GEOS 3312 - CLIMATE CHANGE

This course aims to familiarize students with the basic scientific and historical background needed to understand the causes and consequences of climate change, and proposed adaptation and mitigation options. Topics include the nature of energy and fossil fuels, weather and climate, the greenhouse effect, forcing and feedbacks, climate change in the geological and archaeological records, climate model projections and uncertainties, and the environmental consequences of unchecked global warming. This includes an examination of the prevalent methods utilized to determine climate change such as dendrochronology, palynology, and sediment, ice core, and borehole analysis. The course also explores the costs and benefits of a range of proposed solutions, which include: renewable energy and carbon sequestration, increased efficiency of energy use, carbon regulation, and new technologies.

Prerequisites & Notes: 30 Earned credits.

Credits: 3cr.