Human impacts

The relationship between urban areas and transportation systems. Economic analysis of cities, transportation and urban form, highway congestion, environmental impacts of transportation, public transit, land use and transportation, and political influences on transportation planning.

Introduction to geologic principles and applications to environmental problems. Topics include: tectonic processes, earth materials, soils, river processes, groundwater, the coastal environment, slope failures, seismic hazards, mineral resources, and land-use evaluation based on geologic conditions. Examples from case studies. Prerequisite: Social Ecology E8.

Special topics courses are offered from time to time. Course content varies with interest of the instructor. Prerequisites: Public Health 1 and in some cases, consent of the instructor.

Introduction to the basic science and state of predictability of various natural catastrophic events including hurricanes, tsunamis, and volcanoes, as well as possibly future climate catastrophes including severe droughts, abrupt climate change, thermohaline circulation collapse and sea level rise.

Introduction to the analysis of human population including fertility, mortality dispersion, sex distribution. Attention is focused on the effects of these variables on, e.g., over-population, social disorganization, and the stability of social institutions.

Human behavior in a geographical context. Spatial patterns and organization of the cultural, social, and economic activities of man as imposed on and influenced by the earth’s physical setting.

Explores basic topics in ecology and evolutionary biology and applications to agriculture, conservation, environmental issues, and public health. Format involves discussion of scientific journal articles and other readings, with focus on learning to evaluate scientific evidence. Prerequisite or corequisite: Biological Sciences E106.

Biodiversity, history of human impacts, and conservation efforts are examined in the five Mediterranean-type ecosystems. The extent of remaining natural habitat, approaches to ecological habitat restoration, control of exotic species, and predicted consequences of global climate change are described. Prerequisite: Biological Sciences E106.