EFB 120

 

THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT AND THE EVOLUTION OF HUMAN CULTURE

 

ENERGY, ADAPTATION AND THE EXPLOITATION OF RESOURCES

 

Instructor:  Rick Beal, 219 Bray                      Office Hours:  MWF 12-1 pm

 

Lecture:  Location:  Illick 5                              Time:  MWF 8:30-9:25

Discussion Sections:  TBA

 

GAs:                           Office Hours               Location                      E-mail                        

 

UNDERGRADS

 

 


Welcome to the Global Environment!

Environmental problems make headlines every day. How can we help to develop participatory citizens who understand the complex scientific and social issues behind the headlines, make informed decisions, and meet these environmental challenges?  How can you help shape the environmental future for the 21st Century and beyond?

 

The Global Environment will help you to gain the knowledge and tools to make informed decisions regarding the environment and the earth’s future and to be able to understand the connections between such varied topics as pollution, deforestation, climate change, acid rain, soil depletion, economics, evolution, history and social justice.  The course stresses a science based systems approach in evaluating problems and potential solutions as well as the critical role of energy in many of the environmental challenges facing the world. 

The Global Environment emphasizes the strengths and utility of environmental science, a complex and multifaceted discipline of the natural and social sciences whose dimensions are exemplified by several unifying themes: (1) relationships among organisms and their environment (including atmosphere, land, and water),  (2) population growth of humans, (3) human social systems, (4) sustainability of natural resources, and (5) urban ecosystems.

In addition, the Global Environment will give you a historical background to build upon.  The same forces at work today, which define the current state of our world, have been at work for the earth’s entire history.  The course will help you to understand the role of these forces in the evolution of humankind and the development of human culture, thus giving you a context to understand the roots and complexities of today's environmental challenges.

The Global Environment deals with the “Big Questions” not from strictly economic, environmental, or biological approaches but from an integration of both the social and physical sciences.  This interdisciplinary approach allows for a clearer view of reality that makes the Global Environment unlike any other environmental course.  The varied topics are connected from an energy and systems perspective during every class and it is this integration that makes learning interesting and exiting and also makes the Global Environment unique.

 

 

Global Environmental Change is the result of:

(1) Biophysical Dimensions

(2) Sociocultural Dimensions

·        Hydrosphere

·        Biosphere

·        Atmosphere

·        Lithosphere

·        Political

·        Economic

·        Ethics / Values

 

 

Course Objectives:

Students will be able to…

1.      Demonstrate the complexities of environmental problems where skills and knowledge from both the natural and social sciences are needed to meet these challenges. 

2.      Articulate the critical role of energy and resources in the evolution of the human species and human culture.

3.      Describe how humans and human culture have impacted various ecosystems.

4.      Describe how hydrosphere, lithosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere interact to affect one another.

5.      Understand the behavior of complex systems, effects caused by changes in one part of the system are hard to predict, often occurring at disparate times, scales, and locations.

6.      Explain the biophysical components and determinants of human history.

7.      List and explain as well as to develop one’s own approaches to meeting environmental challenges.

 

Grading:

            Exam I = 25%

            Exam II = 25%

            Discussion Section (4 Assignments) = 30%,

Class work = 10%

Final Project (Paper) = 10%

 

Final Project:

The final paper can be on any environmental topic of your choice.  You must bring at least 5 topics from the course into your paper.  Your paper must be 5-6 pages long with 1.5 spacing.  Site references at the end of the paper (at least 5).  Be as creative as you can.

 

Class Rules:

            Be respectful of your classmates and instructors.

            Late assignments will not be accepted!  No extra credit!

            Do not enter the classroom late!

 

Textbook:

Botkin, D. B., and E. A. Keller.  Environmental Science: Earth as a Living Planet.  4th Edition.  John Wiley and Sons (Follet’s Orange Bookstore).

 

Additional Readings:  (Reader is available in Bray Basement)

Callenbach, E.  The Fate of Our Cities is the Fate of the Earth.

Crosby, A. W.  1986.  Ecological Imperialism.  The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900-1900.  Cambridge

U. Press.  Prologue & chapts. 8-9.

Daly, H. E.  Free Trade.  In: The Case Against the Global Economy.  Mander, J. and E. Goldsmith (eds.). 

