CHC Macaulay College Seminar 4:
Shaping the Future of New York
Syllabus – Spring 2010
Climate Change – Mitigation and Adaptation – Local and Global Perspectives.
http://eportfolios.macaulay.cuny.edu/tomkiewiczs10/
Profs. Micha Tomkiewicz – michatom@brooklyn.cuny.edu
Thursday 3:40 – 6:25, Room 2231B
Instructional Tech Fellow: Jenny Kijowski – profkijowski@gmail.com
Required Reading:
- World Development Report 2010
- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
- National Science Foundation Climate Change Report
- PLANYC
Output Documents:
- Class website on NYC adaptation and mitigation efforts to the projected impact of climate change (required).
- Group presentations at the Macaulay College final Common Event (May 16) (Required).
- Brooklyn College Science Day Presentation (May 14) (Recommended)
- Brooklyn College Undergraduate Journal (Optional)
The course will focus on shaping the future of New York based on existing climate change projections that result from global anthropogenic changes in the chemistry of the atmosphere. The “short” term effort is summarized in the PLANYC2030 document. The course will emphasize the interconnection of scales between the global and the local aspect of the issues. The global and the scientific aspects will be discussed in class while the research efforts will be focused on New York City. The class-work will focus on the science of climate change, the methodologies to predict future impact and the correlations between economic development and environmental impact. The correlation will be formulated in terms of the IPAT equation that relates environmental impact (I) to population growth (P), growth in affluence as measured by GDP/Capita (A) and technological terms (T) that correlate between the GDP and the environmental impact. Future projections all indicate that unless major changes are introduced in the development path of emerging economies, global economic development will result in unsustainable environmental consequences. The reading on present and future of the global impact will be based mainly on the recent World Bank report dedicated to this issue.
The research projects will be divided into present mitigation efforts combined with present and future adaptation needs. The efforts will be anchored on PlanNYC30 documentation, other primary information sources and on-ground research. The effort will be divided into various economic sectors that include power sources, housing, transportation, water and industry. The research will summarize present policies and end with objectives, metrics and recommendations.
The course offers the opportunity for students to gain exposure to disciplines from the physical sciences and the social sciences and apply their knowledge to processes that govern the natural environment and the impact of human activities on environmental quality. We will address a broad range of topics, from geology to thermodynamics, from environmental risk analysis to environmental justice. We will develop, over the course of the semester, the connections between population growth, energy use, economic development and the environment, on local, regional and global scales.
The course grade will be based on class projects (40%), Final exam (30%) and class participation (30%) that will include some take-home projects, course website entries and reading on current events. Information on the exams and projects will be posted on the course site, and discussed in class.
