Our Endangered Earth

课程简介

/ Indicative Syllabus We will begin with exploring the beauty of our natural environment and what it provides for us. Then we will move into some major environmental topics and look at each of them in details, discussing their causes and consequences, distinguishing genuine crisis from false ones based on scientific reasoning and evidence, and what each of us can do to combat them. Our green inheritance and limited planet (6h) • Guardians of the environment – Is it our mission? • Our daily bread –Importance of solar energy, fertile soil and water to provide for us • Green medicine – Potential medicinal use of living organisms and their conservation • Maintenance of natural resources – Changes in ecosystems by human activities, e.g. desertification and deforestation The crisis (27h) • Natural catastrophes – Asteroid impact, earthquake, tsunami, volcanic -- 1 of 4 -- eruption, typhoon, tornado, flood, severe drought and landslide- how likely are they, and should we be afraid? • Energy supply – How much do we use and how much do we have? What is the problem? Any possible solution? • Wastes, chemicals and environmental pollution – Reuse, reduction, recycle and disposal of waste, natural and artificial recycling of materials, health hazards of improper disposal. • Disease – Diseases in human history and future. Use and misuse of antibiotics and other drugs, the origins of zoonotic diseases and public health crisis. • Threats on wild-life – Extinction of species and its many causes. How to assess vulnerability of species and what we can do to help. • Biotechnology and the environment – What have we achieved? What are the possible consequences of genetic manipulation? Is GM food really bad for us? • Global climate change –What are the causes and consequences? Can it be prevented? Examples of concepts and ideas to be covered in this course o Green and environmental labeling o Green capitalism o Ecological footprint, carbon footprint, carbon credit o Eco-tourism

目标

To provide basic knowledge to students how human activities led to the deterioration of this planet, their consequences and possible remediation measures, and outlook of various scenarios based on differences of our everyday life choices.

先修要求

Nil Co-requisite Nil Exclusion ABCT2014 Our Endangered Earth

Teaching Pattern

Methodology Lectures and tutorials will be the main tool to deliver teaching. We will choose course materials based on its importance to the topic and relevance to students’ daily lives. Lecture notes, videos, Blackboard and other teaching tools will be used. During tutorials, materials such as recent environmental news or case study will be provided. Students will participate in group discussion to evaluate the material. In addition, some tutorials will be assigned to help students on their course paper writing. Students are also expected to study reference materials distributed in class, from the library or any other sources (e.g. films, newspaper and magazine clippings and information available on the Internet). -- 2 of 4 --