May 29, 2008
Understanding global warming: The scientific basis for concern
Class title: “Atmospheric Sciences 111: Global Warming, Understanding the Issues,” taught spring quarter by Theodore Anderson, a research associate professor and part-time lecturer.
Description: Human-induced climate change — popularly known as “global warming” — has emerged as one of humanity’s great challenges in the 21st century. Ignoring this problem could impose severe environmental consequences on future generations. But to prevent these consequences, the current generation would have to rapidly and dramatically transform the energy basis of the global economy. At stake are deeply felt values as well as entrenched economic interests. This course will examine the science behind the controversy. The text and lectures will provide a critical analysis of the current scientific consensus. We will also examine stronger claims made by advocates on both sides — “skeptics” and “alarmists,” as they are sometimes called. Through in-class activities and weekly discussion sessions, students will develop their understanding of these ideas and express their reactions to them.
Notes for the class also list several class goals. “The overall goal for this course is to help society deal with this enormous and complex challenge by fostering citizens who understand the basic science and can think critically about proposed solutions.
“More specifically, students should come away able to answer such questions as:
- Why does the burning of fossil fuels — coal, oil and natural gas — increase the Earth’s greenhouse effect?
- Can we be confident that recent warming is due to human, and not natural causes?
- Can we believe a 100-year-old climate prediction even though we know that a 100-day weather prediction would be nearly worthless?
- How would continued global warming impact things like sea level, agriculture, biodiversity and the frequency of extreme weather events?
- What changes are projected for the Pacific Northwest? Are industry and government preparing for these challenges?”
Instructor’s views: Anderson wrote, “I lecture three days a week to about 90 students. It has been difficult to get the students to ask questions and offer opinions in this setting.
“This makes me very glad to have a ‘lab’ (or discussion) session on Tuesdays and Thursdays where I meet with just half the class and everyone works in small groups. We wear name tags to facilitate interactions. This part of the course has been the most gratifying as I get to go around to all the groups, see them talking and wrestling with the subject matter, and offer help and perspective on a more personal level. It also gives me a chance to see which concepts are easy or hard for them to grasp and I get a good sense of where my lectures have been successful and not successful.
“Our department is developing this course largely out of a sense of responsibility to communicate to the general student body the scientific basis for concern about global warming. As I see it, the challenge is not to teach the science per se but rather to convey the scope of the problem, the strength of the scientific evidence, and the nature of the scientific process — all with a goal of helping students understand the role (and limitations) of climate science in supporting appropriate societal responses. The amount of information readily available on this topic is quite overwhelming and, of course, our understanding is constantly changing. Thus, I try to convey the fundamental aspects of the problem and an approach to thinking about it that are likely to have enduring value.
“In the future, it would be great to link this class with classes in other departments — such as engineering or political science — that are treating other dimensions of the global warming problem. This sort of educational collaboration seems like the sort of thing that a new College of the Environment could facilitate.”
Unexpected experiences: Anderson wrote, “I encourage the students to attend public lectures on campus related to global warming, and I offer them extra credit for doing so. In searching out suitable talks, I came across a ‘Sustainable Communities’ lecture series, part of a course taught by Marty Curry and Jill Sterrett (affiliate assistant professor and affiliate instructor, respectively, in Urban Design and Planning). Climate change is an exciting topic for scientists but a pretty scary, and potentially depressing, topic for students. I recommended this lecture series to my students thinking it might be a sort of positive antidote to my class — that is, they would learn about solutions people are developing in response to this global threat. Out of curiosity, I took my own advice and began attending. It has been amazing to discover the breadth and richness of responses that are bubbling up in various sectors of our society – from private businesses to urban planners to community organizers. Fortunately, several of my students have been attending these lectures as well.”
Student views: Student Brian Hoefgen wrote that the course “is an enlightening class that discusses one of the great challenges that faces society in the 21st century.”
Hoefgen wrote that he started learning about the science behind global warming in high school, but wanted to know more. “I felt as though I should be more educated on the topic, knowing that problems could arise in my generation or the next. Seeing issues from the Earth Science perspective, I have realized that the majority of people are wasting their time arguing over whether or not global warming is actually real, rather than debating whether or not humans should take action toward the subject.”
He wrote, “I feel as though the American government needs to get serious and buckle down on decreasing greenhouse gas emissions, researching alternative energy sources, educating the public with scientific facts, and decreasing the American ecological footprint by emphasizing sustainable living.”
Student Chris Helgerson, an anthropology major, wrote that his interest in human-environmental interactions led him to the course. “I like the class, and Tad is very knowledgeable, and the class is always open for discussion. The thing that was most eye-opening to me was that reality is in the ‘middle-ground’ between GW alarmist and deniers.”
Reading list: Textbook is Global Warming. The Complete Briefing by John Houghton, Cambridge, 3rd Edition, 2004. Other readings include reports published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, chapters in Field Notes from a Catastrophe by Elizabeth Kolbert and several articles in journals, including Science and New Scientist.
Assignments: Team projects during weekly discussion sessions include (i) an inside look at the science of climate modeling by picking apart an article written in the 1980s, (ii) a chance for students to make their own climate forecast for the year 2050, and (iii) a chance for students to design their own 50-year strategy for mitigating climate change.
