Understanding Environmental Pollution

Description

This undergraduate textbook examines environmental pollution ranging from our homes to the global environment. Completely updated and with over 50% new and rewritten material, this new edition assesses the international scope of pollution, including water, climate change, acidification, energy, solid and hazardous waste, persistent chemicals, and pesticides. The pollutants of current major concern are examined, including plastics and electronic waste. Both the impacts and the sources of pollution are addressed, as well as governmental, corporate, and personal responsibility for pollution. Pollution prevention is emphasized throughout, but students will come to see that prevention is not enough. The text moves on to examine a circular economy with closed-loop systems, where by-products are reused, wastes become raw materials, water is recycled, and energy is recovered from waste energy. Understanding Environmental Pollution engages students with the idea that humanity holds the tools to confronting the daunting pollution issues by considering a circular economy.

Marquita K. Hill holds a Ph.D. in comparative biochemistry from the University of California, Davis. She was assistant and then associate professor in the biochemistry department at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg. Later, at the University of Maine's Department of Chemical Engineering, she conducted research funded by the US Department of Energy and the US Environmental Protection Agency. Then, after educating herself as an environmental scientist, she taught courses in environmental pollution, which led to the text Understanding Environmental Pollution. She was co-founder of the Green Campus Consortium of Maine, an organization working toward sustainable environmental management in Maine's higher-education institutions. For nine years she served on an advisory committee for International Paper's mill in Skowhegan, Maine. During those same years she was a visiting scholar at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Review of previous edition: 'This book, aimed mainly at students, provides a thorough background to pollution, from global issues to personal pollution in the home ... This book provides an excellent introduction to the subject, providing the right information to enable students to evaluate environmental problems for themselves.' Environmental Assessment Magazine Review of previous edition: '... a clear and well organised US-based text.' Waste Planning Review of previous edition: ' ... this book forms a very useful introduction to pollution problems, and would also suit a more general readership, including members of the public with an interest in pollution matters.' Marine Pollution Bulletin Review of previous edition: 'There is a wealth of statistical information given, and jargon is either studiously avoided or fully explained. ... this is a useful 'primer' for students and interested members of the public.' Journal of Biological Education 'The new edition of this popular textbook is wide-ranging, engaging, and easily accessible. It is a superb resource for students studying the causes, consequences, and management of environmental pollution.' James Rothwell, University of Manchester 'Marquita Hill's Understanding Environmental Pollution has been an indispensable text for my environmental science course over the past ten years. She presents a wealth of information on the significant environmental issues facing our society in a well-organized, straightforward, clearly written text. I particularly applaud her section on risk management, which is applicable to the many issues she presents, and the many text-boxes among the chapters that bring to life issues, associated science, and solutions to the problems we face.' John Dorsey, Loyola Marymount University 'The fourth edition of Understanding Environmental Pollution provides a comprehensive and straightforward introduction to a wide range of environmental topics, including toxicity and risk assessment; a survey of air, water, and land pollution; energy use; and global change. A unique and intriguing focus of this book is the emphasis not merely on pollution reduction but on switching to a circular economy that features closed-loop, zero-waste, zero-emission systems and processes.' Usha Rao, St Joseph's University