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Overview
Written by a well-known ecologist with more than forty years of scientific field work on six continents, this book deals with the ecology of planet earth, focusing on the condition of the global environment and the quality of human life. The author describes the scope and meaning of global ecology and gives a brief review of ecological principles relevant to global concerns. The work concentrates on how we as humans affect global ecosystems and how these changes impact our health, behavior, economics, and politics. Specific sections address the ecological components of planet earth, the biosphere, ecosystem ecology, worldwide environmental trends, and the state of human populations. Other chapters deal with competition and conflict, the ecology of war, an agenda for survival, sustainability, and future prospects.
Accessible to undergraduates, students in adult and professional education, and general readers, this unique work gives a broader definition of our environment than conventional ecology books, emphasizing economic and social dimensions of the global environment. It covers diverse viewpoints, including good news and favorable trends regarding the future, and helps readers think about current ecological problems and those we will face in the future. It discusses how to relate facts and beliefs, how to assess outcomes, and, finally, how me might view and treat the one world in which we live.
Synopsis
Charles Southwick is among the most distinguished and best-known human ecologists, and he sees this book as more substantive than standard environmental texts. He examines the way in which humans interact with their environment, both altering it and being altered by it. His argument is based on a scientific rather than political context, drawing on his 45 years of work in both industrialized and developing nations. The text covers ecological principles relevant to global concerns, the meaning of global change, human impact on the environment, population growth and regulation, world health, interactions of economics and ecology, and prospects of human future.