Time Schedule:
Amy K. Snover
ATM S 585
Seattle Campus
Knowledge of past/future patterns of climate to improve Pacific Northwest resource management. Topics include the predictability of natural/human-caused climate changes; past societal reactions to climate impacts on water, fish, forest, and coastal resources; how climate and public policies interact to affect ecosystems and society. Offered: jointly with ESS 585/ENVIR 585/SMEA 585; Sp.
Class description
This interdisciplinary course focuses on determining cases in which an understanding of Pacific Northwest climate -- its natural variability and projected future changes -- could be used to improve regional natural resource management. Students will develop an understanding of the causes and consequences of natural variations in regional climate (driven by such large-scale climate oscillations as El Niño/La Niña and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation) and projected trends resulting from global warming. We will study the importance of both climate fluctuations and society's reactions to those fluctations for the region’s natural resources, focusing on PNW water, fish, forest, and coastal resources. We will examine the natural, economic, and institutional contexts of regional resource management decisions in order to identify real-world opportunities where existing information about natural climate variability and human-caused global warming could improve regional resource management.
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