This introductory 2004 textbook describes the nature of the Earth's environment and its physical processes so as to highlight environmental concerns arising from human use and misuse of soil and water resources. The author provides a thorough introduction to the basic issues regarding the sustainable, productive use of land resources that is vital in maintaining healthy rivers and good groundwater qualities. He develops a quantitative approach to studying these growing environmental concerns in a way that does not require prior knowledge of the physical sciences or calculus. The straightforward writing style, lack of prerequisite knowledge and copious illustrations make this textbook suitable for introductory university courses, as well as being a useful primer for research and management staff in environmental and resources management organisations. Each chapter ends with a set of student exercises for which solutions are available from solutions@cambridge.org.