Time Schedule:
Edward L Miles
PB AF 586
Seattle Campus
Seminar is designed: first, to analyze the relationships between research and development policy, capabilities, and national technological strategies for advanced industrial and less-developed countries; second, to deal with the international implications of particular technologies as countries try to make policy for them in regional and global organizations. Examples of specific technologies are chosen from such fields as space telecommunication, weather and climate modification, airline transportation, nuclear energy, and seabed exploitation.
Class description
Topic: GOVERNMENTAL RESPONSES TO GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE - Changes in global climate caused by human activities threaten the long-term viability of mankind on the planet. Although our understanding of how human activities affect the world environment is incomplete, it is believed that actions will need to be taken on a planetary scale before major irreversible impacts occur. Changes in human behavior of the magnitudes contemplated may not be achievable, but if they are, governmental institutions will necessarily play a central (though not exclusive) role. The capacity of governments to contribute to sustainable management of the global environment is likely to be limited, however.
This course explores some major questions presented by global climate change: What can governments do, given the scientific uncertainties that obscure the relationships among human activities and the world environment? What should governments attempt to do, given their mixed record of success in managing human affairs? What will governments do, given changes in climate that would affect demographic patterns and economics and political power for centuries?
Student learning goals
General method of instruction
Recommended preparation
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