Environmental Issues: Measuring, Analyzing, and Evaluating

by McConnell, Robert L.; Abel, Daniel C.

• ISBN13: 9780130952707
• ISBN10: 0130952702
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-01-01
• Publisher: Prentice Hall Professional Technical Reference

Summary

This unique text takes an interdisciplinary approach combining simple math, the metric system and critical thinking to gain insight into relevant local, regional and global environmental issues.

Table of Contents

Preface	vi
To the Instructor	vi	(2)
To the Student	viii	(2)
Acknowledgments	x
Basic Concepts and Tools	1	(9)
The Metric System	1	(2)
Scientific Notation	3	(3)
Critical Thinking	6	(2)
Resources	8	(2)
Part One Population and Migration	10	(29)
1 World Population Growth: How Long Would It Take to Fill Up the Earth?	10	(8)
2 Evaluating Impacts of Local Population Growth: Prince William County, Virginia	18	(10)
3 Population Growth, Migration, and Carrying Capacity	28	(11)
Part Two Consumption and the Quality of Life	39	(56)
4 Global Grain Production: Can We Beef It Up?	39	(9)
5 Automobile Use and Associated Impacts: Me `n' My SUV	48	(13)
6 China's Automobile Market: Calculating the Impact of 300,000,000 Cars	61	(8)
7 Waste, Packaging, and Subsidies: The All-Aluminum Can	69	(7)
8 Whacker Madness?: The Proliferation of Turfgrass	76	(10)
9 The Impact of Interjurisdictional Waste Disposal: Truckin' Trash	86	(9)
Part Three Energy Use and Conservation	95	(31)
10 Oil Resources and Reserves	95	(7)
11 Bringing the World to the U.S. Standard of Living	102	(6)
12 Renewable Energy: Is the Answer Blowing in the Wind?	108	(8)
13 Cold Facts About Energy Waste and Avoidable Air Pollution: Getting the Picture About VCRs and Iced Drinks	116	(10)
Part Four Air Pollution and Climate Change	126	(9)
14 The Atmosphere, Carbon Dioxide, and Climate Change	126	(9)
Section I: Weighing the Atmosphere	127	(3)
Section II: Climate Change and the Eruption of Mt. Pinatubo	130	(5)
Part Five The Hydrosphere and Water Pollution	135	(20)
15 Global Warming and Thermal Expansion of Seawater	135	(5)
16 Measuring and Evaluating Substances in Seawater: Gold and PCBs	140	(7)
17 Estuarine Pollution: Chesapeake Bay	147	(8)
Part Six Living Resources	155	(23)
18 Dolphin-Safe Tuna	155	(7)
19 Coral Reef Fishes and Marine Biodiversity	162	(7)
20 Global Fisheries	169	(9)
Answer Key	178	(23)
Index	201