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HU Credits:
2
Degree/Cycle:
1st degree (Bachelor)
Responsible Department:
Advanced School for Environmental Studies
Semester:
1st Semester
Teaching Languages:
English
Campus:
Mt. Scopus
Course/Module Coordinator:
Prof. Ronald B. Mitchell
Coordinator Office Hours:
After the zoom lesson or by e-mail questions
Teaching Staff:
Prof Ronald Mitchell
Course/Module description:
Climate change is the largest environmental threat facing humans and other species that inhabit planet Earth. We are increasingly aware of the causes, impacts, and likelihood of climate change. Yet, recent international meetings on climate change suggest that the nations, and people, of the world are unwilling to take actions on the scale and timeline that most scientists say is needed to avoid the most severe impacts of climate change. In short, the demand for climate action implied by most scientific evidence has not yet been matched by the supply of action from political leaders, policy-makers, and the public.
The course looks at four major aspects of climate change:
• Understanding the science: What do we know and what don’t we know about climate change? To what extent is it human-caused and how do we know? How does one assess the arguments of those who argue that human-caused climate change is occurring compared to those who argue the opposite?
• Setting the agenda: What has gotten climate change on the international policy agenda? What role has scientific evidence played? What role have nongovernmental organizations and activists (e.g., Greta Thunberg) played? What factors have kept climate change off the policy agenda?
• International responses to climate change -- negotiating an agreement: Why have countries taken action on climate change at some times but not others? Why are some states "leaders" on climate change and others "laggards"? What "factors and actors" help negotiations succeed or fail?
• Non-international responses to climate change: What actions are countries taking on their own, without international cooperation? What are multinational corporations, local communities, and individuals doing about the problem?
Course/Module aims:
This course will help you understand the climate science, factors that influence progress on this global crisis, and international, national, and local policies that are helping address it
Learning outcomes - On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
• Understand key insights from the natural and social sciences regarding a) the human activities that changing the global climate, b) the expected impacts of climate change on humans and natural ecosystems, and c) the social factors that foster or inhibit action to mitigate and adapt to climate change.
• Recognize the range of strategies being used to address climate change as well as the factors that contribute to or prevent their success.
• Demonstrate critical thinking and communication skills in response to midterm and final essay prompts.
Attendance requirements(%):
70
Teaching arrangement and method of instruction:
Face-to-face lectures, exercises and assignments, active participation
Course/Module Content:
Week 1 - Introduction and basic climate change science
No readings. Come to class prepared to discuss the following questions:
• What DON’T you know about climate change?
• What DO you know about climate change?
• What do you want to learn in this course?
• Rosen, J. 2021. The Science of Climate Change Explained: Facts, Evidence and Proof. New York Times Apr 19, 2021
Week 2 - The social causes of climate change
• Waggoner, P. E. and J. H. Ausubel 2002. A framework for sustainability science: A renovated IPAT identity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 99 (12): 7860-7865
• Mitchell, R. B. 2012. Technology is not enough: climate change, population, affluence, and consumption. Journal of Environment and Development 21 (1): 33-6
Week 3 - Climate change impacts
Quiz #1: Assignment and due date/time designated on Moodle
• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2022. Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability (Summary for Policymakers). Geneva: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
• Kristof, N. 2018. Swallowed by the sea. New York Times Jan 19, 2018
Week 4 - Why is climate change such a hard problem?
Class day to be rescheduled due to Holocaust Day
• Victor, D. G. 2011. Why global warming is such a hard problem to solve (ch 2). Global warming gridlock, edited by D. G. Victor: 30-58. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Week 5 - What science should we (& do we) believe?
Class day to be rescheduled due to Memorial Day and Independence Day
• Why should we believe the science and which scientists should we believe? Anderegg, W. R. L. 2010. Diagnosis Earth: the climate change debate. Thought & Action: 23-36
• What do you believe and why? Yale Program on Climate Change Communication 2022. Global Warming’s Six Americas. New Haven: Yale University.
• Oreskes, N. 2019. Science Isn’t Always Perfect—But We Should Still Trust It. Time
Week 6 - Ethics and climate change
Quiz #2: Assignment and due date/time designated on Moodle
• Pope Francis 2015. Encyclical letter of the Holy Father Francis on care for our common home. Rome: The Vatican.
• Gardiner, S. M. 2006. A perfect moral storm: intergenerational ethics and the problem of moral corruption. Environmental Values 15 (3): 397-413
Week 7 - Economics and climate change
• U.S. NOAA 2022. U.S. saw its 4th-warmest year on record, fueled by a record-warm December: Nation struck with 20 separate billion-dollar disasters in 2021. NOAA News and Features Jan 10, 2022
• Parry, I. 2019. Putting a Price on Pollution. Finance & Development 56 (4): 16-19
• Green, J. F. 2019. It’s Time to Abandon Carbon Pricing. Jacobin Sep 24, 2019
Week 8 - Psychology and climate change
Quiz #3: Assignment and due date/time designated on Moodle
• Swim, J., et al. 2011. Psychology's contributions to understanding and addressing global climate change. American Psychologist 66 (4): 241-250
• Cialdini, R. B. 2003. Crafting normative messages to protect the environment. Current Directions in Psychological Science 12 (4): 105-109
Week 9 - Responses to climate change
• Corporations: Deloitte 2022. Inaction on Climate Change Could Cost the US Economy $14.5 Trillion by 2070. Deloitte Report
• Dimitrov, R. S. 2016. The Paris Agreement on Climate Change: Behind Closed Doors. Global Environmental Politics 16 (3): 1-11
Week 10 - Did Kyoto influence CO2 emissions? Will Paris do better?
Quiz #4: Assignment and due date/time designated on Moodle
• Circular Ecology 2015. The Kyoto Protocol: Climate Change Success or Global Warming Failure? Circular Ecology Feb 4, 2015
• Kumazawa, R. and M. Callaghan 2012. The effect of the Kyoto Protocol on carbon dioxide emissions. Journal of Economics and Finance 36 (1): 201-210: Springer US.
• Andresen, S. 2014. The climate regime: a few achievements but many challenges. Climate Law 4: 21-29
Week 11 - Adaptation
• Betzold, C. 2015. Adapting to climate change in small island developing states. Climatic Change 133 (3): 481-489
• Wewerinke-Singh, M. and D. Hinge Salili 2020. Between negotiations and litigation: Vanuatu’s perspective on loss and damage from climate change. Climate Policy 20 (6): 681-692
Week 12 - Geoengineering
• Jamieson, D. 2013. Some whats, whys and worries of geoengineering. Climatic Change 121: 527-537
• Biermann, F., et al. 2022. Solar geoengineering: The case for an international non-use agreement. WIREs Climate Change Jan 17, 2022
• Buck, H. J. 2022. We can’t afford to stop solar geoengineering research. MIT Technology Review Jan 26, 2022
Week 13 - Wrap-up discussion
Required Reading:
There are no required books for the course but there are many readings for each session, though most are brief. Readings will be on Moodle. Class depends on active student participation so, please, do the readings before class.
Additional Reading Material:
Readings will be on Moodle.
Grading Scheme :
Essay / Project / Final Assignment / Referat 50 %
Active Participation / Team Assignment 10 %
Mid-terms exams 40 %
Additional information:
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