Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

An examination of climate change, its interaction with water availability, and how humans cope with these altered circumstances. Students who have completed GEOG 102 prior to the fall 2011 term may not complete this course for further credit. Breadth-Social Sci/Science.

COURSE DETAILS:

This course examines the causes of climate change, considers the impacts on natural and human systems, and explores options to mitigate and/or adapt to changing climatic conditions. We will also discuss the governance of climate change, and investigate why this issue is still a highly controversial topic in politics and the media, despite overwhelming scientific consensus that Earth’s climate system is warming.  

The course is delivered online and is entirely asynchronous.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

• Explain the complexity of the climate system and identify linkages between its components, including stocks, flows, and feedback processes
• Think critically about the science behind natural and human disruptions to the climate system, and the socio-economic drivers of anthropogenic climate change.
• Explore the impacts of climate change on natural and human systems
• Examine human responses to climate change, including adaptation, mitigation, environmental justice, and governance.
• Differentiate between evidence-based claims and pseudo-science, and debunk common misconceptions about climate change.
• Practice diverse modes of communication of climate change causes, impacts, and solutions, demonstrating awareness of audience.

Grading

Materials

RECOMMENDED READING:

REQUIRED READING NOTES: