ENV210 Climate Change Risks to Ecosystems and Biodiversity

[3–0, 3 cr.]

This course investigates climate change risks to ecosystems and biodiversity and explores methods and tools for assessing climate impacts to ecosystems, species and human livelihoods. Course topics include the climate system and greenhouse effect; changes in palaeoclimate and their impacts on ecosystems and species distributions; more recent climate changes and their observed impacts; mechanisms by which climate affects ecosystems; projections of future climate change and potential impacts on ecosystems, ecosystem goods and services, and human livelihoods; ecological niche modelling; biogeography models; dynamic vegetation models; and social science methods for assessing human consequences of ecosystem changes and biodiversity losses. At the end of the course, the students will work in teams to develop and present case studies of climate change threats to the biodiversity around the world.

Note: This course has not been taught since Fall 2021 and will not be taught during the academic year 2023-2024.