UAU102: Introduction to Environmental Sciences and Natural Resources

Course Information

Main Instructor: / Brynhildur Davidsdottir with help from various friends
Office: In Askja or Gimli. Office Hours: Wednesdays 14:50 – 16: 30PM or by appointment Tel: 525-5286/5233
email:
Meeting Time: / Lecture: Mon: 13:20 – 14:50 and Wed: 13:20 – 14:50 PM
Site visits outside the regular class time – TBA
Classroom
Locations: / Lecture: Mondays Askja, Wednesdays Askja
Readings / Required:
1. Botkin and Keller (B&K): Environmental Science: Earth as a living Planet, or Richard Wright, Environmental Science, or Miller Living in the Environment.
2. Various readings posted in Uglan.
Optional:
1. Daily, G., 1997, Nature’s Services, Societal Dependence on Natural Ecosystems, Island Press, WashingtonDC.
2. Common and Stagl (C&S), 2006, Ecological Economics, CambridgeUniversity Press.
3. Wackernagel M. and Rees W. 1996, Our Ecological Footprint, New Society Publishers.
Course Description / The increase in human numbers and the scale of economic activity has put humans in a position to greatly influence environmental and resource change. Explaining the extent and impact of this influence or selecting and designing appropriate management methods is well beyond the theory and analytical tools of individual disciplines, such as economics, ecology, social or physical sciences. As a result a new interdisciplinary approach is needed, one that unites the relevant aspects of different disciplines. However, before introducing the perspective and tools of various disciplines students must have at a minimum a basic understanding of the driving forces behind in addition to the physical and ecological principles of environmental and resource change.
This introductory masters level course introduces the main driving forces behind environmental change and resource depletion and then teaches the concepts necessary for an in-depth understanding of the environment and resources. Among the specific issues discussed are the ecological footprint, natural capital and ecosystem services, biodiversity, landscape diversity, soil degradation, climate change and ozone depletion, air pollution such as urban smog, water pollution, municipal and hazardous waste, marine resources, energy resources and energy and the environment.
Course Objectives / To introduce the factors influencing and governing environmental and resource change and to foster critical thinking and environmental numeracy.
Grading: / Class Participation (5%).This portion of your grade will be based both on your attendance and your contribution to class discussions and written comments throughout the semester.As part of your grade, you will be required to once lead a discussion on the class blog page (explained later).The rest of the class is expected to participate in the discussion. Postings are due on the web by Tuesday midnight the week you are responsible. Your grade will be based both on the frequency and quality of your contributions.In lieu of posting discussion questions specific to the class topics you may substitute a posting of your synopsis of a breaking environmental event (identify as “Breaking event”).
Current Event Exercise (10%): The class will be broken to groups of two and each one of you will participate in one such team project.Each team will track the news and current research on a particular environmental or resource event of importance and prepare a 5 –minute briefing on the most important aspects of the chosen news event or research. Teams must also write a group memo summarizing their issue, which will be distributed. You will be graded as a group. The timing of each presentation is chosen based on the topic, as each topic is presented as it fits with the class schedule.
Resource Exercise (Proposal) (10%):This assignment introduces you to the writing of proposals, and introduces the types of resources available on a topic of your choice. Due October 6th.
Literature Review (15%): This assignment introduces you to the writing of a literature review of a topic of your choice – of course you could use this as first step towards writing your final paper. Due October 29th
Research Paper and Presentation: (30%)
Each of you will develop a 15 – 20 page research paper. You should use this paper as an opportunity to dive deep into a topic you may be interested in as your thesis topic. In this paper you are expected to present quantitative information. The paper is due the last day of class.
Various Problem Sets (30%): Throughout the course of the semester you will complete several problem sets to foster environmental numeracy. Due one week after distribution.
DATE / TOPIC / REQUIRED READINGS
(A) Environmental change: history, drivers and consequences – a few fundamentals
W1 / Aug / 25 / No class
W1 / Aug / 27 / Introduction – overview over the course
Environmental change, history and recent state of the environment. Do we have a problem? / B&K ch. 1
MEA overview
Vitousek 1997
W2 / Sept / 1 / Discussion – do we have a problem? Bjorn Lombok, Julian Simon, A few fundamentals, science and the environment, systems, systems of change, connections between systems, important features of the environment and resources / Björn Lombok, Julian Simon
B&K ch. 2
C&S ch 2
W2 / Sept / 3 / Drivers of Environmental change, IPAT equation
Homework 1 / Herendeen ch2.(1998), (Chertow (2004), Hardin (1968)
W3 / Sept / 8 / The human population and the environment, carrying capacity, growth, feedback / B&K ch. 4
Daily and Ehrlich, 1992
Malthus chapter 1 in N,S&K 1997
W3 / Sept / 10 / Human appropriation of the environment
The Ecological Footprint
Homework 2 /
C&S ch 3
Vitousek et al. 1986 Postel 1996.

