EES 210 - Global Climate Change

Credits: 3

The nature and function of earth’s global climate are examined from a unified system perspective. Major questions focus on scientific versus public understanding of trends in global temperature, precipitation, and sea level. The course emphasizes negative and positive feedback processes that Force key changes in the earth’s climate system: past, present, and future. Topics include fundamentals of global and regional heat and water balance, the role of elemental cycles in controlling climate (e.g., the carbon cycle), descriptive climate classification, long-term, short-term, and catastrophic climate change (e.g., ice ages and bolide impacts), and human effects on climate (e.g., enhanced greenhouse, rising sea level).This course integrates a scientific understanding of climate change and explores contemporary social and economic policy responses to change scenarios.

Lecture: 3 hours per week