Encyclopedia Of Earth System Science

Today's society is concerned with a multitude of events affecting the Earth system, ranging from natural processes such as ocean circulation, weather systems, and geophysics to concerns like acid rain, ecotoxicology, and the greenhouse effect. To understand the impact of these events on the Earth system and to resolve environmental problems, knowledge of all the earth sciences and how they interact is essential.**The Encyclopedia of Earth System Science is the first encyclopedia to comprehensively cover, in one place, all the earth sciences--including atmospheric science, biogeochemistry, climatology, ecology, geology, geophysics, glaciology, hydrology, meteorology, mineralogy, oceanography, petrology, and numerous other fields. It treats the Earth as a system of interactive processes and describes how these processes affect and are affected by each other.**Complete in four volumes, the Encyclopedia provides a broad base of knowledge. An international group of experts, all distinguished in their fields, have written in-depth articles with extensive cross-referencing to stress the interconnection between all earth processes. The glossaries, concise subject definitions, brief outlines, and recent bibliographies found in each article also provide the reader with quick access to each topic. Key Features * Four volumes, with articles arranged alphabetically for direct access * 15,000-entry subject index included in Volume 4 * More than 250 articles * 2,629 pages * 1,300 illustrations * 250 tables * 1,300 glossary entries * 1,600 bibliographic entries * Extensive cross-referencing * Full-color plates * Large 8-1/2" x 11", double-column format * Printed on acid free paper, Smyth sewn, and casebound * Internationally renowned Advisory Board with members from the United States, Japan, the Soviet Union, France, and China

A strongly interdisciplinary and wide-ranging survey of the environment of life on Earth: the most authoritative and comprehensive source on environmental science to be collected together in a single volume. Unique in presenting both a basic overview and detailed information on environmental topics. Entries are arranged in an encyclopedic A-Z format and contain extensive cross-references to related entries, as well as references to primary and secondary literature. Over 370 separate entries prepared by 228 leading experts from 25 countries. Incorporates 25 substantial in-depth treatments of key areas and also includes biographies of leading scientists and environmentalists. Contains a comprehensive subject index and a citation index of all referenced authors. The Encyclopedia of Environmental Science is a multidisciplinary reference work, which crosses many fields of interest and includes a wide variety of scholarly and authoritative articles on mankind's environment. It provides information on the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere and geosphere and is careful to focus on the connections between these realms and the Earth as a whole. Taken as a whole, the Encyclopedia surveys basic environmental science and applied areas of study, and is drawn from the physical sciences, life sciences and social sciences. The 228 authors from 25 different countries, many of whom are the leading authorities in their field, include biologists, ecologists, geographers, geologists, political scientists, soil scientists, hydrologists, climatologists, and representatives of many other disciplines and academic specialties. The work, which is amply referenced and cross-referenced, consists of substantial essays on major topics, medium-sized entries and short definitional entries. The shorter entries include useful biographies of leading scientists and environmentalists. The Encyclopedia will be invaluable to all readers interested in the environment of life on Earth, its past, present and future, and its physical and social dimensions. The text provides a source of well-classified basic information as well as covering the leading theories and important debates in the environmental sciences. In addition, the book also includes assessments of the future prospects for the Earth's environment in the face of pollution, population increases and the accelerating transformation of land, air, water and vegetational systems. The Encyclopedia is unique in presenting both a basic overview and detailed information on environmental topics and is suitable for the general scientific reader and the specialized environmental scientist in academic institutions, research laboratories or private practice.

Modern Earth System Monitoring represents a fundamental change in the way scientists study the Earth System. In Oceanography, for the past two centuries, ships have provided the platforms for observing. Expeditions on the continents and Earth’s poles are land-based analogues. Fundamental understanding of current systems, climate, natural hazards, and ecosystems has been greatly advanced. While these approaches have been remarkably successful, the need to establish measurements over time can only be made using Earth observations and observatories with exacting standards and continuous data. The 19 peer-reviewed contributions in this volume provide early insights into this emerging view of Earth in both space and time in which change is a critical component of our growing understanding.

Modern Earth System Monitoring represents a fundamental change in the way scientists study the Earth System. In Oceanography, for the past two centuries, ships have provided the platforms for observing. Expeditions on the continents and Earth’s poles are land-based analogues. Fundamental understanding of current systems, climate, natural hazards, and ecosystems has been greatly advanced. While these approaches have been remarkably successful, the need to establish measurements over time can only be made using Earth observations and observatories with exacting standards and continuous data. The 19 peer-reviewed contributions in this volume provide early insights into this emerging view of Earth in both space and time in which change is a critical component of our growing understanding.

Provides a comprehensive reference for Earth and space sciences, including entries on climate change, stellar evolution, tsunamis, renewable energy options, and mass wasting.

Encyclopedia of Environmental Health, Second Edition, Six Volume Set presents the newest release in this fundamental reference that updates and broadens the umbrella of environmental health, especially social and environmental health for its readers. There is ongoing revolution in governance, policies and intervention strategies aimed at evolving changes in health disparities, disease burden, trans-boundary transport and health hazards. This new edition reflects these realities, mapping new directions in the field that include how to minimize threats and develop new scientific paradigms that address emerging local, national and global environmental concerns. Represents a one-stop resource for scientifically reliable information on environmental health Fills a critical gap, with information on one of the most rapidly growing scientific fields of our time Provides comparative approaches to environmental health practice and research in different countries and regions of the world Covers issues behind specific questions and describes the best available scientific methods for environmental risk assessment

Volume One of this Encyclopedia deals with the physical and chemical dimensions of the Earth system, including for example the atmosphere, the oceans, the cryosphere, and those aspects of the land surface particularly relevant to interactions with other components of the Earth system. It focuses on the most dynamic aspects of the system, on the factors and processes that produce change, and on the programs and individual scientists most concerned with measuring and understanding change. The volume begins with a group of extended review essays, followed by shorter articles on various aspects of the history, current state, and possible future states of the Earth system, including the interactions among the components of this system. Expert contributions feature on: Historical trends in various environmental indicators, both in the past century and extending back through geological time What we have learned, and the tools used to gain knowledge about the functioning of this complex system, from field programs to model simulations Effects of human intervention on climate change and stratospheric ozone depletion Details of organized international observing, data management, and research programs in the Earth sciences Brief biographies of a selection of leading scientists This volume represents a uniquely valuable source of focused, timely, and authoritative information relating to the issues of global environmental change. It has been constructed broad enough in scope to illuminate every corner of the relevant geophysical sciences, while remaining concise and readily usable by the non-specialist.