(B) The Basics: Systems theory; flow of energy and matter; Biogeochemical cycles; Ecosystem services
W4 / Sept / 15 / Systems theory, Biogeochemcial cycles, focus on the carbon cycle / Common and Stagl Ch2. B&K ch. 5
W4 / Sept / 17 / Biological productivity
Ecological systems – earth’s life support services, ecosystem functions, natural capital, ecosystem dynamics
Homework 3 / B&K ch 6, 9, 10
Folke 1997, Limburg et al 2002, Costanza and Daly 1992, Groot et al 2002
(C) Biodiversity Landscape Diversity; Restoration
W5 / Sept / 22 / The Noah’s Ark Problem – Biodiversity. What is? How measured? Status; the rivets analogy; importance (stability, resilience); threats, drivers; conservation and preservation. CITES; CBD.
Discussion: Balancing carbon sequestration and biodiversity /
Common and Stagl (biodiversity chapter), B&K ch. 7, 8
W5 / Sept / 24 / Diverse landscape and “wilderness” areas as a resource.
Guest Lecturer Þóra Ellen Þórhallsdóttir
Homework 4 /
B&K ch. 13
W6 / Sept / 29 / Wetlands – importance and restoration – Guest lecturer Hlynur Óskarsson, LBH. /
B&K ch. 10
(D) Soils, Land-use (Agriculture), Forestry, Fisheries
W6 / Oct / 1 / Soils – Types, properties, the soil as a resource - degradation and desertification - causes and corrections.Speaker: Andrés Arnalds /
Daily (1997) ch 7.
W7 / Oct / 6 / Agriculture – how much food is enough? Agriculture and the environment /
B&K ch. 11, 12
Pimentel et al 2006
W7 / Oct / 8 / Forestry resources – importance, status, degradation. Causes and consequences. Carbon sequestration. Cross cutting issues
Guest Lecture, Jon Geir Petursson /
B&K ch.13, Daily 1997 ch. 12
W8 / Oct / 13 / Marine resources – importance, status, degradation. Focus on destruction due to fishing gear and impact from global climate change and marine fish farms. The impact of climate change. EROI of fishing - Homework 5 / B&K ch 14
Daily (1997) ch 10, 15, Norse and Crowder 2005,
Read et al. 2003.
(E) Pollution to air and soil – emissions and solid and hazardous waste; From Global to Local Issues
W8 / Oct / 15 / Pollution and health; Environmental health
Guest Speaker - Particle Pollution in Reykjavik – Þorsteinn Jóhannsson UST /
B&K ch. 15
W9 / Oct / 20 / Air Pollution and the Atmosphere– focus on the stratosphere – ozone and climate change. What is, causes, consequences, what to do?Kyoto and the Montreal Protocols
The Inconvenient Truth /
IPCC 2006, ( B&K ch. 22 and 25
Common and Stagl 2006, Chapter 13
W10 / Oct / 22 / The atmosphere – air pollution: regional issues; acid rain.
Local issues, smog, photochemical oxidants etc. Gaussian plume model. Homework 6 /
B&K ch. 22 and 23, 24
W10 / Oct / 27 / TBA
W11 / Oct / 29 / Municipal waste: Disposal and recovery; Reduce, reuse, recycle, International and European conventions and directives
Visit to Sorpa /
B&K ch. 29, Municipal waste in Iceland,
W11 / Nov / 3 / Hazardous waste: Types, disposal, international conventions. International and European Conventions and Directives / B&K ch. 29
Hazardous waste in Iceland,
(F) Water Resources and Water Pollution
W12 / Nov / 5 / Freshwater – supply, renewal, use.
Water pollution and treatment / Botkin and Keller chapter 20 and 21 Daily (1997) ch. 11 Postel, Daily, Ehrlich (1996)
W12 / Nov / 10 / Freshwater pollution – surface and groundwater degradation – focus on bioaccumulation and eutrophication, BOD, thermal pollution and pollution from oil spills
Guest Speaker. Gudmundur Ingi Gudbrandsson / B&K ch 21 Pimentel et al 2004.
G) Energy Resources
W13 / Nov / 12 / Energy resources – Past present and future. Energy basics, Resources, reserves, Importance of energy in history. Energy use in Iceland
Homework 7: Energy basics / B&K ch 16
WEA (update), Please Download -
W13 / Nov / 17 / Non-renewable energy systems, resources, reserves, scarcity, peak oil. Environmental impact of extraction and use. /
WEA (update),
B&K ch 17
W14. / Nov / 19 / Renewable energy resources: Geo, Hydro. Resources, reserves, environmental impact of extraction and use. /
WEA (update), Tester 2006 (opt.)
W14 / Nov / 24 / Renewable energy resources: Wind, solar, biofuels. Environmental impact of extraction and use. /
WEA (update), Tester 2006 (opt.)
W14 / Nov / 26 / Student Presentations
W15 / Dec / 1 / Student Presentations
W15 / Dec / 3 / Student Presentations

