Climate Change

Lecture, three hours. Understanding the impact of the nuclear age on the environment and human health through the interrelated developments of nuclear power and nuclear weapons. The early years of weapon development, catastrophic environmental pollution, perils of nuclear power in the U.S. and Russia.

Lecture, three hours. Focuses on processes of exposure to environmental toxins/agents and their impact to human health and the environment. Media transport, exposure assessment, susceptibility, behavior, and health effect of several toxins are discussed. Public Health Sciences and Public Health Policy majors have first consideration for enrollment.

The sequence begins in fall by addressing water from an scientific and engineering perspective (global issues, land-sea interactions and urban water), then moves in winter to an historical case study of the Himalayan watershed and its impact on Asia’s water, and culminates in spring quarter by exploring water policy with the overall theme of water as a contested resource across space, time, and peoples. Wherever possible, examples are drawn from the local environment.

Lecture, three hours. The relationship between urban areas and transportation systems. Economic analysis of cities, transportation and urban form, highway congestion, environmental impacts of transportation, public transit, land use and transportation, and political influences on transportation planning.

Lecture, three hours. Important substantive areas, concepts, tools in the field of urban and regional planning. Topics include: forces that have historically guided and are currently guiding U.S. urbanization; land use, economic development, housing and community development, environmental planning; legal, environmental, governmental contexts. Prerequisite: Planning, Policy, and Design 4.

Lecture, three hours. A mechanistic perspective on ecosystem processes. Covers ecosystem development, element cycling, and interactions with plants and microbes. The role of ecosystems in environmental change is also addressed. Prerequisite: Chemistry 51C.

Seminar and lecture, three hours. Explores basic topics in ecology and evolutionary biology and applications to agriculture, conservation, environmental issues, and public health. Format involves discussion of scientific journal articles and other readings, with focus on learning to evaluate scientific evidence. Prerequisite or corequisite: Biological Sciences E106.

An examination of the interactions between plants and their environment. Emphasis on the underlying physiological mechanisms of plant function, adaptations and responses to stress, and the basis of the distribution of plants and plant assemblages across the landscape. Prerequisites: Earth System Science 51 or 60A and 60C or Biological Sciences E106.

Each quarter is devoted to indepth analysis of an important and rapidly developing area in the field of climate dynamics. Prerequisite: Earth System Science 200 or equivalent, or consent of instructor.