Our Environment: A Canadian Perspective

✍ Scribed by Dianne Louise Draper; Lucy M. Sportza; Ann P. Zimmerman

• Publisher: Nelson College Indigenous
• Year: 2016
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 707
• Edition: 5
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This fully revised and updated fifth edition of Our Environment engages students and encourages them to critically evaluate potential solutions to environmental problems we now face. The authors outline specific environmental issues and provide the scientific underpinning required to enable students to understand the complexities at the root of these issues. The authors provide many examples of policy success to help students see that environmental concerns are not insurmountable, and that a sustainable future is something that can be attained. Sometimes issues are resolved relatively quickly - removal of phosphorus from various detergents or replacements for chlorofluorocarbons for example. Other issues such as acid rain can take a decade or more to address. Highly complex issues - loss of global biodiversity or global environmental change - remain unresolved. The text acknowledges that important in moving these issues forward has and will continue to be both environmental professionals and a critically informed public. Team up with Draper and Zimmerman's fifth edition of Our Environment and inspire your students to create a successful future for our environment.

✦ Table of Contents

Cover
Brief Contents
Contents
About the Authors
Preface
Part 1: Our Environment
Chapter 1: Environmental Change
Why It Matters
1-1 The Anthropocene
1-2 Accelerating Rate of Environmental Change
1-3 Exploring Sustainable Development
1-4 Pathways to a Sustainable Future
Chapter Questions
Chapter 2: Human Relationships with Nature
Why It Matters
2-1 Critical Thinking
2-2 World Views
2-3 Environmental Decision Making
2-4 Population Growth and Environmental Impact
2-5 Assessing Human Impacts on the Environment
Chapter Debate
Chapter Questions
Chapter 3: Science and Environment
Why It Matters
3-1 Knowledge Systems: Multiple Ways of Knowing
3-2 How Science Works
3-3 Alternatives to Reductionist Science
3-4 Earth System Science
3-5 How Research Becomes Knowledge
3-6 Misunderstandings about Science
Chapter Debate
Chapter Questions
Chapter 4: Our Planet
Why It Matters
4-1 Matter and Energy: Basic Building Blocks of Nature
4-2 Formation of Earth
4-3 Earth's Major Components
4-4 The Biosphere: A Complex System
4-5 Environmental Systems
4-6 Humans in Ecosystems
Chapter Debate
Chapter Questions
Chapter 5: Canada
Why It Matters
5-1 Canada's Climate
5-2 Canada's Geology
5-3 Canadian Geography
5-4 Canada's Boundaries
5-5 Indigenous Peoples of Canada
5-6 Governance
Chapter Debate
Chapter Questions
Part 2: Ecological Resources
Chapter 6: Managing Ecological Resources
Why It Matters
6-1 Development of Resource Management
6-2 Environmental Assessment
6-3 Ecosystem Management
6-4 Co-management
6-5 Stewardship
6-6 Assessing Ecological Resources
6-7 Placing an Economic Value on Nature
Chapter Debate
Chapter Questions
Chapter 7: Biodiversity
Why It Matters
7-1 International Assessment of Biodiversity
7-2 Scientific Approaches to Understanding Biodiversity
7-3 Patterns of Biodiversity across Space and Time
7-4 The Importance of Biodiversity
7-5 Canada's Biodiversity
7-6 Human Activities and Impacts on Biodiversity
7-7 Species at Risk
7-8 International Strategies to Protect Biodiversity
7-9 Canadian Law, Policy, and Practice
7-10 Future Challenges and Opportunities
Chapter Debate
Chapter Questions
Chapter 8: Agroecosystems
Why It Matters
8-1 Importance of Agriculture
8-2 Canada's Agricultural Land Base
8-3 Canada's Agricultural Production
8-4 Agricultural Activities and Their Effects
8-5 Responses to Environmental Impacts
8-6 Future Challenges
Chapter Debate
Chapter Questions
Chapter 9: Fresh Water
Why It Matters
9-1 Canada's Freshwater Environments
9-2 Freshwater Systems
9-3 The Freshwater Fishery
9-4 Earth's Water Resources
9-5 Other Important Water Issues
9-6 Making a Difference Locally
9-7 Future Challenges
Chapter Debate
Chapter Questions
Chapter 10: Oceans and Fisheries
Why It Matters
10-1 Canada's Marine Environments
10-2 Harvesting the Oceans
10-3 Future Challenges
Chapter Debate
Chapter Questions
Chapter 11: Forests and Forestry
Why It Matters
11-1 The Earth's Forests
11-2 Harvesting Canadian Forests
11-3 Environmental and Social Sustainability of Forest Ecosystems
11-4 Future Challenges
Chapter Debate
Chapter Questions
Part 3: Commonly Held and Legacy Resources: The Overview
Chapter 12: Atmosphere and Climate
Why It Matters
12-1 Earth's Natural Climate System
12-2 Climate Change
12-3 Climate Change Impacts
12-4 Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation
12-5 Stratospheric Ozone (O3)
12-6 Tropospheric Air Contaminants
12-7 Challenges and Opportunities
Chapter Debate
Chapter Questions
Chapter 13: Energy
Why It Matters
13-1 Energy Supply and Demand in Canada
13-2 Energy Resources and Environmental Impacts
13-3 Responses to Environmental Impacts
13-4 Our Energy Future
Chapter Debate
Chapter Questions
Chapter 14: Minerals and Mining
Why It Matters
14-1 Mineral Resource Exploitation
14-2 Mineral Resources in Canada
14-3 Environmental Impacts of Mining
14-4 Responses to Environmental Impacts
14-5 Future Challenges
Chapter Debate
Chapter Questions
Part 4: Getting to Tomorrow: The Overview
Chapter 15: Waste
Why It Matters
15-1 Canada's Waste Stream
15-2 Global Context of Waste
Chapter Debate
Chapter Questions
Chapter 16: Environmental Hazards and Human Health
Why It Matters
16-1 Ways of Thinking about Health
16-2 Social Determinants of Human Health
16-3 Types of Disease
16-4 Chemical Threats to Our Health
16-5 Risk Perception
Chapter Debate
Chapter Questions
Chapter 17: Cities
Why It Matters
17-1 An Urbanizing Globe
17-2 Urban Environmental Conditions and Trends
Chapter Debate
Chapter Questions
Chapter 18: The Way Forward
Why It Matters
18-1 Toward Sustainable Communities
18-2 If Not Business as Usual, What?
18-3 Reconceptualizing Environmental Challenges
18-4 Taking Action: Canadian Models of Sustainability
Chapter Debate
Chapter Questions
Glossary
Index