Preliminary Reading List (more to be added)

Boulding K.E., 1966, The economics of the coming spaceship earth, Excerpt from “Quality in a growing economy”.see:

Paul Erlich and Julian Simon – the debate, published in Wired Magazine.

Chertow, M, 2000, The IPAT Equation and its Variants: Changing Views of Technology and Environmental Impact, Industrial Ecology 4(4):13-29.

Costanza, Robert, 1998. Beyond the Argument Culture, Ecological Economics, Vol. 27, pp. 113 – 114.

Common and Stagl, 2006, Ecological Economics, CambridgeUniversity Press, Chapters 2 and 4

Foley et al. 2005, Global Consequences of Land Use, Science 309:570-574.

Kates, Turner and Clark, The Great Transformation, in: Turner et al. 1990, The Earth as Transformed by Human Action, chapter 1 –17.

Vitousek, P.M. Mooney H.A. Lubchenco J. and Mlillo. J.M., 1997, Human Domination of earth’s ecosystems, Science 277:494-499.

Vitousek, P.M. et al. Human Appropriation of the products of photosynthesis, Bioscience 36:368-373.

Postel et al. 1996, Human Appropriation of Renewable Fresh Water, Science, Vol. 271 No. 5250, pp. 785-788.

Dietz, T., 1994, Rethinking the Environmental Impacts of Population, Affluence and Technology, Human Ecology Review (1):1-26.

Hardin, G., 1968, The Tragedy of the Commons.

Groot et al., 2002, A typology for the classification, description and valuation of ecosystem functions, goods and services, Ecological Economics, 41:393-408.

Daily, G., 1997, Nature’s Services, Societal Dependence on Natural Ecosystems, Island Press, Washington DC, various chapters.

Costanza, Robert and Herman E. Daly. 1992. Natural Capital and Sustainable Development. Conservation Biology, Vol. 6(1). pp 37-46.

Limburg et al., 2002, Complex systems and valuation, Ecological Economics 41:409-420.

Metric and Weitzman, 1998, Conflicts and choices in biodiversity preservation, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 12(3):21-34.

IPCC 2006.

Common and Stagl 2006, Chapters 2, 4, 13,14

Postel s, 1997, in Daily G, Nature’s services. Island Press.

Postel et al. 1996, Human Appropriation of Renewable Fresh Water, Science, Vol. 271 No. 5250, pp. 785-788.

Pimentel et al. 2004, Water resources, agricultural and environmental issues, Bioscience 54(10) 909-918.

Botkin and Keller, various Chapters.

Hilton et al., 2006, How green is my river? A new paradigm of Eutrophication in Rivers. Science of the Total Environment, 365:66-89

Smith, et al. Eutrophication: Impacts of Excess nutrient inputs on freshwater marine and terrestrial ecosystems, Environmental Pollution, 100:179-196.

Les K. and P. Pauly, 1997 in Daily, G., Nature’s services, Island Press.

Preikshot and Pauly, 2005, Global Fisheries and Marine Conservation: is coexistence possible, in Norse and Crowder, Conserving Marine Biodiversity.

Watling, L., 2005, The global destruction of bottom habitats by mobile fishing gear, in Norse and Crowder, Conserving Marine Biodiversity.

Payraudeau et al., 2005, Environmental impact assessment for a farming region, Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 107:1-19.

Read and Fernandes, 2003, Management of Environmental impacts of Marine Aquaculture in Europe, Aquaculture 226:139-163.

Rubin E., 2000, Introduction to Engineering and the Environment, McGraw Hill Education.

Tester et al. 2006, Sustainable Energy, MIT Press.

World Energy Assessment (1998 and 2004), Energy and the Challenge of sustainability, UNDP, WEC. Available at: