have been muzzled and how the epidemic continues. Then, against a backdrop of burning cows, Andrew Rowell exposes how trade and macro-economic policies overruled good science in the foot and mouth catastrophe. He also opens the black box of the so-called GM revolution to expose the myth behind the marketing. In tracing how critics are silenced in the bottom-line climate of commercialized science and privatized knowledge, Rowell tells the true story of the widely publicized Pusztai GM potato scandal of the late 1990s and the ongoing Mexican maize GM contamination affair. Finally, the book offers radical solutions to make science work in the public interest and provide food that really is safe to eat.
Biodiversity is in accelerated decline and urgent action is needed. In 2020, the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity ended, and none of its Aichi Targets were met. Despite the legally disappointing situation on a global level, the role of national courts in adjudicating climate change litigation is showing potential for effective mitigation and adaptation, and judges have become key actors in linking internationally agreed goals with tangible national commitments to mitigate climate change. Can this pursuit of globally agreed goals at a local level be transposed and lead a similar trend for biodiversity governance? This edited collection gives readers an overview of the shape and reach of biodiv...
An accessible introduction and essential reference for an approach to machine learning that creates highly accurate prediction rules by combining many weak and inaccurate ones. Boosting is an approach to machine learning based on the idea of creating a highly accurate predictor by combining many weak and inaccurate “rules of thumb.” A remarkably rich theory has evolved around boosting, with connections to a range of topics, including statistics, game theory, convex optimization, and information geometry. Boosting algorithms have also enjoyed practical success in such fields as biology, vision, and speech processing. At various times in its history, boosting has been perceived as mysterio...
The two hundredth anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin, February 12, 2009, occurred at a critical time for the United States and the world. In honor of Darwin's birthday, the National Research Council appointed a committee under the auspices of the U.S. National Committee (USNC) for DIVERSITAS to plan a Symposium on Twenty-first Century Ecosystems. The purpose of the symposium was to capture some of the current excitement and recent progress in scientific understanding of ecosystems, from the microbial to the global level, while also highlighting how improved understanding can be applied to important policy issues that have broad biodiversity and ecosystem effects. The aim was to help ...
A renowned scientist and environmental advocate looks back on a life that has straddled the worlds of science and politics “Entirely entertaining.”—Kirkus Reviews Acclaimed as a public scientist and as a spokesperson on pressing environmental and equity issues, delivering his message from the classroom to 60 Minutes, Paul R. Ehrlich reflects on his life, including his love affair with his wife, Anne, his scientific research, his public advocacy, and his concern for global issues. Interweaving the range of his experiences—as an airplane pilot, a desegregationist, a proud parent—Ehrlich’s insights are priceless on pressing issues such as biodiversity loss, overpopulation, depletion...
Jeffrey Glassberg's acclaimed Butterflies through Binoculars guides have revolutionized the way we view butterflies. Now there's a field guide in the same practical format, and with the same emphasis on conservation, to identify caterpillars. Caterpillars are as varied, fascinating, and often as colorful as the adult butterflies they become. This is the most comprehensive guide to these creatures available. It contains all the information necessary to find and identify the caterpillars of North America--from Two-tailed Swallowtails, some of the largest butterfly caterpillars at just over two inches when fully grown, to tiny Western Pygmy-Blues. Caterpillar seekers will learn how to distingui...
This book examines two key aspects of developing environmental indicators for agriculture: identification and design of suitable indicators and how governments might use them for policy purposes.
"This book offers a new theory for modeling how organisms make tradeoff decisions and how these decisions affect both individuals and populations. Tradeoff decisions (or behaviors) are those that are optimize survival and include behaviors like foraging and reproduction. Existing theories have not painted a complete picture of tradeoff decisions because they only observe how the decisions of an individual affect them rather than how individuals impact, and are impacted by, the behavior of their communities. The authors' theory-which they call state and prediction based theory-uses individual-based models since these models show the complex ways that organisms relate to their environment. The...