GEOL 200: Earth’s Changing Climate (XN)

Course Description

This course will examine contemporary scientific thought on understanding climate in Earth history, past climate change events, evolution of the atmosphere through time, and will compare past events to today’s changing climate.  Close emphasis will be placed on geological evidence for climate change in deep time, its causes and effects, and evidence for environmental changes. Past periods of radical climate shifts, such as during the Permian Extinction, will be analyzed in order to understand how life was affected by extreme changes during those events to better understand scientific thought for the current climate emergency as well as future climate trends. There are no prerequisites, but at least one previous Geology or Geography course is encouraged.