UNDERSTANDING OUR ENVIRONMENT An Introduction

• Main Author: Cunningham, William P
• Format: Book
• Language: English
• Published: Dubuque, Iowa Wm. C. Brown Publishers 1994
• Subjects: Human ecology; Environmental sciences > Study and teaching; Environmental education
• Online Access: Click Here to View Status and Holdings.

 Environmental science is a dynamic, rapidly changing field of vital importance to each of us. The decisions we make now about resource use, waste disposal, population growth, and pollution control will have tremendous impacts on our lives and those of future generations. We live in an increasingly interconnected global village with worldwide communications and transportation systems that make us aware of day-to day conditions in places our parents never heard of. What happens on the other side of the planet has profound effects on us; we, in turn, have impacts on people of whom we may be totally unaware. Prob lems such as global climate change, destruction of stratospheric ozone, ocean pollution, loss of biodiver sity, and famine and war in developing countries are discussed every day in newspapers and on radio and television. Although many problems clamor for our at tention, I hope that readers also will come to appreci ate the beauty, complexity, and value of both the natural world and the cultural and technological envi ronments that humans have built. Among the central environmental concerns ad dressed in this book are (1) How does the natural world work? (2) What have we done and what are we doing now to our environment both for good and for ill? and (3) What can we do to ensure a sustainable future for ourselves, other species, and future genera tions? As citizens of a global community, we depend on a foundation of scientific principles as well as a knowledge of human history and social systems to an swer these questions, help protect our environment, and build a better world.