1 Residence Unit-Climate School

1 RU Climate School

1 RU Full Time Enrollment in the Climate School

• Instructor: Cari E Shimkus
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• 0 points

1/2 RU Climate School

1/2 RU tuition for Climate School students

• Instructor: Cari E Shimkus
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• 0 points

1/4 Residence Unit Climate School

1/4 RU Climate School

1/4 RU tuition for Climate School Students

• Instructor: Cari E Shimkus
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• 0 points

Extended Residence Climate School

Extended Residence CLIM

Extended Residence enrollment category for Climate School students.

• Instructor: Cari E Shimkus
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• 0 points

Quant Methods for Climate Applications

Quant Methods-CLMT Applic

Required course for students in the Climate and Society MA program. An overview of how climate-societal and intra-societal relationships can be evaluated and quantified using relevant data sets, statistical tools, and dynamical models. Concepts and methods in quantitative modeling, data organization, and statistical analysis, with applications to climate and climate impacts. Students will also do some simple model experiments and evaluate the results. Lab required. Pre-requisites: undergraduate-level coursework in introductory statistics or data analysis; knowledge of calculus; basic familiarity with R programming language.

• TR 2:40 p.m.-3:55 p.m.
• 4 points

REGIONAL CLIMATE SCIENCES AND FORECASTIN

REGNL CLIMATE & FORECASTI

Prerequisites: CLMT GR5001, CLMT GR5002. Effective climate adaptation requires the wise application of climate information to decision making on an everyday basis. Many decisions in society are at local scales, and regional climate information considered at appropriate scales and in appropriate forms co-developed by scientists, forecast providers and users is central to the concept of climate services. Students will build an understanding of the dynamics of climate variability and change at regional and local scales, along with the sources of modern climate information used to help manage climate-related risks and adapt to climate change. This includes hands-on Climate Data Analysis and proactive Risk Analysis using historical climate data, real-time monitoring, climate forecasts, and climate change projections.

• W 1:10 p.m.-3:40 p.m.
• Instructor: Andrew Robertson
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• 3 points

Applications in Climate and Society

Applications in Clim & So

This seminar is focused on practical applications of climate information and research. The objective of the course is to teach students to integrate their understanding of climate science, social science, policy studies, and communications to address real world problems, especially those they will encounter in academia or on the job after graduation.

• F 10:10 a.m.-12:40 p.m.
• Instructor: Andrew J Kruczkiewicz
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• 3 points

Climate Change Mitigation

This survey course provides an overview of the tools (technologies, policies, etc.) that can be used to mitigate the impacts of climate change. This course will utilize scenario planning frameworks to explore pathways to economy-wide decarbonization. In this work, the course will explore not only the technical options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions but also the policy responses, market-structures, and behavioral change that can support progress to net-zero. The course will also utilize a series of case studies of decarbonization pathways for different geographies in low- middle- and high-income countries to provide insights on mitigation strategies, including risks and opportunities. This course is intentionally multidisciplinary, weaving together STEM, policy, and other social sciences. It will be primarily focused on applications of mitigation solutions and will highlight both what net-zero “end states” may look like and the transition pathways to achieve these end states.

• M 10:10 a.m.-12:40 p.m.
• Instructor: Lisa E Sachs
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• 3 points

Social Impact: Business, Society & the E

Soc Impacts: Bus, Soc & E

The Social Impact: Business, Society, and the Natural Environment course explores the relationship between corporations, society, and the natural environment. Specifically, it examines the ways in which governments, (for-profit and non-profit) organizations, and investors (fail to) have positive impact and manage issues where the pursuit of private goals is deemed inconsistent with the public interest.

• W 1:10 p.m.-3:40 p.m.
• Instructor: Caroline Flammer
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• 3 points

Climate Mobility

It is widely accepted that climate factors can and do affect human mobility, though the degree of their influence varies depending on local contexts. In the case of population displacement, rapid onset climate extremes have a relatively direct impact on mobility, and for longer-term migration climate factors also have been shown to play a role, often mediated by more direct drivers. There is a growing recognition that underlying institutional and structural factors (i.e., root causes) shape the way the climate stressors impact local migration decision-making, and that cultural proclivities and inequitable access to resources, markets, and political power structures often set the stage for ensuing migration flows (domestic and international). In many low income settings the donor and development assistance community are grappling with these complex nexus issues as they seek to develop policies and programs that reduce the potential for distress or mass migration. Responses to date generally fall into four categories; 1) those that address the livelihood aspects of climate migration -- e.g., by improving the prospects for local adaptation; 2) those that seek to facilitate mobility as an adaptation mechanism; 3) those that resettle people in new locations and offer migrant protections; and 4) those that seek to mitigate the impacts of those movements, including environmental impacts, on receiving communities. In high income settings, responses to current and potentially increased immigration from developing countries tends to fall into two camps: a resurgent nationalism with measures to prevent or deter migration versus more migrant-friendly policies that seek to protect migrant rights while acknowledging responsibility for historic greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, high income countries are facing climate impacts of their own such as sea level rise, riparian flooding and massive fires that have displaced thousands and prompted managed retreat from at-risk areas. All this has brought to the fore questions of equity and climate justice as marginalized populations everywhere are often disproportionately affected and least compensated. This interdisciplinary course focuses on the social, demographic, economic, political, environmental and climatic factors that shape human mobility, while addressing the legal categories of international mobility (e.g., migrant versus refugee). We explore underlying drivers of the various types of migration – from forced to voluntary and those forms in between – in ord

