Contents: Editorial: Revive our tormented planet: Ecosystem diversity and carbon sequestration hold the key/Vir Singh, Uma Melkania and P.L. Gautam. I. Agenda for the revival of our tormented planet: issues facing the ecologically shattered and economically globalised world: 1. Ecosystem diversity and carbon sequestration: some issues confronting humanity/Vir Singh and P.L. Gautam. 2. Global climate change: a challenge before humanity/S.P. Singh. 3. Management of ecosystems for livelihoods and carbon sequestration in India: Harmony within natural elements a mantra for human happiness/J.S. Bali. 4. Carbon sequestration: a vision/Vishal Mahajan and Kamal Kishor Sood. 5. Carbon--a material for the the twenty-first century: prospects and promises/B.S. Tewari and Ajay. II. Ecosystem diversity in India: Scenarios, anthropogenic dimensions and management: 6. Forest ecosystems and carbon sequestration in India: keeping the greenhouse gas at Bay/J.B. Lal. 7. Operationalising CDM Afforestation and reforestation projects in India: analysis of barriers at National and International Level/Sandeep Tripathi and V.R.S. Rawat. 8. Microbial diversity as an indicator of soil organic carbon status: redevelopment of humid subtropical perturbed ecosystem/Saurindra Nr. Goswami and Soneswar Sarma. 9. Ecosystem diversity and sustainability: towards middle path/B. Mohan Kumar. 10. Sacred groves in India: celebrating sanctity of Life through biodiversity conservation/Anubhav, Kundan Singh, Akanksha Rastogi and Vir Singh. III. Life on edge: Climate change, critical environmental problems, alarming trends, species extinction and the likes: 11. Climate change and its effects on global biodiversity: evidences of alarming trends and species extinction in different eco-regions of the world/Ragupathy Kannan. 12. Climate change and its effects on global biodiversity: triggering effects and frightening prospects/B.S. Mahapatra, A.P. Singh, A.K. Chaubey and D.K. Shukla. 13. Impact of climate change on crop productivity: need of adjustments in agriculture/S.K. Saini, Yogendra Pal and Amit Bhatnagar. 14. Global warming: contribution of livestock and its control/D.N. Kamra and Someshwar S. Zadbuke. IV. Environmental Management: A search for viable options: 15. Role of biofertilizers to mitigate environmental problems: soil fertility management to hill agro-ecosystems/Susheela Negi, G.K. Dwivedi and R.V. Singh. 16. Effect of sugar industry effluents on seeds germination and seedling growth of Linum usitatissimum L.: The Green Revolution Bowl reels under industrial pollution/Neelam and Ila Prakash. 17. Soil carbon sequestration: a study in Eucalyptus hybrid plantations/Asha Upadhyay and Uma Melkania. 18. Alternate use of biomass for sustainable development: gasification technology for solving energy crisis in rural areas/Raj Narayan Pateriya and Sadachari Singh Tomar. 19. Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi: a unique organism of potential implications for carbon sequestration/Rashmi Srivastava, Shruti Chaturvedi, Preeti Chaturvedi and A.K. Sharma. 20. Role of plant transcription factor-DOF in enhancing nitrogen use efficiency: molecular means for promoting organic farming/Dinesh Yadav, Nidhi Gupta, Anil Kumar, Pushpa Lohani, Munna Singh and U.S. Singh. 21. Fibre yielding plants and carbon sequestration: banking on ecological attributes of economic plants/Sapna Gautam and Uma Melkania. V. Himalayan mountains: Rejuvenated fragile ecosystems can give appropriate response to global warming: 22. Sustainable sloping land management options: potential effects on carbon sequestration in Upland soils in the Himalayas/Isabelle Providoli, Sanjeev Bhuchar, Keshar Man Sthapit, Madhav Dhakal and Eklabya Sharma. 23. Rangelands resources in the mountains: management objective should focus on carbon sequestration enhancement/R.D. Gaur, Vir Singh and Babita Bohra. 24. Himalayan conservation and development: the Mighty mountains can put the earth's climate systems in order/M.L. Dewan. VI. Carbon sequestration: A life-building, life-sustaining and life-enhancing phenomenon on earth: 25. Carbon sequestration: global warming mitigation through improved carbon economy linked with photosynthesis/Munna Singh. 26. Carbon sequestration on agricultural lands: ameliorating sustainability and environmental security/B. Mishra and K.P. Raverkar. 