Natural Hazards and Society

Catalog description

The purpose of this course is to introduce the student to the complex relationships between the natural hazards of earth processes that have direct, and often sudden and violent impacts on human society. The course integrates principles of geology, hydrology, meteorology, climatology, oceanography, soil science, ecology and solar system astronomy. This class describes the earth processes that drive hazardous events in an understandable way, illustrates how these processes interact with our civilization, and describes how we can better adjust to their effects. Examples and case studies are taken from international and U.S. experiences, along with how societies adjust to natural hazards. (Prerequisites: GEOG103 and ERSC302)