Environmental Issues in the Mediterranean: Processes and Perspectives from the Past and Present

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ISBN: 9780415156868 | 0415156866
Cover: Hardcover
Copyright: 11/13/2003

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The Mediterranean has been subject to changing human settlements and land use patterns for millennia, and has a history of human exploitation in an inherently unstable landscape. This work provides an introduction to the Mediterranean region, its history, physical and human geography and its environmental problems.

List of figures

xiii

List of tables

xix

List of boxes

xxi

Preface

xxiii

Acknowledgements

xxv

PART 1 Background

(56)

1 The Mediterranean region in its context

(11)

What and where is the Mediterranean?

(6)

Current environmental problems in the Mediterranean

(1)

The long history of environmental issues in the Mediterranean region

(1)

Factors of change

(2)

Past and present

(1)

Organization of the book

(1)

2 The geological setting

(43)

Introduction

(1)

Volcanic eruptions and their effects

(6)

Earthquakes

(5)

The plate-tectonic setting of the Mediterranean

(22)

Resources of the Mediterranean lands

(9)

Summary

(1)

Suggestions for further reading

(1)

Topics for discussion

(1)

PART 2 The dynamic environment

(154)

3 The Mediterranean climate and its evolution

(61)

Meteorology

(11)

Climate

(16)

Reconstruction of climatic evolution

(31)

Summary of recent climatic fluctuations

117

(1)

Summary

118

(1)

Suggestions for further reading

119

(1)

Topics for discussion

119

(1)

4 Vegetation

120

(34)

Introduction

120

(1)

Mediterranean scale

120

(5)

Controls at different spatial scales

125

(6)

Effects of human activity

131

(1)

Development of vegetation through time

131

(18)

Summary of major trends since the late glacial maximum

149

(3)

Suggestions for further reading

152

(1)

Topics for discussion

153

(1)

5 The hydrological cycle of the Basin and its watershed

154

(17)

Hillslope hydrology in Mediterranean environments

154

(2)

Catchment hydrology in Mediterranean environments

156

(7)

Wetlands

163

(3)

Groundwater

166

(1)

Rivers and channels

166

(3)

Suggestions for further reading

169

(1)

Topics for discussion

170

(1)

6 Erosion processes

171

(22)

Introduction

171

(1)

Controls on erosion by water

171

(4)

Slope-erosion processes

175

(5)

Rates of water erosion

180

(1)

Mass movements

180

(6)

Catchment-scale erosion rates

186

(3)

Controls on erosion by wind

189

(3)

Suggestions for further reading

192

(1)

Topics for discussion

192

(1)

7 Fire

193

(10)

Introduction

193

(1)

Controls on forest fires

193

(1)

Impacts on vegetation patterns

194

(2)

Effects on soil properties

196

(2)

Effects on hydrology and erosion

198

(1)

Summary

199

(3)

Suggestions for further reading

202

(1)

Topics for discussion

202

(1)

8 The Mediterranean Sea

203

(8)

Main issues

203

(1)

The morphology

204

(1)

Effects of circulation on temperature and salinity

204

(4)

Local circulation

208

(1)

The living Mediterranean

209

(1)

Suggestions for further reading

210

(1)

Topics for discussion

210

(1)

PART 3 The human impact on the environment

211

(88)

9 Background to prehistoric and historic land use

213

(17)

Introduction

213

(1)

Settlement and land use in the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic

214

(8)

Population dynamics from the Upper Palaeolithic to the nineteenth century

222

(5)

General patterns

227

(1)

Summary

227

(2)

Suggestions for further reading

229

(1)

Topics for discussion

229

(1)

10 Traditional land-use patterns 1: agriculture

230

(38)

Introduction

230

(1)

The origin, spread and intensification of agriculture

230

(17)

Erosion and agricultural exploitation

247

(10)

Climatic hazards and agriculture

257

(1)

Irrigation

258

(8)

Summary

266

(1)

Suggestions for further reading

267

(1)

Topics for discussion

267

(1)

11 Traditional land-use patterns 2: rural settlement

268

(9)

Introduction

268

(1)

Agropastoral systems and vertical settlement patterns

268

(3)

Pastoralisen and soil erosion

271

(1)

Fire

272

(2)