27. Soil carbon sequestration: a potential approach to climate change mitigation/J.S. Chauhan, Bineet Singh and J.P.N. Rai. 28. Enhancing carbon sequestration: pondering over some strategies/Shiwani Bhatnagar and A.K. Karnatak. VII. Enhancing carbon sequestration in nature: Potential technological and institutional mechanisms, carbon trading and policies: 29. Coastal wetland ecosystem in sequestrating carbon directly by geological repositories and phytoplankton fertilization; workable strategies for maintaining ecological integrity/Alok Mukherjee. 30. Carbon sequestration: mitigating environmental and socio-economic impacts of global warming and climate change/Vikram S. Rathore. 31. Forest management: carbon mitigation and social issues/Govind Singh Kushwaha. 32. Enhancing carbon sequestration in India: economic issues and mechanisms/A.K. Singh and Virendra Singh. 33. Climate change and Kyoto Protocol: Global and Indian concerns/Tirthankar Banerjee, Jyotsana Pathak and R.K. Srivastava. 34. Carbon sequestration, global climate and laws: what has been done and what remains?/Rinku Verma. VIII. Ushering in a sustainable future: Eco-ethics, eco-philosophy and psychology as core elements pivoting conservation-oriented transcendental development: 35. Conservation of biodiversity for sustainable development: eco-ethics as an indispensable element/A. Vanmathy and Abha Ahuja. 36. Environmental services emanating from the Himalayan mountains: valuation against the backdrop of eco-philosophy and chasing the goal of global happiness/Vir Singh. 37. Ecosystem conservation for carbon sequestration: Let it be in the popular psyche of India/Subaran Singh. 38. Socio-cultural values promoting conservation of nature's biodiversity: heal the earth for enhancing carbon sequestration/A. Vanmathy and Abha Ahuja. 39. Environmental psychology in landscaping: a dimension of sustainability operations/Govind Singh Kushwaha and Vir Singh. Index.

"Carbon sequestration in nature is of critical value for resolving vital issues of our times, namely the state of ecological paucity, natural resource management, global warming, climate change and sustainable development. It is the free carbon in nature, particularly in the form of CO2 that is responsible for most of the ills of our environment and that makes future of life on earth bleak and unsustainable. Earth's gradually but steadily becoming warmer is one of the grimmest and the gravest issues humanity on earth has ever faced in the recorded history. We have a variety of ecosystems to remove free carbon from the environment and fix it into plant biomass and soil. The earth's ecosystems, however, present a somber picture and sequestration of increasing carbon concentrations cannot be taken care of by them. This book combines ecosystem diversity and carbon sequestration issues together as both are interrelated and are responsible for the rapidly going on processes leading to global warming and climate change. We can meet climate change challenges and usher in a sustainable future blossoming with humanity by enhancing carbon sequestration in nature, which, eventually would be done by maintaining the health of our ecosystems in the first place, and by controlling carbon emissions through a number of technological, institutional and political measures.

Divided into eight sections, the book comprises 39 chapters contributed by many eminent scientists concerned with the state of the earth. The first section attempts to present an agenda for the ecologically shattered and economically globalised world which might help us understand the gravity of the world's common future and guide us to take up effective measures to mitigate the problems and revive our tormented earth. The subsequent sections present and discuss scenarios, anthropogenic dimensions and management of ecosystem diversity; climate change, critical environmental problems, alarming trends, species extinction and all that; a search for viable options; Himalayan mountains; carbon sequestration as a life-building, life-enhancing and life-conserving phenomenon; potential technological and institutional mechanisms, carbon trading, policies; eco-ethics, eco-philosophy and psychology as vital elements pivoting conservation-oriented transcendental development. The book would prove to be of extraordinary value towards resolving the most crucial issues of our times."