Climate is perhaps the single most important and pervasive factor controlling global ecosystems and human well-being. This interdisciplinary course examines global climate from a historical perspective, beginning with the formation of the solar system and continuing through geologic time to the present. Topics covered include the development of the atmosphere; the workings of the global “heat engine” of atmosphere, oceans and continents; evidence for past climate change; causes of global climate change; the effects of climate change on human evolution; and the effects of human evolution on the global climate system. This is a team-taught studio lab course satisfying the natural science distribution requirement. Prerequisite: Environmental Studies 101. Also offered as Geology 112 and Physics 112 and through Global Studies .