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Environment

THE EARTH SUMMIT, held in Rio de Janeiro during the first two weeks of June 1992, stands as a warning about the most critical issue of our time, and as a beacon of hope. Representatives of 178 nations gathered to look for new ways to manage the planet Earth to­gether and in harmony. The issue was the environ­ment, and the challenge was to avoid its destruc­tion. Danger signs were and are everywhere, in a world divided decisively into "haves" and "have-nots," and it has become critical that the two begin to cooperate more effectively. The ways in which we can all work together will determine what kind of a life our children and grandchildren will lead, what kinds of expectations they can reasonably have, and how they will be able to contribute to our common prosperity.

 

This site is planned to be a giving to your considerate of the way the world works, and what is occurrence to it as its human inhabitants enlarges. The environmental sciences have usually been viewed in the past as a series of disconnected subjects with few integrating themes. In this book we attempt to tie these many statements together, for only with such a synthesis can a student under­stand how the world works, and what we can ex­pect of it.

Every educated person needs to know the principles that are involved, and each of us must strive to understand the fundamental issues that are presented here, so that he or she can make in­formed decisions about appropriate actions to take. Our future way of life will be based, ultimately, on our ability to deal with the Earth intelligently.

Since 1950, the population of the world has grown from 2.5 billion people to over 5.4 billion; a fifth of the topsoil that makes it possible for us to grow the crops that we eat and feed to our domestic animals has been lost; a third to a half of all forests, depending on the region of the world, has been cut over; the characteristics of the atmosphere have been changed drastically, with thin spots in the stratospheric ozone subjecting us to damaging ultra­violet radiation and increases in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases inexorably leading to global warming; and thousands of species of plants, animals, fungi, and microorganisms are being lost forever with every passing year. The 23% of the world's population who live in industrialized coun­tries (a rapidly decreasing fraction of the total) are consuming about 80-90% of what the world is ca­pable of producing, while the 77% of people who live in developing countries have to make do with the rest. Poor people constitute more than one fifth of the world's population, with over a billion living on less than $1 a day; half of them are malnour­ished.

Over the next three decades, about 3 billion more people will be added to the world population,

The greater majority of them in cities of the third world. Most of these people are likely to be con­demned to a life of poverty and reduced expecta­tions, as they cut over the remaining forests and exhaust the depleted soils of their native lands. We cannot sit aside and watch. The ability of our coun­try to interact trade with other nations, critical to our economic welfare, will be sustained only to the extent that we are able to remain in meaningful contact with other nations and contribute to their stability—while our own resources are being ex­hausted also.

THE CHALLENGE of creating and main­taining   a   sustainable   environment   is probably the single most pressing issue that will confront students throughout their lives. Today, environmental science is not only relevant to students' personal experience, but vital to the future of the entire planet. As humans increasingly alter Earth's land, water, and atmo­sphere on local, regional, and global levels, the re­sulting environmental problems can seem insur­mountable. Armed with the proper tools, however, students need not find these issues overwhelming. Environment equips students with the most essential of these tools: an understanding of the concepts that underlie the problems.

One of our principal goals in preparing this book is to convey to students an appreciation of the marvelous complexity and precise functioning of natural ecosystems. Environment begins with an exploration of the basic ecological principles that govern the natural world, and considers the many ways in which humans affect the environment. From the opening pages, we acquaint students with current environmental issues—issues that have many dimensions and that defy easy solutions. Later chapters examine in detail the effects of human activities, including overpopulation, energy production and consumption, depletion of natural resources, and pollution.

Although we do not sugarcoat these problems— many are very serious indeed—we try to avoid the gloomy predictions of disaster so common in envi­ronmental science textbooks today. Instead, stu­dents are encouraged to take active, positive roles, using the practical and conceptual tools presented in this book, to meet the environmental challenges of today and tomorrow.

This book is intended as an introductory text for undergraduate students, both science and non-science majors. Although relevant to all students, Environment is particularly appropriate for those majoring in education, journalism, political sci­ence/government, and business, as well as the tradi­tional sciences. We assume our students have very little prior knowledge of how ecosystems work, how matter and energy move through ecosystems, and how population dynamics affects and is affected by

Ecosystems. These important ecological concepts and processes are presented in a straightforward, unambiguous manner.

Environment is written in an interesting, conversa­tional style that will help students remember im­portant concepts. The up-to-date coverage of envi­ronmental topics includes many unique applications and interesting case studies through­out. Numerous learning aids are used,

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