Applied Geography (1994), 14, 386-389

Book reviews

Roberts, N. (ed.) The dunging global rnvirorz- menf. Oxford (and Cambridge, MA): Blackwell, 1994. 531 pp. f60 hardback: f15.99 paperback.

In his Preface, Roberts observes that there is ‘now a plethora of semi-popular books around on the thcmc of global environmental change, but few, if any, take the trouble to explain the scientific issues’. The changing globrrl envirormrnt seeks to correct that deficiency. Too often edited volumes arc just collections of poorly coordinated chapters linked in a clumsy fashion: in this book Kobcrts provides an example of how editing should he done.

The chmgillg globd er~~?rormrnt offers a clear review of environmental changes in the past. at present, and expected in the future. As well as providing scientific hackground there is also some consideration of social and political causes and consequences. The depth of coverage is adequate for undergraduate use yet is still readahlc for the genera1 public. The illustrations are numerous and good, and there are suggested readings at the end 01 each chapter plus an extcnsivc (6%page) bibliography.

There have been some good edited v,olumcs on environmental issues in the last couple of years (such as Mannion and Bowlby 1992). but The &111,~ir7,q glohnl rnr.ironrnrnt is one of the be\t I have yet seen. As a starting point for those dev,eloping an interest in envir-onmenlal ishucs something like Pickering and Owen ( 1994) might he better-. but as the next step or for those taking cnvironmcnt courses. Tlw c~/rtrrr,~$r~~q globtrl P/I\+ ror~rnent is ideal.

Briefly, the coverage is: Part I ‘The Nature 01 Environmental Change’ (global cnv ironmental future and remote sensing of environmental change); Part 2 ‘Global Climate Change’ (past and future climates. historical records and recent cli- mate change, numerical modclling of global chan- gcs): Part 3 ‘Ice and Ocean’ (global warming. pcriglacial landscapes, ice volume and climalic change, sea-level rcsponsc to climate and the future of coral reefs); Part 3 ‘The Hydrological System’ (surface water acidification. reconstructing the history of soil erosion. large-scale river regulation): Part 5 ‘The Tropics’ (savjannas and global change. tt-opical moist forests-transformation or con- servation. land degradation in the humid tropics. dryland degradation); Part 6 ‘Cast Studies’ (chang- ing USC of the Sahara, Chesapeake Bay cstuarinc system, China’s Yellows River Basin. deforestation of the Himalayas).

I admit to feeling less happy with the final four cast studies (which individually are fine but as a section do not stem to fit well with an otherwise

well-integrated hook). There is little on oLone problems (stratospheric loss or lower altitude excess), and little on environmental pollution through agrochemicals, industry, and so on. It is always possible to find gaps and to criticize the coverage of such a complex and broad subject as environmental change, and weighed against what is covered, the faults of The changing globtrl mviron- rnent are minor. Neil Roberts has edited papers by well-respected authors into an excellent textbook on environmental change.

Mannion, A. M. and Bowlhy, S. R. (cds) (1992) Environnwntd issues in the 1990s. Chichester: Wiley. Pickering, K. T. and Owen, I_. A. (1994) An introdrrctior~ to global errvirnrrm~~~ttrl issur.s. Lon- don: Routlcdge.

Chris Barrow

Hardisty. J., Taylor, D. M. and Metcalfe, S. E. Cornputeri.wl arfl.irorltnr,rtrrI rnotkllin,g: 0 pmc- tictrl introduc,tion using E.we/. Chichester: Wiley, 1993. 204 pp. fl4.95: disk f830.

My first thought on rccciving this hook for review was ‘How does it compare with Cornputar sirnulrr- tiorl ire ph~~icrrl ,gro,qrtrp/g by Kirkhy and others?’ Both books arc on the sub.jcct of computer modclling. hoth deal with modclling in cnviron- mental science and physical geography. both are written by professional geographers. and both are published by Wiley. Computcri,srtl rr~~.irnrlnl~rrtcrl moc/c~//irr,g is designed for undergraduate geo- graphers and is divided into three main parts. The first part consists of two chuptcrc and introduces the student to the basic concepts of systems theory and modclling. The second part is a practical guide on computer modclling using Excel as a simple programming environment, while the third part gives six examples of environmental models and how to implement them using Excel. In many way\ the subject material is similar to that in Kirkby et r/l., the main difference being that in the latter the models arc written in Microsoft QuickBASIC while in this book they arc written in Excel. However. in most rcspccts the discussion is more basic than, and inferior to, that of Kirkby rt 01. For example, little information is given on model calibration and model validation, while mass and energy balance concepts are ignored. Chapter 2. ‘Introduction to Modelling’, is particularly poor.