The human impact on the natural environment /
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| Author / Creator: | Goudie, Andrew. |
|---|---|
| Edition: | 4th ed. |
| Imprint: | Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press, 1994. |
| Description: | xi, 454 p. : ill., maps ; 26 cm. |
| Language: | English |
| Subject: | |
| Format: | Print Book |
| URL for this record: | http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/1564322 |
Table of Contents:
- 1. Introduction. The development of ideas. The development of human population and stages of cultural development. Hunting and gathering. Humans as cultivators, keepers and metal workers. Modern industrial and urban civilizations
- 2. The Human Impact on Vegetation. The use of fire. Fires: natural and anthropogenic. The temperatures attained in fires. Some consequences of fire suppression. Some effects of fire on vegetation. The role of grazing. Deforestation. Secondary rain forest. The human role in the creation and maintenance of savanna. The spread of desert vegetation on desert margins. The maquis of the Mediterranean lands. The prairie problem. Post-Glacial vegetational change in Britain and Europe. Introduction, invasion and explosion. Air pollution and its effects on plants. Forest decline. Miscellaneous causes of plant decline. The change in genetic and species diversity
- 3. Human Influence on Animals. Domestication of animals. Dispersal and invasions of animals. Miscellaneous causes of animal contractions and decline. Human influence on the expansion of animal populations. Animal extinctions
- 4. The Human Impact on the Soil. Salinity: natural sources. Human agency and increased salinity. The spread of salinity. Consequences of salinity. Reclamation of salt-affected lands. Lateritization. Accelerated podzolization and acidification. Soil structure alteration. Soil drainage and its impact. Soil fertilization. Fires and soil. Soil erosion: general considerations. Soil erosion associated with deforestation and agriculture. Soil erosion produced by fire. Soil erosion associated with construction and urbanization. Attempts at soil conservation
- 5. The Human Impact on the Waters. Deliberate modification of rivers. Urbanization and its effects on river flow. Deforestation and its effect on river flow. The human impact on lake levels. Changes in ground-water conditions. Water pollution. Chemical pollution by agriculture and other activities. Deforestation and its effects on water quality. Thermal pollution. Pollution with suspended sediments. Marine pollution
- 6. Human Agency in Geomorphology. Landforms produced by excavation. Landforms produced by construction and dumping. Accelerated sedimentation. Ground subsidence. Arroyo trenching, gullies and peat haggs. Accelerated weathering and the tufa decline. Accelerated mass movements. Deliberate modification of channels. Non-deliberate river-channel changes. Reactivation and stabilization of sand dunes. Accelerated coastal erosion. The human impact on seismicity and volcanoes
- 7. The Human Impact on Climate and the Atmosphere. World climates. The CO[subscript 2] problem. Other gases. Aerosols. Thermal pollution. Vegetation and albedo. Forests, irrigation and rain. The possible effects of water diversion schemes. Lakes. Urban climates. Smoke haze and photochemical smog. Rainmaking and other methods of deliberate climatic modification. Air pollution: some further effects
- 8. The Future. The climatic future. The spatial patterning of change. Further consequences of a global warming. Projected sea-level rise. Environmental uncertainty. 9. Conclusion. The power of non-industrial and pre-industrial civilization. The proliferation of impacts. Changes are reversible. The susceptibility to change. Human influence or nature? Into the unknown.