The Human Impact on the Natural Environment - 5th Edition

by Andrew Goudie

• ISBN13: 9780262072021
• ISBN10: 0262072025
• Edition: 5th
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-02-01
• Publisher: Mit Pr

Summary

Winner of the Chicago Geographic Society Publication Award, 1982. The Human Impact on the Natural Environmenthas become the classic student text on how human activity has changed and continues to change the face of the Earth. The fifth edition maintains the structure of the previous editions as it examines the human role in natural processes and systems. Areas covered include animals, vegetation, soils, landforms, water, the atmosphere, and climate. The book also considers future implications, particularly global warming. The text and references of this edition have been updated throughout. The book includes new or expanded sections on species decline, pollution, sea level, ozone depletion, and climate change, as well as an expanded guide for further reading. It provides a comprehensive view of the major environmental issues facing the world today and gives students of the environment an essential introduction to the impact of humans on the Earth.

Table of Contents

Preface to the Fifth Edition	ix
Acknowledgements	x
Introduction	1	(36)
The development of ideas	1	(11)
The development of human population and stages of cultural development	12	(4)
Hunting and gathering	16	(4)
Humans as cultivators, keepers and metal workers	20	(11)
Modern industrial and urban civilizations	31	(6)
The Human Impact on Vegetation	37	(69)
Introduction	37	(1)
The use of fire	38	(3)
Fires: natural and anthropogenic	41	(3)
The temperatures attained in fires	44	(1)
Some consequences of fire suppression	45	(3)
Some effects of fire on vegetation	48	(1)
The role of grazing	49	(3)
Deforestation	52	(9)
Secondary rain forest	61	(1)
The human role in the creation and maintenance of savanna	62	(5)
The spread of desert vegetation on desert margins	67	(9)
The maquis of the Mediterranean lands	76	(2)
The prairie problem	78	(2)
Post-glacial vegetational change in Britain and Europe	80	(3)
Introduction, invasion and explosion	83	(8)
Air pollution and its effects on plants	91	(3)
Forest decline	94	(5)
Miscellaneous causes of plant decline	99	(4)
The change in genetic and species diversity	103	(3)
Human influence on Animals	106	(54)
Introduction	106	(1)
Domestication of animals	106	(1)
Dispersal and invasions of animals	107	(8)
Human influence on the expansion of animal populations	115	(6)
Causes of animal contractions and decline: pollution	121	(9)
Habitat change and animal decline	130	(7)
Other causes of animal decline	137	(5)
Animal extinctions in prehistoric and historic times	142	(8)
Modern-day extinctions	150	(10)
The Human Impact on the Soil	160	(43)
Introduction	160	(1)
Salinity: natural sources	161	(2)
Human agency and increased salinity	163	(5)
The spread of salinity	168	(3)
Consequences of salinity	171	(2)
Reclamation of salt-affected lands	173	(1)
Lateritization	173	(2)
Accelerated podzolization and acidification	175	(2)
Soil structure alteration	177	(3)
Soil drainage and its impact	180	(3)
Soil fertilization	183	(2)
Fires and soil	185	(1)
Soil erosion: general considerations	185	(3)
Soil erosion associated with deforestation and agriculture	188	(8)
Soil erosion produced by fire	196	(1)
Soil erosion associated with construction and urbanization	197	(2)
Attempts at soil conservation	199	(4)
The Human Impact on the Waters	203	(58)
Introduction	203	(1)
Deliberate modification of rivers	203	(16)
Urbanization and its effects on river flow	219	(3)
Deforestation and its effects on river flow	222	(4)
The human impact on lake levels	226	(3)
Changes in groundwater conditions	229	(6)
Water pollution	235	(4)
Chemical pollution by agriculture and other activities	239	(12)
Deforestation and its effects on water quality	251	(3)
Thermal pollution	254	(3)
Pollution with suspended sediments	257	(1)
Marine pollution	257	(4)
Human Agency in Geomorphology	261	(67)
Introduction	261	(2)
Landforms produced by excavation	263	(6)
Landforms produced by construction and dumping	269	(6)
Accelerated sedimentation	275	(5)
Ground subsidence	280	(8)
Arroyo trenching, gullies and peat haggs	288	(5)
Accelerated weathering and the tufa decline	293	(1)
Accelerated mass movements	294	(5)
Deliberate modification of channels	299	(1)
Non-deliberate river-channel changes	300	(7)
Reactivation and stabilization of sand dunes	307	(4)
Accelerated coastal erosion	311	(11)
Changing rates of salt marsh accretion	322	(1)
The human impact on seismicity and volcanoes	323	(5)
The Human Impact on Climate and the Atmosphere	328	(51)
World climates	328	(5)
The greenhouse gases---carbon dioxide	333	(3)
Other greenhouse gases	336	(4)
Aerosols	340	(3)
Vegetation and albedo change	343	(2)
Forests, irrigation and climate	345	(2)
The possible effects of water diversion schemes	347	(1)
Lakes	347	(1)
Urban climates	348	(7)
Urban air pollution	355	(7)
Air pollution: some further effects	362	(9)
Stratospheric ozone depletion	371	(3)
Deliberate climate modification	374	(3)
Conclusion	377	(2)
The Future	379	(40)
Introduction	379	(2)
The climatic future	381	(4)
The patterning of change	385	(4)
Potential consequences of global warming	389	(1)
Changes in tropical cyclones	390	(2)
The cryosphere	392	(4)
The biosphere	396	(4)
The hydrosphere	400	(3)
The aeolian environment	403	(1)
Coastal environments	404	(11)
Future uncertainty	415	(1)
Future responses	416	(3)
Conclusion	419	(15)
The power of non-industrial and pre-industrial civilizations	419	(1)
The proliferation of impacts	420	(5)
Changes are reversible	425	(3)
The susceptibility to change	428	(3)
Human influence or nature?	431	(2)
Into the unknown	433	(1)
Guide to Reading	434	(4)
References	438	(52)
Index	490