For over 40 years, satellites have been orbiting the Earth quietly monitoring the state of our planet. Unseen by most of us, they are providing information on the many changes taking place, from movements in the land and volcanic eruptions, to human-caused changes such as the growth of cities, deforestation and the spread of pollutants in the atmosphere and oceans. Led by four editors with support from a production team at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, many of the world's top remote sensing scientists showcase some spectacular and beautiful satellite imagery along with informed essays on the science behind these images and the implications of what is shown. This is a stunningly attractive and informative book for anyone interested in environmental issues and the beauty of our home planet, providing inspiration for students, teachers, environmentalists and the general public alike. 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 Pre-publication praise for Our Changing Planet: The View from Space: "I've had the good fortune to visit some of the most beautiful parts of our home planet, and witness first hand the effect human activity is having on our world. This book allows you to explore some of these effects through an awe-inspiring collection of images of the Earth from space. This wonderful volume provides a masterful association of imagery and explanation. You will have difficulty closing it once opened. I give it my highest recommendation." Sir Ranulph Fiennes, internationally renowned explorer and adventurer "Our understanding of the world radically changed when we first saw it from space. It became at once precious yet vulnerable, romantic yet realistic, and above all unified as the physical and living environments came indissolubly together. The pictures in this remarkable book could almost tell the story by themselves; but they are supported by a well written collection of essays which together explain the underlying science and how the system actually works. As tiny ephemeral creatures on the surface, we can also see the alarming effects our activities are having, whether on the land, in the seas or in the atmosphere, so that this epoch in the Earth's long history can be appropriately named the Anthropocene. We still have to reckon with the consequences. This is an excellent guide to greater understanding of the fundamental issues of our time." Sir Crispin Tickell, Director of the Policy Foresight Programme at the James Martin Institute for Science and Civilization at Oxford University, former British Ambassador to the United Nations, former President of the Royal Geographical Society "Great, readable book with spectacular space views of how our home planet is changing - the land, atmosphere, oceans and ice." James Hansen, Director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies "We have been advised for years to act locally and think globally and nothing helps us think more about the globe than the wonder of viewing the whole and all its changeable parts from space. This book tells us what is happening to our world in graphic detail and it is truly an eye opener." William Ruckelhaus, First Administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency "This collection of stunning images of our planet from space serves as a focus for a discussion of geologic, atmospheric and oceanic processes. The emphasis is on change, and here the images of shrinking glaciers are particularly impressive. Much of scientific