This course provides an introduction to the complex Earth System (which encompasses the solid earth, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere), and our interactions with it. Using the Earth System as a framework, and coupled with the over-arching theme of sustainability, key concepts/issues relevant to engineers are dealt with, including: population demographics and resource usage; geopolitics; modeling of “fuzzy” systems; risk assessment and risk management; local- and global-scale impacts of engineering works on the government; short- and long-term natural and anthropogenic changes (including global warming); moral and ethical considerations.
