Using the earth system approach, Steven M. Stanley shows how Earth's ecosystem has developed over time, and how events in the past can help us deal with present and future changes.

The Blue Planet: An Introduction to Earth System Sciences, 3rd Edition is an innovative text for the earth systems science course. It treats earth science from a systems perspective, now showing the five spheres and how they are interrelated. There are many photos and figures in the text to develop a strong understanding of the material presented. This along with the new media for instructors makes this a strong text for any earth systems science course.

The Earth that sustains us today was born out of a few remarkable, near-catastrophic revolutions, started by biological innovations and marked by global environmental consequences. The revolutions have certain features in common, such as an increase in complexity, energy utilization, and information processing by life. This book describes these revolutions, showing the fundamental interdependence of the evolution of life and its non-living environment. We would not exist unless these upheavals had led eventually to 'successful' outcomes - meaning that after each one, at length, a new stable world emerged. The current planet-reshaping activities of our species may be the start of another great Earth system revolution, but there is no guarantee that this one will be successful. The book explains what a successful transition through it might look like, if we are wise enough to steer such a course. This book places humanity in context as part of the Earth system, using a new scientific synthesis to illustrate our debt to the deep past and our potential for the future.

Visualizing Earth History integrates artwork and images from National Geographic and other rich visuals to provide a broad overview of earth history. Author, Loren Babock explores Earth’s history as a series of interrelated processes that continue to have significant outcomes for humans and other living things.

The newly revised Fourth Edition of Visualizing Geology, WileyPLUS NextGen Card and Loose-leaf Set Single Semester delivers an authoritative and thorough exploration of introductory Earth system science and geology in the distinctive style of the Wiley Visualizing series. Students learn about the three grand geologic cycles – tectonic, rock, and water – and how they interact to create and shape the geologic features we see and experience. This single-semester loose-leaf set includes access to the renowned WileyPLUS NextGen digital learning environment, an indispensable pedagogical addition to any classroom.

The Essential Earth is a whole new way to open students’ eyes to the physical world around them, to learn how scientists explore it, and what we need to do to both protect ourselves from it (hazards) as well as protect it from us (global change). In just 14 chapters, it offers a well-focused introduction to the basics of geology that emphasize the process of science and how humans interact with our home, Spaceship Earth.

When humanity first glimpsed planet Earth from space, the unity of the system that supports humankind entered the popular consciousness. The concept of the Earth's atmosphere, biosphere, oceans, soil, and rocks operating as a closely interacting system has rapidly gained ground in science. This new field, involving geographers, geologists, biologists, oceanographers, and atmospheric physicists, is known as Earth System Science. In this Very Short Introduction, Tim Lenton considers how a world in which humans could evolve was created; how, as a species, we are now reshaping that world; and what a sustainable future for humanity within the Earth System might look like. Drawing on elements of geology, biology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics, Lenton asks whether Earth System Science can help guide us onto a sustainable course before we alter the Earth system to the point where we destroy ourselves and our current civilisation. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.