This course will provide students from any disciplinary and professional background with competence on the global climate challenge, including the scientific underpinnings; potential impacts on natural systems, economic sectors, and human societies around the world; and the two broad categories of societal responses, adaptation and greenhouse gas mitigation. Canadian (federal and provincial) and relevant international climate policy is reviewed. This course is to ensure students develop a shared holistic understanding of key concepts/terminology and the developing science that influences the policy environment within which action on climate change occurs.
GEMCC 601Climate Change: Physical Science Basis0.50 units
The course examines the interactive physical, biological and geochemical processes responsible for and resulting from climate change, including anthropogenic influences on these processes.
GEMCC 602Climate Change Vulnerability and Adaptation0.50 units
This course examines the impacts of changing climate on natural and human systems and focuses on the capacity of societies to adjust to, plan for and cope with changing climate and environmental conditions.
This course examines the anthropogenic sources of greenhouse gas emissions and the range of strategies to reduce these emissions and to enhance carbon sequestration. The policy frameworks governing climate change mitigation are critically appraised from geopolitical, economic and ethics perspectives. This course also considers the potential role of climate remediation strategies.
The world is in a climate crisis and urgent action is needed at every level of society to implement equitable and efficient solutions. This interdisciplinary course will cover the foundational aspects of climate science, the impacts of climate change on ecosystems and society and explore society’s response including adaptation and mitigation, governance and community engagement. The course will draw upon the broad range of interdisciplinary climate research and practice at the University of Waterloo and invite students to investigate the relevance of climate work to their own areas of interest as well as to explore and integrate insights and strategies from other research disciplines. In person seminars and assignments will provide opportunities for students to network and collaborate across disciplinary boundaries.
Antirequisites
Complete all of the following
Not completed nor concurrently enrolled in any of the following:
GEMCC 610Climate Prediction, Modeling and Scenarios0.50 units
Computer models of the physical climate system are essential tools for investigating future climate change. This course will introduce students to the basic formulation of these models, and their strengths and limitations. Inter-linkages between climate modeling and mitigation and adaptation policy agendas is reviewed and critiqued. The types of climate modeling experiments peformed with such models and scenarios will be reviewed. The latest projections of future climate on a variety of temporal and spatial scales will be presented and evaluated.
This course provides an overview of the key concepts related to climate services (i.e., useful, timely, and robust information about climatic trends that can support decision-making) and the development of the United Nations’ Global Framework for Climate Services. The value of climate-informed decision-making across diverse sectors of the economy are examined, both for climate variability and extremes today and in an era of accelerating climate change. The scientific and practical challenges of utilizing climate information for decision-making in government policy, community planning, business operations, and international development, as well as the technical standards and professional ethics associated with providing climate services, are examined. Students gain practical experience in the development and application of climate services through climate data assembly and interpretation.
This course examines the scientific and practical challenges of finding and utilizing climate data to derive useful information in order to inform research and decision making processes. Through lectures, readings, videos and assignments, this course will introduce different types of climate data (historical, contemporary measurements and modelled) and discuss how they can be realistically analyzed to derive useful information (both within a research and policy context). From a general discussion on what climate data is and its value, this course will then focus on finding/collected climate data and critically evaluating how it can and should be used. Further, this course will introduce students to the development of data management plans, climate data curation, and effective ways of visualizing and contextualizing climate data to a variety of target audiences. Building upon this foundational knowledge, strategies and methodologies for analyzing climate data to derive useful information related climate risk in a variety of sectors with be explored. This includes areas such as community planning, human health, engineering/infrastructure among others. Students must have access to spreadsheet software for assignments.
GEMCC 622Climate Change, Natural Hazards and Disaster Risk Reduction0.50 units
This course explores the complex links between climate change and natural hazards, and related disasters, including disaster risk reduction as an adaptation strategy. Emphasis is placed on examining these concepts in a developing country context. Note: This course may include additional fees for field trip participation.
This course examines contemporary theories, approaches, and technologies used to study coupled natural-human systems at the intersection of land-use and land-cover change, land management, and the carbon cycle. Topics covered include measurement and modelling techniques to improve carbon accounting, the effects of land use and land management on carbon storage and flux, and international and national policy frameworks influencing carbon sequestration and climate change mitigation.
