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Target Readership	Sen. Secondary					For help with criteria, click here
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Contents:

1 - The environment; 2 - Changing perceptions of the environment; 3 - Politics and the management of the environment; 4 - The atmosphere and the environment; 5 - Environmental (mis)management of water; 6 - Managing the oceans; 7 - Land degradation; 8 - Why retain biodiversity?; 9 - Looking forward to the next 100 years.

Review:

The continued interest in environmental issues means that there is a need for a range of texts dealing with introductory-level material. The focus here is on the ways in which people interact with the environment. The aim is to give some background information, demonstrate human action and show how we might better manage our interactions. We start with a chapter which highlights the value of the environment and the way in which this has changed over the years. In addition, the basic four spheres idea behind the Earth's operation are described. Chapter two covers the useful ground of how our attitudes towards the environment have changed. Although this was hinted at in the introduction we get a far fuller treatment of it here. There is also a historical perspective of pollution especially in the last 30 years. Chapter three moves on to ecopolitics - towards the arguments between technocentrism and ecocentrism (although it doesn't use such terms the polarisation is obvious). There's also the rise of pressure groups in environmental politics. To this point we get a discussion of how we use the environment. The remaining chapters look far more at the components of the environment and case studies of use/misuse. Thus chapter four looks at the atmosphere and basic meteorology along with recent changes and legislation. Chapter five moves on to freshwater and the hydrologic cycle with case studies looking at basin and catchment management. Next, oceans are outlined in terms of basic oceanography with oil, pollution and politics being the human input. Chapter seven focusses on land with a more applied perspective through cases of land degradation (both natural and human), urbanisation and desertification. Chapter eight covers biodiversity through basic theory (niche, richness etc.), decline in biodiversity and how to manage loss. A final chapter looks at the issues that may face us in the coming years.

Overall, a fair text which is well illustrated and accessible. It has the hard task of covering a wide range of material in a limited space. This book would suit those dealing with applied aspects rather than detailed theory.