Science Man and His Environment

Introduction
This is a course in environmental science. It is designed for people with little science background.

Course Notes
These are the topics for the course. In general, they can be studied independently of each other. Each topic includes activities, resources, and other material.


 * What is Environment?
 * Planetary Boundaries
 * Ecological Footprint and Sustainable Development
 * Food and Agriculture
 * Population
 * Ecology - Definitions and Outline
 * Energy Flow in Ecosystems
 * Population and Community Ecology
 * Material Cycles
 * Biodiversity
 * Energy
 * Atmosphere and Climate
 * Global Warming
 * Air Quality
 * Water Quantity
 * Water Quality
 * Solid Waste

These two sections are for those without any science background
 * Scientific Method
 * Matter and Energy

Activities
Activities are given within sections above:

Web Resources
This is a collection of all of the resources listed on the course notes pages. See also the next two sections.

Other Resources
Environmental Education - This page is a link to web resources on the environment

Environmental Glossary - A glossary of environmental terms (note it is incomplete).

author's blog on the environment (See also individual articles listed in the course notes)

Keeping up with environment news
One very good way to understand environmental issues is to follow the environmental news. There are a number of websites which are dedicated to environmental news (either general or a specific aspect).

RSS Feeds - one good way to keep up with news is to use RSS feeds. For a good description of RSS see the BBC's Feed Page. For reading feeds we recommend Feedly - especially since you can use it from any computer.

Below is some recommended sites.

News Sites


 * ReliefWeb (humanitarian issues) (RSS)


 * BBC Science and Environment(RSS)

Blogs


 * The Ecologist


 * Grist(RSS)


 * Mongabay (RSS)


 * Science and Development Network


 * Triple Pundit (articles on sustainable business) (RSS)

Intergovernmental and Non-governmental Organizations


 * United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP)


 * World Resources Institute (WRI) (RSS)