The Holocene provides students, researchers andlay-readers with the remarkable story of how the natural world hasbeen transformed since the end of the last Ice Age around 15,000years ago. This period has witnessed a shift fromenvironmental changes determined by natural forces to thosedominated by human actions, including those of climate andgreenhouse gases. Understanding the environmental changes - bothnatural and anthropogenic - that have occurred during the Holoceneis of crucial importance if we are to achieve a sustainableenvironmental future.Revised and updated to take full account of the most recentadvances, the third edition of this classic text includessubstantial material on the scientific methods that are used toreconstruct and date past environments, as well as new conceptssuch as the Anthropocene. The book is fully-illustrated, global incoverage, and contains case studies, a glossary and more than 500new references.