Environmental Studies

This course examines the study of how organisms on land interact with each other and the environment. It covers a number of major concepts in terrestrial ecology, from how communities are locally structured to global patterns in species diversity. It also covers how ecological theory informs the conservation and restoration of degraded ecosystems using both international and New Zealand examples.

This course examines the principles of waste treatment and resources recovery and introduces practices are related to social innovation and solving social problems. Topics include integrated solid waste management, municipal solid waste characteristics and quantities, processing of municipal solid waste, materials separation, combustion and energy recovery, life cycle analysis and management, processing and treatment of sludge, biosolids processing, resource recovery and beneficial use, and biogas purification and upgrading. 

This course provides an introduction to both weather and climate. Processes underlying the behavior of the atmospheric environment from local to global scales are discussed. The course commences with a discussion of atmospheric concepts in a visual and practical manner. Understanding and application of basic meteorological principles will help to explain environmental phenomena such as clouds and precipitation, tropical storms and global climate change. 

This course reviews the nature and processes of terrestrial environmental changes, focusing on those related to the carbon cycle, and to Earth’s landcover and land use. By covering variability and change in these areas of the Earth system and how they are assessed, both in relation to natural variabilities and anthropogenic influences, the course provides the scientific background necessary to better understand the causes and consequences of environmental changes in isolation and as a whole, whether they be paleo-environmental changes, studies of the contemporary environment, or future projections.

 

This course examines sustainable waste management in the context of a metropolitan city like Hong Kong. The interactions among economic activities, human activities, sustainable development, climate change and waste management problems and solutions will be covered. The waste challenges and waste management hierarchy will be examined covering waste reduction, minimization, recycling, recovery, treatment and disposal. The spatial implications of waste management policies and infrastructure will be analyzed. The role of technology in waste management and treatment will be discussed. The course concludes with a critical look at values, lifestyles, policies and technologies as the key drivers of change for sustainable waste management for long term sustainability of a city like Hong Kong.