ERG 102 - Quantitative Aspects of Global Environmental Problems (Spring)
Harte
Transport and fate of environmental pollutants, impact of human activities on climate, acid precipitation and other interventions in biogeochemical cycles, environmental consequences of nuclear war.
Transport and fate of environmental pollutants, impact of human activities on climate, acid precipitation and other interventions in biogeochemical cycles, environmental consequences of nuclear war.
posted by GSPP EPG at 10:00 AM
5 Comments:
I highly recommend this class, but I should warn you that I spent as much time on it as I did on my IPA project.
You learn the science behind environmental problems and lots of tricks for useful back-of-the-envelope calculations.
Harte is a gifted lecturer.
I don't have a chemistry background, so I particularly struggled with the 5 middle weeks of the class when we worked through the chemical processes associated with acid rain. The key to doing well is to GO TO SECTION PREPARED. Try to finish the problem set before section.
You don't need a rigorous math background to take the class, but it helps if you are comfortable with models.
by the way, this is the class commonly known as "Spherical Cow" (the title of Harte's textbook)
Frequently, and I think rightly quoted as being one of the best classes on campus. It's a lot of work, but very rewarding. Whatever you go in with, you come out able to speak convincingly about most of the important environmental issues of our time while also learning to analyze the potential effectiveness of proposed solutions.
This class is great because it covers a wide range of environmental topics that are directly applicable to our lives, but I must say, if you take it, utilize the TAs office hours! The problem sets can be very defeating. But he is a reasonable grader.
I HATED this class for the first two thirds. But now I LOVE it. Go figure.
At first I hated what seemed a formulist insistence on abstract models and calculations devoid of context or application. And that was lecture - when it came time to do probelm sets (and the very idea of problem sets - having us solve problems that already had answers - what's the point of that!!!???!!!) I was especially incensed.
I only started to thaw when we started actually talking about the science of environmental issues. But still I was maddened that global warming was reduced to a seven-term equation tht was readily admitted to be abstracted beyond recognition of actual processes.
But now AFTER the class, I feel extremely confident, whenever presented with an issue in chemistry, physics, energy, etc that I could pick up a pencil and figure out how to get a workable answer. And many issues I can tackle off the top of my head. I didn't realze I was adding these tools at the time, but now they're some of the most valuable in my toolbox.
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