Climate Change from a Historical Perspective
Fall & Spring
Note: Offered as a core course starting Fall 2012.
| 3 credits
| Core course
| Study Tour:
Greenland
Majors:
Biology,
Environmental Science,
Environmental Studies,
Public Policy,
and
Sustainability
This course explores the climate issue by learning from past climate changes. Although climate changes will be introduced over most of Earth’s history for context, this course focuses on the more recent past of climate changes which have relevance to human civilizations. Emphasis is placed on the last 20,000 years, which includes the transition from glacial to interglacial climate and the evolution of climate through the current Holocene period up to the present day. This period covers the period spanning all recorded human history and the development of sedentary cultures and agriculture.
Prerequisites
One semester/year environmental science/earth science. One year biology or chemistry highly recommended.
Field Studies
- Møns Klint and Stevns Klint
- This course includes a Saturday field study to Møns Klint and Stevns Klint on Møn Island and southern Sjælland. Møns Klint is a spectacular natural attraction with visible evidence of active geological processes, and includes a high-class geology museum. Stevns Klint contains a world-renowned visible record of past climate change known as the K-T boundary, between the Cretaceous and the Paleogene approximately 65 million years ago. You will observe the striations within the cliffs and discuss the geological processes which formed them. During the day, you will also visit culturally significant sites such as King Asgars Mound.
Instructors
-
Sune Rasmussen
Ph.D. (Geophysics, University of Copenhagen, 2006). M.Sc. (Geophysics, University of Copenhagen, 2002). Chairman of the EU-funded project INTIMATE (INTegrating Ice core, MArine and TErrestrial records). Postdoc and coordinator at Centre for Ice and Climate, Niels Bohr Institute. With DIS since 2011.
-
Trevor Popp
Ph.D. (Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2008). M.Sc. (Oceanography, Florida State University, 1998). Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, Boulder, 1998-2006. Centre for Ice and Climate, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, 2008-present. With DIS since 2011.
