**SENIORS CAN REGISTER AND RECEIVE CREDIT AFTER PERMISSION FROM LEAD INSTRUCTOR**

Global environmental change encompasses the rapid, interconnected changes now occurring in the Earth system — its climate, human population, resources, and ecosystems. ENVIRON 111 (Global Change II) is an interdisciplinary, team-taught and web-supported introduction to the human dimensions of global change. You will study the recent, explosive growth of the human population and our impacts on land, air, and water resources, including ecosystems and biological diversity. Energy and climate, which are intimately connected issues, are examined in the context of their histories and especially by looking toward our global future and critical societal decisions that need to be made. To better grasp the challenges of the transition to a more sustainable future, you will study how different groups and cultures have historically interacted with their environment, the post-colonial transformation of human production and consumption, and its interdependence with changing patterns of economic production and distribution. The course concludes with an examination of the major forces of globalization that will shape the future relationship between humans and the resources of our planet.

Course Requirements:

Homework and laboratories make extensive use of computers to perform spatial analysis, develop quantitative reasoning skills, help students learn to write critically, and promote personal interaction with the faculty.

Grades will be based on weekly lab exercises, course participation, a web poster project, midterms, and a final exam

Intended Audience:

This course is one of three core courses required for the Global Change Minor. Global Change II is suitable for all students and assumes no prior background. It can be taken without prior enrollment in Global Change I, its companion course on physical processes.

Class Format:

Three 1-hour lectures and one 2-hour lab/discussion per week.