• R 12:10 p.m.-2 p.m.
• Instructor: Alexander M Desherbinin
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• 3 points

Post-Disaster Recovery: Housing/Economic

This course is designed as an elective to the Climate and Society Master of Arts degree program. The purpose of this course is to prepare those entering the climate policy and practice workforce for addressing these challenges and solutions by providing an overview of the fields of economic and housing recovery within the context of climate change and climate driven disasters.

• R 10:10 a.m.-noon
• 3 points

Toward Climate Resilience and Justice

Toward CLMT Resilience &

“Toward Climate Resilience and Justice: Caribbean Basin
is a (3) credit elective course offered in the Columbia Climate School Masters of Climate and Society Program.
Taught in a collaborative format with GSAPP’s Water Urbanism Design (UD) Studio, this course will explore climate justice and action through the intersections of urban planning, design, and policy in support of communities and ecologies on the frontlines of the climate crisis.

• F 1:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
• Instructor: Johanna Lovecchio
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• 3 points

Food Systems & Climate Interactions

Food Syst. & CLMT Interac

This graduate-level course provides an overview of current and future anthropogenic climate change impacts on food systems and vice versa. The first half of the course will explore the relationship between climate change impacts across food systems and how we grow, transport, process, and consume food impact climate and environmental change. The second half of the course will explore mitigation and adaptation measures across food systems. Throughout the course, we will undertake deep-dive case studies to provide local context to this complex relationship between climate change and food.

• M 1:10 p.m.-3:40 p.m.
• Instructor: Jessica Fanzo
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• 3 points

Politics of Climate in Asia

Asia accounts for 60% of the world population while producing more than 30% of the global GDP. The region is also known for its hot spots of greenhouse gas emissions, water and air pollution, forest degradation, and biodiversity loss, all of which invite large-scale disasters and climate change. The region has special vulnerabilities, including extensive coastal populations susceptible to rising sea levels, large river basins prone to flooding, and many workers in climate-sensitive sectors, such as agriculture and tourism. By dividing the topics into problems, perceptions, and solutions, we try to grasp how politics matter in climate change policy and what we can do about it.

Nonetheless, prioritizing the environmental agenda is a challenge, especially in countries still suffering from domestic poverty, inequality, and lack of basic infrastructure. It is estimated that China alone has more than 100 million people living under $1 a day. It is not surprising, therefore, that governments of developing countries emphasize economic development and infrastructure building at the expense of the environment. In this context, what role can relevant stakeholders, such as foreign donors, media, and civil society organizations/NGOs play in mainstreaming the climate agenda in local contexts where economic development or other political concerns are urgently sought after?

By delving deep into the context of societies in Asia, we explore the potential of existing efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change and the dilemmas that decision-makers are facing. The first few sessions will be devoted to the developmental foundations of Asian societies that shape the range of climate and environmental policy choices. The second few sessions will focus on the “solutions” and the risk and unintended consequences they might incur. Greater emphasis will be placed on the use and conservation of natural resources (such as forests, minerals, water, and land) where “politics” affect the direction of climate mitigation and adaptation.

• W 10:10 a.m.-12:40 p.m.
• Instructor: Jin Sato
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• 3 points

History of the Climate Crisis

The climate crisis is a defining feature of contemporary life. How did we get here? This course considers the historical, social, ethical, and political life of global warming in an effort to better understand the present climate age. Themes and topics include: the origins of fossil fuel-based energy systems and the cultural life of oil; the history of climate science and the geopolitics of climate knowledge production; the emergence of climate change as a global political issue; debates about political responses to climate change versus market-based approaches; the question of culpability and who should be held responsible for causing global warming; and the recent emergence of a global climate justice movement and its relationship to racial justice and indigenous rights movements.

• M 4:10 p.m.-6:40 p.m.
• Instructor: Leah V Aronowsky
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• 3 points

Food Equity, Ethics, and Politics

Food Equity, Ethics, Poli

Ensuring food security for the growing global population is a grand challenge with many competing, contentious issues. Conflicts regarding land, technology, natural resources, subsidies, inequity, migration, and trade all play out in the food policy arena. Some argue that to effectively address food security, global food systems must be efficient, equitable, and sustainable. However, the political framing of how food systems are designed, function, and governed is determined by a complex set of networks of individuals and institutions with vested interests. This course is designed to introduce and guide students to:



 Investigate the equity and ethical issues of food systems in policy and practice. 





Think critically about various conflicting views of who is vulnerable, marginalized, and disadvantaged across food systems, why, and the consequences of those inequities.  





Explore where there are inequities in accessing food and the implications of policies in achieving food security.  





