As the human population increases, many decisions concerning our use of natural resources will determine our standard of living and the quality of our environment. This reader-friendly book helps readers develop an understanding of how geology interacts with major environmental problems facing society. Included with every text, the Hazard City CD-ROM gives instructors meaningful, easy-to-assign, and easy-to-grade assignments based on the idealized town of Hazard City.

Focuses on five fundamental concepts of environmental geology: Human Population Growth, Sustainability, Earth as a System, Hazardous Earth Processes, and Scientific Knowledge and Values. Features new chapters on Impacts of Extraterrestrial Objects and Waste as a Resource: Waste Management. Presents new or extensively revised discussion of human population growth, Alaska earthquake of 2002, emerging global water shortage, cleaning Boston Harbor, and much more. Revises many figures to more clearly illustrate the topics under discussion, based on user feedback. An informative reference for anyone interested in learning more about the environment.

Back Cover Copy
This brief paperback presents the basics of physical geology within the context of environmental applications to show how geology relates to life and society-showing us how the world works, how we can avoid or live with potential/natural hazards, and how geology interacts with major environmental problems facing people and society. Introduces philosophy and fundamental concepts, the structure of the Earth and plate tectonics, and the origin and significance of rocks and minerals. Addresses the major natural hazards including earthquakes, volcanic activity, rivers and flooding, landslides, and coastal processes; the major natural resources associated with the geological environment and the subject of pollution; global change, environmental management, and relationships between the environment and society. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Reader Reviews
This review is from: Introduction to Environmental Geology (2nd Edition) (Paperback) Keller's text is a thorough exploration of both facets of environmental geology: natural hazards and the human impact on the environment. The text includes numerous case studies to illustrate the concepts, though most of them are set in the United States (especially the West Coast). Keller presents, in chapter one, four principles that are supposedly woven throughout the text. At the end of each chapter, he includes "Critical Thinking Questions", which I hoped would lead to vibrant in-class discussions. The other aspect of this book that led me to select it for undergraduate class was the CD-ROM, which promised to provide students with simulations of real-world environmental problem solving. Alas, the book does not live up to its promises. My greatest disappointment is that the text is rather dry, and the Critical Thinking Questions rarely moved beyond synthesizing material from the chapter. I am also concerned that students explore environmental issues at both the local (for me, northeastern US) and global scales. Apart from a fairly thorough coverage of global warming and an occasional photo of an earthquake or volcano overseas, Keller seems content to focus on the US, especially his own home state, California. His only nod to Earth Systems Science is a few paragraphs crammed into the first chapter, along with mention of Gaia. The CD-ROM was less exciting for students than I had anticipated, and my class found the written part of the CD assignments difficult, and many answers were based upon previous ones, so if they got one wrong, they would get several wrong and do poorly as a result. Finally, I was disappointed by Keller'ss uninspired philosophical assertion in the final chapter, in which he insisted that "sustainable development" is possible and ought to be pursued. In a class discussion, the students all concluded that development and sustainability are mutually exclusive things. The text is thorough and fairly accessable, but fails to move beyond being "like most other textbooks" despite the numerous ways it appears to do so at first glance. Comment | | (Report this)

Available from Amazon Price: $57.95 Updated on 6-4-2008.