Advanced Topics in the Physics, Biology, and Policy of Heat Stress
In a rapidly warming world, large populations are projected to be exposed to combinations of extremely high temperature and humidity that are without historical precedent. Confronting this global-scale challenge requires understanding the processes that cause heat exposure and the impact this exposure has on the human body and human-environmental systems. This course will probe three main questions: 1st, what are the basic physical principles that control temperature and humidity variations and how do they lead to lethal heat waves? 2nd, what is the impact of these temperature and humidity variations on the biology of human beings? 3rd, what are the policy and engineering tools that are available to society to confront this global issue?
Topics
- This course will engage with contemporary inter-disciplinary scholarship on the issue of global heat exposure and aim for students to develop a holistic understanding of the global risk of increasing heat stress. Weekly readings spanning the disciplinary space of climate science, medicine, environmental policy, and sociology will allow for students to understand this issue from multiple perspectives and be better equipped to engage with the emergent solution space for this and other similarly complicated global environmental issues. By forming project groups early in the semester, students will actively engage in a data-driven research project on a theme of their choosing to further develop their understanding of one particular element of this complex issue.
Official catalogue course objectives and student learning outcomes
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026-2027