'In the past two decades there has been considerable work on global climatic change and its effect on the ecosphere, as well as on local and global environmental changes triggered by human activities. From the tropics to the Arctic, peatlands have developed under various geological conditions, and they provide good records of global and local changes since the Late Pleistocene. The objectives of the book are to analyze topics such as geological evolution of major peatlands basins; peatlands as self sustaining ecosystems; chemical environment of peatlands: water and peat chemistry; peatlands as archives of environmental changes; influence of peatlands on atmosphere: circular complex interactions; remote sensing studies of peatlands; peatlands as a resource; peatlands degradation, restoration, plus more.' * Presents an interdisciplinary approach, with an emphasis on Earth Science, and addresses the need for integration between subdisciplines and the developing of new approaches * Synthesizes the evolutionary, ecological, and chemical characteristics of major peatlands, as well as focuses on the environmental changes, from climate changes to surface ares changes due to human activities * Covers topical studies of worldwide interest and provides examples from many different countries.