Our global ecosystems:
oceans taking up 72 % of the earth's surface, used as a [garbage] dump, the origin of and essential for life, yet research on life in them and the possibility for human habitation nearly unfunded. In her chapter "Under the Sea" in 1995 we anticipated the over fishing, over polluting effects of human activities. Weather and wetlands cannot be understood without greater study and understanding of our oceans and human effects on their quality.
Wetlands covered in another chapter include vast swamps, marshes, tropical mangroves and flood plains provide essential buffers to human activities and filter the one percent of the earth's water that is drinkable and accessible.
Forests and rainforests cannot be understood in isolation from biodiversity, wetlands and oceans. Forests are disappearing at an astounding rate, as most of the North American forests were clear cut after colonization, the poor in Africa, South America and Asia are cutting and wasting these continents cleansing and breathing ecosystems.
Soils are essential for growing food, yet forests are cut and farmable land is exploited at nonsustainable rates with no alternative presented. Soon fossil fuel energy and fossil fuel dependent fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides kill wildlife and prevent sustainable farming, when organic and labor intensive alternatives are available.
As the United States heads into a campaign of war in Iraq over oil and political domination, we will again see how the poor and environment are always casualies and how hundreds of billions of dollars are spent on nonsustianable activities in hopes of extending the age of petroleum fuels.
This is just a sampling of the environmental issues that should be in the forefront of public discussion.
Joni Seager, with Clark Reed and Peter Stott's, 2nd, 1995 edition is now over seven years out of date and should be updated. It might be reused in textbooks as well with more research information presented. We can only hope that the Touchstone executives at Simon and Shuster will demand a new 3rd, 2003 edition.
A great companion for the State of the World Atlas also from Penguin.