Introduction to Global Climate Change is a widely popular class that launches students into the Environmental Studies and Science Program at CC. Students in the class get to learn from experts in the climate field who are passionate about the Earth and climate-related matters.
About 2,500 CC students have taken Introduction to Global Climate Change since its inception in 2006.
“We wanted to give students the opportunity to study what we believed would become one of the major issues of their lifetime,” says Dr. Miro Kummel, CC Professor and Associate Director of the Environmental Studies and Science Program, who was part of the group who originally put the class together. “In 2006, the impacts of climate change were not easily seen everywhere around us — we knew that CO2 and methane concentrations in the atmosphere were changing dramatically, the Earth overall was warming, at a relatively slow rate, the warming pattern had just become statistically significant and the first long climate record from an ice core was published just a few years prior. The mathematical modeling was clear on the potential dangers in the future. What was the ‘future’ in 2006 is clearly the present in 2024 and the imperative to educate our students about climate change is as clear as ever.”
The course is taught multiple times a year by several professors in the Environmental Studies and Science Program: Kummel, Assistant Professor Dr. Charlotte Gabrielsen, Assistant Professor Dr. Allison Lawman, Visiting Assistant Professor Dr. Aaron Chesler, and Visiting Assistant Professor Dr. Ulyana Peña, as well as Professor of Geology Dr. Henry Fricke.
The class introduces students to the contemporary earth climate system, with a focus on the roles of the atmosphere, oceans, cryosphere, and land surface, as well as an overview of how the system has changed in the past and what is predicted to change in the future.
“Introduction to Global Climate Change considers the science of Earth’s climate system and the drivers of change within it,” says Gabrielsen, who has taught the class nine times so far. “Our goal is to examine climate – and climate change – from a whole-earth point of view. In this context, we talk about the physics of the climate system to understand, for example, how greenhouse gasses influence Earth’s temperature, or how atmospheric and ocean circulation transport heat around the globe to regulate temperature and maintain energy balance. We also explore historical climate change across varied time scales, ranging from 10s of thousands of years to millennia, and discuss both the drivers of climatic changes within each timescale, as well as the evidence that exists to help scientists reconstruct past climates.”
While this course often serves as an introduction into the Environmental Studies and Science Program, students of all majors can benefit from it as there are so many dimensions to climate change, such as political and sociological matters and economic impacts. Students learn math models to describe the earth’s complex climate system, as well as the role of politics, economics, and ethics in mitigating human impact on our climate system.
“Introduction to Global Climate Change equips students with the knowledge, skills, and perspectives needed to address one of the most pressing challenges of our time,” says Lawman, a climate scientist who joined the Environmental Studies and Science Program in Fall 2023. “By delving into the complexities of climate change, students are equipped to grasp the intricate relationships between human actions and environmental impacts, thus empowering them to engage meaningfully with issues of sustainability and advocate for responsible stewardship of our shared Earth.”
Lawman’s primary goal when teaching Introduction to Global Climate Change is to provide students with a holistic understanding of the science, impacts, and solutions related to climate change by empowering her students with the knowledge and tools to engage critically with climate change.
This course also travels beyond the classroom to give students a real-world look at the field of climate science. Lawman’s Block 1 class toured the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Mesa Lab in Boulder, which gave students a glimpse into the forefront of climate research. While at the lab, students explored the climate change exhibit and the Weather Trail, and heard from guest speakers, including experts in western U.S. hydroclimate and climate justice.
Both Lawman and Gabrielsen took their most recent Introduction to Global Climate Change classes to the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, an ancient lake that contains one of the world’s richest fossil deposits, including several petrified redwood tree stumps.
“Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument served as an invaluable experience for students to witness the geological indicators of past climate variations in Colorado,” Lawman says. “By examining evidence embedded within the fossil record, students gained the ability to place present and future climate trends within the broader context of Earth’s geological history.”
Students in the course have gone on numerous other trips over the years, including to Pikes Peak, Red Rock Canyon Open Space, the Paint Mines Interpretive Park, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, and the National Science Foundation Ice Core Facility in Denver, which serves as the main repository for ice cores collected by the United States.
Mary Oswald ’27, who was in Gabrielsen’s Block 5 class, said that prior to going on the trip to the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, they had learned about the effects of climate change on different ecosystems and environments, which prepared them to better understand what they were viewing once at the monument.
