Students are encouraged to use materials from previous classes as supplemental and research material throughout the course. This includes materials from the versions of the course run in 2016, 2017, and 2018. Materials may be browsed by topic or by type.
In the News
Readings
Lecture Notes
Student Projects
Graebur, David. “If Politicians Can’t Face Climate Change, Extinction Rebellion Will.” The New York Times. May 1, 2019.
Harder, Amy. “The Key to Unlocking Wind and Solar: Making it last.” Axios. April 29, 2019.
Knight, Sam. “The Uncanny Power of Greta Thunberg’s Climate-Change Rhetoric.” The New Yorker. April 24, 2019.
Goodell, Jeff. “Welcome to the Age of Climate Migration.” Rolling Stone. February 28, 2018.
Albeck-Ripka, Livia. “How Six Americans Changed Their Minds About Global Warming.” The New York Times. February 21, 2018.
Myers, Ben and Erica Lusk. “Rising Threat.” The Chronicle of Higher Education. December 6, 2017.
Gertner, Jon. “Is It O.K. to Tinker With the Environment to Fight Climate Change?” The New York Times. April 18, 2017.
Harvey, Chelsea. “A Landmark Climate Lawsuit Against Trump is Scheduled for Trial Next Year. Here’s What to Expect.” The Washington Post. July 5, 2017.
Jones, Nicola. “How the World Passed a Carbon Threshold and Why It Matters.” Yale Environment 360. January 26, 2017.
Gillis, Justin. “2015 Was Hottest Year in Historical Record, Scientists Say.” The New York Times. January 20, 2016.
World Climate Simulation. ClimateInteractive.org
“2020: The Climate Turning Point.” NewClimate Institute. April 10, 2017.
“Decarbonizing the Global Economy.” Global Development And Environment Institute. November, 2017.
Howard, Guy, et al. “Climate Change and Water and Sanitation: Likely Impacts and Emerging Trends for Action.” Annual Review of Environment and Resources 41 (2016): 253–276.
Steffen, Will, et al. “Planetary Boundaries: Guiding Human Development on a Changing Planet.” Science 347, no. 6223 (2015).
Whitmee, Sarah et al. “Safeguarding Human Health in the Anthropocene Epoch: Report of The Rockefeller Foundation–Lancet Commission on Planetary Health.” The Lancet 386, no. 10007 (2015): 1973–2028.
“Greenovate Boston: 2014 Climate Action Plan Update.” City of Boston.
Lobdell, David and Sharon Gourdji. “The Influence of Climate Change on Global Crop Productivity.” Plant Physiology 160, no. 4 (2012): 1686–1697.
Strauss, William and Laurenz Schmidt. “A Look at the Details of CO2 Emissions from Burning Wood vs. Coal (PDF).” FutureMetric. January 2012.
Economic Commission for Europe International Network of Basin Organizations. “Water and Climate Change Adaptation in Transboundary Basins: Lessons Learned and Good Practices.” UNECE. 2015.
WWF UK. “Greta Thunberg Full Speech to UK Parliament | Climate Strikes.” April 24, 2019. YouTube.
Dennis, Danfung and Eric Strauss. “This is Climate Change: Melting Ice.” With.in. 2018.
Williams College. “James Hansen at Williams College.” March 17, 2017. YouTube.
“This Country Isn’t Just Carbon Neutral—It’s Carbon Negative.” TED. 2016.
“The Inside Story of the Paris Climate Agreement.” TED. 2016.
TedxTalks. “TEDxCanberra - Will Steffen - The Anthropocene.” November 14, 2010.
An Inconvenient Truth: A Global Warning. Paramount, 2006.
An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power. Paramount, 2017.
Chasing Ice. National Geographic, 2012.
Before the Flood. National Geographic, 2016.
How to Let Go of the World and Love all the Things Climate Can’t Change. HBO, 2016.
Years of Living Dangerously. Season 2 Episode 2 “Gathering Storm”, 2016.
Are We Changing Planet Earth? BBC, 2006.
Can We Save Planet Earth? BBC, 2006.
Cool It. Roadside Attractions, 2010.
U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change
Yale Program on Climate Change Communication
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
Moomaw, William. “To Curb Climate Change, We Need to Protect and Expand US Forests.” The Conversation. May 8, 2017.
US Senator for Maine Angus King. “Collins, King, Klobuchar Biomass Amendment Passes Senate,” press release. February 3, 2016.
“Elinor Ostrom: Facts.” NobelPrize.org. 2009.
Walljasper, Jay. “Elinor Ostrom’s 8 Principles for Managing a Commons.” On the Commons. October 2, 2011.
Books by Elinor Ostrom:
Ostrom, Elinor, and Charlotte Hess. Understanding Knowledge as a Commons: From Theory to Practice. MIT Press, 2007. ISBN: 9780262516037.Smith, Pete, et al. “Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU).” IPCC.
