Environments of Africa: Geology and Climate Change

Catalog description

Significant natural features of Africa as related to human endeavor; case studies include the Nile, climate change, and natural resources. EARTH 105N Environments of Africa: Geology and Climate History (3) (GN/GS;IL)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. Environments of African: Geology and Climate History investigates the interrelationships between geology, hydrology, land use, societies and human development in several areas of Africa. We focus primarily on regions north of the equator, although there is a brief segment on South Africa mining. Specific topics include the Nile River (sources of the Nile, agricultural practices, effects of damming the Nile, hydropolitics), the Sahara and Sahel (salt mines, climate change, drought, water resources), and natural resources and their role in politics (gold, diamonds, oil, and gas). The theme of climate change cuts across the entire semester. The quantitative and analytical components of the course involve working through a combination of map exercises and data manipulations (flood stage, groundwater age, rainfall and temperature records). Writing exercises are conducted both individually (essays, analysis of readings) and in collaborative teams (climate change analysis). Readings for the course come from the popular scientific literature; current refereed research journals, and transcribed oral histories of African people. Faculty lectures will comprise ~30% of the course, and student presentations ~20%, with the remainder of the time devoted to in-class collaborative exercises. There are no pre-requisites for this course. It will be offered annually with a maximum enrollment of 100 students.The goals of the course are to (1) explore the relationship between human society and the natural world; (2) develop quantitative and scientific reasoning skills; (3) introduce the scientific study of Africa. The topics that we explore (e.g., global climate change, allocation of limited water resources) are important political issues that affect people in developed and developing countries throughout the world. It is crucial that the next generation of citizens be informed as to how scientific data is obtained, presented, and interpreted by scientists as well as politicians. Students will work individually and (more commonly) in teams to analyze real data from natural African systems, and will then report their findings to the class both orally and in writing. Examples of the data sets include 100-year records of monthly rainfall and temperature from stations throughout the continent, fossil suites from ancient lake cores in the modern Sahara, and historical writings of Nile flood levels from pre-Biblical times. Through these exercises students will gain an appreciation of the scope of geological time and change, and will be able to incorporate this new long-term perspective into identification and resolution of modern questions.