Contemporary Issues in Environment

Cli­mate change is a com­plex chal­lenge cur­rent­ly fac­ing the world’s social and eco­log­i­cal sys­tems. This course offers an intro­duc­tion to the the­o­ret­i­cal and prac­ti­cal under­stand­ing of cli­mate change issues; uti­liz­ing Cana­di­an and inter­na­tion­al case stud­ies. The course will exam­ine his­tor­i­cal cli­mate records and assess relat­ed social, envi­ron­men­tal and eco­nom­ic impacts, while also con­sid­er­ing sci­en­tif­ic fore­casts. Review of the chal­lenges, oppor­tu­ni­ties, and risks asso­ci­at­ed with large-sec­tor-emit­ters includ­ing car­bon diox­ide via coal com­bus­tion and oil and nat­ur­al gas oper­a­tions, as well as methane con­tri­bu­tions from agri­cul­ture sec­tor will be pro­vid­ed. Cli­mate change mit­i­ga­tion and adap­ta­tion strate­gies with­in a tran­si­tion to a low-car­bon future will also be covered. 
Course at a glance

Course section topics:

  • FA1 (Nov, 39 hours): Climate Change
What you will learn

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

  • Describe the relationship between the geological and climatic development of the Earth;
  • Explain how interactions among atmosphere, ocean, land, ecosystems, and lifeforms lead to climate changes over history;
  • Understand the major Canadian and global energy systems and their contribution to greenhouse gas emission; particularly the use of oil, coal, natural gas, renewable, and nuclear resources;
  • Understand the contributions of the agriculture and transportation industries within greenhouse gas emissions;
  • Evaluate and outline mitigation and adaptation strategies which minimize the impact of climate change on our ecosystems, society and economy; both globally and in Canada;
  • Demonstrate knowledge of the federal and provincial Carbon Tax, and Albert Gas Reporting regulations;
  • Identify and evaluate the potential ecological, social, and economic impacts of climate change around the world, particularly in Canada, and the various responses being considered including those at the individual, corporate, and government levels.
This course has no prerequisites

Students from all educational backgrounds welcome. You can register for this course without applying and enrolling in a program.

This is a skills-enhancing course in

You can register for and take a course without applying and enrolling into the program.

Email

erm@ualberta.ca

When will
this course be offered?

New course schedules are released each June and November.

Course not yet scheduled

This course is not currently scheduled, but may be offered in an upcoming term.

New course schedules are announced each June and November.

Sign up for updates

Interested in future offerings of this course? We can let you know when this course becomes available.