1996.  San Francisco, CA: Sierra Club Books: 229-238.

Diamond, J.  1997.  Guns, Germs and Steel.  The Fates of Human Societies.  New York: W. W. Norton &

Co:  Prologue & chapts. 4-6, 9, 14.

Goldsmith, E.  Global Trade and the Environment.  In: The Case Against the Global Economy.  Mander, J.

and E. Goldsmith (eds.).  1996.  San Francisco, CA: Sierra Club Books: 78-91.

Hall, C. A. S., R. G. Pontius, Jr., L. Coleman, and J-Y Ko.  1994.  The environmental consequences of

having a baby in the United States.  Population and Environment 15 No. 6: 505-524.

Hall, C. A. S. (Ed.) 1999.  Quantifying Sustainable Development: the Future of Tropical

Economies.  Academic Press.  In Press. Ch. 5: Land, Energy, and Agricultural Production in Costa Rica.

Hardin , G. 1968 The Tragedy of the Commons. Science, 162(1968):1243-1248.

Lee, R. B.  1966.  !Kung Bushman Subsistence: An Input-Output Analysis.

Lugo, A. E.  1991.  Cities in the sustainable development of tropical landscapes.  Nature & Resources, 27

(2): 27-35.

Meadows, D. D. L. an J. Randers.  1992.  Beyond the Limits.  Executive Summary.

Mitchell, C. and C. J. Cleveland.  1993. Resource Scarcities, Energy Use, and Environmental Impact: A Case

Study of the New Bedford, Massachussetts, USA, Fisheries.  Environmental Management (17) No. 3: 305-317.

C. S. Mott Foundation.  1998.  Executive Summary.

Newman, P. City Life and City Death.

Norquist, J. O.  1998.  The Wealth of Cities.  Revitalizing the Centers of American Life.  Reading, MA:

Addison-Wesley.  Chapts. 1, 8, 9.

Peet, J.  1992.  Energy and the Ecological Economics of Sustainability. Wash. DC: Island Press. Chapt. 5:

The Systems Approach.

Pimentel, D. and N. Kounang.  1998.  Ecology of Soil Erosion in Ecosystems.  Ecosystems (1): 416-426.

Zinn, H.  1980.  A People’s History of the United States.  New York: Harper Colophon.  Chapt. 1:

Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress.

 

 

LECTURE SCHEDULE:

 

TOPIC AND DATE

SPEAKER

READINGS

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION: OPTIMISTS

AND PESSIMISTS

 

 

Aug. 25, Monday

The Basic Human Situation Today

Beal

Ch. 1: Basic Environmental Issues, Ch. 2: Thinking Critically about the Environment, Ch. 3: Systems and Change,

Reader: Mott Foundation-Exec. Sum.

 

 

 

ENERGETICS OF NATURAL SYSTEMS

 

 

Aug. 27, Wednesday

The Global Heat Engine

Beal

Ch. 22: The Atmosphere, Climate, and Global Warming, pgs. 451-458.

Aug. 29, Friday

Biomes: The Distribution of Life

Beal

Ch. 8: Biogeography,

Reader: Hall et al. 1986 - Ch. 1.

Sept. 1, Monday

 

NO CLASS- Labor Day

Sept. 3, Wednesday 

Evolution and Bioenergetics; Exploitation of Resources

Beal

Ch. 4: The Biogeochemical Cycles,

Ch 7: Biological Diversity

 

Sept. 5, Friday

Ecosystem Structure and Function

Beal

Ch. 6: Ecosystems and Ecosystem Management,

Ch. 10: Ecological Restoration, pgs. 174-182.

HUMAN EVOLUTION;

GENETIC AND CULTURAL

 

 

Sept. 8, Monday

Ecological Concepts: Food Chains & Carrying Capacity

Beal

Ch. 9: Biological Productivity and Energy Flow

 

 

Sept. 10, Wednesday

Hunting & Gathering; Herding

Beal

Reader: Diamond-Prologue, Diamond-Ch. 9,

Lee - !Kung Bushmen

Sept. 12, Friday

First Agriculture

Beal

Reader: Diamond-Chpts. 4-6

Sept. 15, Monday

DISCUSSION SECTIONS

Beal, T.A.’s

 Reader: Peet-Ch. 5.

