2. The deep history of fire

2020 ◽  
pp. 23-51
Author(s):  
Andrew C. Scott
Keyword(s):  
Oxygen Content ◽  
Human Intervention ◽  
History Of

‘The deep history of fire’ looks at how fire data can be preserved in nature, such as charcoal deposits and scars on the rings of trees. The history of fire is linked to changes in vegetation and the atmosphere over millennia, like the increasing size of plants and the atmosphere’s changing oxygen content. Wildfires are currently affected by climate in the form of temperature, rainfall, topography, and the length of dry and wet periods. As human intervention increases and the distinction between natural and human-started fires becomes blurred, an understanding of pyrogeography (the study of past, present, and projected wildfire) and pyrodiversity (its varying effects on biodiversity) is increasingly important.

scholarly journals From punched cards to Google: an outline history of information retrieval

2018 ◽  
pp. 13-21
Author(s):  
Alan Duncan Gilchrist
Keyword(s):  
Information Retrieval ◽  
Natural Language ◽  
Human Intervention ◽  
Cognitive Technology ◽  
Computing Power ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Information ◽  
Major Factors

This paper reviews the history of information re-trieval (IR) from punched cards and the first pro-grammable computer (the ENIAC of 1945) to the present day Web searcher Google and Microsoft’s “cognitive technology” Watson. The review is based on three major factors in the development of IR; (1) the enormous increase in computing power over the last 72 years, (2) the “competition” between statis-tical analysis of text and Natural Language Pro-cessing (NLP) in which the two have finally to a large extent converged, and (3) the corresponding changes in human intervention in the IR process.

Mai Po

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ken Nicolson
Keyword(s):  
Wildlife Conservation ◽  
Cultural Landscapes ◽  
Wildlife Habitat ◽  
Human Intervention ◽  
Buffer Zones ◽  
Commercial Fish ◽  
International Importance ◽  
History Of ◽  
Intensively Managed

Case study 5: The Mai Po Wetlands are a protected wildlife habitat of international importance. There is a common misconception that the site is a natural wilderness with no human intervention. Instead, Mai Po is one of the most intensively managed areas in Hong Kong in order to maintain the optimum biodiversity and balance the interests of commercial fish farmers, visitor education, and wildlife conservation. Although the extensive site is owned by government, the wetland reserve is managed by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). This chapter traces the history of human intervention that has shaped the wetlands beginning with paddy fields and later construction of fish and shrimp ponds within the dense coastal mangrove plantations. The Mai Po story has a lot to teach the conservation practitioner about resolving conflicts between human activities and habitat protection, sensible land use zoning, establishing buffer zones, and understanding the dynamics of organically evolved cultural landscapes in general.

Activity rhythms of barnacles in relation to respiration and feeding

1965 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 161-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. J. Southward ◽  
D. J. Crisp
Keyword(s):  
Oxygen Content ◽  
Activity Rhythm ◽  
Previous History ◽  
Ion Concentration ◽  
Gas Content ◽  
Hydrogen Ion Concentration ◽  
Reduce Activity ◽  
History Of ◽  
Rhythm Activity ◽  
Increased Activity

Records of cirral activity have been made over periods of 24–48 h for individual specimens of eight species of barnacles from three different localities. The effects of movement, gas content, and hydrogen-ion concentration of the water have been studied.In still water most species eventually settle down to a more or less steady rhythm (activity rhythm) of short bursts of cirral beating interspersed with inactive periods. Two exceptions are the surf- or current-loving species Balanus cariosus and Tetraclita squamosa which remain inactive or eventually cease activity. In moving water all species show practically continuous activity, the velocity of the flow needed to produce this response varying according to the species, habitat, and previous history of the specimen. Increased oxygen content has less effect on activity than other factors studied, but eventually appears to reduce activity. A gradual reduction in oxygen content first leads to increased activity and then signs of distress attributable to anoxia.

scholarly journals From blight to beauty: the controversial creation of the first U.S. industrial-heritage park

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 35-55
Author(s):  
Tanya Whitehouse
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Human Intervention ◽  
Environmental Aesthetics ◽  
Industrial Heritage ◽  
Industrial Sites ◽  
History Of ◽  
Post Industrial ◽  
City Park

This paper describes and assesses Richard Haag’s controversial campaign to create Seattle’s Gas Works Park. Haag’s plan is significant in the history of environmental aesthetics, because it was the first to preserve remnants of industrial heritage in a United States city park, and because Haag appealed to aesthetics when making his case. I argue Haag’s campaign was persuasive, and I claim the former gas works now function within the park in much the same way as the ruins of parks of previous centuries. And because the structures are now ruins, they do not sanctify the destructive function they used to have. Finally, I claim that human intervention in abandoned, derelict, or post-industrial sites can be worthwhile if it successfully conveys a change in use or function of those sites, thus bringing beauty out of blight.

