GEOG1003 Course Outline

The University of Hong Kong
Department of Geography
GEOG1003
Contemporary Global Environmental Issues (6 credits)
Fall 2014, Thursday 10:30 – 12:20 PM
CPD-3.04, Centennial Campus
Instructor: Dr. Li, Jinbao
Office: Room 1029, 10/F, The Jockey Club Tower, HKU Centennial Campus
Phone: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
Office hours: Thursday 2:30-4:30 PM or upon appointment
TA: Ms. Choi Wai Yin Wendy
Office: Room 925, 9/F, The Jockey Club Tower, HKU Centennial Campus
Phone: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
Office hours: Upon appointment
Objectives
This course introduces a number of major global environmental issues and links them to contemporary socio-economic and political considerations while maintaining a geographical perspective. Course Synopsis
Recent decades have been characterized by increasing awareness of environmental issues and the need to come to terms with them. This course will examine, in turn, many of the current major environmental issues related to the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, the lithosphere, and the biosphere as well as looking at major threats posed by the environment itself in the form of natural hazards. In addition, the issue of nuclear threat and the ever-increasing demand for energy are explored. Finally, the matter of sustained development and intelligent management of the planet for this and future generations is addressed.
Lecture Topics
 Climate change: Evidence, causes, and consequences
 Water resources and pollution
 Human impacts on the Earth’s surface and oceans
 Natural hazards
 Other contemporary global environmental issues
Coursework
 Bi-weekly essay: On a bi-weekly basis, all students are required to submit by 5:00PM of the following Thursday a 120-word essay on their thoughts after reading/watching the assigned materials (e.g., news articles, documentary films, academic publications).
 Project: By the end of the semester, all students are required to submit an 800-word essay on climate change and their major. A progress

References: In preparing term papers, the Harvard system should be used in your citations, e.g., (Smith 1995), (Smith 1996a, 1996b), (Smith 1997; Chan 1998), (Smith and Walker 1999), (Smith et al. Book Qu, Geping and Li, Jinchang (1994) Population and the Environment in China McGee, T.G. (1991) The emergence of desakota regions in Asia: expanding a hypothesis. In: N. http://www.info.gov.hk/planning/p_study/comp_s/susdev/final_hp/final.htm Accessed on September 7, 2001. McCrory, J.B. (1998) “A History of Waste Management in New York City.” Originally published in Planners Network, No http://garbagesentinel.org/history.htm1 Accessed on July 14, 2000. Further references: The Chicago Manual of Style, (1993) http://www.vuw.ac.nz/llc/academic-writing/ Accessed on June 8, 2001. Writer 's Handbook, (2001). The University of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Center. http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/AcademicWriting.html Accessed on June 8, 2001.