EXPANSION OF CULTURES

 

 

Sept. 17, Wednesday

New World

Beal

Reader: Zinn-Ch. 1; Crosby-Prologue,

& Chpts. 7, 8

Sept. 19, Friday

Trade, Piracy, Kleptocracy

Beal

Reader: Diamond-Ch. 14.

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

 

 

Sept. 22, Monday

Evolution of Economic Concepts

Beal

Ch. 10: Environmental Economics

Reader: Tragedy of the Commons

Sept. 24, Wednesday

Exponential Growth

Beal

Ch. 5: The Human Population as an Environmental Problem

Sept. 26, Friday

Fuel Resources

Beal

Ch. 16: Energy: Some Basics,

Ch. 17: Fossil Fuels and Environment

Sept. 29, Monday

Nuclear Power

Beal

Ch. 19: Nuclear Energy and the Environment

Oct. 1, Wednesday

Alternative Energy

Beal

Ch. 18: Alternative Energy and the Environment

 

Oct. 3, Friday

DISCUSSION SECTIONS

Beal, T.A.’s

 Ch. 29: Minerals and the Environment

Oct. 6, Monday

 

 

Yom Kippur (no classes)

LAND USE CHANGE

 

 

Oct. 8, Wednesday

Modeling Development in the Tropics

Beal

Ch. 12: Effects of Agriculture on the Environment,

Reader: Hall (ed.) 1999-Ch. 5.

Oct. 10, Friday

 

NO CLASS- Autumn Break

Oct. 13, Monday

Limits to Growth

Beal

Ch. 11: World Food Supply

Reader: Meadows-Executive Summary

Oct. 15, Wednesday

Erosion

D. Pimentel*

Reader: Pimentel and Kounang

Oct. 16, Thursday

EXAM REVIEW   (5 PM)

 

 

Oct. 17, Friday                    EXAM I

Beal

EXAM

Oct. 20, Monday               

Fisheries

Beal

Ch 14: Wildlife, Fisheries, and Endangered Species, Reader: Tragedy of the Commons;

Mitchell and Cleveland

CONSEQUENCES OF INDUSTRIALIZATION

 

 

Oct. 22, Wednesday

Discussion of EXAM

Beal, T.A.’s

 Last Day to Drop

Oct. 24, Friday

Eutrophication

Beal

Ch. 20: Water Supply, Use, and Management

Ch. 21: Water Pollution and Treatment

Oct. 27, Monday

Pollution

T. Nakatsugawa

Ch. 15 Environmental Health, Pollution, and Toxicology

Oct. 29, Wednesday

Acid Rain

M. Mitchell

Ch. 23: Air Pollution

Oct. 31, Friday

The Changing Atmosphere

Beal

 

Ch. 22: The Atmosphere, Climate, and Global Warming

Nov. 3, Monday

DISCUSSION SECTIONS

Beal, T.A.’s

 

Nov. 5, Wednesday

Ozone Depletion

Beal

Ch. 25: Ozone Depletion

Nov. 7, Friday

The Environment of Cities

Beal,

Ch. 24: Indoor Air Pollution

Ch. 27: Urban Environments

Nov. 10, Monday

Energy Choices

Beal, T.A.’s

Review Chapters Dealing with Energy

Watch “A Civil Action”

 

 

 

MANAGEMENT

 

 

 

Nov. 12, Wednesday

Environmental Ethics

B. Gibson*

 

Nov. 14, Friday

Cities I:  Onondaga Watershed; Ecojustice

A. Lane*

 

Nov. 17, Monday

Forest Conflict Resolution

D. Floyd*

 Ch. 13: Forests, Parks, and Landscapes

Nov. 19, Wednesday

Was a Civil Action Civil?

Bell, Siegel,

Dreisden

Movie: “A Civil Action”

Nov. 21, Friday

 Managing for Biodiversity

J. Gibbs

Ch 10: Ecological Restoration

Nov. 24, Monday

DISCUSSION SECTIONS

Beal, T.A.’s

 

Thanksgiving Break

 

(NO CLASS)

Dec. 1, Monday

Environmental Engineering

Beal

Ch. 28: Waste Management

Dec. 3, Wednesday

Which Future? DISCUSSION

Beal

Ch. 30: Planning a Sustainable Future

Dec. 5, Friday

EXAM REVIEW

Beal