GEOG205 Course Outline 2021 v3 PDF

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McGill University, Department of Geography GEOG 205 Global Change: Past, Present and Future 2021 The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly changed the world we live in and GEOG-205 will exceptionally be offered remotely this year. Moving the course to an on-line platform may present challenges at times, but I assure you that I will do my best to make this an interactive and positive learning experience. Lecture segments will be recorded in manageable sizes, available for download from myCourses. I am planning assignments, tutorials and exams to be delivered in a manner that accommodates students in different time zones and with internet limitations. All readings will be available online, with no cost. I plan to hold optional ‘live’ sessions on Zoom to answer questions and maximize interactions with you. If you have never used zoom here is a link designed to help you with it: https://mcgill.ca/tls/students/remote-learning-resources/learning-zoom. Although the delivery will be a bit different, the course content will be similar to that offered in previous years. This course examines the changes that have occurred in the global environment, through the last 2 million years (Quaternary) to the present day, and the possible changes in this century associated with the greenhouse effect, climate change and land use change. The course has three components: 1. Present-day climate & climate change: how the present-day patterns of climate and vegetation are generated and distributed, basics of climate change; 2. Changes in the Earth’s climate and its causes, as demonstrated by vegetation and landscapes during the last 2 million years (through the last "Ice Age" to the recent past); the ways in which we study these changes; can these past variations be used as evidence against global warming or human’s role in it? 3. Human impacts on environments in the past, present and future – with a continental and global focus; a broad overview of key issues in global environmental change from a geographic perspective. Recorded lectures and lecture slides will be posted on MyCourses by Tuesdays and Thursdays, 4 pm Montreal time. This course has no prerequisites, but is a science course and will be challenging. Readings: Required readings will be available online or posted on myCourses. Recommended, but not required: Imbrie, J. and K.P. Imbrie. 1979. Ice Ages: Solving the Mystery. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.

COURSE EVALUATION The final grade for the course will be composed of the following: Two online open book, term tests, each designed to take 1.5 hr 50% Two assignments (10% each) 20% Final exam (centrally scheduled during exam period) 30% The final exam is cumulative. Exams will be mostly comprehensive essay. Students must submit all exams and both assignments to pass this course (it is not necessary to pass any one or the final). A grade of 50% is a D (McGill standard grading system).

© Gail Chmura, Penny Beames, Sophie Comer-Warner

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INSTRUCTOR - PROF. GAIL CHMURA To contact Prof. Chmura use the address below and put GEOG205 in the subject line. (514) 926-6854, [email protected] Open office hours by zoom at class time on Thursday or by appointment. Prof. Chmura is also available through WhatsApp. TAs: Anushka Sah, Wendy Ampuero Reyes, Recho Dong, Gillian Rowan, & Jing Rao TA’s can be contacted by writing to: [email protected] STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES McGill’s Office for Students with Disabilities offers support if you feel that difficulties and impairments are hindering your academic performance while at McGill or if you require assistance with access. Contact them regardless of whether the difficulties you are experiencing are permanent or temporary (514-3986009, www.mcgill.ca/osd). The assistance offered at the OSD targets a wide variety of situations, from medical diagnoses to mental health issues and anxiety disorders, and also includes long term support to accompany students with Learning Disabilities, ADD or ADHD, Asperger’s and autism. LATE ASSIGNMENTS Unless you have received permission to miss the deadline (e.g., you have a medical excuse or other crisis) your score will be reduced by 10 points for every day it is late, including weekends.

McGill University values academic integrity. Therefore, all students must understand the meaning and consequences of cheating, plagiarism and other academic offences under the Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures (see for more information).

Although you may discuss your assignment questions, preparation of answers must be an individual effort. Your written material must be your own and unique. It is each student’s responsibility to ensure that recorded lectures and associated material are not reproduced or placed in the public domain. This means that each of you can use it for your educational purposes, but you cannot allow others to use it by putting it up on the Internet or by giving it or selling it to others who may also copy it and make it available. Please refer to McGill’s Guidelines for Instructors and Students on Remote Teaching and Learning for further information. Thank you very much for your cooperation. In accord with McGill University’s Charter of Students’ Rights, students in this course have the right to submit in English or in French any written work that is to be graded. For information on university and department policies for student assessment, please go to http://www.mcgill.ca/geography/studentassessment In the event of extraordinary circumstances beyond the University’s control, the content and/or evaluation scheme in this course is subject to change. Additional policies governing academic issues which affect students can be found in the McGill Charter of Students' Rights.

© Gail Chmura, Penny Beames, Sophie Comer-Warner

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GEOG 205 Global Change: Past, Present and Future Tentative Course Schedule winter term 2021 Date

Topic

Jan-7

Introduction

Jan-12

How does climate vary today?

Jan-14

The distribution of land cover and land use feedbacks of landscapes to climate

Jan-19

Intro to geologic time, dating techniques and critical changes in recent Earth history

Jan-21

Ice Ages I: Evidence on the Land; Film: the Recent Ice Age

Jan-26

Ice Ages II : Evidence in the ocean and ice; Film: Coring the Greenland Ice Cap

Jan-28 Feb-02 Feb-04 Feb-09 Feb-11

Rapid climate cooling! The “Younger Dryas” – can it happen again when the Greenland ice sheet melts? (assignment 1 distributed) Enormous lakes and serious erosion: the story of the melting ice (assignment 1 distributed) Changes in the levels of land and sea Film: Land of the Mammoth (by the Discovery Channel) What explanations are forwarded for loss of megafauna? Open office hours with Prof. Chmura 4- 5:30 pm Montreal time Exam 1 (covers materials up to and including Feb 4) no lecture posted or office hours, online exam is open book, available from 4 pm (Montreal time) Feb 11 until 4 pm Feb 14

Feb-16

Megafaunal extinctions and associated climate change

Feb-18

Slow climate change (weather gets hotter and colder): the “Climatic Optimum" or "Hypsithermal” (assignment 1 due) (assignment 2 distributed)

Feb-23

The “Medieval Warm Period” and the “Little Ice Age” susceptibility of resource-based societies

Feb 25

Projections of Future Climate – what is the IPCC and what does it report?

Mar-02

Reading week

Mar-04

Reading week

Mar-9

Climate change impacts: What are they and why should we worry? Who is most vulnerable?

Mar-11

Attribution science -assigning responsibility for climate change (assignment 2 due)

Mar-16

Damming the world's rivers: 100 years of trends and impacts (guest lecturer Ms. Penny Beames)

Mar-18

The nitrogen problem – we have surpassed the “Planetary Boundary” (guest lecturer Dr. Sophie Comer Warner) Open office hours with Prof. Chmura 4- 5:30 pm Montreal time

Mar-23

Exam 2 no lecture posted or office hours, online exam is open book covering material up to and including March 16, available from 4 pm (Montreal time) Mar 21 until 4 pm Mar 24

Mar-25

Ocean acidification – its causes and impacts

Mar 30

Film: The Great Global Warming Swindle Can you provide counter arguments?

Apr 1

Natural Climate Solutions and co-benefits

Apr-6

The plastics problem

Apr-8

Global change synthesis: Planetary boundaries

Apr-13

Are we in the Anthropocene and how do we tell? (revisiting geological time)

Other important dates Friday, Jan 22 add/drop deadline, Thursday April 15 is the last day of classes and a Friday for McGill classes, April 19-30 is the final exam period.

© Gail Chmura, Penny Beames, Sophie Comer-Warner...