Table of Contents

Chapter 1 - Understanding Our Environment

• Objectives
• Learning Online
• What's Happening to the Frogs?
• Understanding Our Environment
• Science As a Way of Knowing
• Applied Science
• Thinking about Thinking
• Current Environmental Conditions
• Investigating Our Environment - Don't Believe Everything You See on the Internet
• Human Dimensions of Environmental Science
• Environmental Perspectives

Chapter 2 - Principles of Ecology: Matter, Energy, and Life

• Objectives
• Learning Online
• Measuring Energy Flows in Cedar Bog Lake
• Energy and Matter in the Environment
• Organizing Living Things: Species and Ecosystems
• Biogeochemical Cycles and Life Processes
• Investigating Our Environment - Bioaccumulation and the Mystery of Lake Laberge

Chapter 3 - Populations, Communities, and Species Interaction

• Objectives
• Learning Online
• Darwin and the Theory of Evolution
• Who Lives Where, and Why?
• Species Interactions
• Population Dynamics
• Community Properties
• What Can You Do? Developing a Sense for Where You Live
• Case Study - Biodiversity and Stability
• Communities in Transition

Chapter 4 - Human Populations

• Objectives
• Learning Online
• Census 2000
• Population Growth
• Limits to Growth: Some Opposing Views
• Human Demography
• Population Growth: Opposing Factors
• Demographic Transition
• Family Planning and Fertility Control
• The Future of Human Populations

Chapter 5 - Biomes and Biodiversity

• Objectives
• Learning Online
• Using GIS to Protect Biodiversity
• Biomes
• Biodiversity
• How Do We Benefit from Biodiversity?
• What Threatens Biodiversity?
• Human-Caused Reductions in Biodiversity
• Protecting Biodiversity

Chapter 6 - Environmental Conservation: Forests, Grasslands, Parks, and Nature Preserves

• Objectives
• Learning Online
• Assessing Biodiversity
• World Forests
• Rangelands
• Parks and Nature Preserves
• World Parks and Preserves
• Wilderness Areas
• Wildlife Refuges

Chapter 7 - Food and Agriculture

• Objectives
• Learning Online
• Golden Rice
• Nutrition and Food Supplies
• Major Food Sources
• Soil: A Renewable Resource
• Ways We Use and Abuse Soil
• Other Agricultural Resources
• New Crops and Genetic Engineering
• Sustainable Agriculture

Chapter 8 - Environmental Health and Toxicology

• Objectives
• Learning Online
• Rachel Carson--A Voice for Nature
• Types of Environmental Health Hazards
• Movement, Distribution, and Fate of Toxins
• Mechanisms for Minimizing Toxic Effects
• Measuring Toxicity
• Risk Assessment and Acceptance
• Establishing Public Policy

Chapter 9 - Air: Climate and Pollution

• Objectives
• Learning Online
• The Discovery of Global Warming
• The Atmosphere and Climate
• Climate Change
• Climate and Air Pollution
• Interactions between Climate Processes and Air Pollution
• Effects of Air Pollution
• Air Pollution Control
• Clean Air Legislation
• Current Conditions and Future Prospects

Chapter 10 - Water: Resources and Pollution

• Objectives
• Learning Online
• Where Has the River Gone?
• Water Resources
• Major Water Compartments
• Water Availability and Use
• Freshwater Shortages
• Water Management and Conservation
• Water Pollution
• Water Quality Today
• Pollution Control
• Water Legislation

Chapter 11 - Environmental Geology and Earth Resources

• Objectives
• Learning Online
• Death in a Mine Pit
• A Dynamic Planet
• Minerals and Rocks
• Economic Geology and Mineralogy
• Environmental Effects of Resource Extraction
• Conserving Geologic Resources
• Geologic Hazards

Chapter 12 - Energy

• Objectives
• Learning Online
• Buffalo Ridge
• Energy Sources and Uses
• Fossil Fuels
• Nuclear Power
• Energy Conservation
• Solar Energy
• Fuel Cells
• Biomass
• Energy from the Earth's Forces
• An Alternative Energy Future?

Chapter 13 - Solid and Hazardous Waste

• Objectives
• Learning Online
• Garbology: The Science of Trash
• Waste
• Waste-Disposal Methods
• Shrinking the Waste Stream
• Hazardous and Toxic Wastes

Chapter 14 - Sustainability and Human Development

• Objectives
• Learning Online
• Curitiba: An Environmental Showcase
• Sustainablity and Resources
• Cost-Benefit Analysis and Natural Resource Accounting
• Trade and Development
• Green Business and Green Design
• Urban Development and Sustainable Cities
• Urban Problems in Developing Countries
• Urban Problems in the Developed World
• City Planning and Sustainability

Chapter 15 - Environmental Science and Policy

• Objectives
• Learning Online
• The Christmas Bird Count
• Making Decisions in an Uncertain World
• Environmental Education
• Environmental Policy
• Environmental Law
• International Treaties and Conventions
• Dispute Resoulution and Community-Based Planning
• Citizen Participation
• Collective Action

Appendix 1 Political

Appendix 2 Vegetation

Appendix 3 World Population Density

Appendix 4 Temperature Regions and Ocean Currents

Glossary

Figure Credits

Photo Credits

Index