Download GEOG 208 Human Dimensions of Global Climate Change

Faculty of Environment, Department of Geography and Environmental Management University of Waterloo GEOG 208 Human Dimensions of Global Climate Change COURSE OUTLINE Winter Term 2013 Monday – Wednesday – Friday, 12:30-­‐1:20 Location: STP 105 Course Instructor: Dr. Daniel Scott Office: EV1-­‐223 Tel. x35497 Email: [email protected] Office Hours: Friday 1.30-­‐3.30 Teaching Assistants: TBA Calendar Description: Climate change is one of the most profound environmental issues affecting society. The course is an introduction to the human dimensions of global climate change, including its scientific history, potential impacts for natural systems and human societies around the world, and the two societal responses: adaptation and greenhouse gas mitigation. Canadian climate change science, impacts and policy responses will be highlighted.
Prereq: Level at least 2A. Course Objectives: Climate change has rapidly evolved to become one of the most profound and complex international issues affecting our society and economy today and in the decades ahead. This course provides an introduction to the human dimensions of the global climate change issue and international policy response meant to address this challenge. The course begins with an overview of the history of climate change as an environmental issue, its theoretical discovery, recent climate trends and climate change scenarios for the 21st century and beyond. The content of this course will be taught in four major sections: the physical basis of climate change, the human impacts of climate change, human actions to reduce the causal drivers of climate change (mitigation), and human actions to cope with the consequences of climate change (adaptation). The course draws on research-­‐based case studies and media (including popular media) analyses of climate change. Upon successfully completing this course, students will: § Gain an understanding of the major components of the global climate system; § Comprehend how and why climate has fluctuated over geological time and human history; § Appreciate how climate variability and weather extremes have affected civilizations in the past and our contemporary economy; § Develop an understanding of the observed evidence that the climate is changing; § Understand the ways humans are influencing the global climate system; § Understand what could happen to climate and environmental systems if human-­‐induced climate change is not controlled; §
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Develop an appreciation for the range of potential impacts of climate change on natural systems and human societies, the geopolitical implications, and what climate change means for Canada specifically; Understand the challenges (technical, planning, financial) associated with adapting to climate change and appreciate the physical limits to adaptation; Discuss how society could define ‘dangerous’ climate change and strategies to avoid it; Be familiar with the international governance response to global climate change; Gain an appreciation for the economics of climate change, including the potential costs of action and inaction, and recognize the trade-­‐offs inherent in climate change response strategies; Appreciate the extent to which climate change science has been ‘politicized’ and how it is affecting research in this field; Be able to differentiate major atmospheric environmental issues of global climate change, local air quality and ozone depletion; Acquire an understanding of appropriate terminology and concepts relating to the study of global climate change; Be able to critically assess perspectives on climate change that appear in the popular media, including those of various interest groups and disinformation campaigns; Engage in critical discussions on a number of important and controversial topics related to global climate change science and policy responses (particularly mitigation); and Become a more informed consumer with regard to greenhouse gas emissions, enabling personal goals and actions to contribute to climate change mitigation and sustainability. Text and Reading Material: There is no mandatory text for this course. A list of ‘Additional Reading Resources’ for major themes in the course and for assignments will be provided on the UW-­‐LEARN course site. Assessment: The assessment in this course consists of three unit tests and two assignments. The unit tests cover only the classes and readings since the previous test. Details on the two assignments will be provided in class. Unit Test 1 (in class – Monday Feb 4) 20% Unit Test 2 (in class – Monday March 11) 20% Unit Test 3 (in exam period -­‐ date TBA) 25% Assignments 1. Calculate your Personal Carbon Footprint and Develop an Emission Reduction Plan 10% (due Friday Feb 15) 2. Term Paper (~10-­‐15 pages on 1 of 3 topics) 25% (due Monday March 18) Late Penalties and Missed Tests If you miss a test or are unable to complete an assignment on time because of a valid medical reason or personal emergency, you must submit documentation (e.g., ‘Verification of Illness’ form http://info.uwaterloo.ca/infoheal/_StudentMedicalClinic/StudentMedicalClinicVIF.htm) 2
within one week of the test or assignment, or, in the case of longer absences, on the date of your return to school. Otherwise, a grade of 0 will be assigned. There are no make-­‐up tests during the term. If a unit test is missed for a valid academic reason, you will be required to complete this unit test during the scheduled Final Exam along with the unit test 3. A penalty of 10% per day will be assessed for late assignments without a valid academic reason -­‐ based on a 24-­‐hour clock starting at 5:00pm on the due date. Course Communications: According to University polity, official correspondence with students by email must use a UW email address (e.g., ‘student’@uwaterloo.ca). Email received from other accounts (e.g., gmail, hotmail, etc.) is unreliable and can be filtered as SPAM and will be ignored. Send email based communications directly to the instructor, do not assume messages sent from within the LEARN system will be received or viewed. Course Schedule: Unit Date Topic Week 1 Course Jan 7 Course Introduction