EEES 1140 – Environmental Problems Lab (1 cr.)

1. EEES 1140 – Environmental Problems Lab (1 cr.) • Basic laboratory science training for non-science majors within the context of environmental issues relevant to NW Ohio. • This lab fulfills the science lab requirement of the University Core Curriculum.

2. http://www.eeescience.utoledo.edu/Faculty/Mayer/eees1130.htm • General Information: EEES 1130; Human Ecology, Fall 2006 • Instructor: Dr. Christine Mayer • Office: 158 Lake Erie Center and 3086 C Bowman-Oddy • Phone: 530-8377 or –4570; christine.mayer@utoledo.edu • Office Hours: Tuesday and Thursday 8:45-9:15 am, Friday 3:00-3:30 pm or by appointment; 3086 C Bowman-Oddy • Attendance will not be monitored. Missed work and instructions are your responsibility. •  Do the assigned reading before coming to lecture. •  Be prepared to participate every class period. • Ask questions in lecture! •  Dates and reading assignments listed on the schedule are tentative, they will be updated as the semester progresses.

3. II. GRADING Four Exams: three midterms and a final; can drop one midterm, missed exam counts as drop Format: Objective type, i.e., T or F, multiple choice, matching —computer graded; bring a soft lead pencil to every exam Pop Quizzes (additional points) Will be randomly dispersed through out the semester and will not be announced ahead of time. Bring a soft lead pencil to class EVERY DAY; no makeup quizzes. Makeup exams are only given to individuals whose absences meet university guidelines for excused absences (check your handbook very carefully!). If you miss an exam, it MUST be taken during the class period within one week after original test date. Also, you must contact me as soon as possible to make arrangements. There are no extra credit assignments.

4. http://www.eeescience.utoledo.edu/Faculty/Mayer/eees1130.htm

5. Overview • Global environmental concerns • Three unifying themes • Sustainability • Stewardship • Sound science • The process of science

6. Human Ecology – EEES 1130 Course Objectives • Understand how the natural world works • Discuss how human and natural systems interact • Understand application of ecology to human populations and problems

7. Major trends disconcerting trends • Rapid human population growth and increasing consumption per person • Decline of vital life-support ecosystems • Global atmospheric changes • Loss of biodiversity

8. Environmental problems are: • Local • Regional • National • Global

9. Local Example • Garbage • You generate it • Decide to recycle or not • Do you live near any landfills? • Do you want to?

10. Regional Example • Urban sprawl and loss of farmland • Soil erosion and water pollution

11. National Example • Deforestation

12. Global Examples • Ozone depletion • Greenhouse warming • Species extinction • Rapid human population growth (Growing by 78 million/year. Future prediction based on an assumption of continued decline in birthrates)

13. Three Unifying Themes • Sustainability • Stewardship • Sound science

14. Four Dimensions to Sustainable Development • Environmental • Economic • Social • Political

15. Examples of potentially socially or politically undesirable development An organic whiskey distillery in a Saudi Arabia A profitable and humane cattle ranch in India

16. Association Between People & Land • Developed nations • Developing nations • Closely tied to land because survival depends on it • Low per capita resource use • High population growth • South • Perception of isolation from the natural world • High per capita resource use • Low population growth • North

17. Global City Lights

18. Important note***** you need to know basic world geography, to understand material for this class • Find a world map and remind yourself of locations of: • - All continents • Major oceans • The equator Hint: this will be the subject of one of your pop quizzes

19. http://earth.google.com/ http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/world.htm http://www.lib.utexas.edu/

20. Natural Resource Naturally occurring material such as soil, wood, air, water, oil or minerals that is valuable to people, plants, and wildlife.

21. Form groups of 2-3 List all the natural resources used in constructing each room

22. Some more definitions • Ecology:The study of the interaction of organisms with one another and with their environment (non-living). • Environmental Science:The study of the interaction between living and non-living things with the goal of understanding how the environment works, finding solutions to environmental problems, or both. • Environmentalism:A way of thinking and a movement of political activism based on a common conviction that our natural environment should be protected.

23. Environmentalism’s History • Late 1800’s First Conservation groups formed • Audubon Society, NWF, Sierra Club, • National Parks formed (1902!) • Industrialization • WW II — technological advancements • mechanization: cars replace tanks • chemistry: fertilizer replace ammunition

24. The Environmental Movement • Rachel Carson: Silent Spring • Effect of DDT in the food chain

25. Point-Source Pollution • Early problems were obvious • point-source pollution • ... the “bad guys” were someone “else” • ... but the battles were tough • ... progress has a price • High costs of changing/regulating industry • litigation • retooling

26. Government Action • Early Progress • Earth Day 1970 • EPA 1970 • Clean Air Act 1970 • Clean Water Act 1972 • Marine Mammals Protection Act 1972 • Endangered Species Act 1973 • Safe Drinking Water Act 1974