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Title:
Essential environmental science
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Publication Information:
Hoboken, NJ : John Wiley & Sons, 2008
ISBN:
9780471704119
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30000010124326 GE105 K44 2008 Open Access Book Book
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30000003494311 GE105 K44 2008 Open Access Book Book
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Summary

Summary

Essential Environmental Science provides a non-quantitative approach that is based on principles, critical thinking and the big questions that are driving the field today. It offers a condensed look at the field, covering topics in way that will help readers answer the "big questions." It eliminates more detailed or advanced topics to make the material more accessible while also placing the focus on today's important issues.


Author Notes

Edward A. Keller was chair of the Environmental Studies and Hydrologic Sciences Programs from 1993 to 1997 and is Professor of Earth Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he teaches earth surface processes, environmental geology, environmental science, river processes, and engineering geology,. Prior to joining the faculty at Santa Barbara, he taught geomorphology, environmental studies, and earth science at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. He was the 1982-1983 Hartley Visiting Professor at the University of Southampton, a Visiting Fellow in 2000 at Emmanuel College of Cambridge University, England, and Recipient of the Easterbrook Distinguished Scientist award from the Geological Society of America in 2004. Professor Keller has focused his research efforts into three areas: studies of Quaternary stratigraphy and tectonics as they relate to earthquakes, active folding, and mountain building process; hydrologic process and wildfire in the chaparral environment of Southern California; and physical habitat requirements for the endangered Southern California steelhead trout. He is the recipient of various water Resources Research Center grants to study fluvial processes and U.S. Geological Survey and Southern California Earthquake center grants to study earthquake hazards.
Professor Keller has published numerous papers and is the author of the textbooks Environmental Geology, Introduction to Environmental Geology and (with Nicholas Pinter) Active Tectonics (Prentice-Hall). He holds bachelor''s degrees in both geology and mathematics from California State University, Fresno; an M.S. in geology from the University of California; and a Ph.D. in geology from Purdue University.

Daniel B. Botkin is President of The Center for the Study of Environment, and Professor Emertius of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, where he has been on the faculty since 1978, serving as chairman of the Environmental Studies Program from 1978 to 1985. For more than three decades, Professor Botkin has been active in the application of ecological science to environmental management. Trained in physics and biology, Professor Botkin is a leader in the application of advanced technology to the study of the environment. He was one of the pioneers in doing research on possible ecological effects of global warming, starting this work in the late 1960s, and continuing to the present.
The originator of widely used forest gap-models, he has conducted research on endangered species, characteristics of natural wilderness areas. His recent research includes studies of the bowhead whales, an endangered species hunted actively by Yankee whalers in the 19th century, important since ancient times to the Eskimos, and one of the longest-lived species, with individuals known to live 120 years.
During his career, Professor botkin has advised the World Bank about tropical forests, biological diversity, and sustainability; the Rockefeller Foundation about global environmental issues; the government of Taiwan about approaches to solving environmental problems; and the state of California on the environmental effects of water diversion on Mono Lake. He served s the primary advisor to the National Geographic Society for its centennial edition map on "the Endangered Earth. "He directed a study for the states of Oregon and California concerning salmon and their forested habitats. He has published many articles and books about environmental issues. His books include: Beyond the Stoney Mountains: Nature in the American West from Lewis and Clark to Today (Oxford University Press), Strange Encounters: Adventures of a renegade Naturalist (Penguin/Tarcher), The Blue Planet (Wiley), Our Natural History: The Lessons of Lewis and Clark (Oxford University Press),Discordant Harmonies: A New Ecology for the 21st Century (Oxford University Press), and Forest Dynamics: An Ecological Model (Oxford University Press).

Professor Botkin was on the faculty of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies (1968-1974) and was a member of the staff of the Ecosystems Center at the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA (1975-1977). He received a B.A. from the University of Rochester, an M.A. from the University of Wisconsin, and a Ph.D. from Rutgers University. He is the winner of the Mitchell International Prize for Sustainable development and the Fernow Prize for International Forestry, and he has been elected to the California Environmental Hall of Fame> recently he was awarded the Astor Lectureship of Oxford University, Great Britain.


Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Fundamental Issues in Environmental Science
Big Question: Why is Science Necessary to Solve Environmental Problems?
Case Study: Easter Island
1.1 Fundamental Principles
1.2 Human Population: The Basic Environmental Problem
1.3 Sustainability
Eartha's Carrying Capacity
1.4 A Global Perspective
1.5 Cities Affect the Environment
1.6 People and Nature
1.7 Science and Values
1.8 Solving Many Environmental Problems Involves Systems and Rates of Change
Environmental Unity
Changes and Equilibriums in Systems
Biota: Biosphere and Sustaining Life Characteristics of Environmental Systems That Make Solving Environmental Problems Harder
1.9 The Precautionary Principle: When in Doubt, Play It Safe
Return to the Big Question
Summary
Key Terms
Getting It Straight
What Do You Think? Pulling It All Together
Chapter 2 Human Population Growth
Big Question: Why is it the Underlying Environmental Problem?
Case Study: How the Great Tsunami of 2004 Affected the Human Population
2.1 How Populations Change Over Time: Basic Concepts of Population Dynamics
The Prophecy of Malthus
2.2 Population Growth
How Many People Have Lived on Earth?
2.3 The Logistic Growth Curve
2.4 Other Clues to How Our Population May Change
Age Structure
The Demographic Transition
Human Death Rates and the Rise of Industrial Societies
Longevity and Its Effect on Population Growth
Life Expectancy
2.5 Limiting Factors
The Quality of Life and the Human Carrying Capacity of Earth
2.6 How Can We Achieve Zero Population Growth?
2.7 How Many People Can Earth Support?
Return to the Big Question
Summary
Key Terms
Getting It Straight
What Do You Think?
Pulling It All Together
Further Reading
Chapter 3 Biogeochemical Cycles
Big Question: Why Are Biogeochemical Cycles Essential to Long Term Life on Earth?
Case Study: Lake Washington
3.1 How Chemicals Cycle
Biogeochemical Cycles
Chemical Reactions
3.2 Environmental Questions and Biogeochemical Cycles
Biological Questions
Geologic Questions
Atmospheric Questions
Hydrologic Questions
3.3 Biogeochemical Cycles and Life: Limiting Factors
3.4 General Concepts Central to Biogeochemical Cycles
3.5 The Geologic Cycle
The Tectonic Cycle
The Hydrologic Cycle
The Rock Cycle
3.6 Biogeochemical Cycling in Ecosystems
Ecosystem Cycles of a Metal and a Nonmetal
Chemical Cycling and the "Balance of Nature"
3.7 Some Major Global Chemical Cycles
The Carbon Cycle
The Missing Carbon Sink
The Nitrogen Cycle
The Phosphorus Cycle
Return to the Big Question
Summary
Key Terms
Getting It Straight
What Do You Think?
Pulling It All Together
Further Reading
Chapter 4 Ecosystems
Big Question: What is Necessary to Sustain Life on Earth?
Case Study: The Acorn Connection
4.1 How Populations Change Over Time and Interact with Each Other
4.2 Professions and Places: The Ecological Niche and the Hab
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