Lobdell, David and Sharon Gourdji. “The Influence of Climate Change on Global Crop Productivity.” Plant Physiology 160, no. 4 (2012): 1686–1697.
Duffy, Philip, et al. “Letter to the Senate on Carbon Neutrality of Forest Biomass.” Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies. February 26, 2016.
Alexandratos, Nikos and Jelle Bruinsma. “World Agriculture: Towards 2030/2050.” Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. June 2012.
The State of the World’s Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture: Managing Systems at Risk. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and Earthscan. 2011.
Patagonia. “Regenerative Organic Certification (2018).” March 5, 2018. YouTube.
TEDxTalks. “The Other Inconvenient Truth | Jonathan Foley | TEDxTC.” September 2, 2011. YouTube.
“Rebeldes: A Journey Through New Mexican Agriculture.” Terrascope. May 11, 2016.
U.S. Forest Service: National Lichens & Air Quality Database and Clearinghouse
Senthilingam, Meera. “Depression, Anxiety, PTSD: The Mental Impact of Climate Change.” CNN. March 14, 2017.
Kristof, Nicholas. “Why 2017 May Be the Best Year Ever.” The New York Times. January 21, 2017.
Whitmee, Sarah et al. “Safeguarding Human Health in the Anthropocene Epoch: Report of The Rockefeller Foundation–Lancet Commission on Planetary Health.” The Lancet 386, no. 10007 (2015): 1973–2028.
Funkhouser, David. “Jefferey Shaman: What Makes the Flu Spread?” State of the Planet. July 10, 2017.
Delvisco, Jeffery and Dominic Smith. “Climate Change: It’s the Mother of All Health Issues.” STAT. April 24, 2017.
Graebur, David. “If Politicians Can’t Face Climate Change, Extinction Rebellion Will.” The New York Times. May 1, 2019.
Harder, Amy. “The Key to Unlocking Wind and Solar: Making It Last.” Axios. April 29, 2019.
Knight, Sam. “The Uncanny Power of Greta Thunberg’s Climate-Change Rhetoric.” The New Yorker. April 24, 2019.
Goodell, Jeff. “Welcome to the Age of Climate Migration.” Rolling Stone. February 28, 2018.
Albeck-Ripka, Livia. “How Six Americans Changed Their Minds About Global Warming.” The New York Times. February 21, 2018.
Myers, Ben and Erica Lusk. “Rising Threat.” The Chronicle of Higher Education. December 6, 2017.
Gertner, Jon. “Is It O.K. to Tinker With the Environment to Fight Climate Change?” The New York Times. April 18, 2017.
Harvey, Chelsea. “A Landmark Climate Lawsuit Against Trump is Scheduled for Trial Next Year. Here’s What to Expect.” The Washington Post. July 5, 2017.
Jones, Nicola. “How the World Passed A Carbon Threshold and Why It Matters.” Yale Environment 360. January 26, 2017.
Gillis, Justin. “2015 Was Hottest Year in Historical Record, Scientists Say.” The New York Times. January 20, 2016.
Abel, David. “Rising Seas Made the Latest Storm Surges More Potent, and Newly Discovered Records Help Prove It.” Boston Globe. March 8, 2018.
Calma, Justine. “Hurricane Maria Hit Women in Puerto Rico the Hardest. And They’re the Ones Building it Back.” Grist. March 8, 2018.
Hardy, Devon. “Hydroelectric Power and the Water-Energy Nexus.” IWA. December 22, 2017.
Myers, Ben and Erica Lusk. “Rising Threat.” The Chronicle of Higher Education. December 6, 2017.
Kolbert, Elizabeth. “The Siege of Miami.” The New Yorker. December 13, 2015.
Senthilingam, Meera. “Depression, Anxiety, PTSD: The Mental Impact of Climate Change.” CNN. March 14, 2017.
Kristof, Nicholas. “Why 2017 May Be the Best Year Ever.” The New York Times. January 21, 2017.
Blain, Loz. “‘World’s First Working Thermal Battery’ Promises Cheap, Eco-Friendly, Grid-Scalable Energy Storage.” New Atlas. April 1, 2019.
Childers, Linda. “How VR Enhances the Business School Experience.” U.S. News & Reports. March 28, 2019.
Strickland, Ashley. “After 15 years, the Mars Opportunity Rover’s Mission Has Ended.” CNN. February 14, 2019.
Moomaw, William. “To Curb Climate Change, We Need to Protect and Expand US Forests.” The Conversation. May 8, 2017.
US Senator for Maine Angus King. “Collins, King, Klobuchar Biomass Amendment Passes Senate,” press release. February 3, 2016.
