Sustainable Aquatic, Terrestrial And Atmospheric Systems

Catalog description

This course provides students with a reasonably comprehensive understanding of the biosphere and the threats and challenges of global human activity to its sustainability. This course is structured into five modules pertaining to particular systems and culminating in a section that addresses systems interactions: Aquatic systems, terrestrial systems, atmospheric systems, human impact and the future and systems interactions. Each class will contain a one hour overview, one hour addressing case-studies, and one hour of discussion or group project. After completing the course, students should (1) Be familiar with the global environmental picture, (2) Understand ecosystems, their structure, how they function, and challenges to their sustainability, (3) Know the causes, dynamics and consequences of human population growth, (4) Have knowledge of renewable resources such as water and its stewardship, soil and its degradation, and the production and distribution of food, (5) Appreciate the value of ecosystems and biodiversity in terms of services provided and aesthetics, (6) Understand energy usage and production including renewable resources, (7) Know about the various sources of global pollution and its hazards, pest control, solid waste and hazardous chemicals, (8) Understand atmospheric processes and involvement in ecosystem interactions, and (9) Comprehend the dimensions of the sustainability challenge in terms of economics, resources, the public and public policy and urban sprawl.