This text provides current, comprehensive coverage of the Earth and its atmosphere as a system. It is a textbook bringing together this complex, diverse, and developing body of knowledge. Graedel and Crutzen examine the process of global change within a broad historical perspective, and offer an account of the physics and chemistry of Earth and its atmosphere, one that underlines the importance of the interactions among biological, physical, chemical, and social processes. Their analysis encompasses ozone holes, air quality, chemical trace species budgets, techniques for climate modelling, and the maintenance of a sustainable biosphere. This text is ideal for students on courses in Earth system science, global change science, atmospheric chemistry, or climate change, and as a supplementary text for those in ecology or meteorology.