In its first two editions this book has established itself as one of the most widely used environmental geography textbooks of the English-speaking world. The main new features of the third edition are twenty two 'windows', each of which describes either a key process (such as desertification, the carbon cycle and sea-level rise) or an illustrative case study (for example the origins of the Himalayas, the Karst formations of South China, the progress of Hurricane Gilbert in 1988, and the continuing evolution of the Mississippi Delta). The new edition includes a section of colour plates, and a completely updated guide to further reading.