Description of Course

We are confronted daily with news of problems that require a solid foundation in science to evaluate. In this course, we explore a variety of geoscience and environmental science issues that affect the public and are, therefore, also public policy issues. We study the underlying scientific concepts relevant to the problem being addressed, and we discuss how this scientific background needs to be considered as part of the process of making policy decisions. The course also introduces students to how scientists and public policy makers apply the scientific method and the concepts of probability and statistics in the decision-making process.

There is an assigned textbook, which is one of the popular general Earth Science texts for non-majors: Earth Science, by Tarbuck, Lutgens, and Tasa. That textbook covers the details of the various Earth processes explored in the course. There are also other assigned readings, either to elaborate on Earth processes, and/or to add timely, newsworthy topics. But until version 1.0 of this guidebook (January, 2019) the course lacked a written description of my own storyline. I would tell that story throughout the semester's lectures, but it didn't exist anywhere in written form. This online guidebook (now version 4.0) serves as that written version of my roadmap for the course.

Nothing in this course is intended to be an endorsement of any particular political opinion on the topics covered. This is not a forum for partisan politics. The intention is to give us all a better background on the science underlying these issues, so that we can all develop better-informed opinions regarding public policy decisions.

In any given semester, the topics covered in this course are a moving target: New scientific discoveries, and new political challenges, are happening every day. Below is a list of topics that have been covered over the years, and the storyline is expected to continue to include most of these. But given the nature of this course, there are often changes as current events in the world unfold that are relevant to this course:

• Introduction and "Roadmap": Life is Uncertain

• Galileo and the Church: Science, Religion, and Public Policy

• How Old is the Earth?

• Radiometric Dating of Rocks

• Evolution

• Introduction to Global Warming

• The Earth's Atmosphere

• Light and Electromagnetic Radiation

• The Greenhouse Effect

• The COVID-19 Pandemic: Human Health and Earth Systems

• Earthquakes, the Environment, and Living on an Active Planet

• Examples of Predicted Earthquakes

• Probability and Statistics in Science and Public Policy

• The Haicheng, China Earthquake: Is Prediction Possible?

• Sputnik: A Digression

• The Haicheng Earthquake Prediction and U.S. Science Policy

• 1980s & 90s: The Parkfield Earthquake Prediction Experiment

• Earthquake Prediction in the 21st Century, and Beyond...

• Seismic Hazard Analysis

• Earthquake Warning Systems

• Earthquakes in the Eastern United States

The reasons for choosing these topics, and how they fit in with the philosophy and design principle of the course, are described in the next section (Introduction and "Roadmap").