Week 1 Assignments

Reading in the text - "Diagnosing & Engaging with Complex Environmental Problems"

Full text available at: http://www.johnrueter.com

Reading with links to individual chapters (in pdf):

Preface

Chapter 1: Introduction, Chapter 2 (scan) and Chapter 3

 

Readings from Wikipedia and Encyclopedia of Earth:

• wicked problems
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicked_problem
• IPAT
  • http://www.eoearth.org/article/IPAT_equation
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPAT

On-line activities:

to explore the idea of consumption and how it varies around the world

material world - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/worldbalance/material.html

look at each and click the link to see the pictures

 

After watching the videos below - calculate your consumption compared to other people in the world with this water footprint calculator:
http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/freshwater/water-footprint-calculator/

be sure to get to the second part about water embedded in food production

Videos

ways to visualize our (American's) impact on our environment

Nat Geog footprtint (intro)- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8Iw0TH2czQ&feature=related

episode 1 - resource use during different phases of life- 10 minutes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kbr-hzAEPrI

episode 2 - food (eggs, carbohydrates)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoLjkTb81rA&feature=related

You may also want to watch these (optional)

episode 6 - appliances and coal,
embedded energy, chemicals and water in a laptop
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ozelQUh7Ng

episode 7 - paper,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2BA8w2UNLc&feature=related