Care about climate change? Learn More this Fall with CLIM 101
Climate change is one of the defining issues of our time. CLIM 101 Global Warming: Weather, Climate and Society provides a survey of weather and climate processes, and the global and regional impacts of human-induced changed in the concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The course will focus on the phenomena of climate variability and change, both observed in the past and projected over the rest of this century, that have impacts on human society and natural ecosystems. Students will gain sufficient scientific background knowledge to critically examine arguments about climate change and solutions to the challenges of the impacts of climate change that are being discussed by policymakers and the public at large. This course will describe both serious impacts and hopeful signs for climate solutions, including how climate action by communities and businesses is mitigating climate change anxiety.
This Mason Core course satisfying the Natural Science requirement will also review the roles of science, politics, international negotiations and the media in the current debate on what to do about climate change. The instructors for CLIM 101 are Jim Kinter, Director of Mason’s preeminent Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies (COLA) and principal investigator for the Virginia Climate Center, and Jagadish Shukla, Distinguished University Professor and co-recipient with Vice President Al Gore of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. The classes in CLIM 101 will consist of lectures, including guest lectures by subject matter experts, movies, in-class discussions, and student debates. Lectures will include opportunities for interaction, including instant polls, and question and answer sessions. Students will have the opportunity to survey recent literature on the impacts of climate change on Virginia and beyond, the risks and strategies for adaptation, and the various policy alternatives and technical solutions for mitigating the harmful effects of climate change. Students will also have an opportunity to formally debate whether humans are really causing Earth’s climate to change and whether the U.S. government should regulate greenhouse gas emissions, as was recently ruled on by the Supreme Court in West Virginia vs. EPA.
