Introduction to Environmental Geology

Product Description As the human population increases, many decisions concerning our use of natural resources will determine our standard of living and the quality of our environment. This reader-friendly book helps readers develop an understanding of how geology interacts with major environmental problems facing society. Included with every text, the Hazard City CD-ROM gives instructors meaningful, easy-to-assign, and easy-to-grade assignments based on the idealized town of Hazard City. Focuses on five fundamental concepts of environmental geology: Human Population Growth, Sustainability, Earth as a System, Hazardous Earth Processes, and Scientific Knowledge and Values. Features new chapters on Impacts of Extraterrestrial Objects and Waste as a Resource: Waste Management. Presents new or extensively revised discussion of human population growth, Alaska earthquake of 2002, emerging global water shortage, cleaning Boston Harbor, and much more. Revises many figures to more clearly illustrate the topics under discussion, based on user feedback. An informative reference for anyone interested in learning more about the environment. From the Back Cover This brief paperback presents the basics of physical geology within the context of environmental applications to show how geology relates to life and society—showing us how the world works, how we can avoid or live with potential/natural hazards, and how geology interacts with major environmental problems facing people and society. Introduces philosophy and fundamental concepts, the structure of the Earth and plate tectonics, and the origin and significance of rocks and minerals. Addresses the major natural hazards including earthquakes, volcanic activity, rivers and flooding, landslides, and coastal processes; the major natural resources associated with the geological environment and the subject of pollution; global change, environmental management, and relationships between the environment and society. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. The main objective of Introduction to Environmental Geology, 2nd edition, is to help equip students—particularly those who intend to take only a single science course—with an understanding of the interactions between geologic processes and society. During the first half of the twenty-first century, as the human population increases and the use of resources grows, many decisions concerning our use of those resources, such as water, soil air, minerals energy, and space to live will determine our standard of living and the quality of our environment. Scientific knowledge combined with our values will dictate those decisions. Your charge, whether as a future leader or simply an informed citizen, is to choose paths of development that are good for people and the environment, that larger community that includes plants, animals, water, and air—in other words, the environment consisting of ecosystems that we and all living things depend upon for our well-being. Earth's dynamic and changing environment constitutes one of the most compelling and exciting areas of study. Environmental geology is the application of geologic information to the entire spectrum of interactions between people and the physical environment. During a course in environmental geology, you will develop an understanding of how geology interacts with major environmental problems facing people and society. This is the essence of Introduction to Environmental Geology, 2nd edition. Our strategy with this text is to: Introduce you to the basic concepts and principles of physical and environmental geology, focusing on earth materials and processes. Provide you with sufficient information concerning natural hazards and the geologic environment so that you will be a more informed citizen. You will be better prepared to make decisions concerning where you live and how society responds to natural hazards and catastrophes such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and flooding. Help you develop an understanding of relationships between natural resources and pollution. We seek, find, and use resources and, as a result, may pollute our environment. Thus, it is important to know how we might minimize pollution problems. Help you understand the basic concepts of environmental management as they relate to the geologic environment in areas such as waste management, environmental health, global change, and environmental assessment. After finishing your course in environmental geology, you will be better prepared to make decisions concerning where you build or buy a home, what resources you choose to utilize, and appropriate environmental actions relevant to society and Earth's ecosystems from a local to a global scale. Five Fundamental Concepts To this end, this book introduces a device we call the "Fundamental Concepts of Environmental Geology." These five concepts are designed to provide a m