Syllabus

EESC W1201, Fall 2016

Environmental Risks and Disasters

(http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/~ekstrom/Courses/W1201)

Professor Göran Ekström

(845-365-8427, ekstrom@ldeo.columbia.edu)


Work:

Lectures Tuesday and Thursday, 11:40-12:55, Schermerhorn 603.

There will be problem sets. These will involve "scientific insight" type questions, calculations exploring physical relationships, and the statistical manipulation of data.

Discussion section meets once per week. Discussion will focus on topics relevant to the problem sets.

The grade will be based on the two hourly exams (15%+15%), the problem sets (30%), and the final (40%).

Text: Natural Disasters, 9th edition by P. L. Abbott (available at Book Culture). The 8th edition is also fine.

Lecture notes and additional readings will be posted on the course web site.


Lecture Topics:

Week 1. What is risk? (1).


Week 2. What is risk? (2).
Week 3. Natural disasters (1).
Week 4. Natural disasters (2).
Week 5. Natural disasters (3).
Week 6. Natural disasters (4).
Week 7. Natural disasters (5).
Week 8. Natural disasters (6).
Week 9. Exposure risks (1).
Week 10. Exposure risks (2).
Week 11. Exposure risks (3).
Week 12. Second hourly and Thanksgiving
Week 13. Environmental change and control (1).
Week 14. Environmental change and control (2).
Göran Ekström, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Columbia University
Last modified: 2016-08-10