Global Climate Change and the Developing World (GEOL312) is a 4-unit General Education course designed to improve your understanding of the challenges that the developing world faces in the immediate future.  The course satisfies part of the Upper Division Theme requirement of the General Education program.  All undergraduate students are required to complete a 12-unit Upper Division GE Theme.  Geology 312 is in Theme A: Challenge of Change in the Developing World.   The course is taught for General Education students and does not require a background in mathematics or science.

     Global Climate Change and the Developing World is a lecture-only course.  Students meet for 100-minute class periods twice a week.  Student grades are typically determined by 2 to 4 exams, a written or oral presentation, and class participation. 

      It is in the news every day – global warming.  Tropical storms seem more severe than ever.  Droughts in Africa, parts of South America, and Australia are the worst on record.  Water supplies in many areas are threatened by dwindling glaciers.  Sea level rise is creating massive problems for the huge populations living in coastal areas.  Wildlife is threatened with extinction.  What is happening and what is the future going to look like?  What can be done about it?  GEOL312 will help you understand global climate change and how it is affecting your home - planet Earth.

     Global warming is causing sea level rise, rainfall pattern modification, shrinking glaciers, and desert expansion.  Other possible future changes include increased storm intensity, changed agricultural production, species extinction, and extended geographic ranges of tropical diseases. 

     Climatic variation caused by natural forces has occurred throughout Earth history.  Multiple causes have been identified including variation in solar intensity, changes in Earth’s orbit or tilt of its axis, volcanic activity, changes in ocean circulation, and repositioning of the continents.  At least eight glacial events with intervening warm periods have been identified in the last 800,000 years.  Earth’s remaining glaciers are remnants of the last ice age which climaxed 20,000 years ago.  The difference between today’s climate change and all past ones is that the world population is rapidly approaching 7 billion people.

            The Antarctic Ice Sheet is the largest remnant of the Ice Ages.  Icebergs shed from the gradually warming climate drift northward, melt, and add to sea level rise.

     Greenhouse gases released since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution also cause global climate change.  These gases include carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), tropospheric ozone, nitrous oxide, and chlorofluorocarbons (CFC’s).  Since the industrial revolution atmospheric CO2 has increased 36% and methane 148%.  Greenhouse gases absorb heat radiated from the Earth and return it to the surface resulting in increased temperatures.  The land, and especially the oceans, respond very slowly to changes in atmospheric composition.  As a result, even if we stopped emitting greenhouse gases today, the Earth would continue to warm by at least 0.5 ^oF.

    Global temperatures are believed to have been reasonably stable for the 2,000 years previous to 1850 with the exception of the Medieval Warm Period and the Little Ice Age.  In contrast global temperatures have increased 1.35^oF since the period 1850 – 1900.  Warming has accelerated during the last 30 years to 0.22 to 0.40^oF/decade.  NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies determined that 2005 was the warmest year since widespread temperature measurements began in the late 1800’s. 

     Increasing temperature will produce broad environmental changes.  Reduced snow fall in the mountains, melting glaciers, and less rainfall in some areas will result in water shortages.  Combining this with prolonged droughts and desert expansion will have severe impacts in many regions.  These problems will be more severe and difficult to manage in developing countries with high poverty rates.  Increasing population densities in these areas will also add to the problems.

     Raising the temperature of sea water causes it to expand and results in higher sea level.  This combined with melting glaciers can be expected to cause between 3.6 and 35 inches sea level rise by 2100.  A huge portion of the population in developing countries is close to sea level. For example, 8 inches of sea level rise would displace 740,000 people in Nigeria. People in this situation can expect loss of property and forced migration as coastal erosion worsens.  The economic cost of this and other impacts of global warming are widely debated by economists. 

A sudden swell in sea level could be catastrophic for more than a billion people living in low-lying areas, according to researchers with the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The photo taken in coastal Borneo shows the difficult situation that exists in some developing countries. 

     The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1992 was an initial effort for nations to manage greenhouse emissions and begin to lessen human impact on climate. The first objective of this treaty was to inventory the sources and quantities of greenhouse gases being added to the atmosphere.   The Kyoto Protocol or Treaty in 1997 is the principal update to the 1992 treaty.  The Kyoto Treaty established legally binding limits for nations to reduce greenhouse gases and prevent dangerous human interference with the climate. 

     Global warming has produced widespread political and economic debate.  It is probable that the poorest countries will suffer the most severe impacts of global warming while it is the richest nations that are most responsible for creating the problem.  What obligation do the developed countries have to the developing world to reduce the impacts of global warming?  To what extent is it possible to ask emerging countries like India  and China to limit greenhouse gases? 

Coal consumption, often for electricity generation, is a potent source of greenhouse gases.  At 39.7% of the world’s annual coal production, China is by far the leading nation in production and consumption.  Air pollution causes 750,000 premature deaths each year in China.  The Chinese government is now moving rapidly and aggressively to control all forms of pollution across its vast nation.  Students in GEOL312 will learn that the world must nurture promising changes in China while we recognize its right to develop.

     Students taking GEOL312 will learn what they can do to reduce the impacts of global climate change.  Some of the actions are easy and include such things as recycling and insulating your home.  Others may be more difficult such as teaching you friends or lobbying government leaders to confront the problem of climate change.  The government can encourage major changes to clean energy sources.  Business and industry can lead as managers realize that green practices result in high profits.  You will learn that conservation reduces greenhouse gases and improves the quality of life. 

     While climate change presents a serious challenge to all nations, there is cause for optimism.  Scientists have identified humans as the principle cause of global warming.  With this knowledge, people and their nations are reacting in an appropriate way to reduce the adverse effects of climate change.  People all across the globe are showing an understanding that we have a moral imperative to care for the planet and provide a sustainable home for future generations.

            Global Climate Change in the Developing World         Photo Gallery

Most of the information for this webpage came from the following websites:

United States Environmental Protection Agency

          Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

          Union of Concerned Scientists

Contact us for more information about Geology 312 Global Climate Change and the  

                                                                                                           Developing World

Geology Office Physical Sciences Room 216
Telephone (323) 343-2400

                     General Education Courses in Geology
B2 Block Courses in Geology
              Geology 150 Earth Revealed       Geology 155 Oceanography       
B3 Block Courses in Geology       
              Geology 158 Natural Disasters
Under Division Theme Courses in Geology
        Theme A: The Challenge of Change in the Developing World

              Geology 312 Global Climate Change and the Developing World
              Geology 351 Environmental Geology of Developing Nations
        Theme D: Urban Life and Environment
              Geology 357 Urban Geology 

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