ZA331 Environmental geography

Faculty of Science
Autumn 2024
Extent and Intensity
2/1/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
doc. RNDr. Zdeněk Máčka, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. RNDr. Zdeněk Máčka, Ph.D.
Department of Geography – Earth Sciences Section – Faculty of Science
Contact Person: doc. RNDr. Zdeněk Máčka, Ph.D.
Supplier department: Department of Geography – Earth Sciences Section – Faculty of Science
Prerequisites
Basic knowledge of physical and human geography acquired during undergradute studies.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The main goal of the course is a systematic review of the various components of the natural environment and human interaction with these components. The main environmental challenges, their causes, impacts and human attitudes to these challenges will be presented. Series of lectures on human impact on componets of natural environment forms a core of the course. Lectures are accompanied with the supervised discussions and problem solving excersises related to lecture topics.
Learning outcomes
After completing the course, student will be able:
- Identify and explain principal environmental challenges which humans are facing in the context of global environmental change;
- Systematically describe the interactions of humans with the components of natural environment (litosphere, hydroshepere, atmosphere, cryosphere, biosphere);
- Identify and describe the present day international (scientific, political) action to cope with the global environmental change and degradation of natural environment.
Syllabus
  • 1. Environmental geography: scope, aims, working methods and examples of solved problems
  • 2. Critical zone: components, interactions, critical zone as a source of human well-being
  • 3. Ecosystem services: concept, methods of classification and evaluation
  • 4. The human agency in geomorphology
  • 5. The human impact on soils
  • 6. The human impact on biota
  • 7. The human impact on waters
  • 8. The human impact on climate and the atmosphere
  • 9. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: What VI. Assesment report tells us abou the future
  • 10. The Anthropocene: human impact on the environment in the context of global environmental change
  • 11. The sustainable development goals (SDGS), UN Agenda 2030
  • 12. Human attitudes to natural environment, roots of environmentalism
Literature
    recommended literature
  • MARSH, William M. and John GROSSA. Environmental geography : science, land use, and earth systems. 3rd ed. New York: J. Wiley, 2005, 455 p. ISBN 0471482803. URL info
    not specified
  • GOUDIE, Andrew. The human impact on the natural environment : past, present, and future. 6th ed. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell Publishing, 2006, xv, 357. ISBN 140512704X. info
Teaching methods
- The course involves lectures, supervised discussions, classroom problem solving
- Students compleate assigned reading during semester
- Field excursions in south Moravia region may be prepared for students on demand
Assessment methods
- Students are obliged to pass a series of quizes during semester
- The course is passed with an exam
Language of instruction
English
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