Climate Change: The Facts, The Issues, and the Long-Term View
VAST 290

Course Description

Members of the scientific community have considered the potential threat of human-induced climate change for decades, yet only recently has this issue emerged in the consciousness of the broader society. The popularity of the documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” highlights the public’s growing interest in understanding the threat of climate change. Still, many people are left wondering “Is climate change really happening and, if it is, are humans at least partially to blame?” The broad consensus among climate scientists is that the answer to both of these questions is “yes.” Why then are so many people still uncertain about this threat? Why have governments been so slow to act to address it? What are the policy issues associated with humans’ influence on the climate system and why are they so challenging and complex?
This seminar will consider the scientific evidence that has climate experts worried about the future, as well as the significant and global nature of economic, societal, and political-issues that human induced climate change raises. For valuable perspective on the fundamental linkage between the climate system and life on Earth, we will draw upon the rich archive of information about past interactions between life and climate provided by Earth’s geologic record. While this archive shows that humans are not the first organisms to fundamentally alter the climate system, it also illustrates just how dependent living things are on their environment for survival.

Example Sylabus

Professor Lawrence teaching about underground coal fires in Centralia, PA

Class photo at the Reliant Energy Portland Generating Station (Coal Burning Power Plant) in Portland, PA