BASICS OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE FULL BOOK PDF.
Three years have passed since the first edition of Basics of Environmental Science appeared. During
this time new concerns have arisen, the controversy in Britain over the safety and desirability of
genetically modified foods being the most spectacular example. At the same time, our understanding of
other issues has improved as more information about them has been gathered.
Revising the book for its new edition has given me the opportunity to add more information where it
is now available and to outline some of the new controversies, including that over genetically modified
food. At the same time I have been able to study the whole of the text and to bring it up to date where
necessary.
At intervals throughout the book I have added links to sites on the World Wide Web. This has now
become an invaluable educational resource and I am delighted to have been able to weave this book into
its fabric.
Revised, updated, and modernized, I hope that the new edition will be of value and interest to everyone
seeking to broaden their understanding of the science behind environmental issues.
Michael Allaby
Wadebridge, Cornwall
November 1999
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK:
Basics of Environmental Science will introduce you to most of the topics included under the general
heading of ‘environmental science’. In this text, these topics are arranged in six chapters: Introduction;
Earth Sciences; Physical Resources; Biosphere; Biological Resources; and Environmental Management.
Within these chapters, each individual topic is described in a short section. There are 62 of these
sections in all, numbered in sequence. All are listed on the contents pages.
You can dip into the book anywhere to read a chapter that interests you. Each is self-contained. It is not
quite possible to avoid some overlap, however. This means you may find in one section a technical
term that is not fully explained. In the section ‘ Energy from the Sun ’ (section 11), for example, you
will come across a mention of the ‘greenhouse effect’, but without a detailed explanation of what that
is. When you encounter a difficulty of this kind, refer to the contents pages. In this example you will
find a section, number 13, devoted to the ‘greenhouse effect’, in which the phenomenon is explained
fully. If there is no section specifically devoted to the term you find troublesome, look in the index.
Almost certainly the term will be explained somewhere, and the index will tell you where to look.
Some of the terms that you may find less familiar are defined in the glossary.
At the end of each chapter you will find a list of sections that contain explanations of terms you have
just encountered.
This procedure may seem cumbersome, but it would be impractical to provide a full explanation of terms each time they occur.
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