Climate Change Adaptation

Catalog description

Climate change and global warming are real, and science has coalesced around the fact that mankind’s activities are causing or contributing to the rapid global warming that is currently in progress. Mankind’s input into the equation is the burning of carbon fuels, which releases unprecedented levels of carbon dioxide, a highly potent greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere. The field of emergency management typically divides activities into four components: planning, mitigation, response, and recovery. It is now time to add a fifth component: adaptation. Mankind’s activities have programmed into the future climate somewhere between one and six degrees Celsius of warming, and a significant but as yet incalculable amount of sea level rise. We do not have the option of stopping or reversing these events, so we must adapt if our civilization is to survive. The student will begin by examining the science itself, courtesy of the Climate Reality Project. The student will examine how the US government has evaluated the situation in the National Climate Assessment. The student will look at both the pessimistic and optimistic possibilities that our future could hold. Students will select a book from a supplemental reading list and report on their topic of choice in the forums. To conclude, students will create a personal Climate Change Adaptation Plan for themselves, their families, and/or their organizations.