Screen LibraryAmerica's most sustainable cities and regions : surviving the 21st century megatrends /
From the American Dream to globalization to the digital and information revolutions, we assume that humans have taken control of our collective destinies in spite of potholes in the road such as the Great Recession of 2007-2009. However, these attitudes were formed during a unique 100-year period of...
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| Main Authors: | |
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| Group Author: | ; ; ; ; ; |
| Published: |
Springer,
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| Publisher Address: | New York : |
| Publication Dates: | [2016] |
| Literature type: | Book |
| Language: | English |
| Subjects: | |
| Summary: |
From the American Dream to globalization to the digital and information revolutions, we assume that humans have taken control of our collective destinies in spite of potholes in the road such as the Great Recession of 2007-2009. However, these attitudes were formed during a unique 100-year period of human history in which a large but finite supply of fossil fuels was tapped to feed our economic and innovation engine. Today, at the peak of the Oil Age, the horizon looks different. Cities such as Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Las Vegas are situated where water and other vital ecological services are scarce, and the enormous flows of resources and energy that were needed to create the megalopolises of the 20th century will prove unsustainable. Climate change is a reality, and regional impacts will become increasingly severe. Economies such as Las Vegas, which are dependent on discretionary income and buffeted by climate change, are already suffering the fate of the proverbial canary in the coal mine. Finite resources will mean profound changes for society in general and the energy-intensive lifestyles of the U.S. and Canada in particular. But not all regions are equally vulnerable to these 21st-century megatrends. Look beyond "America's Most Livable Cities" to the critical factors that will determine the sustainability of your municipality and region. Find out where your city or region ranks according to the forces that will impact our lives in the next years and decades. |
| Carrier Form: | xii, 348 pages : illustrations (some color), maps (some color), forms ; 24 cm |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 325-340) and index. |
| ISBN: |
9781493932429 (paperback) : 149393242X (paperback) 9781493932436 (eBook) 1493932438 (eBook) |
| Index Number: | HC110 |
| CLC: | X22-171.2 |
| Call Number: | X22-171.2/D274 |
| Contents: |
Manifest Destiny and the Growth of America: Cheap Energy and Spending Natural Capital -- The Myth of Urban Self Sufficiency -- A Tale of Twelve Cities and Ten Regions -- The Wealth of Nature is the Wealth of Nations: Ecosystem Services and Their Value to Society -- Global Climate Change: A Warmer and More Unpredictable Future -- Energy -- The Master Resource -- Feeding America's Cities: Putting Food on the Table in the 21st Century -- Moving Away From a Ptolemic View of the Human Economy -- Revisiting the Cities and Regions -- Summing It Up: Alternative Routes for the Way Forward. |