Why do kangaroos hop? Or koala bears nap so often? From how animals cope with the extremes of the Australian outback to the tragic impact of early human settlement on Easter Island, this volume provides a scholarly yet accessible survey of the environmental history of one quarter of the world's surface.

A fascinating study of the environmental history of Australia, New Zealand, and the islands of the Pacific, from the time of the dinosaurs to the present day.

Of interest to students and academics alike, this book provides a much-needed synthesis of the recent literature on the environmental history of Australia and Oceania. Part of ABC-CLIO's Nature and Human Societies series, this book maps out the key trends in the region's environmental history, charting the creation of the Australian continent from the ancient land mass of Gondwanaland to the arrival of humans.

Especially fascinating are the chapters highlighting how successive waves of human migration created environmental havoc throughout the region, leading to the collapse of the Easter Island civilization and the spread of nonindigenous flora and fauna. From the controversies over the reasons why creatures such as the marsupial lion and the giant kangaroo became extinct to such contemporary problems as deforestation and global warming, this book contains sobering lessons for us all.

• A chronology covers key phenomena and events in the region's environmental history from before the dinosaurs to the present day
• Includes an annotated bibliography detailing the major works on the history of the region’s environment