Mar 28, 2024  
2018-2019 College of Liberal Arts (Admitted Fall 2018/Spring 2019) 
    
2018-2019 College of Liberal Arts (Admitted Fall 2018/Spring 2019) [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

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ESS 103 - Introduction to Climate Change

4 credits
Human caused climate change represents one of the great environmental challenges of our time. In this introductory course we will explore the science of global climate change and the projected consequences. Students will learn how the climate system works and what factors cause it to change across various time scales. We will investigate the structure, composition and circulation of the atmosphere and oceans; the greenhouse effect, the earth’s energy balance and the various relationships among these major componets of the planetary system. Scientists recognize that for millions of years the earth has been through many natural warming and cooling cycles. We are in a warming phase today. We’ll explore what is different about the process now relative to earlier periods in earth’s history. There is a crucial link between our various energy sources and global warming. We’ll investigate this link as it applies to carbon fuels, nuclear power and renewable alternatives such as solar and wind. We will also investigate how in the coming decades projected climate changes are likely to have an enormous impact on our planet’s people, cities and ecosystems. We’ll look at mitigation options such as clean energy alternatives, carbon capture, climate engineering and cap and trade policies. CLA-Breadth/Natural Science



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