This new edition introduces the broad and complex field of environmental studies in an Australian context. It retains the widely acclaimed comprehensiveness of the first edition and updates and revises material in this rapidly changing field of study. The book emphasizes the need to include a wide range of perspectives, from philosophy and ethics, through the social sciences and economics, to the biophysical and physical sciences. An integrative, multidisciplinary approach is taken throughout and recent legislative and bureaucratic changes at the Australian federal level have been included.