Global Environment Issues

Human population and consumption increased at an unprecedented pace during the last two centuries. This led both to the extension of “traditional” environmental problems (deforestation, field salinization, organic pollutant concentration, etc.) and to the birth of a new class of global environmental issues (climate change, ozone layer depletion, biodiversity loss, etc.). This module aims at creating a better understanding of current environmental issues and of their causes. Environmental problems are analyzed using the social dilemma concept, and the possible solutions are presented and discussed. More generally, the module will introduce and discuss the relation between the growth of the population and the economy and environmental sustainability using a global perspective.