San Antonio College Library

"Storms from the Sun explores the emerging science of space weather and traces its increasing impact on a society that has become dependent on space-based technologies. Authors Carlowicz and Lopez explain what space weather really means to us down here - and what it may mean for future exploration and colonization of distant worlds. By translating the latest findings of NASA researchers and other top scientists into an account of scientific discovery,...

The atmosphere is what makes the Earth habitable. Heat-trapping gases allow ecosystems to flourish. While the NOAA Global Monitoring Project documents the fluctuations in greenhouse gases worldwide, MIT's Prof. Kerry Emanuel looks at the role of hurricanes in regulating global climate.

Earth's essential systems are being stressed in many ways. There are many tipping points in the environment, beyond which there could be serious consequences. Will human ingenuity, resiliency, and cooperation save us from the worst outcomes of our global experiment?

Will world population outrun food resources? The "Green Revolution" of the 20th century multiplied crop yields, in part through increasing inputs of pesticides and fertilizers. How can farmers reduce their use of agricultural chemicals and still produce enough food?

Once released, air pollutants react chemically with each other under solar radiation to become even more dangerous secondary pollutants. A company in the Northeast U.S. tracks the emission of pollutants at street level, while an international long-term study follows plumes of pollution from Mexico City across the continent and beyond.

While essential to the lives of humans and animals, fresh water only accounts for six percent of the world's water supply. Scientists in Florida's Everglades and the water challenged Southwest consider the optimum use of existing sources of fresh water for both humans and ecosystems.

The human population of our planet now exceeds 6.5 billion and is rising. Much of this growth is projected for the most environmentally fragile regions of the world. Will studying the history of the world's population growth help predict the Earth's "carrying capacity"?

We all require food, air, and water to survive - which are contaminated to some extent by man-made pollutants. Two studies, one in a rural western mining town and another in a dense urban population, reveal how these exposures impact health, and what can be done to reduce the risks.

"The Story of Life & the Environment: An African Perspective is about the fragile miracle of life. It's a celebration of the Earth's rich and wonderful diversity - the species, populations, communities and ecosystems that surround us - and of nature's resilience. It unpacks the three major ecosystems: fresh water, the ocean and the land, and the teeming life each supports on and around Africa. It discusses evolution and the ever-branching tree of...

Analyzes cases in which 20th-century progress resulted in consequences for the 21st-century.