The 4th IPCC & Climate Change in the Southwest

Geog 696C, Physical Geography Seminar, Spring 2007
Thursdays, 4:00-6:30 p.m., Harvill 402
Credit: 3 units
Instructors: Connie Woodhouse (conniew1@email.arizona.edu) 626-0235 
                    Andrew Comrie (comrie@arizona.edu) 621-3512
Office Hours: by appointment

Schedule, Readings & Assignments (restricted)

Overview
Will the climate of Arizona become hotter and drier in the future?  Will Colorado River flows decrease?  What will happen to Arizona’s skiing and rafting industries? The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was established in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to study global climate change and its impacts based on the most up-to-date peer reviewed and published scientific research.  Since 1988, three reports have been issued, and the 4th will come out in 2007, starting in February.  In this seminar, we will examine aspects of the new report to assess what the latest findings say about climate change in the western US, and we will evaluate the potential impacts of these changes on the region. We will also discuss how the results of the IPCC report could be applied by state and local agencies to address climate changes that will influence water, agriculture, recreation, and health sectors. Seminar plans include guest speakers, lots of discussion, analyses and student seminar products such as web resources.

Grades & Policies
Participation: True participation during each class meeting, as well as diligence on assignments and readings before and after each class, are essential. Simply attending class and/or attempting to participate by making ad-hoc comments will result in a low participation grade, as will poor or incomplete weekly assignments.

Readings & Review Assignments: Students are expected to pay detailed, close and critical attention to readings and assignments. For each class meeting, students will read the assigned material and bring to class brief summary and critique notes that will form the basis of in-class discussion each week. For most weekly topics, several key referenceswill be supplied that the whole class will read. Each student is expected to obtain and read additional articles and synthesize all the relevant information into the their own weekly review and in the class discussion.

Weekly Reviews & Additional Articles: Each student will write weekly and/or other occasional reviews, with individual assignments to be decided in class each week. These reviews are to be submitted online each week to the class blog. The typical template for each review will be: (i) an abstract-type review paragraph aimed at a non-specialist (ii) unresolved research questions and policy concerns for class discussion (iii) brief biography of a key researcher & (iv) references. Additional articles may be referenced in the weekly review and discussed in class. Part of the weekly reading assignment for the whole class is to bring specific review comments on that week's blog entry, which should be posted the day prior to class to allow for reading and comments.

Term Papers: Students are required to submit a term paper on a topic pertinent to the class. The term paper will consist of a final, polished web page for a Southwest climate change web site, with content, length and other details to be decided in consultation with the instructors.  Term papers are due on or before the last class meeting. Students will present their term paper projects in class near the end of semester.

Grades: 30% on participation, reading responses and assignments during the semester; 70% on the term paper.

Policies: Work submitted late may be subject to penalties. Absence/attendance, withdrawal, honesty and other policies as per the UA General Catalog.

Class Outline

See the schedule link above for an up to date listing. Specific details, weekly announcements, further updates, etc. beyond those in the weekly schedule link above will be distributed in class or via email.

Links