Principles of Environmental Science

In recent years, environmental science textbooks have gotten bigger, more encyclopedic, and increasingly expensive. Both instructors and students call for a concise and affordable text. This book was written to fill that need. Rather that the 25 to 30 chapters found in most environmental science textbooks, we've limited this book to 15 chapters or about one chapter per week for a typical semester course. This more concise presentation focuses on key principles, scientific methods and ideas, and life-long learning skills for students. We have also included enough case studies and current events to provide the real-world context for the themes discussed here. Additional case studies and current issues are also available on the book's website to help enrich your course's content. At the same time, the moderate size and price of this book should allow you to add supplementary materials to meet your individual teaching/learning objectives. The outline of this book follows a topic sequence widely used in many environmental science textbooks and courses, but we know that many instructors choose to organize their courses around their own outlines. We've written each chapter in w away that doesn't assume that students have read other chapters in any particular order. If instructors prefer a different organization of course topics. chapters can be presented in any order that suits their course's needs.