Climate Change and Environmental Contamination

The course seeks to impart a broad understanding of the thermodynamic and chemical aspects of climate change, and to the risks posed by the possible effects on environmental contamination.
In the first part of the course, basic concepts of environmental chemistry and thermodynamics will be introduced. Hence, the main focus will shift towards introducing the climate system under a chemical and thermodynamic perspective.
In the second part of the course, the possible effects of climate change on environmental chemical pollution will be discussed. The concepts of environmental chemistry introduced in the first part of the course will help in understanding how pollutants behave once emitted in the environment, and how a different climate may influence their fate and transport.
Furthermore, in order to provide the student a complete frame of contaminants’ management, the last part of the course will consist on the introduction of environmental risk assessment by exposure to chemicals.

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no. 1 Key concepts of environmental chemistry.
Basic concepts of chemistry. The periodic table. Electronegativity. Intermolecular forces. Properties of liquids and solids.
Concept of chemical equilibrium. reactions and kinetics.
Selected chapters from Colin Baird, Michael Cann, Environmental Chemistry, 2012, 5th edition, W.H. Freeman & Company.
S. Manahan, Environmental Chemistry, 2017, 10th Edition, CRC Press.

no. 2 The Earth’s greenhouse effect.
Concept of radiative forcing. Vibrational levels of greenhouse gases.
Sources: TAR and AR4.
Earth's climate - past and future. Ruddiman. ediz.:Freeman, 2nd Edition.

no. 3 The water cycle.
Overview on the water cycle. Runoff, transpiration, evaporation, condensation and precipitation.
Climate change impacts on the water cycle. Eutrophication.
Sources: Earth's climate - past and future. Ruddiman. ediz.:Freeman, 2nd Edition.

no. 4 Environmental pollution.
Atmospheric pollution. Water pollution. A global perspective on pollution.
Sources:
Rachel Carson, 1962. Silent Spring. Houghton Mifflin Company Boston.
Wania F, Mackay DE, 1996. Tracking the distribution of persistent organic pollutants. Environmental Science and Technology 1996, 30: 390A- 396A.
Selected chapters from Schwarzenbach et al., 2003. Environmental Organic Chemistry, Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, New Jersey.

no. 5 Climate change impacts on pollution.
Students are required to make a review on the climate-change effect on environmental pollution.
These will be discussed during the lecture.
Sources:
Dalla Valle, M.; Marcomini, A.; Codato, E. Climate change influence on POPs distribution and fate: A case study. Chemosphere 2007, 67, 1287–1295.
L. Lamon, H. von Waldow, M. MacLeod, M. Scheringer, A. Marcomini, K. Hungerbühler, Modeling the global levels and distribution of polychlorinated biphenyls in air under a climate change scenario. Environmental Science & Technology Aug 2009, vol. 43, pp. 5818-5824.
Bytnerowicz, A., Omasa, K., Paoletti, E., 2007. Integrated effects of air pollution and climate change on forests: A northern hemisphere perspective. Environmental Pollution 147, 438-445.
Papers collected by the students.

no. 6 Climate change influence on pollutants’environmental distribution and fate.
Applications of environmental chemistry and thermodynamics’ principles aimed at understanding how climate change influences chemicals’ environmental behaviour. Case studies.
Sources:
Rosenfeld D., Lohman U., et a., 2008. Flood or Drought: How Do Aerosols
Affect Precipitation? Science, 321, 1309-1313.
Dalla Valle, M.; Marcomini, A.; Codato, E. Climate change influence on POPs distribution and fate: A case study. Chemosphere 2007, 67, 1287–1295.
L. Lamon, H. von Waldow, M. MacLeod, M. Scheringer, A. Marcomini, K. Hungerbühler, Modeling the global levels and distribution of polychlorinated biphenyls in air under a climate change scenario. Environmental Science & Technology Aug 2009, vol. 43, pp. 5818-5824.

no. 7 Climate change effect on risks posed by chemicals.
Introduction to environmental risk assessment (definitions). Application of risk assessment. Risk assessment in technical legislation. Human health risk assessment phases.
McKone, T.E.; Daniels, J.I.; Goldman, M. Uncertainties in the link between global climate change and predicted health risks from pollution: Hexachlorobenzene (HCB) case study using a fugacity model. Risk Analysis 1996, 16, 377–393.

no. 8 Presentation of student work.
Power Point presentations (15’) plus discussion (10’).

Stanley Manahan, Environmental Chemistry, 2017, 10th edition, CRC Press.
Colin Baird, Michael Cann, Environmental Chemistry, 2012, 5th edition, W.H. Freeman & Company.
William F. V, Earth's climate - past and future, 2013, W.H. Freeman Publisher, 3rd edition.
References underlined in the program of lectures will be discussed at the lectures and thus students are required to read them in advance.

Inglese

The course may be enriched by the participation of some external lecturers. Attendance is required. Daily preparation is also required. The assignments are set out above in the course syllabus. Academic honesty is an important part of university training. While students may discuss assignments with their classmates and others, they are expected to make sure any written material they submit is their own work. Students are expected to know how to cite the work of others and present a bibliography of the research texts that were used.