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The Environment: Science, Issues, and SolutionsCopyright Taylor & Francis Inc. 2010The Environment: Science, Issues, and Solutions, by M. K. Wali, F. Evrendilek, and M. S. Fennessy. Boca Raton, FL:CRC Press/Taylor & Francis Group, 2009, 648 pages. ISBN 978-0- 8493-7387-9 ($89.95, hardcover).Most recently there has been a resurgence of attention given to the condition of the planet. Theenvironment has emerged as no longer being the sole purview of scientists, but various groups and disciplines have been making it a priority area of concern. Although environmental concerns encompasspolitical, social, and economic facets, a strong foundation in the basics of ecology and scientific evidence is needed to ensure the most reasonable approaches to understanding and then finding solutions toenvironmental problems of today. This text is designed to help students and citizens attain a level of environmental literacy that can assist them in exploring reliable methods of mitigating what hasbeen degraded or destroyed. With an approach that focuses on basic scientific facts and principles interwoven with the social, economic, and political implications of environmental decision making, thetext is divided into three major sections.The first section provides the latest information and data on the structure and function of natural systems. The basics of scientific inquiry and ecology areexplained and detailed chapters on aquatic and terrestrial systems as well as ecological communities and the major biomes of the earth are described. The second section focuses on contemporaryenvironmental issues and impacts that altered the structure, function, and organization of ecosystems. Initially historical data are shared that describe the nature, extent, and magnitude of land usechanges. Subsequent chapters explain how the environment has been affected because of human population growth, land use alterations from agriculture, forestry methods, mining operations, and urbanization....