As the field of environmental science continues to evolve, this highly readable guide presents a full spectrum of views and information for students to evaluate issues and make informed decisions. An extensive resource package integrates text and digital media in an easy-to-use format designed to assist instructors in classroom preparation.
Features
- Impartial presentation - Strives for a balance between pure science and the political, social, and historical perspectives of environmental affairs. Also reflects differences in interpretation of environmental concerns where they exist, while maintaining the standard of reliable and current science for judging these concerns.
- Six unifying themes - Provide important threads linking the subjects and chapters of the text. Sustainability, science, and stewardship are used as strategic themes to help students conceptualize the task of forging a sustainable future. Three additional integrative themes - ecosystem capital, policy and politics, and globalization - deal with the current status of interactions between society and the natural world.
- Revisiting the Themes - Recap and discuss each theme and help students connect it to the chapter matter.
- Case studies and illustrative stories - Introduce each chapter to draw readers' interest and lead into the chapter material.
- Boxed material on Ethics, Earth Watch, and Global Perspectives - Bring to life additional action-related issues that give a new slant on text material.
Part One Ecosystems: Basic Units of the Natural World
Part Two The Human Population
Part Three Renewable Resources
Part Four Energy
Part Five Pollution and Prevention
Part Six Toward a Sustainable Future