Course Description

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The Earth is a complex coupled human-natural system that is increasingly dominated by human activities. We will examine anthropogenic climate change as part of an integrated earth system that includes impacts on and feedbacks with human systems. We will consider the challenges and interactions between climate change and human societies by considering responses of current and past societies to climate change and environmental degradation. We will place anthropogenic climate change in the broader context of limits to growth, sustainability, and societal development. The class will emphasize readings, discussions, and construction of simple simulation models to understand the scientific and social basis of contemporary climate and sustainability. Students will use the graphical computer programming language Stella to develop a simplified model of the Earth system.

Class Structure. This is an online seminar-style course meaning there are no lectures but is instead reading-intensive with online discussions, and model-building exercises. Class will meet once a week via Microsoft Teams. These meetings are scheduled for 75 minutes and are used to go over material that students are struggling with and are largely driven by student questions and will often end early. The class will consist of the following components:

1. Readings. This will be a reading intensive course with reading assigned for most class meetings. The readings will primarily be from course books but will also include assigned articles.

2. Discussions. There will be an online discussion of the readings in Yellowdig. The discussions will be centered around a set of questions and discussion prompts. We will use our meeting time to address any outstanding questions from the assigned readings or other material.

3. Media. There will be assigned documentaries (videos) in most weeks of the semester and online discussion of this material.

4. Modeling. Students will work on assigned exercises and a modeling project to learn system dynamics approaches to representing human and environmental systems using the graphical programing language Stella by ISEE Systems, requiring purchase of a student license for this software. We will use our meeting time to address any modeling or programming questions that arise from the assigned exercises.

Course Goals

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1. To have an understanding of the physical basis of climate change.
2. To use this knowledge to contextualize the responses of current and past societies to climate change and environmental degradation.
3. To employ a system dynamics modeling framework to synthesize climate change and resource use within the limitations of the Earth system

Achieving these goals will require:

• Completion of assigned readings and exercises
• Participation in discussions
• Writing and synthesis of assigned readings and media
• Familiarity with the computer language Stella.

Grading

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Student grades will be based on the following four components:

1. Weekly (quizzes) based on assigned readings and media. (20% of final grade).
2. Homework assignments. These will be a series of modeling exercises and assignments in Stella. (15% of final grade).
3. Student participation in online Yellowdig discussion. Students are expected to fully participate in and contribute to online discussions. (30% of final grade)
4. A group modeling project on the coupled natural and human system. Students will implement a model from an assigned research paper, add a feature to the model, make a video presentation describing the model and the resultant dynamics. (15% of final grade).
5. Comprehensive final exam. (20% of final grade)

Late assignments will be assessed a 10% penalty for each day late.

Books and Media

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These books will be required for this class and are available in the university bookstore:

1. Emanuel, K., 2018. What we know about climate change. MIT Press. ISBN: 9780262535915 Link to book.
2. Meadows, D.H., 2008. Thinking in systems: A primer. Chelsea Green Publishing. ISBN: 9781603580557. Link to book on Amazon.
3. Ford, Andrew. 2009. Modeling the Environment, Second Edition. Island Press. ISBN: 9781597264730. Link to book
4. Jared M. Diamond. 2011. Collapse : how societies choose to fail or succeed: Revised edition. Penguin. 608p. ISBN-10: 0143117009; ISBN-13: 978-0143117001 Link to book.

We will watch a variety of documentaries, video lectures, and podcasts. I try to find free sources of these media, but you may have to rent, purchase, or find them through a subscription service (e.g., Amazon Prime, Netflix, Apple TV, etc.). These media include the following:

1. An Inconvenient Truth (97 mins)
2. A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash (83 mins)
3. Seaspiriacy (89 mins)
4. Planet of the Humans (100 mins)
5. Don't look up (138 mins)

Stella

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We will build system dynamics models in the graphical programming language Stella created by ISEE Systems. This will require a semester student license for the Stella software at a cost of $59 for a semester license. You should receive an email from ISEE with instructions for purchasing and accessing Stella.

Policies

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• Academic Honesty and Plagiarism
• Student Learning Accomodations
• Academic Integrity
• Religious Holidays

Catamount Core Curriculum Designations

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This class counts towards the following Catamount Core Curriculum requirements for UVM undergraduates:

SU: Sustainability. At the University of Vermont, we recognize that the pursuit of ecological, social, and economic vitality must come with the understanding that the needs of the present be met without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. This course was given sustainability designation because, in addition to the course-level outcomes, the course meets the Sustainability General Education requirement, which includes the following four learning outcomes:

1. Students can have an informed conversation about the multiple dimensions and complexity of sustainability.
2. Students can evaluate sustainability using an evidence-based disciplinary approach and integrate economic, ecological, and social perspectives.
3. Students think critically about sustainability across a diversity of cultural values and across multiple scales of relevance from local to global.
4. Students, as members of society, can recognize and assess how sustainability impacts their lives and how their actions impact sustainability.