Includes bibliographical references and index.

What is environmental science? -- Environmental interactions, cycles, and systems -- Ecology and environmentalism -- History of environmental science -- Changing attitudes to the natural world -- Earth Sciences -- Formation and structure of Earth -- The formation of rocks, minerals, and geologic structures -- Weathering -- The evolution of landforms -- Coasts, estuaries, sea levels -- Energy from the Sun -- Albedo and heat capacity -- The greenhouse effect -- The evolution, composition, and structure of the atmosphere -- General circulation of the atmosphere -- Oceans, gyres, currents -- Weather and climate -- Glacials, interglacials, and interstadials -- Dating methods -- Climate change -- Climatic regions and floristic regions -- Physical Resources -- Fresh water and the hydrologic cycle -- Eutrophication and the life cycle of lakes -- Salt water, brackish water, and desalination -- Irrigation, waterlogging, and salinization -- Soil formation, ageing, and taxonomy -- Transport by water and wind -- Soil, climate, and land use -- Soil erosion and its control -- Mining and processing of fuels -- Mining and processing of minerals -- Biosphere -- Biosphere, biomes, biogeography -- Major biomes -- Nutrient cycles -- Respiration and photosynthesis -- Trophic relationships -- Energy, numbers, biomass -- Ecosystems -- Succession and climax -- Arrested successions -- Colonization -- Stability, instability, and reproductive strategies -- Simplicity and diversity -- Homoeostasis, feedback, regulation -- Limits of tolerance -- Biological Resources -- Evolution -- Evolutionary strategies and game theory -- Adaptation -- Dispersal mechanisms -- Wildlife species and habitats -- Biodiversity -- Fisheries -- Forests -- Farming for food and fibre -- Human populations and demographic change -- Genetic engineering -- Environmental Management -- Wildlife conservation -- Zoos, nature reserves, wilderness -- Pest control -- Restoration ecology -- World conservation strategies -- Pollution control -- Hazardous waste -- Transnational pollution.

The new edition of this popular volume offers an engaging introduction to environmental study. It covers the entire breadth of the environmental sciences, providing concise, non-technical explanations of physical processes and systems and the effects of human activities.