Australia, Oceania, & Antarctica: A Continental Overview of Environmental Issues (Hillstrom, Kevin, World's Environments.)

A concise yet thorough overview of environmental issues, problems, and controversies facing Australia, Oceania, and Antarctica.They are vast, distant, and scarcely populated. Yet the environments of Australia, Oceania, and Antarctica are facing the same threats confronting the rest of the planet, as well as some unique ones of their own. How have human-introduced species impacted Australia's natural order? What new global conventions are helping close Antarctica's ozone hole? And how is global climate change threatening the South Pacific's species-rich coral reefs?The region's governments are grappling with the spectre of global warming, which, if not meaningfullly addressed by industrialized nations half a world away, could produce rising sea levels capable of engulfing several states of Oceania and partially submerging portions of many other inhabited islands. Australia, Oceania, and Antarctica tackles the difficult issues, tough problems, and political controversies surrounding these lands of extremes. A concise yet thorough overview of environmental issues, problems, and controversies facing Australia, Oceania, and Antarctica. The paradisiacal islands of the South Pacific. The unworldly landscapes and wildlife of Australia. The frozen expanses of Antarctica. This new title in ABC-CLIO's World Environment Series encompasses some of the most benign-and hellish-places on Earth. How is humanity threatening-and preserving-these diverse and far-flung environments? They are vast, distant, and scarcely populated. Yet the environments of Australia, Oceania, and Antarctica are facing the same threats confronting the rest of the planet, as well as some unique ones of their own. How have human-introduced species impacted Australia's natural order? What new global conventions are helping close Antarctica's ozone hole? And why is global warming threatening the South Pacific's life-teeming coral reefs?; The region's governments are grappling with the spectre of global warming, which, if not meaningfullly addressed by industrialized nations half a world away, could produce rising sea levels capable of engulfing several states of Oceania and partially submerging portions of many other inhabited islands. Australia, Oceania, and Antarctica tackles the difficult issues, tough problems, and political controversies surrounding these lands of extremes Australia, Oceania, and Antarctica......Page 1 Contents......Page 6 List of Tables and Figures......Page 8 Introduction: The World’s Environments......Page 10 Acknowledgments......Page 22 Biographical Notes......Page 24 1 Population and Land Use......Page 28 2 Biodiversity......Page 52 3 Parks, Preserves, and Protected Areas......Page 78 4 Forests......Page 100 5 Agriculture......Page 124 6 Freshwater......Page 148 7 Oceans and Coastal Areas......Page 172 8 Energy and Transportation......Page 194 9 Air Quality and the Atmosphere......Page 212 10 Environmental Activism......Page 234 11 Antarctica......Page 258 Appendix: International Environmental and Developmental Agencies, Organizations, and Programs on the World Wide Web......Page 278 Index......Page 282 This work provides an overview of the environmental issues, problems, and controversies facing Australia, Oceania, and Antarctica. How have human-introduced species impacted Australia's natural order? What global conventions are helping close Antarctica's ozone hole? Explores the environmental health issues of Australia, Oceania, and Antarctica, discussing such issues as habitat destruction, pollution, species protection, and environmental activism.