Two Degrees


Book Description

The instant #1 New York Times bestseller! #1 New York Times bestselling author Alan Gratz (Refugee; Ground Zero) is back, tackling the urgent topic of climate change in this breathtaking, action-packed novel that will keep readers turning pages while making their own plans to better the world. Fire. Ice. Flood. Three climate disasters. Four kids fighting for their lives. Akira is riding her horse in the California woods when a wildfire sparks--and grows scarily fast. How can she make it to safety when there are flames everywhere? Owen and his best friend, George, are used to seeing polar bears on the snowy Canadian tundra. But when one bear gets way too close for comfort, do the boys have any chance of surviving? Natalie hunkers down at home as a massive hurricane barrels toward Miami. When the floodwaters crash into her house, Natalie is dragged out into the storm--with nowhere to hide. Akira, Owen, George, and Natalie are all swept up in the devastating effects of climate change. They are also connected in ways that will shock them--and could alter their destinies forever. Bestselling author Alan Gratz is at the top of his game, shining a light on our increasingly urgent climate crisis while spinning an action-packed story that will keep readers hooked--and inspire them to take action.




The 2 Degree Difference


Book Description

By picking up this book, chances are good that you're busy, committed, and frustrated! There are literally millions of people who in their personal lives, their workplace, family or spiritual life want to spend a full day living out a life that is rich in purpose and significance. But it's not happening! Not really!




Two Degrees: The Built Environment and Our Changing Climate


Book Description

The Earth’s temperature has been rising. To limit catastrophic outcomes, the international scientific community has set a challenging goal of no more than two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) average temperature rise. Economists agree we will save trillions of dollars by acting early. But how do we act successfully? And what’s the backup plan if we fall short? Setting politics aside, Two Degrees reviews the current science and explains how we can set practical steps to reduce the extent of warming and to adapt to the inevitable changes, all while improving the bottom line, beautifying our communities, and increasing human health. The book is a practical guide intended for a broad audience of those who occupy and shape our built environment. The authors provide a clear framework for communities, policy makers, planners, designers, developers, builders, and operators to help manage the impacts and capture the opportunities of our changing climate. Two Degrees is divided into three sections—Fundamentals, Mitigation, and Adaptation—covering a diverse array of topics ranging from climate-positive communities and low-carbon buildings to the psychology of choice and the cost of a low-carbon economy. After a foreword by Amory Lovins, more than 10 contributing authors share knowledge based on direct experience in all aspects of built environment practice. This book clarifies the misconceptions, provides new and unique insights, and shows how a better approach to the built environment can increase resilience and positively shape our future.




Six Degrees


Book Description

In astonishing and unflinching detail, a noted science journalist explains how Earth's climate will be impacted with every degree of increase in global warming--and what can be done about it now.




Two Degrees


Book Description

Two Degrees reviews the current science and predictions for global warming and looks at what steps can be taken to design the built environment to mitigate the extent of global warming and to adapt to inevitable changes in climate.




Congo Solo


Book Description

Emily Hahn was one of the most prolific and enduring writers atThe New Yorker– her first by-line appeared there in 1926, her last in 1996. She was also the author of fifty-three books, and, had her 1933 travel memoir,Congo Solo, not been published in a censored version during the darkest days of the Great Depression, it might well have been hailed as a classic of the genre, alongside Dinesen'sOut of Africa. In many ways Hahn's vivid account of her eight-month sojourn in a remote medical clinic was years ahead of its time. A woman who lived life on her own terms, Hahn was an unknown and struggling writer whenCongo Solowas published. Here – restored to the form she had intended – is Hahn's unforgettable narrative, a vivid, provocative, and at times disturbing firsthand account of the racism, brutality, sexism, and exploitation that were everyday life realities under Belgium's iron-fisted colonial rule. Until now, the few copies ofCongo Soloin circulation were the adulterated version, which the author altered after pressure from her publisher and threats of litigation from the main character's family. This edition makes available a lost treasure of women's travel writing that shocks and impresses, while shedding valuable light on the gender and race politics of the period.




