GEOG 5210 - Global Climate Change

Meets with GEOG 3210. Graduate students should enroll in GEOG 5210 and will be held to higher standards and/or more work. The Earth's physical environment is continually changing, and life has responded to these changes. In the very recent past, humans have emerged and rapidly and dramatically affected Earth's environments. This course examines both natural and anthropogenic (human) change to the Earth's environments during the Quaternary (the last 2.5-2.6 million years). Questions considered include: 1) what evidence exists that climate has changed? 2) what causes climate change? 3) how have ecosystems responded to these changes in the past? 4) how has past climate change affected human evolution and cultures? 5) is recent climate warming the result of human or natural factors? 6) how would increased temperatures affect Earth's ecosystems?