Climate Change Minor

Climate change is arguably the most pressing concern of our times. The impacts of climate change touch nearly every aspect of nature and society. Climate change is producing increasingly frequent and intense disturbances to natural resources and the environment, including droughts, flooding, wildfire, cyclones and heat waves. These impacts disrupt nearly every human endeavor, including public health and safety, environmental management and conservation, transportation, settlement patterns, food production, economics, migration, water resources and conflict. The climate change minor will help prepare students for this monumental challenge of global citizenship, and to prepare them for nearly all major fields of employment.

The minor offers a broad and integrated perspective on the intersections of society, nature, and our changing climate systems. Students will learn about the environmental science driving climate change through three foundational courses. Students will also learn about the impacts and vulnerabilities of the scientific and human dimensions of climate change, and methods for researching and presenting findings on climate.

Requirements 

In addition to the program requirements listed below, students must:

  • take at least nine hours of their minor "core" requirements at UNC–Chapel Hill
  • earn a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.000 in the minor core requirements. Some programs may require higher standards for minor or specific courses.

For more information, please consult the degree requirements section of the catalog.

Core Requirements
ENVR 275Global Climate Change: Interdisciplinary Perspectives (spring semester)1
One course from the following list:3
IDEAs in Action General Education logo The Blue Planet: An Introduction to Earth's Environmental Systems H
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Weather and Climate
Global Environmental Change
Climate Science and Methods (select two courses from the following list): 6
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Data Analysis for Earth, Marine, and Environmental Sciences
Paleoclimatology
Blue Carbon and Coastal Environments
Principles of Climate Modeling
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Environmental Conservation and Global Change
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Modeling of Environmental Systems
Synoptic Meteorology
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Climate Change
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Applied Climatology: The Impacts of Climate and Weather on Environmental and Social Systems
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Introduction to Remote Sensing of the Environment
Climate and Energy Transitions: Understanding the Forecasts
Human Impacts or Additional Climate Perspectives (select two courses from the following list): 6
From the Equator to the Poles: Case Studies in Global Environmental Change
International Environmental Politics
Principles of Sustainability
Confronting Climate Change in the Anthropocene
Policy Analysis of Global Climate Change
Global Climate Change: Science, Impacts, Solutions
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Agriculture, Food, and Society
Governance, Institutions, and Global Environmental Change
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Social Vulnerability to Climate Change
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Socialist and Decolonial Ecologies
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Global Environmental Histories: People, Climate, and Landscapes
Planning for Natural Hazards and Climate Risk
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation
Confronting Climate Change in the Anthropocene
Total Hours16
H

Honors version available. An honors course fulfills the same requirements as the nonhonors version of that course. Enrollment and GPA restrictions may apply.

See the program page here for special opportunities.

Department of Geography and Environment

Visit Program Website

205 Carolina Hall, CB# 3220

(919) 962-8901

Chair

Conghe Song

csong@email.unc.edu

Director of Undergraduate Studies

Shorna Allred

shorna@unc.edu

Undergraduate Program Administrator

Nell Phillips

nphillip@email.unc.edu