Our Changing Planet: The View from Space
It has been just over 60 years since the first satellite pictures of earth were recorded, and since that time, the increasing number and sophistication of photographs from space have enabled scientists to see changes in earth’s atmosphere, land, and water with greater accuracy. This book covers a wide range of topics, from seasonal changes in foliage in North America to sea-surface temperature changes worldwide. Content is organized in sections treating the atmosphere, the land, the ocean, the ice caps, and human activities. Fairly short subsections focus on particular issues or geographic areas. For example, one subsection in “Evidence of Our Tenure,” which discusses human activities, deals with the drainage of Iraqi marshlands. In addition to satellite photos and photographs of landscapes on earth, most sections include graphs and charts to further explain or interpret the views from space. Captions offer considerable detail that supplements the information found in the text. Appendixes contain an explanation of satellite orbits and remote sensing and a glossary. The index provides many access points to the information.   A browser interested in global change would find much fascinating material in the exceptional photographs and diagrams and in the explanations found in the captions and text. A researcher could use this as a starting point. Firefly’s Earth from Space (2007) contains some of the same images but does not have as much analysis on planetary change as Our Changing Planet. Many libraries will want both. --Elaine Lindstrom