ES1110 Environmental Science: A Global Concern
ES1110 Position Paper – Possible Topics
Agriculture
• Beef and pork industry demand for water
and water pollution runoff from manure
storage areas
• Corporate farming
• Cattle growth hormone
• Farm subsidies
• Fertilizer overuse
• Florida citrus canker threat
• Free range cattle/chicken
• Hog and chicken farms impacts on health
of neighbors
• Topsoil loss
Air Pollution
• Third world use of CFC’s sold by
corporations in industrialized nations
• Acid deposition
• Air pollution and DNA
• Air pollution and diabetes
• Air pollution and heart attacks
• Air pollution and drought
• Air pollution and lung damage
• Air quality banking
• Coal burning pollution controls in U.S. and
other countries (China)
• Clean Air Act
• Cruise line pollution
• Use of MTBE
• Ozone production
• Paper mill air pollution and odor
Animals and Animal Rights
• Animal rights activists
• Humane conditions in the poultry
industry
• Cosmetic testing
• Research that uses animals
• Actions of PETA
• Genetically modified organisms – Bt crops
and butterflies
• GM corn in our food supply
• Mad cow disease prevention
• Hoof & mouth disease
• Health and smog
• Health and exposure to fine particulates
• Atmospheric hydroxyl levels
• Asthma frequency in school children
• Diesel exhaust and cancer
• Emission trading
• EPA and snowmobile use in national parks
• Gasoline refinement quality
• Laws on use of wood stoves
• Ozone production by industry and vehicles
• NOx emissions
• Freon smuggling
• Smuggling animals into the U.S.
• Dog and horse meat consumption
Cities & Urban Environments
• Transportation air pollution • Urban sprawl
• Open space preservation • Development pressures
ES1110 Environmental Science: A Global Concern
Coastal and Marine Environments
• Seal harvesting
• Whaling
• Protection of marine mammals
• Iceland whale meat consumption
• Japanese whale meat consumption
• International Whaling Commission rulings
• Beach closing
• Protected beaches
• Lobster fishing limits
• Impacts U.S. Navy sonar testing
• Drift net fishing ban
• Hand-line fishing versus commercial
trawlers.
Development
• Open space protection
• Urban sprawl
• Construction of ski areas
Endangered Species
• Spotted owl protection
• Grizzly bear management
• Bighorn sheep protection
• Condor
• Eagle
• Snail darters
Energy
• Wind power and wildlife
• Wind farms
• Biomass burning
• Solar energy cost
Exotic Species
• Carp in the Great Lakes
• Asian crab introduction
• Asian longhorn beetle
• Zebra mussels
• Kudzu
Food & Food Related Issues
• Vegetarianism
• Environmental impacts of fast food
companies
• Health risk of imported foods
• E. coli contamination of food
Forests and Forestry
• Battling hemlock agelgid
• Forest management and clear cutting
• Shrimp tariff
• Sea turtle harvesting
• Dolphin-free tuna
• Creation of marine life sanctuaries
• Fishing bans
• Marine oil drilling
• Use of antifouling paint on boats and piers
• Fate of old oil rigs
• Destruction of coral reefs
• Loss of the Aral Sea
• Shark fin soup
• Dead zone off of Texas and New Orleans
• Piping plover
• Aquatic weeds in New Hampshire
• Rock snot
• Knotweed
• Snakehead fish
• Obesity rates
• Logging impacts on wildlife
• Forest carbon storage
ES1110 Environmental Science: A Global Concern
• Cutting of old growth forests
• Global forest destruction
• Road construction in national forests for
logging
Genetically Modified Organisms
• GM corn in our food supply
• Bt crops and butterflies
• GM meat
• Canola
• GM vegetables
Global Climate Change
• Occurrence
• Global warming and droughts
• Global warming and hurricane intensity
and frequency
• Use of carbon-free credits
• Forest carbon storage
Global Scale Issues
• Globalization
• Fair trade coffee
• World Trade Organization (WTO) rulings
on U.S. tariffs
• Desertification
Hazardous Material Exposure
• Hair dye and cancer
• Lead exposure
• Love Canal
• Asbestos removal
• Dioxin in breast milk
• Hudson River sediment contamination
National Parks, Forests, and Wilderness Areas
• Use of jet skis in national parks
• National Park Service ban on snowmobiles
in Yellowstone
• Fire management of wilderness areas
• Fire management of national forests
• Reintroduction of wolves in national parks
Nuclear Energy
• Use of nuclear energy to generate electricity
• Disposal of nuclear waste
Pesticides
• Fire ant insecticides
• Use of DDT in the developing countries
• Pesticide impacts on the environment
and human health
• Paris Climate Accord
• Impact of climate change on the Arctic and
Antarctica
• Climate change and ocean levels
• U.S. stance on the export of toxins
• Use of brown field sites
• World Trade Center worker health problems
• Cancer risk from exposure to
electromagnetic fields near power lines
• Aerial spraying of forests for gypsy moths
• Aerial spraying of water bodies for mosquito
control
• West Nile virus eradication
ES1110 Environmental Science: A Global Concern
• Bhopal, India disaster – Union Carbide
• Malathion
Petroleum and Mining
• Marine oil drilling
• Acid mine drainage
• Accessing U.S. oil reserves
• Drilling in the Alaskan National Wildlife
Refuge
• Environmental impacts of gold mining
• Fracking bans
