Natural limits

Understanding the impact of the nuclear age on the environment and human health through the interrelated developments of nuclear power and nuclear weapons. The early years of weapon development, catastrophic environmental pollution, perils of nuclear power in the U.S. and Russia. Same as Social Ecology E127 and Public Health 168.

Lecture, three hours. Examination of contemporary water problems worldwide, with particular attention to the competing demands for water in the western U.S., and water demand by the poor in developing countries. History and analysis of U.S. water policies at local, state, and federal levels.

Lecture, three hours. Explores the interaction of social choice and physical constraint in shaping the earth’s human carrying capacity, including ramifications for local, regional, or global environmental issues. Prerequisite: Planning, Policy, and Design 4.

Introduction to major themes and debates in environmental ethics, with application to contemporary environmental issues. Prerequisite: graduate standing or consent of instructor.

Lecture, three hours. Natural disasters are natural processes that adversely affect humans. By examining these processes students develop a basic understanding of Earth’s physical environment. Topics include: tectonics, earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, severe weather, flooding, climate change, mass extinctions and impacts with space objects.

Lecture, three hours. Overview of scientific underpinnings of global environmental change and human health consequences. Provides students with an understanding of the fundamental dependency of human health on global environmental integrity. Encourages disciplinary cross-fertilization through interaction of students in environmental, health, and policy sciences. Prerequisite: at least one upper-division course in environmental science, public health, environmental policy, and/or environmental management, or consent of instructor.

Lecture, three hours. Understanding the impact of the nuclear age on the environment and human health through the interrelated developments of nuclear power and nuclear weapons. The early years of weapon development, catastrophic environmental pollution, perils of nuclear power in the U.S. and Russia.

Lecture, three hours. Focuses on processes of exposure to environmental toxins/agents and their impact to human health and the environment. Media transport, exposure assessment, susceptibility, behavior, and health effect of several toxins are discussed. Public Health Sciences and Public Health Policy majors have first consideration for enrollment.

Introduces students to the Earth as a system, the physical and biological resources on the planet, and the impact of humanity on those resources.

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.