EEES 1140 – Environmental Problems Lab (1 cr.)
• Basic laboratory science training for nonscience majors within the context of
environmental issues relevant to NW Ohio.
• This lab fulfills the science lab requirement
of the University Core Curriculum.
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.
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.
http://www.eeescience.utoledo.edu/Faculty/Mayer/eees1130.htm
Date
Topic
Reading &
Assignments
10 Jan
(Tu)
Sustainability, Stewardship
and Science
Chapter 1 Wright &
Nebel; excerpt, Silent
Spring
12 Jan
(Th)
Climate and Climate Change
Chapter 21; Tragedy
of the Commons
17 Jan
(Tu)
Ecosystems and Biomes;
human land use
Chapter 2; TBA
19 Jan
(Th)
Ecosystems: how they work
Chapter 3
24 Jan
(Tu)
Wild Species: Biodiversity
Chapter 11; TBA
Overview
• Global environmental
concerns
• Three unifying themes
– Sustainability
– Stewardship
– Sound science
• The process of science
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
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
Environmental problems are:
• Local
• Regional
• National
• Global
Local Example
Garbage
- You generate it
- Decide to recycle or not
-Do you live near any landfills?
-Do you want to?
Regional Example
• Urban sprawl
and loss of
farmland
• Soil erosion
and water
pollution
National Example
• Deforestation
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)
Three Unifying Themes
• Sustainability
• Stewardship
• Sound science
Four Dimensions to
Sustainable Development
•
•
•
•
Environmental
Economic
Social
Political
Examples of potentially socially or
politically undesirable development
An organic whiskey distillery in a Saudi Arabia
A profitable and humane cattle ranch in India
Association Between People & Land
• Developing nations
•Developed nations
• Closely tied to land
because survival
depends on it
•Perception of isolation
from the natural world
• Low per capita resource
use
•High per capita resource
use
• High population growth
•Low population growth
• South
•North
Global City Lights
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
http://earth.google.com/
http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/world.htm
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/
Natural Resource
Naturally occurring material such as soil,
wood, air, water, oil or minerals that is
valuable to people, plants, and wildlife.
Form groups of 2-3
List all the natural resources used in constructing
each room
Some more definitions
• Ecology: The study of the interaction of organisms
with one another and with their environment (nonliving).
• 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.
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
The Environmental Movement
• Rachel Carson:
Silent Spring
• Effect of DDT in
the food chain
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
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