Book reviews

Earth Politics. Ernst Ulrich von Weizsacker, 1994, London, Zed Books, 234 pp. ISBN 1 85649 174 9, pb £14.95; hb £36.95

Greening Your Local Authority. Janice Morphet (Ed.), 1994, London, Pitman Publishing (originally Harlow, Longman), 144 pp. ISBN 0582 229 065, pb £32.50

Ecology and Society: an introduction. Luke Martell, 1994 London, Polity Press, 250 pp. ISBN 0 7456 1022 6, hb £39.50, ISBN 0 7456 1023 4, pb £11.95

The Politics of the Environment. Robert E. Goodin, 1994. Cheltenham, Edward Elgar, 599 pp. ISBN 1 85278 872 0, hb £115.00

Introduction to Environmental Impact Assessment John Glasson, Riki Therivel & Andrew Chadwick, 1994, London, UCL Press, 352 pp. ISBN 1 85728 117 9, hb £45.00, ISBN 1 85728 118 7, pb £14.95

Planning for the Planet: sustainable development strategies for local and strategic plans. Friends of the Earth, 1994, London, FoE, 104 pp. ISBN 1 85750 224 8, £12.00

Environmental Strategy and Sustainable Development: the corporate challenge for the 21st century. Richard Welford, 1995, London, Routledge, 240 pp. ISBN 0 415 10551 X, hb £40.00, ISBN 0 415 10552 8, pb £12.99

Housing and the Environment: a new agenda. Mark Bhatti, Jane Brooke & Mike Gibson (Eds), 1994, Foreword by Jonathon Porritt, Coventry, Chartered Institute of Housing, 210 pp. ISBN 0 901 607 738, £14.95     

Characteristics that make trophy hunting of giant pandas inconceivable

In November 1928, Theodore Jr. and Kermit Roosevelt led an expedition to China with the expressed purpose of being the first Westerners to kill the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca). The expedition lasted 8 months and resulted in the brothers shooting a giant panda in the mountains of Sichuan Province. Given the concurrent attention in the popular press describing this celebrated expedition, the giant panda was poised to be trophy hunted much like other large mammals around the world. Today, however, the killing of giant pandas, even for the generation of conservation revenue, is unthinkable for reasons related to the species itself and the context, in time and space, in which the species was popularized in the West. We found that the giant panda's status as a conservation symbol, exceptional charisma and gentle disposition, rarity, value as a nonconsumptive ecotourism attraction, and endemism are integral to the explanation of why the species is not trophy hunted. We compared these intrinsic and extrinsic characteristics with 20 of the most common trophy-hunted mammals to determine whether the principles applying to giant pandas are generalizable to other species. Although certain characteristics of the 20 trophy-hunted mammals aligned with the giant panda, many did not. Charisma, economic value, and endemism, in particular, were comparatively unique to the giant panda. Our analysis suggests that, at present, exceptional characteristics may be necessary for certain mammals to be excepted from trophy hunting. However, because discourse relating to the role of trophy hunting in supporting conservation outcomes is dynamic in both science and society, we suspect these valuations will also change in future.     

How effective has the Clean Water Act been at reducing pollutant mass emissions to the Southern California Bight over the past 35 years?

The Clean Water Act (CWA) has regulated discharges of contaminants since 1972. However, evaluations of the CWA's effectiveness at improving regional water quality are lacking, primarily because integration of monitoring data from multiple dischargers to assess cumulative effects is not required. A rare opportunity exists to assess CWA effectiveness by integrating mass emissions data from all major sources of contaminants to the Southern California Bight from 1971 to 2000. While the coastal population grew by 56% and total effluent volume increased 31% since 1971, mass emissions of nearly all constituents decreased since passage of the CWA, most by greater than 65%. Publicly owned treatment works were the dominant point source of many contaminants, but also accounted for the greatest reductions in pollutant discharge since 1971. As point source treatment has improved, the relative contribution of non-point sources, such as storm water runoff has increased. Despite the increased importance of storm water discharges, regional monitoring and data compilation of this source is lacking, making it difficult to accurately assess trends in non-point source discharge.     

Water quality and health in northern Canada: stored drinking water and acute gastrointestinal illness in Labrador Inuit

One of the highest self-reported incidence rates of acute gastrointestinal illness (AGI) in the global peer-reviewed literature occurs in Inuit communities in the Canadian Arctic. This high incidence of illness could be due, in part, to the consumption of contaminated water, as many northern communities face challenges related to the quality of municipal drinking water. Furthermore, many Inuit store drinking water in containers in the home, which could increase the risk of contamination between source and point-of-use (i.e., water recontamination during storage). To examine this risk, this research characterized drinking water collection and storage practices, identified potential risk factors for water contamination between source and point-of-use, and examined possible associations between drinking water contamination and self-reported AGI in the Inuit community of Rigolet, Canada. The study included a cross-sectional census survey that captured data on types of drinking water used, household practices related to drinking water (e.g., how it was collected and stored), physical characteristics of water storage containers, and self-reported AGI. Additionally, water samples were collected from all identified drinking water containers in homes and analyzed for presence of Escherichia coli and total coliforms. Despite municipally treated tap water being available in all homes, 77.6% of households had alternative sources of drinking water stored in containers, and of these containers, 25.2% tested positive for total coliforms. The use of transfer devices and water dippers (i.e., smaller bowls or measuring cups) for the collection and retrieval of water from containers were both significantly associated with increased odds of total coliform presence in stored water (OR_{transfer device} = 3.4, 95% CI 1.2–11.7; OR_dipper = 13.4, 95% CI 3.8–47.1). Twenty-eight-day period prevalence of self-reported AGI during the month before the survey was 17.2% (95% CI 13.0–22.5), which yielded an annual incidence rate of 2.4 cases per person per year (95% CI 1.8–3.1); no water-related risk factors were significantly associated with AGI. Considering the high prevalence of, and risk factors associated with, indicator bacteria in drinking water stored in containers, potential exposure to waterborne pathogens may be minimized through interventions at the household level.