4.0

credits

Average Course Rating

Scientific evidence establishes that climate change is warming our oceans, causing sea levels to rise, and increasing ocean acidity. Over the past decade, reports generated pursuant to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) have become increasingly more definitive in concluding that human-generated emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere are chiefly responsible for these developments. To date, efforts to address the climate change challenge have focused both on mitigation (reducing the rate of carbon dioxide emissions) and adaptation (relocation, infrastructure construction). Existing international and domestic laws and policies provide ways to proceed along both paths. This course will therefore introduce students to the most important laws and policies involved in the effort to cope with climate change. Students will emerge from this course with a basic facility with the principal treaties, conventions, and laws that provide the basis for protecting the oceans and coasts from the effects of climate change. <a href="http://bit.ly/1bebp5s" target="_blank">Click here to see evaluations, syllabi, and faculty bios</a>