Quantitative Aspects of Global Environmental Problems

Topics

• Application of basic principles of natural science to the analysis of human influence on environmental conditions and processes at continental to global scale. Topics covered include dimensions of the physical world and of human modifications of it; techniques of estimation and back of the envelope calculation; box models of environmental stocks and flows: equilibrium and feedback; chemical equilibria in the environment; nutrient cycles and their disruptions; acid deposition and its consequences; climate change and its consequences; stratospheric ozone depletion; sources, fate and effects of toxic substances in the global environment; radioactivity and radiation; macroecology; carrying capacity and human population growth; biodiversity and its diminution; epidemics.
• Students will be familiar with and able to apply a diverse set of quantitative tools for understanding and analyzing environmental problems. Students will also have gained insight into the multi-disciplinary nature of environmental science, having used physical, chemical, and biological principles to create and solve analytical models.

Official catalogue course objectives and student learning outcomes