Human Intervention in Divine Speech: waqf Rules and the Redaction of the Qur'anic Text

2012 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 90-109
Author(s):  
Amr Osman
Keyword(s):  
Human Intervention ◽  
History Of ◽  
Muslim Scholars

Muslims regard the Qur'an as divine speech; therefore, the scope of human intervention in shaping and interpreting it is often downplayed. One hitherto neglected aspect of the history of the Qur'an and the redaction of its text is the introduction of waqf categories which dictate where a Qur'an reciter must, should or cannot pause while reading the Qur'an and how this affects its meaning. This paper deals with the history of the introduction of these waqf categories: how and on what basis they were determined by Muslim scholars, and what these scholars sought to accomplish by introducing them. It also discusses how this subject is significant to the understanding of the Qur'an by demonstrating how pausing at certain points affects the meaning of the text.

A brief history of seismic migration

Geophysics ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 70 (3) ◽  
pp. 3MJ-20MJ ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Bee Bednar
Keyword(s):  
Seismic Imaging ◽  
Human Intervention ◽  
Seismic Migration ◽  
Digital Revolution ◽  
Vast Literature ◽  
History Of ◽  
Imaging Theory ◽  
Computer Based ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Theoretical Developments

In this article, I attempt to focus on the chronology of seismic imaging. I start in the mid-1920s, progress through the human “computer”-based methods of the 1940s and 1950s, discuss the emergence of digital wave-equation technology in the 1960s and early 1970s, and finally end with a review of the present. I include a bit of speculation about the future of seismic imaging, but the meat of the article is on seismic-imaging history. Based on the timing of their publications, I claim there are three key contributors to the theoretical developments of modern seismic imaging: F. Rieber, J. G. Hagedoorn, and J. F. Claerbout. None of these men were the first to consider the seismic-imaging problem, but their papers and algorithms have probably been quoted more often than anyone else's. One certainly must give credit as well to C. H. Dix and M. M. Slotnick for similar contributions. Other names that come to mind include Hans Sattlegger in Germany, A. J. Berkhout in the Netherlands, Bill Schneider at GSI in Dallas, and Robert Stolt at CONOCO in Ponca City, Oklahoma. However, without the independent computational progression predicted by Moore's law (computer speed doubles every 18 months), the spectacular subsurface images produced today would not be possible. I hope to convince the reader that in addition to the development of the vast literature on seismic-imaging theory, another, less-publicized, parallel technological progression has focused on the development of efficient machines to produce, with minimal human intervention, an increasingly more accurate image of the strata below the recording instruments. Unfortunately, with a few key exceptions, the names of many of the contributors to this aspect of seismic imaging have been lost. The digital revolution in the 1960s appears to be the culmination of this attempt at mechanization, but not until the development of truly powerful scientific computers did the more accurate and advanced theoretical developments in seismic-imaging theory become practical to apply and use in the search for diminishing supplies of hydrocarbons. In fact, one can argue that we still don't have sufficient computer power to do everything we need and want to do. But that's another story.

scholarly journals It’s not only the sea: a history of human intervention in the beach-dune ecosystem of Costa da Caparica (Portugal)

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 227-247
Author(s):  
Monique Palma ◽  
João Alveirinho Dias ◽  
Joana Gaspar Freitas
Keyword(s):  
Environmental History ◽  
Coastal Erosion ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Drainage System ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Human Intervention ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
History Of ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The 19Th Century

Costa da Caparica, located south of Lisbon, has been since the 1960s the favourite beach of the population of the Portuguese capital. The bridge over the Tagus river (1966), connecting the two margins, has facilitated the access to that wide beach of sand and dunes. Due to its natural features and proximity to Lisbon, Caparica become a highly populated area, where different social and economic activities compete for the use of the available space, increasing pressure upon the local ecosystems. The situation is even more problematic, because that littoral has been deeply affected by coastal erosion from the 1950s onwards. Authorities have been dealing with the issue using groynes and artificial beach nourishments. Since 2015, the Municipality of Almada is investing in the rehabilitation of the dunes of the beach of S. João, placing fences to retain the sand and planting vegetation. This programme is particularly interesting from a coastal management history point of view, because these dunes have been the object of many interventions with different purposes, but what was done and why is not very well known. The aim of this article is therefore to present the results of a historical research about human intervention in Costa da Caparica and, particularly at S. João beach, starting in the 19th century, with the first dunes’ survey, the afforestation experiences and the construction of a drainage system. This paper offers a long-term perspective on the socio-evolution of these hybrid environments. Results and discussion show how dunes were trimmed by the works carried out and the reasons that laid beneath these. Revealing the ideas and values, the social, economic and political pressures, that across the years and within the same time period, shaped management strategies and landscapes. Keywords: Environmental History; Dunes Rehabilitation; Afforestation; Wetlands; Coastal Erosion.

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