SUSTAINING THE EARTH provides the basic scientific tools for understanding and thinking critically about the environmental problems we face. About half the price of other environmental science texts, this 14-chapter, one-color core book offers an integrated approach that emphasizes how environmental and resource problems and solutions are related. The new edition of SUSTAINING THE EARTH is fully updated with the latest statistics and reports of important scientific studies. New Connections boxes show surprising but important connections between environmental problems and aspects of daily life. In addition, new Thinking About boxes help students apply the concepts of the book to their own lives. Sustainability is the integrating theme of this current and thought-provoking book. The concept-centered approach transforms complex environmental topics and issues into key concepts that students will understand and remember. By framing the concepts with goals for more sustainable lifestyles and human communities, students see how promising the future can be.

Introduction: Learning Skills. PART I: HUMANS AND SUSTAINABILITY: AN OVERVIEW. 1. Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability. PART II: SCIENCE, ECOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES, AND SUSTAINABILITY. 2. Science, Matter, Energy, and Ecosystems. 3. Biodiversity and Evolution. 4. Community Ecology, Population Ecology, and the Human Population. PART III: SUSTAINING BIODIVERSITY. 5. Sustaining Biodiversity: The Species Approach. 6. Sustaining Biodiversity: The Ecosystem Approach. PART IV: SUSTAINING NATURAL RESOURCES. 7. Food Production and the Environment. 8. Water Resources and Water Pollution. 9. Nonrenewable Energy Resources. 10. Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. PART V: SUSTAINING ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY. 11. Environmental Hazards and Human Health. 12. Air Pollution, Climate Change, and Ozone Depletion. 13. Urbanization and Solid and Hazardous Waste. PART VI: SUSTAINING HUMAN SOCIETIES. 14. Economics, Politics, Worldviews, and the Environment. Appendix: Units of Measurement.