ABSTRACT
With the snow-less winter of 2007, 3 years after Hurricane Katrina, and now coming to the end of a winter with brutally cold weather in the Midwest and record snow in the Northeast, human-induced climate change is on everyone’s mind. Release of the authoritative United Nations-sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report in February 2007 confirmed for policymakers what most scientists have known for years: Humans are changing the world’s climate by running the biggest uncontrolled global experiment in history. The planning process for staff required several group meetings and conference calls to create cohesion among the faculty, discuss curricular goals, create a working schedule, and discuss reading materials for the students. In the Science of Climate Change, students investigated the global carbon cycle, current and future fuels, and the greenhouse effect. Outside specialists were an important part of the curriculum and brought new and different ideas to the Institute.
