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Lectures
- Wednesdays, 5:30-7:30 - 1 Story Street -
Rm 306 | Class Discussion
Section - TBA |
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Course
Description:
This introductory course will give students
an integrated overview of the science of climate change and an
analysis of the implications of this change for patterns of daily
life in their own circumstance and around the world.
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Climate
Change Headlines
[via moreover.com]
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Humankind is facing an unprecedented environmental crisis of
global proportions. Scientists from across the world have issued
stark warnings about the potential disruption and destabilization
that changes in Earth’s climate will most likely cause
in the near future for the life systems upon which modern civilization
depends. The social and political implications of climate change
have begun to become apparent as local communities in widely
different parts of the world struggle to adapt to new patterns
of excessive rainfall, prolonged droughts and severe weather
events. Internationally, nation states have endeavored to forge
diplomatic agreements to help humankind cope with both the causes
and consequences of global climate change.
This course has three principal objectives. First, it
will introduce students to the science of climate change, drawing
attention to the latest research and evolving pattern of scientific
data that has emerged on climate in recent years. Second, emphasis
will be given to analyzing the social changes and adaptations
that human communities have already made and those they will
most likely to have to make as the Earth’s climate continues
to change in the coming years. Finally, specific attention will
be given to the diplomatic efforts that have been launched since
the creation of the Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC)
during the first world-wide Earth Summit on the environment
in Rio de Janeiro in June of 1992.
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Course
Schedule
| Week
2
February 4 |
| History
of Climate Science |
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William
R. Moomaw
The History of Climate
Science and the Science of Climate History |
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| Week
4
February 18 |
| State
of Play in the Evolving Debates |
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Timothy
Weiskel & William Moomaw |
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| Week
5
February 25 |
| A
'Southern' Perspective on Climate Change |
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William Moomaw
& Timothy Weiskel |
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Week
6
March 4 |
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Monitoring the Ongoing Literature |
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[ Dr.
George E. Clark,
Harvard University Library]
Timothy Weiskel
- on Research in the Blogosphere
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Week
8
March 18 |
| Midterm
Exam (Distance Learners -- see information
on "Proctored Examinations"
in the
Extension
School Catalogue |
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| The
Pace and Scope of Change |
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Timothy
C. Weiskel & William Moomaw |
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Spring
Break
| Week
14
May 6 |
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William
Blakemore, ABC News |
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Week
15
May 13 |
| **
All Course Papers Due ** |
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Spring
Semester 2009
Course Requirements
Requirements for the course include completing
1) a mid-term examination - Wednesday,
18 March 2009 - [ Distance learning
students should consult the procedures for "Proctored
Examinations" in the Extension School catalogue.
You are responsible for identifying an appropriate Proctor,
completing the online proctored
examination form and making arrangements for the
administration of the examination at a distance.] (This
exam counts for approximately 20% of the final grade):
2) a final exercise - Wednesday,
20 May 2009 – (to count approximately
20% of the final grade);
3)
class participation - (including classroom participation,
where possible AND completion of all online class assignments,
quizzes, etc)
and
4) A Prospectus & Final
Research Term Paper - to be submitted in writing,
in class on or before Wednesday
1 April 2009 and Wednesday,
13 May 2009,
respectively . [That is, a brief prospectus for this
paper must have been submitted by Wednesday
1 April 2009,
while the term paper itself is due on Wednesday,
13 May 2009].
The Prospectus and the Research Term Paper will together
account for approximately 60% of the final grade.
Further guidelines on the Midterm Exam, Final Exercise,
Prospectus and Research
Term Paper will be given in class and posted online
when appropriate. But Nota Bene:
Distance Learners who will not be taking the "Final
Exercise" in class are required to make arrangements
for a Proctor. Instructions for "Proctored
Examinations" are available in the Extension
School Catalogue, and you must complete an online proctored
examination form for this Final Exercise -- just
as in the case of the mid-term.
N.B.
The final grade for the course will be assessed
on approximately the following basis:
1)
Mid-term examination - 20% of the final grade
2) Final hour exam exercise - 20% of the final
grade
3) Prospectus - 20% of the final grade
4) Term Paper - . 40% of the final grade
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Assigned
Reading for the Course are drawn from:
| Elizabeth
Kolbert |
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2006 |
Field
Notes from a Catastrophe (New York, Bloomsbury
USA, 2006). |
| Stephen
H. Schneider (Editor), John O. Niles (Editor), Armin
Rosencranz (Editor) |
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2002 |
Climate
Change Policy: A Survey (Washington, D. C.,
Island Press, 2002). |
| Tony
Blair (Foreword), Hans Joachim Schellnhuber (Editor),
Wolfgang Cramer (Editor), Nebojsa Nakicenovic (Editor),
Tom Wigley (Editor), Gary Yohe (Editor), Rajendra
Pachauri (Introduction) |
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2006 |
Avoiding
Dangerous Climate Change (Cambridge, Cambridge
University Press, 2006).
[PDF
version] |
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The
Unassigned, Required Reading & Listening/Viewing |
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