We live in a time of great change and challenge. Our species is profoundly altering the Earth. Our use of resource to feed ourselves results in extinctions. overexploitation has resulted in the population declines many species, and freshwater resources are becoming scare. At the same time, we see significant improvement in many factors. Population growth is beginning to slow, air and water pollution problems are being addressed in many parts of the world, and issues of biodiversity loss, climate change and human well-being are beginning to be addressed on worldwide.
However, there are still major challenges and there are additional opportunities to lighten our impact on earth. Understanding the fundamental principles that describe how the earth’s systems work is necessary knowledge for everyone.
Environmental science is an interdisciplinary field. In this course, we will study environmental interrelationships, environmental risk and economics, interactions of environments and organisms, interactions of communities and ecosystems, population characteristics and human population issues, biodiversity loss and values, what is being done to preserve biodiversity, and human impacts towards environment and ecosystems.
