Environmental Science: A Global Concern

The environment knows no borders.

The new Canadian edition of the market-leading Cunningham Environmental Science book illustrates just that, but with local case studies, coverage, challenges and policies. The organization of the text has been redone to better reflect trends across Canada in Environmental Science.

Environmental Science by Cunningham et al has a unique balance between science and issues. Armed with knowledge of the science of the environment, students and instructors are able to better understand the policies that come out of scientific knowledge (or in some cases, the science that grows out of the policies). This is the most truly balanced book on the market in Canada.

A contributing editor was brought in on this project (Dan Shrubsole, UWO) to team up with the Canadian author (Robert Bailey, UWO) for a truly Canadian section on policy and law. These chapters, while remaining global in overall scope, are the most detailed Canadian policy and law chapters on the market today in Environmental Science.

Case studies, vignettes and text throughout includes water crises from North Battleford, Sask. and Walkerton, Ont. To illustrate the challenges of sustainable urban centres, the once-thriving Vancouver downtown east side gets centre stage with their Vancouver agreement as an example of Canada's three levels of government coming together. The Sydney Tar Ponds illustrate the various toxicities associated with past use of the land, and the difficulties and possibilities for the future. In other chapters, the issue of placer mining in the Yukon is explained in detail - the political issues as well as the livelihood of the local population. After all, northern Canada is a large part of the country that can be often ignored.

Another example: Four cases which went through the Canadian courts are detailed in one vignette. Each of these are explained in detail, and students are asked to decide: Would you prosecute? At the end of the chapter the actual (and at times surprising) outcomes of these trials are then discussed.

These real stories from around the world open up discussion and prompt the student to be more interested in the policy and law of the environment, both in Canada and across the world. After all, as the discussion on the Kyoto Protocol will show, the environment knows no borders.

The new edition of this market-leading Environmental Science text offers a wealth of new technology for you and your students. Each text will be packaged FREE with an Essential Study Partner CD-ROM for students and our cool new Online Learning Center website.

More than 300 colour photos illustrate examples throughout chapters, both adding information and piquing interest. Approximately 10% percent of these are new and updated, reflecting the Canadianization as well as more current global cases.

More than 250 figures illustrate environmental stats and trends throughout the world as well as more home-grown Canadian data. Approximately 10% of figures are new and updated.

More than 60 tables are incorporated throughout this text. Almost 20% of these figures are new or revised to update the data or Canadianize the data.

This text is not just science, not just policy. IT doesn't concern Canada alone, but rather the entire environment, which has no borders. This is a truly balanced text that will not only pique interest in students who take this as an elective, but is a high enough level to serve as a basis for those who continue their studies in environmental science.

Robert Bailey began his undergraduate career at the University of Toronto, knowing that he was into science but not really having any idea how he was going to make science his life’s work. Intrigued by the blend of ecology and environmental problems presented as part of his first year biology class, Bob decided to move to the University of Guelph to complete his BSc in Ecology, and stayed on to complete a Masters in Zoology with aquatic biologist Gerry Mackie. Bob then returned to the University of Toronto to work for acidification researcher Pamela (Stokes) Welborn at the Institute of Environmental Studies, working in the beautiful lakes on the Canadian Shield, including the important Experimental Lakes Area in northwestern Ontario (see Chapter 3: Matter, Energy and Life). Inspired to make a career of Evironmental Science, Bob went to the University of Western Ontario to do a PhD with Aquatic Ecologist and Environmental Statistician Roger Green. He stayed on at Western as a faculty member, and is now a Professor of Biology and Environmental Science there, as well as Director of Environmental Research Western, an institute dedicated to building collaborations among environmental researchers of all types at Western, and bridges between the university’s environmental researchers and opportunities for partnerships with industry and government. For the last decade, Bob’s research has been mainly concerned with environmental assessment of freshwater ecosystems. He does field work in streams from the Yukon River Basin in northwestern Canada to ponds and wetlands in southern Ontario, and is often called on to contribute to panels and workshops where government agencies in Canada and the U.S. try to determine the best strategies to use in assessing and protecting their aquatic resources. He has taught Introductory Ecology at Western for several years, and is launching a new Environmental Science course for first year students this year.

Dan Shrubsole is an Associate Professor of Geography at the University of Western Ontario, and has published many papers on his research on the institutional aspects of resource management, particularly water resource management in Canada. He has co-authored a book entitled "Ontario Conservation Authorities: Myth and Reality" (1992). National perspectives on water management are provided in two other books: "Practising Sustainable Water Management: Canadian and International Experiences" (1997), and "Canadian Water Management: Visions for Sustainability" (1994). He co-edited a book on water conservation entitled "Every Drop Counts" (1994). He has also published journal articles on floodplain management, wetland management, water conservation, and watershed management in Environmental Management, Journal of Environmental Management, Canadian Water Resources Journal, Applied Geography and Geoforum. In 1995/96, Dan was a visiting research fellow with Australia's Commonwealth Research and Scientific Organization (CSIRO) and participated in research concerning catchment management and the environmental management in the sugarcane growing industry.