Arnold Diffusion for Smooth Systems of Two and a Half Degrees of Freedom


Book Description

The first complete proof of Arnold diffusion—one of the most important problems in dynamical systems and mathematical physics Arnold diffusion, which concerns the appearance of chaos in classical mechanics, is one of the most important problems in the fields of dynamical systems and mathematical physics. Since it was discovered by Vladimir Arnold in 1963, it has attracted the efforts of some of the most prominent researchers in mathematics. The question is whether a typical perturbation of a particular system will result in chaotic or unstable dynamical phenomena. In this groundbreaking book, Vadim Kaloshin and Ke Zhang provide the first complete proof of Arnold diffusion, demonstrating that that there is topological instability for typical perturbations of five-dimensional integrable systems (two and a half degrees of freedom). This proof realizes a plan John Mather announced in 2003 but was unable to complete before his death. Kaloshin and Zhang follow Mather's strategy but emphasize a more Hamiltonian approach, tying together normal forms theory, hyperbolic theory, Mather theory, and weak KAM theory. Offering a complete, clean, and modern explanation of the steps involved in the proof, and a clear account of background material, this book is designed to be accessible to students as well as researchers. The result is a critical contribution to mathematical physics and dynamical systems, especially Hamiltonian systems.




Two Degrees of Separation


Book Description

The scientist Stanley Milgram realised that everyone in the world was separated from everyone else by no more than six degrees. In business and in the rest of our lives, creating a network of contacts has become a crucial way of getting ahead or realising our ambitions. However, with the introduction of the Internet, being more than two degrees from a person is the equivalent of being a stranger! In the world of networking and making key contacts, the stakes have just gone up. This book provides cutting-edge advice and information on how to create a genuinely effective network of contacts that you can rely on to achieve your objectives. The author demonstrates how networks are structured and function and how you can utilise the latest technology to ensure your most important contacts are only one or two degrees away.




Barriers and Opportunities for 2-Year and 4-Year STEM Degrees


Book Description

Nearly 40 percent of the students entering 2- and 4-year postsecondary institutions indicated their intention to major in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in 2012. But the barriers to students realizing their ambitions are reflected in the fact that about half of those with the intention to earn a STEM bachelor's degree and more than two-thirds intending to earn a STEM associate's degree fail to earn these degrees 4 to 6 years after their initial enrollment. Many of those who do obtain a degree take longer than the advertised length of the programs, thus raising the cost of their education. Are the STEM educational pathways any less efficient than for other fields of study? How might the losses be "stemmed" and greater efficiencies realized? These questions and others are at the heart of this study. Barriers and Opportunities for 2-Year and 4-Year STEM Degrees reviews research on the roles that people, processes, and institutions play in 2-and 4-year STEM degree production. This study pays special attention to the factors that influence students' decisions to enter, stay in, or leave STEM majorsâ€"quality of instruction, grading policies, course sequences, undergraduate learning environments, student supports, co-curricular activities, students' general academic preparedness and competence in science, family background, and governmental and institutional policies that affect STEM educational pathways. Because many students do not take the traditional 4-year path to a STEM undergraduate degree, Barriers and Opportunities describes several other common pathways and also reviews what happens to those who do not complete the journey to a degree. This book describes the major changes in student demographics; how students, view, value, and utilize programs of higher education; and how institutions can adapt to support successful student outcomes. In doing so, Barriers and Opportunities questions whether definitions and characteristics of what constitutes success in STEM should change. As this book explores these issues, it identifies where further research is needed to build a system that works for all students who aspire to STEM degrees. The conclusions of this report lay out the steps that faculty, STEM departments, colleges and universities, professional societies, and others can take to improve STEM education for all students interested in a STEM degree.




Degrees of Freedom


Book Description

The Six Degrees of Petrovitch Michael is an AI of incalculable complexity trapped under the remains of Oshicora tower. Petrovitch will free him one day, he just has to trust Michael will still be sane by the time he does. Maddy and Petrovitch have trust issues. She's left him, but Petrovitch is pretty sure she still loves him. Sonja Oshicora loves Petrovitch too. But she's playing a complicated game and it's not clear that she means to save him from what's coming. The CIA wants to save the world. Well, just America, but they'll call it what they like. The New Machine Jihad is calling. But Petrovitch killed it. Didn't he? And the Armageddonists tried to kill pretty much everyone by blowing the world up. Now, they want to do it again. Once again, all roads lead back to Petrovitch. Everyone wants something from him, but all he wants is to be free. . .