BIOL 145: Environmental Science

• identify and analyze the characteristics of the global life support systems
• recognize current global environmental resource problems and evaluate possible solutions
• understand what global climate change is, reasons/evidence for climate change, and possible solutions to stop/reverse global climate change
• define problems with air and water pollution

1. Introduction to environmental science; population, resources, environmental degradation, and pollution

2. Human cultural changes of the last 40,000 years; the throw-away world view in industrial societies; a sustainable-Earth world view

3. Forms and quality of matter and energy; physical and chemical laws; energy efficiency and use; environmental resource problems

4. The Earth's life support systems; ecosystems and how they work; energy flow and matter recycling in ecosystems; roles and interactions of species in ecosystems

5. Major types of terrestrial ecosystems; aquatic ecosystems; response to stress of living organisms, populations, and community ecosystems; human impact on ecosystems

6. Human population dynamics; factors affecting population size; population age structure; population distribution; methods of regulating population change; case studies of population regulation

7. The atmosphere and air pollution; outdoor and indoor air pollution; smog and acid deposition; effects of air pollution on living organisms and materials; controlling air pollution

8. Introduction to climate; global warming for the greenhouse effect; depletion of ozone in the stratosphere; climate, biodiversity, and nuclear war

9. Water resources and water pollution; supply renewal, and use of water resources; water management; water pollution of streams, lakes, oceans, groundwater; controlling water pollution

10. Soil components, types, properties; soil erosion, soil conservation and land use control; excess salts and water contamination of soil; hazardous wastes contamination of soil

11. World food resources; work agricultural systems; major world food problems; methods of increasing world food production; increasing fish catch and fish farming; incentives for increasing world food production; sustainable-Earth agriculture

12. Pesticides and pest control; types and uses of pesticides; the case for and against pesticide use; pesticide regulation in the U.S. ; alternative methods of insect control

13. Land resources; importance of forests; tropical deforestation and the fuel wood crisis; public lands in the U.S. ; forest management and conservation; rangelands

14. Wild plant and animal resources; why preserve wild plant and animal species; how species become depleted and extinct; protecting species from extinction; wildlife management; fisheries management

15. Perpetual and renewable energy resources; evaluating energy resources; improving energy efficiency; solar energy for heat and electricity; water for producing electricity and storing heat; wind power; energy from biomass; geothermal energy; hydrogen as a possible energy source

16. Non-renewable energy resources; oil and natural gas; coal; non-renewable nuclear fission; breeder nuclear fission and nuclear fusion; developing and energy strategy for the U.S.

17. Non-renewable mineral resources and solid waste; geologic processes and minerals; locating and extracting minerals; environmental impact of mining, processing, and using mineral resources; global supply of mineral resources; the throw away approach, wasting resources; increasing and extending resources

18. Epilogue: Achieving a sustainable-Earth society