SOILS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Soil represents the largest terrestrial pool of carbon, and our management of soil will play a key role in the future of our planet. Course topics include overviews of basic soil science and climate change science; how climate affects soil formation, soil carbon and soil organic matter; soil carbon dynamics in urban areas, the tropics, and the arctic; how humans influence soil carbon stocks around the globe.
Topics
- overviews of basic soil science and climate change science
- how climate affects soil formation
- soil carbon and soil organic matter
- soil carbon dynamics in urban areas
- the tropics
- and the arctic
- how humans influence soil carbon stocks around the globe
Topics explicitly listed in official catalogue description
Prerequisites & course information
Requisites: None Course Designation: Core GenEd - Natural Science & Wellness Breadth - Physical Science Level - Elementary L&S Credit - L&S Liberal Arts and Science Repeatable for Credit: No Learning Outcomes: 1. Explain the role of climate as a soil forming factor. Audience: Undergraduate 2. Describe the components of the terrestrial carbon cycle and how land management decisions and other human actions affect each component. Audience: Undergraduate 3. Explain the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of the sustainability challenge of enhancing soil carbon sequestration to mitigate climate change. Audience: Undergraduate 4. Describe the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of conversion from traditional agriculture to regenerative agriculture and identify potential tradeoffs and interrelationships among these dimensions at a level appropriate to the course. Audience: Undergraduate 5. Predict how warming in the arctic may affect the release of greenhouse gasses, including CO2, N2O, and CH4 using reasonable assumptions and basic calculations. Audience: Undergraduate Learning Outcomes: 1. Explain the role of climate as a soil forming factor. Audience: Undergraduate 2. Describe the components of the terrestrial carbon cycle and how land management decisions and other human actions affect each component. Audience: Undergraduate 3. Explain the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of the sustainability challenge of enhancing soil carbon sequestration to mitigate climate change. Audience: Undergraduate 4. Describe the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of conversion from traditional agriculture to regenerative agriculture and identify potential tradeoffs and interrelationships among these dimensions at a level appropriate to the course. Audience: Undergraduate 5. Predict how warming in the arctic may affect the release of greenhouse gasses, including CO2, N2O, and CH4 using reasonable assumptions and basic calculations. Audience: Undergraduate
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026-2027