Energy, Environment And Climate Change

The course examines the physical principles behind climate change science and how they relate to energy and resource use on our planet. Emphasis placed on examining how energy decisions impact past, present, and future climates.

COURSE JUSTIFICATION/RATIONALE

The need to established frameworks, tools and approaches to developing practical, justifiable climate change adaptation plans and strategies based on scientific, risk based approaches.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

By the end of this course, the student should be able to:

Provide basic understanding and appreciation of energy and environmental concepts and interconnectedness;

Analyze energy consumption patterns; discuss various energy resources that power the modern society;

Examine the energy conversion processes;

Explore interrelationships between energy use and industrial progress and environmental consequences;

Discuss future energy alternatives.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

A student completing the course is expected to:

Demonstrate knowledge of how the Earth’s climate system functions and how different factors (both natural and anthropogenic) influence the operation of that system.

Discuss and present how climate change is impacting Earth’s non-energy resources (i.e., freshwater supply, food supply, faunal/floral biodiversity, soils, etc.).

Identify and analyze how global energy production and consumption influences Earth’s current climate and scenarios of future climate change.

Collect data and evaluate the extent to which different countries/regions contribute to global climate change and how their energy production and consumption decisions play a role.