International Pollution Issues is an electronic research journal representing a compendium of essays authored and peer- reviewed by students of the environmental and social sciences participating in the Fall 2014 Geography 335 International Pollution Issues course in the Department of Geography at Hunter College, City University of New York .

Objectives of the course:

1. This course is designed to introduce students to global implications of anthropogenic activities that lead to high emissions of critical substances resulting in detrimental changes to our environment.
2. Students will study the actions taken by the international community and by international organizations to find appropriate ways for conciliating divergent interests of the major industrialized countries and the developing world.
3. Students will be guided in forming an independent study on environmental concerns at the international level to enhance students’ perception of the important role of man’s responsibility towards a sustainable future.

Course Description:

Issues related to international trans-boundary pollution are of increasing concern requiring regional and international cooperation. The course therefore will focus on the study of international trans-boundary pollution sources, transport pathways and contamination events that impact beyond a country’s borders. The broad field of environmental science will be discussed and will specifically identify areas which are of concern on a global scale as well as on national and local levels. National and international legal instruments to counteract degradation of the environment will also be discussed.

A major component of the course was independent guided research on an international pollution issue of the students’ choosing. Over the course of the semester, students conducted in-depth research on their chosen topic and went through several draft iterations that were peer-reviewed by students and the course instructor. The essays published in this electronic journal represent the final products of those research studies.