Encyclopedia of Environmental Issues

Gr 9 Up—This revision of the 2001 edition continues the original goal of meeting "the ongoing need for up-to-date information on the environment that is accessible to nonspecialists." The set contains 772 alphabetically arranged and signed articles (an increase of more than 300 over the previous edition), varying in length from 300 to 3000 words, and covering a wide range of subjects, figures, and issues from a variety of fields such as biology, geology, anthropology, and government. Specific topics include ecotourism, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, court cases, treaties, and issues such as zoning, light pollution, and ocean dumping. One hundred and twenty-two of the essays from the first edition have been replaced or updated. Each article begins with a header that includes its subject category, a concise definition of the topic, relevant dates, and a brief explanation of the topic's environmental significance. Graphs, charts, maps, sidebars, and black-and-white photographs accompany the entries, and cross references and updated further-reading suggestions close them. The well-written, informative articles are complemented by extensive appendixes, the highlights of the volumes. Their offerings include annotated lists of environmental organizations, a biographical dictionary of key figures in environmentalism, an annotated list of federal laws concerning the environment, a directory of U.S. national parks and of major world national parks and protected areas, and a bibliography organized by topic. This user-friendly update, which comes with complementary access to the Salem Science database, is a worthy addition.—Patricia Ann Owens, Illinois Eastern Community Colleges