1. Teaching Systems Principles and Policy Applications Using a Reduced-Scale Carbon Cycle Model for Global Warming
- Author
-
Douglas Crawford-Brown and Sarah LaRocca
- Subjects
Earth system science ,Carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere ,Biogeochemical cycle ,Ecology ,Computer science ,Scale (chemistry) ,Global warming ,General Earth and Planetary Sciences ,Environmental economics ,Scientific modelling ,Education ,Variety (cybernetics) ,Carbon cycle - Abstract
The Carbon Cycle module provides a tool for interdisciplinary, team-based assessment of the causes and solutions to changes in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, for use in high-school or introductory undergraduate courses in earth systems science or environmental science. A reduced-scale model (i.e. a model whose complexity is well below that of full scientific models, and yet reproduces the behavior of those more complex models) has been developed that allows students to systematically explore the relationship between a variety of biogeochemical processes, and their interactions with social processes, as these relate to the accumulation of carbon in the atmosphere. The module walks the students through the construction of the model, through exercises in which simulations are performed of changes in either environmental processes or society's use of energy, and through use of the model to identify effective policies for reduction of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Through use of such a module, students can un...
- Published
- 2006