Essential Environmental Science, 1st Edition

by Edward A. Keller (University of California, Santa Barbara); Daniel B. Botkin (The Center for the Study of the Environment, Santa Barbara, California )

• ISBN13: 9780471704119
• ISBN10: 0471704113
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-10-01
• Publisher: WILEY

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 Biography

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

Fundamental Issues in Environmental Science

Big Question: Why is Science Necessary to Solve Environmental Problems?

Case Study: Easter Island

Fundamental Principles

Human Population: The Basic Environmental Problem

Sustainability

Eartha's Carrying Capacity

A Global Perspective

Cities Affect the Environment

People and Nature

Science and Values

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

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

Human Population Growth

Big Question: Why is it the Underlying Environmental Problem?

Case Study: How the Great Tsunami of 2004 Affected the Human Population

How Populations Change Over Time: Basic Concepts of Population Dynamics

The Prophecy of Malthus

Population Growth

How Many People Have Lived on Earth?

The Logistic Growth Curve

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

Limiting Factors

The Quality of Life and the Human Carrying Capacity of Earth

How Can We Achieve Zero Population Growth?

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

Biogeochemical Cycles

Big Question: Why Are Biogeochemical Cycles Essential to Long Term Life on Earth?

Case Study: Lake Washington

How Chemicals Cycle

Biogeochemical Cycles

Chemical Reactions

Environmental Questions and Biogeochemical Cycles

Biological Questions

Geologic Questions

Atmospheric Questions

Hydrologic Questions

Biogeochemical Cycles and Life: Limiting Factors

General Concepts Central to Biogeochemical Cycles

The Geologic Cycle

The Tectonic Cycle

The Hydrologic Cycle

The Rock Cycle

Biogeochemical Cycling in Ecosystems

Ecosystem Cycles of a Metal and a Nonmetal

Chemical Cycling and the "Balance of Nature"

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

Ecosystems

Big Question: What is Necessary to Sustain Life on Earth?

Case Study: The Acorn Connection

How Populations Change Over Time and Interact with Each Other

Professions and Places: The Ecological Niche and the Hab

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