HNUH218Y

Hardly a day goes by without some news worthy item being reported on Earth's changing climate. Often the stories are contradictory, tainted by parochialism and extremism, not only by the conservative and liberal media, but also by the camps of so-called believers and deniers. This seminar will begin with a review of the history of how decisions regarding human interactions with the environment have either doomed past societies to failure, or enabled long-term, sustainable success. Next we'll examine the science that underlies global warming, in a manner accessible to non-scientists, as well as the potential consequences of a rapidly changing climate. We will then discuss the economics of large-scale provision of energy by renewable resources, which will be needed to avert climate catastrophe. During the final few weeks of this seminar, students will break into three groups, representing various parts of the world, and negotiate an international plan to transition the world energy supply to renewable resources that emit little or no greenhouse gases. Restricted to UH students who matriculated in Fall 2020 or later. This course is part of the Revolution thematic cluster and must be paired with HNUH218A to complete the cluster. Please be aware that HNUH218A will only be offered in Fall 2021 and Winter Term (asynchronous, online) January 2022. If you have not yet taken HNUH218A, you should either register for both this course and HNUH218A together in Fall 2021, or plan to take HNUH218A in the winter term.