People and Environment, A Global Approach provides an introduction to the main areas of environmental concern for geographers, environmental scientists and planners at the beginning of the twenty-first century. These include:- Pollution of the atmosphere and its impact on our climate; - the exploitation of the oceans; - management and supply of fresh water; - degradation of the land, and - biodiversity, and the need to maintain genetic diversity. The book argues that our knowledge and understanding of the environment is now so great that we can predict with considerable accuracy where the skills of science and technology need to be focused in order to prevent severe environmental damage from occurring. Achieving successful management of the environment has become dependent upon active participation of a society prepared to pay for a high quality of life, and the willingness of our elected politicians to legislate and enforce thevery highest standards of environmental management.
Key features:- Provides students with the details and overview they require to be able to make informed judgements on environmental problems and possible solutions- Global case studies from countries in different stages of socio-economic development provide a wide and heterogeneous picture of the environmental issues facing the world today- Takes a broad socio-economic and historical perspective that places environmental changes, problems and solutions within a broader context. This book will be essential reading for students of geography, environmental studies/science and land use planners, and will also contribute valuable information for climatology, biogeography, hydrology, land economy and forestry students. Gareth Jones is Senior Lecturer in Geography at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. His other books include:vegetation Productivity (1979); The Conservation of Ecosystems and Species (1987); Collins Reference Dictionary Environmental Science (1990) and Resources, Society and Environmental Management (1997).