Recycling
• Mandatory recycling
• Deposit laws for bottles and cans
• States banning cities from
implementing plastic bag bans
• Agent orange
• U.S. funding for marijuana eradication in
Latin and South America
• Alaskan oil spills
• Environmental impact of oil exploration
• Drilling for oil in Gulf of Mexico
• Use of tar sands and oil shales
• Keystone XL Pipeline
• Bayou Bridge Pipeline
• Banning use of plastic straws
Solid and Hazardous Waste
• Scrap tire disposal
• Solid waste incineration
• Solid waste export and import to other states
• Solid waste disposal and citing of landfills
• Disposal of electronics (computers
and TV’s)
Transportation
• Car pool lanes
• Hybrid vehicles
• Ethanol use
• Impact of off-road vehicles
• Vehicle emission controls
Tropics
• Ecotourism
• Tropical rainforest destruction
• Biodiversity loss in tropical rainforests
• Development pressures
• Loss of indigenous cultures
Water Quality
• Water quality impacts of golf courses
• Mercury levels in fish consumed by humans
• Mercury levels in New Hampshire fish
• Water poverty index
• Bottle water quality
• Water rights conflicts between farmers
and salmon
Water Quality – Rivers
• Dam construction
• Dam removal
• Disposal of radioactive waste
• Transportation of hazardous waste
• Burning of hazardous waste
• Yucca Mountain
• Use of hybrid cars
• Green auto industry
• Agriculture in the tropics
• E. coli contamination of drinking water
• Pesticide contamination of drinking water
• Beef and pork industry demand for water
and water pollution runoff from manure
storage areas
• Toxic algae in lakes – microcystis and other
cyanobacteria
• Impact on agricultural demand for water
and salmon spawning rivers
ES1110 Environmental Science: A Global Concern
Wetlands
• Wetland banking
• Vernal pool protection
• Wetland laws
• Wetland destruction – specific cases
• Florida Everglades management
• Wetland drainage impacts
Wildlife Conservation & Management
• Bison culling in Yellowstone
• Bush meat in Africa
• Protection of monarch butterfly in U.S. and
Mexico
• Dealing with large numbers of crows and
pigeons in cities
• Songbird conservation
• Wind power and wildlife
• Logging impacts on wildlife
• Caviar supplies
• Impacts of ski areas
• Manatee protection
Position Paper Instructions
Two position papers will be completed during this course. The goal of the papers is to briefly analyze and succinctly discuss different perspectives or positions on an environmental issue. The paper should include a problem statement or summary, a brief description of at least two sides of an issue, an objective assessment of the issue, and a conclusion with your own opinion.
Example:
Position 1: Snowmobiles should be permitted into Yellowstone National Park. Snowmobile users are taxpayers whose money is used to fund the national park system. Recreation is an expected use of every national park.
Position 2: Snowmobiles should not be permitted into Yellowstone National Park. They produce air pollution and disturb the quiet of both people and wildlife, particularly in the remote areas.
My opinion: snowmobile use should be allowed in specified areas for recreation but kept out of remote or “wild” areas.
Be careful to avoid overly broad topics that do not really have two alternative views.
Example of weak topic selection:
Air pollution is bad because it can cause asthma and lung cancer. It hurts people.
Alternative:
Position 1: The EPA’s proposed rules on reducing mercury and particulate emissions is an important step in reducing health care costs and death.
Position 2: The EPA’s proposed rules on reducing mercury and particulate emissions will be too costly to enforce and will raise electricity bills because of the pollution control devices that will be required for utilities to comply with the regulations.
The topics of these papers should be based on environmental issues currently in the news. A list of possible topics is included at the end of this writeup. You are not limited to only the listed topics, but the positions should be clearly defined.
A sometimes difficult part of writing a position paper is finding additional background references for discussion of the topic. There are no specific requirements as to where background information can be found.
The paper is expected to be at least three pages, including references. At least two references should be used and appropriately cited. One of the references must be less than two months old. The textbook for the course can provide background information, but at least two other references should be used.
References to citations should be noted using the the APA formatting style. The use of websites can be appropriate as long as a reference for the information is provided in the position paper. It is not adequate to provide only the URL (e.g., www.cnn.com) for the citation reference. Detailed instructions on the APA format can be accessed online, APA Citation Series: Fundamentals of citing in APA format, http://content.easybib.com/guides/citation-guides/apa-format/
A quick guide for in-text and end reference formatting is included in the file, General Guidelines for in text citation using APA Style posted on the LMS.
