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This book brings together some of the finest academics in the field to address important questions around the way in which people experience their physical environments, including temperature, light, air-quality, acoustics and so forth. It is of importance not only to the comfort people feel indoors, but also the success of any building as an environment for its stated purpose. The way in which comfort is produced and perceived has a profound effect on the energy use of a building and its resilience to the increasing dangers posed by extreme weather events, and power outages caused by climate change. Research on thermal comfort is particularly important not only for the health and well-being of occupants but because energy used for temperature control is responsible for a large part of the total energy budget of the built environment. In recent years there has been an increasing focus on the vulnerabilities of the thermal comfort system; how and why are buildings failing to provide safe and agreeable thermal environments at an affordable price? Achieving comfort in buildings is a complex subject that involves physics, behaviour, physiology, energy conservation, climate change, and of course architecture and urban design. Bringing together the related disciplines in one volume lays strong, multi-disciplinary foundations for new research and design directions for resilient 21st century architecture. This book heralds workable solutions and emerging directions for key fields in building the resilience of households, organisations and populations in a heating world.

Climate change has become the most pressing moral and political problem of our time. Ethical theories help us think clearly and more fully about important moral and political issues. And yet, to date, there have been no books that have brought together a broad range of ethical theories to apply them systematically to the problems of climate change. This volume fills that deep need. Two preliminary chapters—an up-to-date synopsis of climate science and an overview of the ethical issues raised by climate change—set the stage. After this, ten leading ethicists in ten separate chapters each present a major ethical theory (or, more broadly, perspective) and discuss the implications of that view for how we decide to respond to a rapidly warming planet. Each chapter first provides a brief exposition of the view before working out what that theory “has to say” about climate change and our response to the problems it poses.Key features:• Up-to-date synopsis of climate science• Clear overviews of a wide range of ethical theories and perspectives by leading experts• Insightful discussions of the implications of these theories and perspectives for our response to climate change• A unique opportunity to assess the relative strengths and weaknesses of various ethical viewpoints.

Cities are one of the most significant contributors to global climate change. The rapid speed at which urban centers use large amounts of resources adds to the global crisis and can lead to extreme local heat. The Urban Fix addresses how urban design, planning and policies can counter the threats of climate change, urban heat islands and overpopulation, helping cities take full advantage of their inherent advantages and new technologies to catalyze social, cultural and physical solutions to combat the epic, unprecedented challenges humanity faces.The book fills a conspicuous void in the international dialogue on climate change and heat islands by examining both the environmental benefits in developed countries and the population benefit in developing countries. Urban heat islands can be addressed in incremental, manageable steps, such as planting trees and painting roofs white, which provide a more concrete and proactive sense of progress for policymakers and practitioners. This book is invaluable to anyone searching for a better understanding of the impact of resilient cities in the monumental and urgent fight against climate change, and provides the tools to do so.

The first concerns that come to mind in relation to pollution from road vehicles are direct emissions of carbon dioxide and toxic air pollutants. These are, of course, important but the impacts of road traffic are altogether more substantial. This volume of the Issues in Environmental Science and Technology Series takes a broader view of the effects on the environment and human health, excluding only injury due to road traffic accidents. By looking across the environmental media, air, water and soil, and taking account also of noise pollution, the volume addresses far more than the conventional atmospheric issues. More importantly, however, it examines present and future vehicle technologies, the implications of more extensive use of batteries in electric vehicles and the consequences of recycling vehicles at the end of use. Finally, examples of life-cycle analysis as applied to road vehicles are reviewed. This book is a comprehensive source of authoritative information for students studying pollution, and for policy-makers concerned with vehicle emissions and road traffic impacts more generally.

Since the late 1970s, theologians have been attempting to integrate mimetic theory into different fields of theology, yet a distrust of mimetic theory persists in some theological camps. In René Girard, Unlikely Apologist: Mimetic Theory and Fundamental Theology, Grant Kaplan brings mimetic theory into conversation with theology both to elucidate the relevance of mimetic theory for the discipline of fundamental theology and to understand the work of René Girard within a theological framework. Rather than focus on Christology or atonement theory as the locus of interaction between Girard and theology, Kaplan centers his discussion on the apologetic quality of mimetic theory and the impact of mimetic theory on fundamental theology, the subdiscipline that grew to replace apologetics. His book explores the relation between Girard and fundamental theology in several keys. In one, it understands mimetic theory as a heuristic device that allows theological narratives and positions to become more intelligible and, by so doing, makes theology more persuasive. In another key, Kaplan shows how mimetic theory, when placed in dialogue with particular theologians, can advance theological discussion in areas where mimetic theory has seldom been invoked. On this level the book performs a dialogue with theology that both revisits earlier theological efforts and also demonstrates how mimetic theory brings valuable dimensions to questions of fundamental theology.

Este libro se posiciona en el enfoque del estudio de políticas públicas para proponer, desde diferentes disciplinas y a partir de preocupaciones diversas, una serie de análisis sobre la acción gubernamental en ámbitos que involucran el territorio y la población. Los trabajos que lo integran aportan elementos centrales acerca de lo que motiva las políticas, de su ejecución y sus efectos. De esta forma, al celebrar cincuenta años de su fundación, el Centro de Estudios Demográficos, Urbanos y Ambientales de El Colegio de México propone una lectura de la acción gubernamental en los ámbitos que han sido materia de su trabajo, como la dinámica demográfica, la migración, los mercados de trabajo, la familia, el desarrollo urbano, así como la relación entre la ciudad y el medio ambiente. Al revisar algunas políticas de las últimas décadas, esta obra busca favorecer el diálogo entre las disciplinas y tradiciones de investigación especializadas en el estudio del gobierno, con investigaciones más orientadas al análisis del territorio y la población.

Air pollution is recognized as one of the leading contributors to the global environmental burden of disease, even in countries with relatively low concentrations of air pollution. Air Pollution: Health and Environmental Impacts examines the effect of this complex problem on human health and the environment in different settings around the world. I