Environmental Science Systems and Solutions

Updated with the latest data from the field, Environmental Science: Systems and Solutions, Fifth Edition explains the concepts and teaches the skills needed to understand multi-faceted, and often very complex environmental issues. The authors present the arguments, rebuttals, evidence, and counterevidence from many sides of the debate. The Fifth Edition includes new Science in Action boxes which feature cutting-edge case studies and essays, contributed by subject matter experts, that highlight recent and ongoing research within environmental science. With an "Earth as a system" approach the text continues to emphasize Earth's intricate web of interactions among the biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere, and how we are central components in these four spheres. This flexible, unbiased approach highlights:1. how matter cycles over time through Earth's systems2. the importance of the input-throughput-output processes that describe the global environment3. how human activities and consumption modify Earth's systems4. and the scientific, economic, and policy solutions to environmental problems

Section1 The Environment and People
Chapter1 Environmental Science: An Overview
Chapter2 Human Population Growth
Section2 The Environment of Life on Planet Earth
Chapter3 The Biosphere: Populations, Communities, Ecosystems, and Biogeochemical Cycles
Chapter4 The Distribution of Life on Earth
Chapter5 The Dynamic Earth and Natural Hazards
Section3 Resource Use and Management
Chapter6 People and Natural Resources
Chapter7 Fundamentals of Energy, Fossil Fuels, and Nuclear Energy
Chapter8 Renewable and Alternative Energy Sources
Chapter9 Water Resources
Chapter10 Mineral Resources
Chapter11 Conserving Biological Resources
Chapter12 Land Resources and Management
Chapter13 Food and Soil Resources
Section4 Dealing with Environmental Degredation
Chapter14 Principles of Pollution Control, Toxicology, and Risk
Chapter15 Water Pollution
Chapter16 Air Pollution: Local and Regional
Chapter17 Global Air Pollution: Destruction of the Ozone Layer and Global Climate Change
Chapter18 Municipal Solid Waste and Hazardous Waste
Section5 Social Solutions to Environmental Concerns
Chapter19 Environmental Economics
Chapter20 Historical and Cultural Aspects of Environmental Concerns