Industry-induced Global Environmental Issues

1. Globalisation, Society and the Environment – introduction to globalisation, global environmental problems, interrelationships between environmental, social and economic systems, sustainable development and current strategies for addressing global environmental challenges.
2. Industrial Activities and the Environment – impacts of industrial activities on the environment, anthropogenic pollution, use of natural resources, and environmental consequences of production and consumption.
3. Society, Landscape and Biodiversity – land-use changes, landscape degradation and fragmentation, loss and disturbance of natural habitats, infrastructure expansion, biodiversity loss and its global implications.
4. Urbanisation, Land Use and Environmental Quality – expansion of built-up areas, land take, population density, housing quality, settlement structure and environmental impacts of urbanisation. Environmental protection instruments in spatial planning and land use.
5. Eutrophication as an Environmental Problem – causes and mechanisms of eutrophication, eutrophication of water and soils, sources of nitrogen and phosphorus, impacts on ecosystems, options for preventing and reducing eutrophication, and future trends.
6. Global Atmospheric and Climate Change – climate change, greenhouse gases, causes and consequences of global warming, changes in the hydrological cycle, links between energy systems and climate, protection of the stratospheric ozone layer, acidification and other forms of long-range atmospheric pollution.
7. Chemical Pollution and Its Global Implications – persistent organic pollutants, toxic metals, endocrine disruptors and other substances of concern, their transport and fate in the environment, bioaccumulation and biomagnification, human exposure, and impacts of the industrial environment on human health.
8. Global Waste and Plastic Pollution – waste generation and management in a global context, transboundary aspects, plastics and microplastics in the environment and food chains, waste prevention, material recovery and the circular economy.
9. Environment and Human Health – long-term and cumulative effects of pollution, exposure pathways, transfer of pollutants through food chains, interactions between pollutants, environmental determinants of health, and links between ecosystem condition and human health.
10. Air, Water and Soil Pollution and Pollution Control – global aspects of pollution of individual environmental components, sources and impacts of pollution, water treatment and purification technologies, wastewater treatment, remediation of contaminated sites, and modern approaches to waste management.
11. Energy and Environmental Technologies – renewable energy sources, energy transition, energy efficiency, low-emission and cleaner technologies, environmental innovations and their role in reducing the environmental impacts of human activities.
12. Environmental Economics and Economic Instruments for Environmental Protection – value of the environment and ecosystem services, externalities, economic instruments of environmental policy, environmental taxes and charges, market-based instruments and their role in addressing global environmental problems.
13. Environmental Ethics, Behaviour and Education – environmental ethics and philosophy, environmentally responsible behaviour, lifestyles and consumption patterns, environmental education, public information and awareness, and the role of individuals and society in addressing global environmental problems.