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Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 8 Up-These 250 signed entries offer solid scientific and historical background, thorough descriptions, and, often, specific recent examples. Beyond the expected subject areas, coverage includes less obvious topics, such as "Information, Access to," that affect pollution in significant ways. Article length varies from one or two paragraphs on a specific topic such as the air pollution disaster at Donora, PA, to fairly comprehensive overviews. For example, a nine-page entry on "Lifestyle" examines the connection between pollution and a consumer lifestyle and "eco-apartheid," the costs of material growth paid by the urban poor. The clear writing is formal in tone; the vocabulary is fairly sophisticated. Statistical information is easy to access from within the narrative and from charts and tables. Valuable historical perspective combines with current information on timely articles such as "Arctic National Wildlife Refuge," which mentions the defeated 2002 legislation regarding oil exploration. Though there is an erroneous reference to "the first Bush administration" with regard to the 2001 opposition of the Kyoto Protocol, facts and dates are accurate. Bibliographies for each article include print and/or Internet sources. Cross-references encourage readers to investigate the relationships among topics. A useful "Topical Outline" groups articles into more than 30 broad categories. Wide margins; orange headings; and scattered color photos, charts, and diagrams make for an attractive layout. Reference works on general environmental areas are available, but many collections will benefit from this focused set that covers a timely topic in a thorough and accessible manner.-Steven Engelfried, Beaverton City Library, OR (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Intended for use in high-school, public, and academic libraries, these volumes include articles on various causes of pollution and their effects on human and environmental health, on people and organizations that have been active in cleanup, and on agencies and legislation related to these issues. Contributors are connected with government agencies, universities, or scientific organizations. There are 264 alphabetically arranged articles, from Abatement0 to Zero population growth.0 Some articles, such as the excellent Global warming 0 and Space pollution,0 deal with specific issues related to pollution. Others, such as Popular culture, Risk,0 and Writers,0 might seem like odd choices but add a more conceptual dimension. The articles conclude with lists of Internet sites as well as bibliographies that list many publications that are dated before 2000. The set is attractive and inviting, illustrated with charts, photos, maps, and drawings. Each volume commences with a table of contents and topical outline for the set and lists of acronyms and abbreviations and ends with a glossary and set index. The index entry for Tankers, 0 oil incorrectly cites pages 104-405, instead of 104-105. There are several older reference sources, among them Encyclopedia of Environmental Issues 0 (Salem, 2000) and Encyclopedia of Environmental Science 0 (Oryx, 2000), that treat many topics related to pollution but have a broader overall scope. Others, such as Environmental Disasters: A Chronicle of Individual, Industrial, and Governmental Carelessness 0 (Facts On File, 1998) and Toxic Waste Sites: An Encyclopedia of Endangered America 0 (ABC-CLIO, 1997), are more narrow. Pollution A to Z 0 is an attractive, informative, current work that could be useful in high-school and public library collections. -- RBB Copyright 2004 Booklist
Choice Review
Indicating the broad scope of this set, its preface starts with a question about light pollution. Pollution of all kinds is covered, as are individuals and organizations active in environmental causes. Entries vary from a few pages ("Economics") to one long paragraph ("National Park Service"). Treatment of controversial topics like the confrontational Earth First environmental organization is balanced. Entries are signed and end with at least one print or Internet reference. Numerous color charts and photographs of high quality accompany the text. Both volumes contain identical, lengthy glossaries and indexes. Although topics are diverse, covering US and global issues, the entries lack depth because of the set's compact format. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. General readers; lower-division undergraduates. J. B. Napp University of Toledo
Library Journal Review
An eye-catching picture of a landfill superimposed on a satellite image of the earth engages us from the front cover of this work on global pollution. Stapleton (policy advisor, EPA) has compiled 264 articles, ranging from 250 to 1500 words, written by specialists from both academia and governmental organizations. Predictably, the longest articles are on disasters: chemical spills/nuclear accidents, ocean dumping, plastics, radioactive waste, and recycling. Among the most interesting and unique entries are those on history of pollution; lifestyle, asking readers to consider how their lifestyle affects the environment; and terrorism, which discusses common pollutants from September 11 and their health effects. Attractively laid out with numerous sidebars, charts, graphs, and high-quality illustrations (both black-and-white and color), this will be easy for high school, undergraduate, and public library users to read and use. Each entry is complemented by numerous See Also references and an up-to-date bibliography that includes many EPA and other Internet sites. Each volume contains both a glossary and a complete index. Though some of this information can be found in Environmental Encyclopedia and John Mongillo and Linda Zierdt-Warshaw's Encyclopedia of Environmental Science, the vast majority is unique to this work, including longer bibliographies. Highly recommended for all libraries.-Eva Lautemann, Georgia Perimeter Coll., Clarkston (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
