Environment and Society: Human Perspectives on Environmental Issues - Couverture souple

The accumulating impact of environmental problems on our lives has created a public awareness that environmentalists could only dream about twenty years ago. Providing a comprehensive introduction to environmental problems and issues, this timely volume focuses on the connections between human societies, ecosystems, and the geophysical environment.

Environment and Society, 3/E, covers the connections between a range of easily-recognizable human and environmental issues, such as:

• Resource issues and pollution
• Population growth, food, and consumption issues
• Energy and technology issues
• Climate change, uncertain risks, and "megaproblems"
• Sustainability, inequality, and social change
• Environmentalism and environmental movements
• Environmental politics and policy
• Globalization and environmental problems

New topics in the third edition include: "greenhouse diplomacy," issues involving the transition to alternate fuels from our current energy system, ecological modernization, and emissions trading. Updated topics include: environmental racism, environmental attitudes in the United States and around the globe, and the role of NGO's and large multilateral organizations in international agreements on environmental issues.

Truly multidisciplinary in approach, Environment and Society, 3/E, offers fascinating insight into important environmental concerns.

Charles Harper is a professor of sociology at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. As a member of the faculty there since 1968, he has developed and taught numerous courses in the sociology department. Dr. Harper's teaching and scholarly interests delve into the study of social change, globalization, the sociology of religion, social theory, and environmental sociology. He has published papers in a variety of academic journals.

Along with Environment and Society, Dr. Harper is the author of two other textbooks. Co-authored with Kevin Leicht, his book Exploring Social Change: America and the World (Prentice Hall, 2002) is now in its Fourth Edition. Another book, Food, Society, and Environment (Prentice Hall, 2003), coauthored with Bryan E LeBeau, has been receiving wide praise.

As an undergraduate, Dr. Harper studied biology and the natural sciences. He received a bachelor's degree from Central Missouri State University, a Master's degree in sociology from the University of Missouri, and a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.

Dr. Harper and his wife, Anne, live close to Creighton's campus. He also enjoys traveling, bicycling, reading, and cooking.