Human activities are affecting the global environment in myriad ways, with numerous direct and indirect effects on ecosystems. The climate and atmospheric composition of Earth are changing rapidly. Humans have directly modi?ed half of the ice-free terr- trial surface and use 40% of terrestrial production.Our actions are causing the sixth major extinction event in the history of life on Earth and are radically modifying the interactions among forests, ?elds,streams,and oceans.This book was written to provide a c- ceptual basis for understanding terrestrial ecosystem processes and their sensitivity to environmental and biotic changes.We believe that an understanding of how ecosystems operate and change must underlie our analysis of both the consequences and the mitigation of human-caused changes. This book is intended to introduce the science of ecosystem ecology to advanced undergraduate students, beginning graduate students, and practicing scientists from a wide array of disciplines. We also provide access to some of the rapidly expanding literature in the many disciplines that contribute to ecosystem understanding.

Learn to think through today's complex social issues from a variety of perspectives with UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL PROBLEMS, 11E by award-winning authors Mooney, Van Willigen and Clever. This reader-friendly approach highlights the latest data, policies, theories and relevant examples as you examine the most important social issues facing the world in 2021. You review the long-term impacts of COVID-19, repercussions of the 2020 election and emerging social movements. Quotes from prominent celebrities and captivating features emphasize how today's social problems affect your own life as well as those around you. This edition progresses from studying micro problems related to health care, drugs and alcohol, families and crime to examining larger issues of poverty and inequality, population growth, aging, environmental problems, science and technology and world conflict. MindTap digital resources help you further develop the tools to understand institutional change and become socially engaged.

Preface. Chapter 1. Thinking about Social Problems. Chapter 2. Illness and the Health Care Crisis. Chapter 3. Alcohol and Other Drugs. Chapter 4. Crime and Violence. Chapter 5. Family Problems. Chapter 6. Race and Ethnic Relations. Chapter 7. Gender Inequality. Chapter 8. Issues in Sexual Orientation. Chapter 9. Problems of Youth and Aging. Chapter 10. Poverty. Chapter 11. Work and Unemployment. Chapter 12. Problems in Education. Chapter 13. Population and Urbanization. Chapter 14. Environmental Problems. Chapter 15. Science and Technology. Chapter 16. Conflict, War, and Terrorism. Epilogue. Appendix A. Glossary. References. Name Index. Subject Index. Photo Credits.

Every chapter defines the nature of the social problem in a global context as well as U.S. The text explores each of the three major theoretical explanations (in a balanced manner), describes the consequences of the problem, and provides alternatives solutions and policies. In the midst of this macro analysis the authors use pedagogy to bring the micro application alive, e.g. The Human Side and Self and Society so that the students can apply and understand the social problem.

Building on their important findings in The Source of the River, the authors now probe even more deeply into minority underachievement at the college level. Taming the River examines the academic and social dynamics of different ethnic groups during the first two years of college. Focusing on racial differences in academic performance, the book identifies the causes of students' divergent grades and levels of personal satisfaction with their institutions. Using survey data collected from twenty-eight selective colleges and universities, Taming the River considers all facets of student life, including who students date, what fields they major in, which sports they play, and how they perceive their own social and economic backgrounds. The book explores how black and Latino students experience pressures stemming from campus racial climate and "stereotype threat"--when students underperform because of anxieties tied to existing negative stereotypes. Describing the relationship between grade performance and stereotype threat, the book shows how this link is reinforced by institutional practices of affirmative action. The authors also indicate that when certain variables are controlled, minority students earn the same grades, express the same college satisfaction, and remain in school at the same rates as white students. A powerful look at how educational policies unfold in America's universities, Taming the River sheds light on the social and racial factors influencing student success.

"Invasive Species in a Changing World provides readers with the background and knowledge they need to begin developing strategies to combat the invasive species problem, and it is essential reading for anyone concerned with the impact of invasive species on ecosystem health and functioning."--BOOK JACKET.

The biota of the earth is being altered at an unprecedented rate. We are witnessing wholesale exchanges of organisms among geographic areas that were once totally biologically isolated. We are seeing massive changes in landscape use that are creating even more abundant succes sional patches, reductions in population sizes, and in the worst cases, losses of species. There are many reasons for concern about these trends. One is that we unfortunately do not know in detail the conse quences of these massive alterations in terms of how the biosphere as a whole operates or even, for that matter, the functioning of localized ecosystems. We do know that the biosphere interacts strongly with the atmospheric composition, contributing to potential climate change. We also know that changes in vegetative cover greatly influence the hydrology and biochemistry ofa site or region. Our knowledge is weak in important details, however. How are the many services that ecosystems provide to humanity altered by modifications of ecosystem composition? Stated in another way, what is the role of individual species in ecosystem function? We are observing the selective as well as wholesale alteration in the composition of ecosystems. Do these alterations matter in respect to how ecosystems operate and provide services? This book represents the initial probing of this central ques tion. It will be followed by other volumes in this series examining in depth the functional role of biodiversity in various ecosystems of the world.

PRODUCT ONLY AVAILABLE WITHIN CENGAGE UNLIMITED. UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL PROBLEMS, progresses from micro to macro analysis, focusing first on health care, drugs and alcohol, families, and crime and then looking at the larger issues of poverty and inequality, population growth, aging, environmental problems, and global conflict.

A method employing two-dimensional spline fits of spatially and temporally random hydrographic data is developed in order to be able to determine seasonally averaged geostrophic currents. The method is used in an analysis of the currents in the Southern California Bight. (Author).

A monthly mean sea current was calculated for the west coast of the United States and the Hawaiian Islands area on a spatial grid of 1 deg by 1 deg. These mean geostrophic velocities were computer generated from dynamic height data obtained from the National Oceanographic Data Center. A method employing two-dimensional spline fits of spatially and temporally random hydrographic data was developed to determine the monthly averaged geostrophic currents. (Author).