This short course provides broadcast meteorologists, educators, and the public with an overview of the evolution of our modern urban environment with a focus on impacts on the urban watershed, air quality, and climate. This course complements the course Watersheds: Connecting Weather to the Environment and both are part of the Earth Gauge™ environmental curriculum for weathercasters and educators. This curriculum is being developed by the National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF). [See http://www.earthgauge.net/wp/]
Unit 1, Where We Live, takes a look at past and current U.S. growth patterns and the way our urban areas have evolved from compact population centers to automobile-dependent sprawl. Unit 2, Impacts on the Watershed, explores how the built environment affects the water that moves through an urban watershed. Unit 3, Impacts on the Atmosphere, highlights the way our urban landscape and industrial activities impact the air we breathe and the local climate. Each unit includes information on ways to reduce our impact on our water and air with ideas ranging from simple changes in our commuting and housekeeping habits to changes in how we build houses and roads.
Unit 1: Where We Live
• Understand current growth trends in the United States
• Become aware of the geographic extent and patterns of current growth trends
• Recognize some of the historically significant growth patterns.
• Understand the evolution of American cities and the factors that have driven their growth
Unit 2: Impacts on the Watershed
• Identify aspects of the built environment that are impacted by heavy precipitation events
• Explain the relationship of landscaping and developed land features to maintaining water quality
• Gain an understanding of "low impact" and other site design measures as they relate to improving both water quality and quantity
Unit 3: Impacts on the Atmosphere
• Define the urban heat island (UHI) effect
• List the main mechanisms that cause the UHI
• Describe the climatology of the UHI
• List actions that can mitigate the UHI
• List the major source of air pollutants
• List the five air pollutants monitored by the AIRNow daily air quality index
• Recognize weather conditions that negatively impact air quality
• Become aware of personal actions that can reduce air pollution
broadcast meteorology, environment, growth trends, smart growth, new urbanism, smart development, low impact development, low impact design, urban development, urban growth, sprawl, water pollution, storm water, stormwater, run-off, runoff, urban runoff, non-point source pollution, imperevious surfaces, urban heat island effect, urban heat island, air pollution, AIRNow, mitigating pollution, Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act
Support Form
Please inform us of any problem that you are having by visiting our Support Form.
In order to better serve our users and sponsors, access to our online materials requires registration. To learn more about registering or to get help with common questions about our site, please visit our FAQs.
Most of the material made available on MetEd is free for non-commercial, educational use. We encourage you to use our material to enhance your education and training efforts. To review the legal-speak with all the nitty gritty details, see our Legal Notices page.