Water resources

274

(1)

Marginality of mountain populations

275

(1)

Summary

275

(1)

Suggestions for further reading

276

(1)

Topics for discussion

276

(1)

12 Traditional land-use patterns 3: urban settlement

277

(16)

Introduction

277

(1)

Development of urban settlement patterns

278

(6)

Impacts on land use

284

(3)

Control of the water supply

287

(4)

Pollution

291

(1)

Summary

291

(1)

Suggestions for further reading

291

(1)

Topics for discussion

292

(1)

13 Traditional land-use patterns 4: use of mineral resources

293

(6)

Introduction

293

(1)

Mineral sources and their use

293

(2)

Impacts of quarrying and minim

295

(2)

Summary

297

(1)

Suggestions for further reading

297

(1)

Topics for discussion

297

(2)

PART 4 The Mediterranean environment under increasing pressure

299

(112)

14 The present human landscape

301

(18)

Introduction

301

(1)

Population dynamics in the twentieth century

302

(4)

Urbanization

306

(2)

Industrialization

308

(2)

The development of tourism

310

(2)

The Mediterranean and the EU

312

(2)

The Blue Plan and its projections

314

(3)

Summary

317

(1)

Suggestions for further reading

318

(1)

Topics for discussion

318

(1)

15 Agricultural changes in the twentieth century

319

(19)

Introduction

319

(1)

Intensification, mechanization and their consequences

319

(14)

Soil impoverishment and salinization

333

(2)

Into the twenty-first century: potential impacts of future projections

335

(2)

Summary

337

(1)

Suggestions for further reading

337

(1)

Topics for discussion

337

(1)

16 The impact of depopulation

338

(7)

Introduction

338

(1)

Upland and 'marginal' areas

338

(4)

Impacts of future projections

342

(2)

Summary

344

(1)

Suggestions for further reading

344

(1)

Topics for discussion

344

(1)

17 Pollution

345

(9)

Introduction

345

(1)

Soil pollution

345

(1)

Water pollution

346

(1)

Industrial development and pollution - an example from Spain

346

(2)

Marine pollution

348

(2)

Protecting the Mediterranean Sea

350

(3)

Suggestions for further reading

353

(1)

Topics for discussion

353

(1)

18 Water resources

354

(16)

Introduction

354

(1)

A brief overview of water management through time in Spain and Tunisia

354

(1)

Water budgets

355

(6)

Groundwater

361

(3)

Salinization

364

(2)

Dry farming

366

(1)

Irrigation

366

(1)

Consumptive use

367

(1)

A case study from southern Spain

367

(2)

Summary

369

(1)

Suggestions for further reading

369

(1)

Topics for discussion

369

(1)

19 The desertification problem

370

(10)

Desertification: myth or reality?

370

(1)

Mediterranean desertification

371

(3)

The role of the European Community

374

(1)

What can be done?

375

(2)

Land care?

377

(1)

Suggestions for further reading

378

(1)

Topics for discussion

379

(1)

20 Potential climatic change and its effects

380

(16)

Introduction

380

(1)

Estimating potential future climatic change

381

(4)

Effects of predicted climatic change on the hydrological regime

385

(1)

Effects of predicted climatic change on vegetation

386

(2)

Effects of predicted climatic change on soils and soil erosion

388

(2)

Impacts of potential sea-level rise in the coastal zone

390

(2)

Other potential impacts

392

(1)

Effects of predicted climatic change on human health

392

(1)

Linking potential impacts of climate change with socio-economic changes

393

(1)

Summary

394

(1)

Suggestions for further reading

394

(1)

Topics for discussion

395

(1)

21 Key issues for mitigation

396

(15)

Temporal variability

396

(1)

Spatial variability

396

(1)

Historical antecedents

397

(1)

Complicated and complex impacts

397

(1)

Management, scale and sustainability

398

(1)

Water

398

(1)

Agenda 21

399

(1)

Canons of Mediterranean environmental management

399

(1)

Frameworks for action

400

(10)

The future

410

(1)

Suggestions for further reading

410

(1)

Topics for discussion

410

(1)

Bibliography

411

(58)

Index

469

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Environmental Issues in the Mediterranean: Processes and Perspectives from the Past and Present

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials