Overview

Description

COURSE DETAILS:

Water, Environment and Climate Change

General: 
Changes to the water cycle resulting from changes in climate and changes to the broader environment directly impact people and ecosystems. Our understanding of hydrologic system response to climate fluctuations continues to rapidly evolve, building on a substantial and productive research history. Fundamentally, questions remain about changes to water budget components, including precipitation, evapotranspiration, streamflow, and groundwater recharge due to uncertainties in the physical processes themselves and the climate change predictions. Similarly, the suitability of historical records for forecasting is sometimes compromised by persistent natural variations and human driven changes (e.g., urbanization). Managing water resources requires the ability to provide reliable predictions of the response of the water cycle to changing environmental conditions at a range of scales. How will the hydrologic system and associated subsystems respond to, and evolve under, natural and human induced changes in climate and the environment? 

In this course, students integrate their knowledge of the hydrological sciences (climate, hydrology, hydrogeology, water chemistry) to understand the various linkages between the sub-disciplines, exploring the water cycle and its relevance to water resources. We will first review climate science from the perspective of climate variability and climate change (causes, past evidence, approaches for making predictions about the future). We will then focus on the various impacts to water cycles over a range of scales, considering both climate and other environmental stressors. The secondary impacts of climate and broader environmental change on the environment (including impacts to humans and aquatic ecosystems) will be explored in the second part of the course by focusing on current issues in different regions around the globe to generate ideas for potential adaptive solutions.

Prerequisites:
Undergraduate equivalent of EASC 304; EASC 315.  

Course Topics:
Climate Variability and Change: Understanding the past and making predictions into the future. Impacts to Water Cycles: From the catchment scale to global scale (e.g., shifting hydrologic regimes, salinization, desertification). Secondary Impacts to Humans and Aquatic Ecosystems:       Water sustainability; drinking water quality; food security; energy security; human health and ecosystems impacts. Adaptive Solutions: Conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater; watershed management.  

Course Organization:
This course will comprise one 2-hour lecture and one 3-hour lab each week. The labs will encompass a range of activities (lecture based assignments, writing assignments, group activities, discussions). The format for group activities will include roundtable style, breakout groups, etc. so as to expose students to different forms of group dialogue. The course will culminate in a written term project whereby students will select a region and undertake a climate change impacts/adaptation/mitigation assessment. Oral presentations will be given on the term project.  

Graduate students will be responsible for developing and delivering one half hour lecture (assigned) and playing a more active role in the group activities. There is a higher level of expectation on the quality and comprehensiveness of written assignments compared to undergraduates.

Grading

Materials

MATERIALS + SUPPLIES:

Textbook: Nigel Arnell. 2002. Hydrology and Global Environmental Change. Prentice Hall, 368 pp.

RECOMMENDED READING: