SPECIAL TOPICS
Present Environmental Problems
Dr. Patricia Mosto
mosto@rowan.edu
ext.
4834
Office
Hours: W ed. 3-5 PM
ÒThe history of life on
earth has been a history of interaction between living things and their
surroundingsÓ
Rachel
Carson
Course Objectives
One
million years ago the earth was characterized by a pervasive wilderness, which
we may call ÒnatureÓ. In the midst
of this wild nature stood small enclaves of human habitation. In the succeeding millennia, the area
of untouched nature surrounding human enclaves progressively declined, although
for centuries the trend remains invisible. Even 300 years ago in European countries, the great cities
were isolated by hectares of wilderness in which untamed animals roamed, as
they had for thousands of years before.
And yet, the expansion of humans continued inexorably. One hundred years ago nature has
so radically diminish that it was a novelty. To enter a truly natural world was exotic, beyond the
experience of most humans who lived from birth to death in entirely Òman-madeÓ
circumstances. In the
twentieth-first century, the balance has shifted so far that for all practical
purposes one may say that nature has disappeared. Wild plants are preserved in greenhouses and botanical
gardens, wild animals in zoos and game parks. All artificial settings created by humans as a souvenir of
the once prevalent natural world.
Pristine environments are almost found nowhere, and habitat destruction,
environmental degradation and pollution have become the way of living that
humans have created for us and all the other creatures that share the
earth. Humans are inescapable
everywhere in the globe, and nature is a fantasy, a dream of the past, lost
gone.
The
present environmental problems are rooted in the history of humanity and the
technological developments that lead to the world we live in today. This course is intended for
students interested in the environmental problems that affect the earth and
want to know more about possible solutions, if any. It has four main objectives:
1) to discuss the present
environmental problems;
2) to introduce the important
facts essential to understand such problems;
3) to supply resources needed to
pursue more in-depth studies of the problems presented; 4) to teach how to
write in the sciences
Readings
See
weekly classes assignments
Requirements and Grading
The seminar will be conducted in a discussion manner by the
entire class, including myself.
Each week one of you will present the weekly topic (see content), and
guide the class discussion. I will
guide the discussion and introduce the topics on September 4. The rest of the topics will be selected
by each of you that day. The
Discussion cases for each week will aid in the discussion. You may want to bring additional
readings to the ones assigned.
Each week you will submit a short weekly papers, these weekly papers are
mostly working sheets of thoughts of what is being discussed in class that
day. You will also submit an
extensive paper at the end of the semester. The extensive paper will be an extension of your
presentation integrating what have been learned and discussed in other weeks
during the semester.
The
grading will be based on:
*
Paper (30%)
*
Weekly write-ups (50%)
*
Class Presentation/Discussion (5%)
*
Class participation (15%)
Content
September 4 Introduction
to Environmental Problems- Human
relationships to the Environment-
September 11 Atmospheric Problems
Charles Harper, Global Climate Change, Uncertainty, Risk and Policy
Joseph Bast, Peter Hill and Richard Rue, Our World Is Getting Cleaner
Discussion Cases: Smog in New Delhi and in Los Angeles, Rate of skin cancer in Australia and Argentina. P. Mosto
September 18 Waste
Donald Wells, Solid Waste
Zachary
Smith, Toxic Wastes
Case Study: Vineland wastewater treatment plant – P. Mosto
September 25 Land degradation
Charles
Southwick, Historical Aspects of Environmental Destruction and Land Degradation
Zachary
Smith, Land management Issues
Case Studies: Soil erosion in U.S. – P. Mosto
October 2 Water problems
Zachary
Smith, Water Pollution
Chales Harper, Water Resources
Discussion Cases: Our mother Ganges is sick!, Bottled Water: Pure Profit or Solvent Solution? – P. Mosto
Charles
Southwick, The Crisis in Biodiversity
Farhana Yamin, Biodiversity, Ethics and International law
Case
Study: 40 years after Silent
Spring – P. Mosto
October 16 Animal rights
Tom
Regan, The Case for Animal Rights
Carl
Cohen, The Case for the Use of Animals in Biomedical Research
Sidney
Gendin, The Use of Animals in Science
Discussion Cases: Genetic engineering and cloning, ÒGrowing Old LucyÓ – D. Clowney
October 23 Global population expansion
Charles
Southwick, Our Global Condition: A clash of concepts
Paul and Anne Ehrlich, Fables about Population and Food
Case Study: Easter IslandÕs example – P. Mosto
October 30 Health risks
Ann Misch, Assessing Environmental Health Risks
Michael Greenberg, Health Effects of Environmental Chemicals
Case Study: Mining coal – P. Mosto
November 6 Energy Crisis
Charles
Harper, Energy and Society
Donald Wells, Nuclear waste
Discussion cases: California's electric power "crisis", hydrogen power cars - P. Mosto
November 13 Ecological Wars
Merrit P. Drucker, The Military CommanderÕs Responsibility for the Environment
Charles Southwick, The Ecology of War
Discussion Cases: Bangladesh and India, Southeast Asia: Agent Orange and the Environment, Defending the Redwoods; Irak war. – P. Mosto
November 20 Consumption and Sustainability
Charles
Harper, Alternative Futures: Sustainability and Social Change
John Hasse, Urban Sprawl in New Jersey
Case Study: Consequences of the Agricultural Revolution – P. Mosto
December
4 Business and
the Environment
Charles Harper, Transforming Structures: Markets, Politics, and Policy
Zachary Smith, Environmental Management
Case Study: Shifting the Taxes from wages/profits to pollution/waste – P. Mosto
December 11 An environmental ethics for the future