GEMCC 640Climate Change Governance: From Global Treaties to Local Innovation0.50 units
This course explores the theories behind, and practical approaches to, the multi-level governance of climate change. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Kyoto Protocol, national climate action plans and local innovation are viewed through the lenses of legitimacy, effectiveness, and participation. Finally, we consider the challenge of transformative change, and the possibility of finding synergies among climate change responses and other pressing social and environmental priorities.
GEMCC 644Climate Resilient Canadians and Health Systems0.50 units
Climate change is a growing threat to the health of Canadians, their communities and health systems. Over two decades of increasing research, partnerships, awareness building and adaptation development among health authorities has demonstrated that significant opportunities exist to make strides in efforts to protect Canadians from current and future impacts. This course examines climate-change related health risks to Canadians, including to populations of highest concern - seniors, young children, people with chronic illnesses, the socially and economically disadvantaged, and Indigenous Populations - and the potential for impacts on communities and health systems. New tools such as climate change and health vulnerability and adaptation assessments and health system stress testing are discussed along with their application to policy and program development by Canadian and international partners. Guest lectures and case studies are used to illustrate and learn from the actions of leading health adaptors in efforts being taken to prepare people for the future climate.
This course examines the intersection of business management, climate change, and the evolving policy environment within which mitigation and adaptation occurs. A Canadian lens is applied to understanding: climate change business economics; the changing policy and regulatory landscape at the international, national and provincial levels; the ways in which a price on carbon and the need to disclose carbon and climate risk can affect business decision-making; and various opportunities for companies to reduce their carbon footprint to operate in emerging low-carbon economies, make their business more resilient to the impacts of climate change, and identify value-creation opportunities. Leadership cases from businesses worldwide will be explored, including multi-nationals and small and medium sized enterprises.
GEMCC 652Climate Change and Community Planning0.50 units
Climate change has complex implications for communities across Canada and Planners are at the forefront of developing and implementing strategies to both reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and build resilience to current and future climate. This course focuses on some of the opportunities and challenges associated with the integration of climate change into urban and rural planning, including climate vulnerability of urban systems, low-carbon transport systems, urban greening and green infrastructure for climate resilience, regenerative designs that reduce social vulnerability, the role of information and communication technologies for system efficiency and resilience, and assessing synergies and conflicts between mitigation and adaptation. Leading policy and design cases from communities across Canada and internationally will be examined.
GEMCC 653Sustainability Transitions in Cities0.50 units
Sustainability is a multi-faceted and ever-changing collection of aspirations that weaves together environmental integrity, economic prosperity and social equity. The transition to more sustainable cities is both fraught with challenges, including the legacy of unsustainable infrastructure and deeply entrenched habits, but also exciting opportunities and potential for innovation. In this course, we explore the challenge of urban sustainability transitions through a systems lens, exploring the technologies, governance models, values, and behaviours that might trigger and accelerate the transition. We look around the world for compelling examples of sustainability transitions in practice, from Malmö to Melbourne, and apply the lessons we learn to the Canadian context.
GEMCC 660Carbon Accounting and Management0.50 units
Carbon management is fundamental to achieving international and national policy objectives to avoid dangerous climate change. With more jurisdictions implementing carbon pricing and cap and trade programs, carbon accounting and reporting is rapidly expected to become a central part of the global business environment. This course focuses on best practices in GHG measurement and management from the perspective of a business or organization. The course includes organization emission reduction target setting strategies; techniques and standards for organizational GHG inventories with reference to international-regional-sectoral reporting/trading schemes; auditing and verification processes; GHG information management systems; evolving expectations and approaches to disclosure of GHG emissions; supply-chain carbon accounting; and evolving carbon markets (voluntary, sectoral and regulated).
This capstone course allows graduate students to synthesize and apply knowledge developed throughout their coursework to help solve a specific problem. Students will work with the course instructor to identify a topic relevant to their area of study (e.g., tourism and environmental change, land-use change, climate change), propose methods, and complete the capstone project. This capstone project must be distinct from other coursework and students' Master's research paper (MRP) or thesis.