Environmental Chemistry

Catalog description

Environmental Chemistry is designed as a one-semester chemistry course including a lecture and laboratory component. This course is intended to provide the student with an understanding of the key environmental issues our world faces, by exploring the chemistry of our air, water and soil and the human interaction with these environmental processes. Contemporary environmental problems such as: ozone formation/ destruction, photochemical smog, acid rain, the greenhouse effect, metal and nutrient fluxes, erosion and deforestation, sewage treatment, and conservation will be addressed by using chemical concepts (i.e.; equilibrium, oxidation-reduction reactions, kinetics, solubility, acid-base chemistry, and thermodynamics). Laboratory work will focus on monitoring and environmental quality of air, water and soil samples.