“The Fossil Beds showed real-life evidence of what we were talking about in class, which made the information more tangible,” says Oswald, an Environmental Studies major and Political and Social Philosophy minor. “While walking around the area, we learned that within Colorado, there used to be colossal Redwood trees and many different species, but due to our ever-changing climate, we have a completely different ecosystem.”
Because this class serves as an introduction to many other required courses for Environmental Science and Environmental Studies majors, the Environmental Studies and Science Program faculty work together to determine what fundamental and overarching concepts get covered to ensure students have the necessary background required for courses that follow. Nonetheless, the professors teaching the course have discrepancy in how to teach it, including what, if any, field trips the class takes. In addition, the individual professors teaching the course have different expertise and therefore emphasize different topics.
While students are taught some of the same fundamentals and basics of climate change and climate-related matters, the field is constantly being reported on and updated, so the professors are always adding and updated their material to ensure students get the most up-to-date information.
“My favorite part of the class was the intriguing group work we did, as this allowed me to connect with other like-minded students while furthering my understanding of the topics presented,” says Oswald. She plans to pursue an environmental law degree and was drawn to this course after taking Environment and Society, as she wanted to understand more of the science behind the societal impacts discussed in that class.
For the final project, Gabrielsen’s students use their new scientific foundation to identify a climate change issue that is facing the U.S. Intermountain West and the associated ecosystem services or values that could be impacted. Students conduct extensive research on their issues and work in groups to develop climate communication pieces that advocate for some action to be taken to diminish the effects of the climate change impact. Students must deliver a static ad and a live action presentation or video, as well as an individual paper.
“Ultimately, I want students to gain the confidence to talk about climate change in their daily lives beyond the course,” Gabrielsen says. “Tackling the climate crisis requires innovative thinking and lots of hard work from all of us, so my goal is to equip students with knowledge, resources, and tools to empower them to identify actionable solutions that align with their individual skillsets and passions.”
Kummel’s primary goal when teaching the class is for his students to understand how the climate system works as a whole and how human activities impact the climate system via emissions of greenhouse gasses, smog, and other aerosols, and how land use change can lead to deforestation and desertification.
“I want students to understand how these forcings are amplified or dampened by feedbacks, and how the climate system connections via atmospheric and ocean circulation can spread or concentrate the impacts on the globe,” says Kummel. “I want the students to see that as a complex system, it likely has thresholds that if crossed would bring us to new climate regimes. My other goal is to expose students to primary scientific literature so that they gain a sense of agency in accessing information firsthand.”
Kummel uses a mixture of data interpretation, mini-lectures, Q&A sessions, and collaborative assignments when teaching the class.
Tori Nilsen ’27 decided to take Introduction to Global Climate Change with Kummel in Block 6 after having such a great experience in her first Environmental Studies and Science Program class, American Environmental History.
“Miro is such a passionate and intelligent professor and has made the class so much more fun than just the content,” says Nilsen, who plans to double major in Mathematical Economics and Environmental Studies. “His little tricks for remembering things and diagrams are fun and keep the harsh topic of climate change more light and exciting to learn about.”
Several times a week, Kummel took his Block 6 class outside to experiment with concepts they learned in class, as well as use data collection tools such as thermal cameras.
“Introduction to Global Climate Change has been an interesting and applicable topic to study this block, especially in the context of the particularly warm Colorado winter we experienced this year,” says Sacha Levine ’26, who enrolled in the class after taking Introduction to Earth Systems and deciding to declare an Environmental Science major. “My favorite part of this class has been the climate justice assignment and my final project because both are about Colorado Springs and the Southwest. During the climate justice assignment, we learned about the urban heat islands in Colorado Springs and how the climate crisis needs to be viewed through a social justice lens.” For her final project, Levine is working with two classmates to research the effects of droughts and water insecurity on Indigenous groups in the Southwest.
“Ultimately, I aspire for students to emerge from the class as well-rounded and informed climate citizens, capable of discussing climate change confidently with peers, family, and community members,” Lawman says. “Through this, students can recognize that solutions exist and contribute meaningfully to addressing this global challenge.”
Introduction to Global Climate Change has no pre-requisites and meets the Scientific Investigation of the Natural World and Quantitative Reasoning Critical Perspectives and the Scientific Analysis Critical Learning all-college requirements. It will be offered every block of the Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 semesters.
Leave a comment