The Human Impact on the Natural Environment : Past, Present, and Future.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Goudie, Andrew S.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Nature--Effect of human beings on.

Nature - Effect of human beings on.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (637 pages)

Edition:

7th ed.

Place of Publication:

New York : John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, 2013.

Summary:

The seventh edition of this classic student text explores the multitude of impacts that humans have had over time upon vegetation, animals, soils, water, landforms and the atmosphere. It also looks into the future and considers the ways in which climate changes and modifications in land cover may change the environment in coming decades. Extensively re-written, it contains many new statistical tables, figures, and references. It is essential reading for undergraduates in geography and environmental science, and for those who want a thorough, wide-ranging and balanced overview of the impacts of humans upon natural processes and systems from the Stone Age to the Anthropocene and who wish to understand the major environmental issues that concern the human race at the present time. Additional resources for this book can be found at: www.wiley.com/go/goudiehumanimpact.

Contents:

Intro

Title page

Copyright page

Preface to the Seventh Edition

About the Companion Website

Part I: The Past and Present

1: Introduction

The development of ideas

The development of human population and stages of cultural development

Hunting and gathering

Humans as cultivators, keepers and metal workers

Modern industrial and urban civilizations

2: The Human Impact on Vegetation

Introduction

The use of fire

Fires: natural and anthropogenic

Some consequences of fire suppression

Some effects of fire on vegetation

The role of grazing

Deforestation

Secondary rain forest

The human role in the creation and maintenance of savanna

The spread of desert vegetation on desert margins

The maquis of the Mediterranean lands

The prairies and other mid-latitude and high-altitude grasslands

Post-glacial vegetational change in Britain and Europe

Lowland heaths

Introduction, invasion and explosion

Air pollution and its effects on plants

Forest decline

Miscellaneous causes of plant decline

The change in genetic and species diversity

Conclusion: threats to plant life

3: Human Influence on Animals

Domestication of animals

Dispersal and invasions of animals

Human influence on the expansion of animal populations

Causes of animal contractions and decline: pollution

Habitat change and animal decline

Other causes of animal decline

Animal extinctions in prehistoric times

Modern-day extinctions

4: The Human Impact on the Soil

Salinity: natural sources

Human agency and increased salinity

Irrigation salinity

Dryland salinity

Urban salinity

Interbasin water transfers

Coastal zone salinity

Consequences of salinity

Reclamation of salt-affected lands

Lateritization

Accelerated podzolization and acidification.

Some anthrosols resulting from agriculture and urbanization

Soil carbon

Soil structure alteration

Soil drainage and its impact

Soil fertilization

Fires and soil quality

Soil erosion: general considerations

Soil erosion associated with deforestation and agriculture

Accelerated wind erosion

Soil erosion produced by fire

Soil erosion associated with construction and urbanization

Soil conservation

5: The Human Impact on the Waters

Deliberate modification of rivers

Urbanization and its effects on river flow

Vegetation modification and its effect on river flow

The human impact on lake levels

Changes in groundwater conditions

Water pollution

Chemical pollution by agriculture and other activities

Deforestation and its effects on water quality

Thermal pollution

Pollution with suspended sediments

Marine pollution

6: Human Agency in Geomorphology

Landforms produced by excavation

Landforms produced by construction and dumping

Sediment transport by rivers

Accelerated sedimentation

Ground subsidence

Arroyo trenching, gullies and peat haggs

Accelerated weathering and the tufa decline

Accelerated mass movements

Deliberate modification of channels

Non-deliberate river-channel changes

Reactivation and stabilization of sand dunes

Accelerated coastal erosion

Changing rates of salt marsh accretion

The human impact on seismicity and volcanoes

7: The Human Impact on Climate and the Atmosphere

World climates

The greenhouse gases - carbon dioxide

Other gases

Ozone depletion and climate change

Aerosols

Global dimming and global brightening

Vegetation and albedo change

Forests, irrigation and climate

The possible effects of water diversion schemes

Lakes

Urban climates.

Deliberate climatic modification

Geoengineering

Urban air pollution

Air pollution: some further effects

Stratospheric ozone depletion

Conclusions

Part II: The Future

8: The Future: Introduction

Changes in the biosphere

Climate and geomorphology

9: The Future: Coastal Environments

The steric effect

Anthropogenic contribution to sea-level change

Permafrost degradation

Melting of glaciers and sea-level rise

Ice sheets and sea-level rise

How fast are sea levels rising?

The amount of sea-level rise by 2100

Land subsidence

Coral reefs

Salt marshes and mangrove swamps

River deltas

Estuaries

Cliffed coasts

Sandy beaches

The role of sediment starvation

10: The Future: Hydrological and Geomorphological Impacts

Rainfall Intensity

Changes in tropical cyclones

Runoff response

Cold regions

Changes in runoff in the UK

Europe

Other examples

Geomorphological consequences of hydrological and other changes

Weathering

11: The Future: The Cryosphere

The nature of the cryosphere

The polar ice sheets and ice caps

Valley glaciers and small ice caps

Predicted rates of glacier retreat and some environmental consequences

Sea ice in the Arctic and Antarctic

Permafrost regions

12: The Future: Drylands

Climate changes in the past

Future changes in climate in drylands

Wind erosivity and erodibility

Future dust storm activity

Rainfall and runoff

Lake levels

Sea-level rise and arid zone coastlines

Salt weathering

13: Conclusion

The power of non-industrial and pre-industrial civilizations

The proliferation of impacts

Human impacts on the environment in China

Are changes reversible?

The susceptibility to change.

Human influence or nature?

Global warming and other pressures

Into the unknown

Glossary

References

Index.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Other Format:

Print version: Goudie, Andrew S. The Human Impact on the Natural Environment

ISBN:

9781118578254

OCLC:

836400746