Integral Ecology First Studies Program: Climate Change

Catalog description

This course covers the science of climate change including the physical and chemical underpinnings of fossil fuels and greenhouse gases and their impact on trapping solar infrared radiation within the Earth's atmosphere and causing subsequent warming of the land and oceans. Warming of the planet increases the frequency and intensity of storms like hurricanes, cyclones, typhoons, it melts glaciers and causes sea levels to rise. Climate change is modifying the planetary distribution of precipitation which can produce water scarcity in some parts of the world, and leads to flooding and poor water quality in other locations. This course will study the scientific drivers of climate change, and the social and ethical ramifications of how the marginalized are disproportionately impacted. It will touch on environmental justice, water, land and food insecurity, and solutions to the climate crisis in first world countries as well as in developing countries. The course is intended for Jesuit men in formation in the First Studies Program, and is limited to them. No prerequisites are required.