ENVS -1000
Midterm
Review
Studio Lab
● Studio Lab was officially launched in 2020 to
provide hands-on research training for
undergraduate students.
● We admit undergraduates as Studio Lab scholars
who are matched with a research mentor and
paid to work as research assistants.
● We also host social events and professional
training sessions.
● We also help students present their research at
CU and outside the university and submit their
work for publication.
● Friday, April 5th is the deadline to apply
Midterm Logistics
• The midterm exam is Monday, March 4th,
• It is administered ON CANVAS, same as your quiz
• It will be during the lecture period (3:35-4:50)
• Students with accommodations will take the DS 1.5X version of the exam.
All these students will receive an email.
• You do not need to be in CHEM 140 during the exam
• There will be a Zoom room available if you have questions or issues
during the exam
• 40 questions (3 short answer, the rest multiple choice)
Questions that were commonly incorrect in the quiz
Questions that were commonly incorrect in the quiz
A few questions commonly missed in the textbook
● Complex systems, Emergent Properties, Wicked
Problems
○ Complex systems have responses and behaviors
that are difficult to understand or predict.
○ Complex systems have emergent properties, a
response that arises from the behavior of a
complex system as a whole rather than from a
predictable combination of individual pieces
○ Wicked problems are problem that are difficult or
impossible to solve because of their complex and
interconnected nature and incomplete,
contradictory, and changing aspects of the
problem
Ecosystem Productivity
What are the main
themes of the course?
Sustainability & Sustainability Science
● Sustainable activities can be carried out indefinitely
○ Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs
● Complex systems
○ Emergent properties
○ Non-linearity
○ Feedback loops
○ Precautionary principle
● The science of sustainability
○ Scientific method
○ Pseudoscience
● History of human populations
● Demographic transitions
○ Changing life expectancy, changing birth and death rates
○ Changing fertility
● Factors influencing population growth
○ Gender equity & education
○ Changing drivers of death
● Growth rates
○ Absolute vs. relative
● Environmental impacts of population growth
○ IPAT model & the need for both supply and demand solutions
○ Jevons paradox
Human Populations
● Links between human health and
environmental conditions
○ Air, soil, water quality and disease
○ Global variation in exposure
● Emerging Infectious Disease
○ Causes of emergence
○ Climate change & infectious disease
● Conceptual Models (of disease spread)
● Toxins & toxicity
○ Types of environmental toxins
○ Variations in response to toxins
● Movement of toxins through the
environment
○ Bioaccumulation & biomagnification
● Risk assessment & risk management
Human Health & the Environment
● Types and distribution of waste
○ Global patterns of waste generation
○ Trends in recycling
● Hazardous waste management
○ Types of hazardous waste
○ Outcomes of poor waste management
● Generation and management of e-waste
● Environmental justice
● Strategies for managing waste
If you wanted to create a conceptual
model linking human health and waste
management, what might you include?
Waste
Land Use & Land Cover
● Urbanization
○ Trends and drivers of urbanization
● Challenges & opportunities of urban living
○ Strategies for sustainability in urban settings
● Global trends in land use/cover
○ Drivers of land use/cover change
● Population growth and land change
○ Intensification vs. extensification
● Deforestation & desertification
○ Trends, drivers & outcomes
○ Feedbacks with climate
● Equity and complexity in land systems sustainability
● Types of Biodiversity
○ Genetic, species, landscape
● Patterns & drivers of biodiversity loss
● Benefits of biodiversity
● Strategies to conserve biodiversity
○ Challenges of biodiversity conservation
● Populations, communities & ecosystems
○ Carrying capacity, Competition, food webs
○ Succession and disturbance
○ Wolves & rivers (keystone, indicator,
umbrella species)
● Links between biodiversity and
ecosystem services
○ Ecosystem service valuation
● Climate change and ecosystems
○ Wildfire
● Movement of carbon, energy, and
nutrients through ecosystems
○ Respiration & ecosystem productivity
○ Decomposition & mineralization of
nutrients
● Nutrient Limitation
Biodiversity & Ecosystems
● Global distribution of freshwater
● Major uses of freshwater
○ Ag, municipal, industrial
● Types of freshwater use
○ Blue, green, grey
○ (Non)consumptive
○ (Non)renewable
● Sustainable water management
○ Fluxes/flows & reservoirs
○ Hydrologic cycle
● Threats to freshwater
○ Overuse
○ Climate change
○ Pollution
Freshwater
Synthesis is key
● What critical features of freshwater systems do we need to know to ensure
sustainable management?
● What key things do you need to know about ecosystems to conserve,
manage, or live in harmony with them?
● Should we give half the planet back to nature?
● What environmental challenges would you expect in urban settings?
We cover topics quickly and at a high level in this course. One of the key
learning objectives is to ensure that you can think about systems as a whole
and begin to identify steps to understanding them
Occasionally, we want you to do some math
Graphical Interpretation
Summary
● Up to this point we’ve been looking at the links between humans and the
environment and our impacts on biodiversity, ecosystems, land cover, and waste
● Throughout, we’ve emphasized global variation and the ways in which inequity
influence the environment and solutions to environmental challenges
● The next half of the course will focus on specific environmental contexts
(agricultural systems, oceans) and systems that link them (climate, atmosphere, and
energy)
What would you ask on the midterm?
● Submit at least three questions
(any format is OK) that we could
ask on the midterm.
● Draw from any topic that you find
interesting
