Students will make full use of e-mail and conduct Web research for the course. As I write during the summer of 2000, the central environmental issue in the news is climate change and global warming. The forest fires in the West are the worst in years. Winter 1999-2000 was exceptionally mild and short. The last decade was the warmest on record, as was the year 1998.
Scientists say that increasing carbon dioxide emissions are changing the climate.
The economic cost of reducing emissions is hotly contested. Furthermore, Americans are building larger homes, buying larger cars, and driving more. These complex issues demand both a basic understanding of the scientific evidence and an appreciation of the values and philosophies underlying various positions. Computer lab exercises will improve our understanding of systems thinking. First, different sections of Philosophy 450 vary greatly.