United States
Scientific American Environmental Science for a Changing World with Extended Coverage
First Edition©2013 Susan Karr; Anne Houtman; Jeneen Interlandi;
Environmental Science for a Changing World captivates students with real-world stories while exploring the science concepts in context. Engaging stories plus vivid photos and infographics make the content relevant and visually enticing. The result is a text that emphasizes environmental, scientific, and information literacies in a way that engages students.
Table of Contents
UNIT 1 FOUNDATIONS AND TOOLS OF THE TRADE
Chapter 1 Environmental Literacy
On the Road to Collapse
What lessons can we learn from a vanished Viking society?
Chapter 2 Science Literacy and the Process of Science
Science and the Sky
Solving the mystery of disappearing ozone
Chapter 3 Information Literacy
Toxic Bottles?
On the trail of chemicals in our everyday lives
Chapter 4 Environmental Economics and Consumption
Wall to Wall, Cradle to Cradle
A leading carpet company takes a chance on going green
Chapter 5 Human Populations
One-Child China Grows Up
A country faces the outcomes of radical population control
Chapter 6 Environmental Health
Eradicating a Parasitic Nightmare
Human health is intricately linked to the environment
UNIT 2 ECOLOGY, PATTERNS, AND PROCESSES
Chapter 7 Ecosystems and Nutrient Cycling
Engineering Earth
A desert experiment gone awry
Chapter 8 Population Ecology
The Wolf Watchers
Endangered gray wolves return to the American West
Chapter 9 Community Ecology
What the Stork Says
A bird species in the Everglades reveals the intricacies of a threatened ecosystem
Chapter 10 Biodiversity
Nature’s Medicine Cabinet
Will the bark of an ordinary tree in Samoa become a cure for cancer?
Chapter 11 Preserving Biodiversity
A Forest Without Elephants
Can we save one of Earth's iconic species?
Chapter 12 Evolution and Extinction
A Tropical Murder Mystery
Finding the missing birds of Guam
UNIT 3 EARTH’S RESOURCES, CURRENT CHALLENGES, AND SUSTAINABLE OPTIONS
Chapter 13 Forests
Returning Trees to Haiti
Repairing a forest ecosystem one tree at a time
Chapter 14 Grasslands
Restoring the Range
The key to recovering the world’s grasslands may be a surprising one
Chapter 15 Marine Ecosystems
Science Under the Sea
Aquanauts explore an ecosystem on the brink
Chapter 16 Fisheries & Aquaculture
Fish in a Warehouse?
How one Baltimore fish scientist could change the way we eat
Chapter 17 Freshwater Resources
Toilet to Tap
A California county is tapping a controversial source for drinking water
Chapter 18 Water Pollution
Saving the Bay
Teams of researchers try to pin down what’s choking the Chesapeake
Chapter 19 Mineral Resources
No Stone Unturned
A bevy of unfamiliar minerals are crucial for our everyday
technologies—but they come with a slew of problems
Chapter 20 Feeding the World
A Gene Revolution
Can genetically engineered food help end hunger?
Chapter 21 Agriculture: Raising Livestock
The Carnivore's Conundrum
Disease, pollution, and the true costs of meat
Chapter 22 Agriculture: Raising Crops
Fine-Feathered Farming
Creative solutions to feeding the world
UNIT 4: ENERGY: A WICKED PROBLEM WITH MANY CONSEQUENCES
Chapter 23 Coal
Bringing Down the Mountain
In the rubble, the true costs of coal
Chapter 24 Petroleum
A Dangerous Dependence
Drilling for answers after an oil rig explosion
Chapter 25 Air Pollution
The Youngest Scientist
Kids on the frontlines of asthma research
Chapter 26 Climate Change
When The Trees Leave
Scientists grapple with a shifting climate
Chapter 27 Nuclear Energy
The Future of Fukushima
Can nuclear energy overcome its bad rep?
Chapter 28 Sun, Wind, and Water Energy
Fueled by the Sun
A small island makes big strides in renewable energy
Chapter 29 Biofuels
Gas from Grass
Will an ordinary prairie grass become the next biofuel?
UNIT 5: TOWARD A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
Chapter 30 Managing Solid Waste
A Plastic Surf
Are the oceans teeming with trash?
Chapter 31 Environmental Policy and Law
Counterfeit Cooling
In the global effort to thwart climate change, some lessons are
learned after the fact
Chapter 32 Urbanization and Sustainable Communities
The Ghetto Goes Green
In the Bronx, building a better backyard
Anne Houtman
Anne Houtman, PhD, is Professor and Head of the School of Life Sciences at Rochester Institute of Technology, which includes programs in Environmental and Biological Sciences. Her research interests are in the behavioral ecology of birds, and currently research in her laboratory focuses on the ecology and evolution of hummingbird song. She also has an active research program in science pedagogy. Anne received her doctorate in zoology from the University of Oxford and conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Toronto.
Susan Karr
Susan Karr, MS, is an Instructor in the Biology Department of Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City, Tennessee, and has been teaching for over 15 years. She has served on campus and community environmental sustainability groups and helps produce an annual “State of the Environment” report on the environmental health of her county. In addition to teaching non-majors courses in environmental science and human biology, she teaches an upper-level course in animal behavior where she and her students train dogs from the local animal shelter in a program that improves the animals’ chances of adoption. She received degrees in Animal Behavior and Forestry from the University of Georgia.
Jeneen InterlandI
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