EESC 420 - Global Climate Change

Units: 3 ; Breadth Area: Sustainability
Interaction of climate and Earth’s systems. Links between past and future climate, organisms (especially humans), oceans, and the solid earth. Includes orbital variations, greenhouse gasses, ozone, extreme weather, ocean acidification, sea level rise, climate variability, modeling, mitigation, adaptation, and sustainability.

Breadth Area(s) Satisfied: Overlay - Sustainability
Prerequisites: Senior Standing
Credit Restrictions: Not for students who have taken ENSC/GEOL 320 or GEOG/ENVT 340

Possible Instructional Methods: On-ground, or Hybrid, or Online-Asynchronous.
Grading: A-F grading only.
Course Typically Offered: Variable Intermittently

Student Learning Outcomes - Upon successful completion of this course students will be able to:

Demonstrate knowledge of anthropogenic and natural contributions to global climate change, and the consequences for humans, ecosystems, and Earth systems.
Analyze and interpret global change data (air and/or ocean temperatures, ocean acidity, etc.) to understand past and current trends in Earth systems.
Identify, describe and explain the dynamics of the global climate system including the important regulatory feedback mechanisms and fluxes.
Explain important experimental and theoretical methodologies used to help quantify and predict future global change (climate modeling, measurement of gas fluxes and ocean acidity, isotopic measurements, satellite-based measurements, etc.).
Identify and characterize climate change vulnerability at different scales and describe and explain mitigation and adaptation interventions at multiple levels and for different actors
Apply knowledge of the science of global climate change in order to critically evaluate public discourse surrounding the issues (popular press articles, blog posts, think tank white papers, etc.).
Quantify future climate scenarios using simple climate modeling exercises.

Sustainability Overlay Learning Outcomes

Discuss multiple dimensions of sustainability, including the scientific, social, cultural, and/or economic.
Analyze interactions between human activities and natural systems.
Describe strategies taken by individuals, communities, organizations, or governments for mitigating and/or adapting to key threats to environmental sustainability.