Formal & Natural Sciences

Earth & Environmental Science

The planet as a coupled physical, chemical and biological system operating on deep time.

9 fields · 76 topics · 10 curated works

Fields within Earth & Environmental Science

The rock record and how to read it.

Mineralogy · Petrology · Structural Geology · Stratigraphy · Sedimentology

The physics of the planet's interior and its fields.

Seismology · Plate Tectonics · Geomagnetism · Gravimetry · Geodynamics

Seventy percent of the surface, and most of the heat capacity.

Physical Oceanography · Ocean Circulation · Chemical Oceanography · Marine Geology · Coastal Processes

Weather as a fluid dynamics problem with a forecast horizon.

Atmospheric Dynamics · Weather Systems · Cloud Physics · Numerical Weather Prediction · Atmospheric Chemistry

The long-run energy balance of the planet, and what is perturbing it.

Paleoclimatology · Climate Modelling · The Carbon Cycle · Radiative Forcing · Climate Feedbacks

Where water is, where it goes, and how fast the ice is going.

Surface Water Hydrology · Groundwater & Aquifers · Watershed Management · Glaciology · Ice Sheets

Human systems colliding with natural ones.

Biogeochemical Cycles · Soil Science · Air & Water Pollution · Environmental Toxicology · Ecosystem Services

Low-probability, high-consequence events and how to plan for them.

Earthquakes · Tsunamis · Hurricanes & Cyclones · Wildfires · Floods

Representing the surface of the Earth, and arguing about the projection.

Physical Geography · Human Geography · Cartography & Map Projections · Geographic Information Systems · Remote Sensing

No prior grounding assumed.

The Sea Around UsRachel Carson, 1951
The book that made oceanography public: currents, sediments and deep time written with the accuracy of a working marine biologist.
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Silent SpringRachel Carson, 1962
Documents how persistent pesticides accumulate through food chains, and launched modern environmental regulation.
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Basin and RangeJohn McPhee, 1981
Teaches deep time by driving across Nevada with a geologist, and makes plate tectonics feel like something happening rather than something settled.
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How to Lie with MapsMark Monmonier, 1991
Every map distorts because it must; the question is whether the distortion is serving you or someone else.
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The Big OnesLucy Jones, 2018
A seismologist on why disasters are social events with geological triggers, and why the damage is decided long before the shaking starts.
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Under a White SkyElizabeth Kolbert, 2021
Reports on interventions built to fix earlier interventions, and the recursive problem that creates.
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Assumes you know the vocabulary.

Primary sources and full treatments.

The Physics of GlaciersW. S. B. Paterson, 1969
The reference on how ice deforms and flows, which is what sea-level projections ultimately rest on.
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Atmospheric Science: An Introductory SurveyJohn M. Wallace & Peter V. Hobbs, 1977
The standard text on how the atmosphere actually works, and the physical grounding most climate arguments are missing.
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The Solid EarthC. M. R. Fowler, 1990
Reconstructs the interior of the planet from seismology, gravity and heat flow — everything we know without being able to look.
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