Environmental Science 3205

Unit 1: Introduction to Environmental Science

The biosphere as an interacting system, the human footprint on it, and the ideas that frame the whole course — sustainability, stewardship, eco-citizenship, biodiversity, and how species and spaces are protected. Grounded in Newfoundland and Labrador's own eco-regions.

• The biosphere as an interacting system

• Human impact on the NL land over time
• What environmental science is

• Environmental issues and human demand
• Conservation, stewardship, and the precautionary principle

• The ecological footprint
• Eco-citizenship and economic reality

• NL eco-regions and biodiversity
• Species at risk
• Protecting biodiversity — species
• Protecting biodiversity — spaces

Unit 2: Recreation and The Environment

Wilderness and outdoor recreation in Newfoundland and Labrador — its value, its consumptive and non-consumptive forms, the ecological integrity that recreation depends on, wilderness access, and the hunting and inland fishery that connect people to the land.

• Wilderness and its value
• Consumptive and non-consumptive recreation

• Ecological integrity and eco-tourism
• Wilderness access and its impacts

• Hunting, quotas, and wildlife management
• The inland recreational fishery

Unit 3: Land Use and the Environment

The 'Do ONE' option-set strand: a student completes exactly ONE of Forests, Mining, or Agriculture. This course presents the FORESTS branch — NL's forest ecosystems, the boreal and old-growth forests, forest management's shift to sustainability, and harvesting techniques. (Mining and Agriculture are the mutually-exclusive alternatives; see the header note.)

• Introducing forest ecosystems
• The boreal forest and fire
• Old-growth forests

• Sustainable forest management
• Harvesting and caring for forests

Unit 4: Water Use and the Environment

Fresh water as a finite resource — its sources, watersheds, and quality; the ecosystems it supports; drinking-water treatment and wastewater; and the marine environment central to Newfoundland and Labrador: the fishery and its collapse, aquaculture, marine debris, and oil spills.

• Fresh water sources
• Watersheds and their management
• Water quality and riparian zones

• Impacts on fresh water ecosystems
• Drinking water treatment
• Wastewater and its treatment
• Wastewater treatment methods

• Marine ecosystems and NL
• The state of the world's fishery
• The fishery and its management
• Sustainable fishing and its challenges
• Fishing techniques, bycatch, and seals
• Aquaculture

• Marine debris and coastal impacts
• Oil spills and mitigation
• Impacts of marine oil spills
• Mitigating marine oil pollution

Unit 5: The Atmosphere and the Environment

The atmosphere's structure and interactions, air quality and the pollutants that degrade it, acid precipitation, stratospheric ozone depletion, and climate change — its impacts across Canada and the actions and alternative energy sources used to address it.

• The atmosphere and its interactions
• Interactions in the atmosphere
• Air quality and particulate matter
• Critical air contaminants and smog
• Persistent organic pollutants
• Sources of airborne pollutants
• Air quality and human health
• Improving air quality

• Acid precipitation
• The ozone layer and UV radiation
• Climate change
• Climate change impacts across Canada
• Addressing climate change
• Alternate energy sources