ESRP 285 deals with the science and policies of climate change.
The preprequisite is ESRP 101.
You have learned about climate change from ESRP 101, from other classes
and from the news.
ESRP 285 will provide a launching point for your further education.
The objective is to help students build a foundation for life-long learning
about the challenges and the opportunities of climate change.
Part 1 deals with the scienctific understanding of climatic change.
We will discuss how scientists learn from recent measurements, from the
geologic record and from mathematial models.
We will pay particular attention to the uncertaintiues in the scientific
studies and to the potential for rapid climate change.
Part 2 deals with the policies and technologies to reduce emissions of greenhouse
gasses.
The main question is how to put a price on carbon: with a carbon tax or
a carbon market?
Policy makers currently favor the market approach.
A cap is imposed on total emissions and industries buy and sell allowances
to release CO2 into the atmosphere.
This market approach is commonly called "cap-and-trade" in CO2.
We will describe the market experience in Europe and the market proposals
in the USA.
ESRP 285 concludes with guest speakers who will describe the
challenge of adapting to a warmer world.
The guest speakers will also help students anticipate the upper-division
classes to continue the learning started here.
ESRP 285 counts as one of the "option" classes for the B.S. in
Environmental Science.