Introduction Jan 9 ‘Clearing the Air’ on Climate Change: Distinguishing Scientists from Pundits and Lobbiests Unit 1: The Jan 11 The Global Climate System -­‐1 Global Climate Jan 14 The Global Climate System -­‐2 Week 2 System and Jan 16 Paleoclimatology -­‐ 1 Understanding Jan 18 Paleoclimatology -­‐ 2 Past and Week 3 Jan 21 Climate Change in Human History Future Climate Jan 23 Human Influences on the Climate System -­‐ 1 Change Jan 25 Human Influences on the Climate System -­‐ 2 Week 4 Jan 28 Climate Modeling Jan 30 Climate Change Projections Feb 1 Unit 1 Review + Assignment 1 Q&A Week 5 Feb 4 Unit 1 Test (in class) Unit 2: Feb 6 Climate Change Impacts through Human History Climate Feb 8 Climate and Society: Current Impacts of Weather Change Week 6 Feb 11 Assessing Climate Change Vulnerability Impacts and Feb 13 Global Impacts: Natural Systems Adaptation Feb 15 Global Impacts: Human Systems (food, water, (What could health) + Assignment 1 Due happen i
f Feb 18-­‐22 READING WEEK climate Week 7 Feb 25 Global Impacts: Sea Level Rise change is not Feb 27 Vulnerable Regions and International Security controlled) Mar 1 Canada’s Climate Change Risk and Adaptation Priorities – Jason Thistlethwaite 3
Week 8 Week 9 Week 10 Unit 3: Mitigating (controlling) Climate Change Week 11 Week 12 Unit 4: The Politics of Climate Change Mar 4 Mar 6 Mar 8 Mar 11 Mar 13 Mar 15 Climate Change Adaptation – Concepts and Policy Climate Change Adaptation – Case Studies of Action Unit 2 Review + Assignment 2 Q&A Unit 2 Test (in class) Global Mitigation Policy -­‐ UNFCCC Regional-­‐National Mitigation Policy Mar 18 Mitigation Strategies – Reducing GHG Emissions + Assignment 2 Due Land Use and Carbon Capture and Storage Geoengineering (Climate Engineering) Can we Avoid Dangerous Climate Change? The Geopolitics of Climate Change – Simon Dalby Economics of Climate Change: Impacts, Adaptation and Mitigation Public Knowledge and Opinion on Climate Change Media Coverage and Business Views on Climate Change Climate Change Skeptics and Deniers Unit 3 Review Unit 3 Test (in scheduled exam room) Mar 20 Mar 22 Mar 25 Mar 27 Mar 29 Apr 1 Apr 3 Apr 5 Apr 8 TBA Week 13 Exam Period UNIVERSITY POLICIES, REGULATIONS and RESOURCES: Academic Integrity: In order to maintain a culture of academic integrity, members of the University of Waterloo community are expected to promote honesty, trust, fairness, respect and responsibility. www.uwaterloo.ca/academicintegrity/. Students who are unsure what constitutes an academic offence are requested to visit the on-­‐line tutorial at: http://www.lib.uwaterloo.ca/ait/ Discipline: A student is expected to know what constitutes academic integrity, to avoid committing academic offence, and to take responsibility for his/her actions. A student who is unsure whether an action constitutes an offense, or who needs help in learning how to avoid offenses (e.g., plagiarism, cheating) or about “rules” for group work/collaboration should seek guidance from the course professor, academic advisor, or the Undergraduate Associate Dean. For information on categories of offences and types of penalties, students should refer to Policy 71, Student Discipline, www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infosec/Policies/policy71.htm. For typical penalties, check Guidelines for Assessment of Penalties, www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infosec/guidelines/penaltyguidelines.htm Student Grievances: A student who believes that a decision affecting some aspect of his/her university life has been unfair or unreasonable may have grounds for initiating a grievance. Read Policy 70 -­‐ Student Petitions and Grievances, Section 4, www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infosec/Policies/policy70.htm. When in doubt, please contact your Undergraduate Advisor for details. 4
Appeals: A decision made or penalty imposed under Policy 70 -­‐ Student Petitions and Grievances (other than a petition) or Policy 71 – (Student Discipline) may be appealed if there is a ground. A student who believes he/she has a ground for an appeal should refer to Policy 72 (Student Appeals) www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infosec/Policies/policy72.htm Consequences of Academic Offences: Students are strongly encouraged to review the material provided by the university’s Academic Integrity office (see: http://uwaterloo.ca/academicintegrity/Students/index.html). Note for students with disabilities: The Office for Persons with Disabilities (OPD), located in Needles Hall, Room 1132, collaborates with all academic departments to arrange appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities without compromising the academic integrity of the curriculum. If you require academic accommodations to lessen the impact of your disability, please register with the OPD at the beginning of each academic term. Religious Observances: Please inform the instructor at the beginning of term if special accommodation needs to be made for religious observances that are not otherwise accounted for in the scheduling of classes and assignments. Travel and Final Examination Period It is the student’s responsibility to make him/herself available for the entire examination period, and travel plans are not a sufficient reason to have a final exam deferred. For further information see: http://www.registrar.uwaterloo.ca/exams/finalexams.html Waterloo LEARN (D2L): As of Jan 2012 Desire2Learn is uWaterloo's new web-­‐based Learning Management System that enables instructors to manage course materials, interact with their students, and provide feedback. Logging Into LEARN: To login to the learning environment, use this URL: https://learn.uwaterloo.ca Type your username and case-­‐sensitive password into the appropriate fields, and click Login. Your log-­‐in information is the same as you use to access Quest. If you have forgotten your password, go to WatIAM and click “Forgot Password”. Once you have logged in, you should see a list of your courses that will utilize LEARN under the ‘My Courses and Communities’ header. Clicking on the course name will take you to that course. Getting Help: A LEARN student guide can be found by selecting ‘Help’ on upper right hand corner of the LEARN home page. 5