Garik Gutman Boeken

This work analyzes the dramatic societal changes resulting from the collapse of socialist governance in Eastern Europe, focusing on its impact on land cover and use. Readers will encounter rapid transformations, including widespread agricultural abandonment. The book compares and contrasts developments in former Soviet bloc countries, republics, and European Russia. Contributing authors examine various topics, such as the carbon cycle, urban and agricultural institutional changes, and wildlife population shifts. Key analyses include the drivers of agricultural land abandonment, forest changes in the Black Sea region, the extreme drought of 2010, and the effects of fires on air quality and land-use issues. The research primarily utilizes satellite data from optical sensors, including night lights observations, at both coarse and medium resolutions. This work emphasizes the significance of understanding socioeconomic shocks—periods of rapid societal change that significantly impact land use and the environment. It reveals that such changes are often abrupt, making them challenging to predict. This international and interdisciplinary effort features contributions from scientists across the USA, Europe, and Russia, appealing to a wide audience within natural and social sciences, particularly geographers, environmental scientists, remote sensing experts, social scientists, and agricultural researchers.