Physical Resources / 135End of chapter points for discussion
Can shortages of water be remedied by desalination?
What are the differences between young and old soils?
What are the environmental effects of mineral extraction?
What are the principal causes of soil erosion?
See also
Weathering (section 8)
Albedo and heat capacity (section 12)
Greenhouse effect (section 13)
Atmospheric circulation (section 15)
Fresh water (section 22)
Eutrophication (section 23)
Salt water, brackish water, desalination (section 24)
Irrigation, waterlogging, salinization (section 25)
Transport by water and wind (section 27)
Erosion (section 29)
Farming (section 53)
Genetic engineering (section 55)
Further reading
Biology of Freshwater Pollution, 2nd edn. C.F.Mason. 1991. Longman Scientific and Technical, Harlow, Essex. A
detailed, somewhat technical explanation of the effects of discharges into rivers and lakes.
Elements: Earth. Michael Allaby. 1993. Facts on File, New York, 1993. A broad, general account of rocks and
soils and the uses we make of them.
Fundamentals of Soil Science. H.D.Foth and L.M.Turk. 1972. John Wiley & Sons, New York. A fairly simple
textbook on soil science.
The Human Impact on the Natural Environment. Andrew Goudie. 1986. Basil Blackwell, Oxford. Provides a clear
overview of the environmental effects of industrial activity.
Only One World. Gerard Piel. 1992. W.H.Freeman, New York. A general account of the human effect on the
environment, lucidly written by the former publisher of Scientific American.
Soil Conservation. Norman Hudson. 1971. B.T.Batsford, London. A detailed account of the mechanisms of soil
erosion and techniques for preventing it.
Soils: An Introduction to Soils and Plant Growth. Roy L.Donahue, Raymond W.Miller, and John C.Shickluna.
- Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Simply and clearly written, mainly for students of agriculture.
Waste and Pollution: The Problem for Britain. Kenneth Mellanby. 1992. HarperCollins, London, 1992. An
assessment of the environmental effects of industrial and domestic waste disposal by possibly the leading British
authority on environmental pollution.
Note
1 Figures from Britannica Book of the Year 1985, 1995, and 1999. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Chicago.
References
Abelson, Philip H. 1995. ‘Renewable liquid fuels’, Science, 268, 995.
Allaby, Michael. 1987. ‘Environment’ entry in Britannica Book of the Year 1987. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Chicago.
——. 1993. Elements: Fire. Facts on File, Inc., New York.