Examine the range of food policies and the political landscape of food in high-, middle-, and low-income countries that impact global food security, human nutrition, and broader aspects of health, food safety, economics, and the environment and climate. 





Deliberate and debate who is responsible for ensuring food systems are equitable and through which policy instruments. 



The course borrows tools from food systems, political science, practical ethics, political philosophy, and theories of justice to illuminate these issues that determine our common future and the way we personally and socially relate to the food we grow and eat.

• W 4:10 p.m.-6:40 p.m.
• Instructor: Jessica Fanzo
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• 3 points

Climate Risk Assessment

This graduate-level course surveys the many components that go into climate risk assessment, with an emphasis on climate impacts and vulnerability.  We will survey the latest research on climate hazards, with an emphasis on the types of extreme weather events that have the largest societal impacts.  We will then explore these impacts in detail, by sector and system.  We will next investigate determinants of vulnerability, and how vulnerability magnifies climate impacts.  We then query how climate solutions can be integrated into risk assessments in a recursive manner. Throughout the course, we will strike a balance between foundational (‘IPCC-type’) examples on the one hand, and emerging topics like compound extreme events and existential risk on the other.  Throughout the course we will study and employ a number of risk assessment methodologies, based on case studies from within the private, public, and non-profit sectors.

• W 10:10 a.m.-12:40 p.m.
• Instructor: Radley M Horton
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• 3 points

Extreme Weather Events and Climate Chang

Extreme Weather and Clima

This seminar class will give an overview of the current knowledge of extreme weather events and the impact of anthropogenic climate change on their characteristics. We will start the course by defining extreme weather events and the current state-of-the-art knowledge of how anthropogenic activities influence them, including trends, detection and attribution, as well as future projections. We will discuss the methods typically used for analyzing extreme events and what are the existing uncertainties. The existing warning systems and forecasts for extreme events will be briefly discussed, including their communication and impacts and possible mitigation measures.

Every class (except the last one) will be divided in two parts, the first part will be a lecture, the second an in-class activity for the students, mostly consisting of reading current peer-reviewed papers, both general and specialized papers (if available), on the topic of each class and having discussions about them. The students are expected to read 1 - 2 papers per week and should be able to synthetize their key results, explain them to the class, as well as consider the caveats in the methodology used and possible new avenues to explore in the future. The students will be expected to write 1 – 2 paragraphs about one of the papers per week on courseworks discussion board besides engaging with other students about the readings in class. The papers will be assigned individually or in group, depending on the size of the class.

If there are extreme events occurring during the weeks of the course, we will discuss those case studies, including their forecasts, impacts. 

At the end of the course, the students will present a project based on an extreme event of their choice. They can choose for their project to study either a specific event, such as Hurricane Sandy, or class of events affecting a specific area, such as tornadoes in Oklahoma, and summarize what is known and what they learned about that specific event, focusing on either the meteorological conditions, or their impacts and future risk. The students are expected to use peer reviewed literature for their project and are encouraged to attempt to do new data analysis on the topic, if possible. The instructor will work with the students throughout the course through two outlines to help setting the expectations for the project. The projects will be done in individually or in group, depending on the size of the class.

• T 10:10 a.m.-12:40 p.m.
• Instructor: Suzana J de Camargo
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• 1.5 points

Energy Justice Seminar

The field of energy justice is evolving rapidly and is now a burgeoning field of real-world practices driving equity and justice considerations into major domestic and international financial instruments as well as on-the-ground energy projects of significant magnitude. Drawing on guest speakers, including practitioners from the field, this energy justice seminar will give students detailed insight into the latest thinking and practice and help prepare students to work in this field. The seminar will be inherently interdisciplinary, drawing from multiple disciplines, including but not limited to law, sociology, public health, and economics. It will cover topics relating to energy justice in the areas of policy and regulation, community advocacy, legal implications, health implications, and private sector innovation. At the end of the seminar, students should have a good understanding of this topic but also be prepared to analyze, critique, and contribute to the academic and policy debates about energy justice.

• F 1:10 p.m.-3:40 p.m.
• Instructor: Sheila Foster
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• 1.5 points

Quantitative Methods - LAB

Lab section corresponding to CLMT 5002 Quantitative Methods for Climate Applications

• R 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
• R 6:10 p.m.-8 p.m.
• 0 points

Integrative and Justice-Centered Researc

Research in Environ. & Cl

This discussion and presentation-based course will provide exposure to integrative research design through case studies across a range of key topics, with a focus on questions relating to climate and environment. The course will explore how the combination of traditional approaches and innovations in theory and methods can advance research by generating integrative, cross-cutting questions and creatively leveraging newly available technologies. Research design issues, data limitations, systemic constraints and anticipated future developments will be considered for each subject area. Students will be exposed to the challenges, limitations, and processes of successful studies, as well as less successful programs, to provide a practical awareness and guidance toward the development of their own research projects. All discussions and critical analysis of case studies will be centered in a co-production framework, with the aim of increasing our awareness of how academic research intersects with climate and environmental justice, and, ideally, how researchers can better contribute toward a just and sustainable world.

• T 10:10 a.m.-12:40 p.m.
• Instructor: Kristina Douglass
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• 3 points