Earth Sciences

The drama of New Zealand's changeable weather. Are the events we are seeing a sign of permanent change? A compelling, informative and highly illustrated series of investigations into the different types of weather events that occur in New Zealand. It covers the likes of cyclones,... heat waves, snow and drought, recounting gripping eye witness accounts and explaining just what's going on behind them all. Popular science writer Gerard Hutching has found a range of people affected by diverse weather events over the decades and tells their stories, bringing these events to life - from the dramatic to the humorous. A dairy farmer and his quad bike are lifted 5 metres into the air by a cyclone then dropped 100 metres away. An embattled farmer forced to buy feed to keep his herd going through prolonged drought creates 'art' with his arrangement of the grain on a hillside. The science behind each type of weather is then explained in simple accessible terms by the scientists from MetService. And behind it all lies the big question - are these events a result of climate change? An introduction by well-known climatologist Professor James Fenwick begins the discussion. Contents- Weather in a Changing Climate; Understanding the Weather; The Ocean and the Weather; Tropical Cyclones; Rain; Wind; Snow; Drought; Heatwaves; Storm Surge; Thunder and Lightning; Hail; Tornadoes; Fog; Frost.
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Are we now entering a mass extinction event? What can mass extinctions in Earth's history tell us and how does life on earth recover from them? How can we avoid a disastrous human-made mass extinction event? Michael Hannah answers these questions and more in this compelling book.

An exhilarating underwater exploration for readers wanting to recapture their sense of wonder

Healthy soil is key to sustaining life on Earth. While more and more people are starting to see the need for soil restoration, there is very little understanding of just how it can be accomplished. There is a rapidly emerging demand for a how to manual for soil restoration. Dale ...Strickler is an expert on building healthy soil and restoring degraded soil, and in The Complete Guide to Restoring Your Soil, he presents the science of soil, along with proven methods of restoring depleted soil and agricultural practices from around the world that continue to build soil, rather than cause it to deteriorate. Strickler provides a solid foundation in the science of healthy soil, explaining how soil has become so degraded over time and the dire consequences for the human species, not just in terms of food scarcity but also the social, health, and environmental consequences of growing food in poor soil. He addresses the chemical, physical, and biological principles behind soil function, and presents actual farming practices that can be used to regenerate soil, techniques and strategies for remediating contaminated soil, and agriculture systems both past and present that functioned to build soil, such as the ancient chinampas systems of Mexico and the permaculture systems of today.
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This book offers an introduction to the soils of Aotearoa New Zealand, structured according to the New Zealand soil classification system.