Human Impact on the Natural Environment: Past, Present and Future

A brand new edition of the definitive textbook on humankind’s impact on the Earth’s environment―now in full color

This classic text explores the multitude of impacts that humans have had over time upon vegetation, animals, soils, water, landforms, and the atmosphere. It considers the ways in which climate changes and modifications in land cover may change the environment in coming decades. Thoroughly revised to cover the remarkable transformation in interest that humans are having in the environment, this book examines previously uncovered topics, such as rewilding, ecosystem services, techniques for study, novel and no analogue ecosystems, and more. It also presents the latest views on big themes such as human origins, the anthropocene, domestication, extinctions, and ecological invasions.

Extensively re-written, Human Impact on the Natural Environment, Eighth Edition contains many new and updated statistical tables, figures, and references. It offers enlightening chapters that look at the past and present state of the world―examining our impact on the land itself and the creatures that inhabit it; the oceans, lakes, rivers and streams; and the climate and atmosphere. The book also takes a deep look at our future impact on the planet and its resources―our affect on the coastal environments, the cryosphere and the drylands, as well as the hydrological and geomorphological impacts.

• Fully updated to take account of recent advances in our understanding of global warming and other phenomena
• Offers current opinions on such topics as human origins, the anthropocene, domestication, extinctions, and ecological invasions
• Features a full-color presentation to allow for more and clearer photographs and diagrams
• Contains more international case studies than previous editions to balance UK examples

Human Impact on the Natural Environment is essential reading for undergraduates in geography and environmental science, and for those who want a thorough, wide-ranging and balanced overview of the impacts of humans upon natural processes and systems from the Stone Age to the Anthropocene and who wish to understand the major environmental issues that concern the human race at the present time.