Environmental Geology: Facing the Challenges of Our Changing Earth

Jon Erickson9780816047277, 0816047278

Helping readers to understand the hopes and the hazards facing humankind by learning more about the causes and the consequences of environmental change, Environmental Geology is a valuable guide to an exciting and relatively new science that deals with the relationship between people and their geologic environment. Chapter by chapter, this volume details the many ways man-made and natural forces have brought about serious – and in some cases, irreversible – damage to the earth, including: – Climate Change: The Greenhouse Effect – Hydrologic Activity: Water Flow and Flooding – Coastal Processes: Seacoasts and Estuaries – Tectonic Hazards: Earthquakes and Volcanoes – Desertification: Deserts and Droughts – Natural Resources: Depletion of Industrial Materials – Land Use: The Changing Landscape.