Middlebury

ECSC 0353

Hydroclimate and Wildfire

Hydroclimate and Wildfire in the Western US
Rainfall extremes and wildfire impacts in the western US are becoming increasingly prevalent in popular discourse. In this course we will draw on a variety of resources, including scientific papers, paleoclimate proxy data, long-form journalism, and indigenous knowledge to explore the climate history of the western US, with a focus on variability in the hydrologic cycle and wildfire patterns over the last ~20,000 years. We will discuss how climate change and other anthropogenic factors like water infrastructure and land management practices, interface with these natural systems and will situate the current hydroclimate/wildfire paradigm of the western US in the broader geologic context of the late Pleistocene and Holocene.
Subject:
Earth & Climate Sciences
Department:
Earth & Climate Sciences
Division:
Natural Sciences
Requirements Fulfilled:
SCI

Sections in Fall 2024, Midd Second Half of Term

Fall 2024

ECSC0353A-F24 Lecture (de Wet)
ECSC0353Y-F24 Discussion (de Wet)
ECSC0353Z-F24 Discussion (de Wet)