Politics and Global Change - 20030

Politicians and government regulators often make decisions that affect our natural world without understanding the science that explains how that world operates. Many issues concerning the use and modification of our natural environment, such as water use, desertification, air and water pollution, and climate change, cross national boundaries, but global treaties often prove difficult to ratify or enforce. Many scientists also wish to pursue their research without the distraction of politics.

These courses offer a bridge across this divide by adding scientific information to the political debate in POLS 109  and by showing the practical and political aspects of human impacts on Earth systems to students in PHYS 160   or PHYS 165 . Students completing the connection will learn both sides of the politics-science relationship in detail; all students will benefit from the expanded breadth of discussion in both classes.