Saxe, Rebecca. “Beyond the Classroom: Learning from Students.” MIT Faculty Newsletter 25, no. 5 (2013).
Preston, Douglas. “The Day the Dinosaurs Died.” The New Yorker. March 29, 2019.
Friedman, Thomas. “The Other Arab Spring.” The New York Times. April 7, 2012.
Choi, Charles. “Comets: Facts About The ‘Dirty Snowballs’ of Space.” Space.com. October 24, 2007.
Saxe, Rebecca. “Beyond the Classroom: Learning from Students.” MIT Faculty Newsletter 25, no. 5 (2013).
Wotzak, Rob. “Best Energy-Smart Home 2017: Net-Positive in New England.” Houses 267 (2017).
Murcott, Susan. “D-Lab and MIT IDEAS Global Challenge: Lessons in Mentoring, Transdisciplinarity and Real World Engineering for Sustainable Development.” In New Developments in Engineering Education for Sustainable Development. Leal Filho W., Nesbit S. (eds). World Sustainability Series. Springer, Cham, 2016.
“Greenovate Boston: 2014 Climate Action Plan Update.” City of Boston.
Example Dream Project Summary: Protecting Rapid Transit Infrastructure from Extreme Precipitation Events (PDF)
Preston, Douglas. “The Day the Dinosaurs Died.” The New Yorker. March 29, 2019.
Friedman, Thomas. “The Other Arab Spring.” The New York Times. April 7, 2012.
Choi, Charles. “Comets: Facts About The ‘Dirty Snowballs’ of Space.” Space.com. October 24, 2007.
TEDxTalks. “TEDxWarwick - David MacKay - How the Laws of Physics Constrain Our Sustainable Energy Options.” March 22, 2012. YouTube.
“Paris to Pittsburgh.” National Geographic. December 12, 2018.
Merchants of Doubt. Sony Pictures, 2014.
World Climate Simulation. ClimateInteractive.org
“2020: The Climate Turning Point.” NewClimate Institute. April 10, 2017.
“Decarbonizing the Global Economy.” Global Development And Environment Institute. November, 2017.
Howard, Guy, et al. “Climate Change and Water and Sanitation: Likely Impacts and Emerging Trends for Action.” Annual Review of Environment and Resources 41 (2016): 253–276.
Steffen, Will, et al. “Planetary Boundaries: Guiding Human Development on a Changing Planet.” Science 347, no. 6223 (2015).
Whitmee, et al. “Safeguarding Human Health in the Anthropocene Epoch: Report of The Rockefeller Foundation–Lancet Commission on Planetary Health.” The Lancet 386, no. 10007 (2015): 1973–2028.
“Greenovate Boston: 2014 Climate Action Plan Update.” City of Boston.
Lobdell, David and Sharon Gourdji. “The Influence of Climate Change on Global Crop Productivity.” Plant Physiology 160, no. 4 (2012): 1686–1697.
Strauss, William and Laurenz Schmidt. “A Look at the Details of CO2 Emissions From Burning Wood vs. Coal (PDF).” FutureMetric. January 2012.
Economic Commission for Europe International Network of Basin Organizations. “Water and Climate Change Adaptation in Transboundary Basins: Lessons Learned and Good Practices.” UNECE. 2015.
Howard, Guy, et al. “Climate Change and Water and Sanitation: Likely Impacts and Emerging Trends for Action.” Annual Review of Environment and Resources 41 (2016): 253–276.
Baker, Aryn. “What It’s Like To Live Through Cape Town’s Massive Water Crisis.” TIME. February 19, 2018.
Ross, Helen, Bronwyn Powell, and Suzanne Hoverman. “Public Participation and Community Engagement for Water Resource Management in the Pacific.” International Water Centre. May 2008.
United Nations World Water Assessment Programme. “The United Nations World Water Development Report 2015: Water for a Sustainable World.” UNESCO. 2015.
Economic Commission for Europe International Network of Basin Organizations. “Water and Climate Change Adaptation in Transboundary Basins: Lessons Learned and Good Practices.” UNECE. 2015.
Whitmee, et al. “Safeguarding Human Health in the Anthropocene Epoch: Report of The Rockefeller Foundation–Lancet Commission on Planetary Health.” The Lancet 386, no. 10007 (2015): 1973–2028.
Wotzak, Rob. “Best Energy-Smart Home 2017: Net-Positive in New England.” Houses 267 (2017).
“Elinor Ostrom: Facts.” NobelPrize.org. 2009.
Walljasper, Jay. “Elinor Ostrom’s 8 Principles for Managing A Commmons.” On the Commons. October 2, 2011.
Books by Elinor Ostrom:
Ostrom, Elinor, and Charlotte Hess. Understanding Knowledge as a Commons: From Theory to Practice. MIT Press, 2007. ISBN: 9780262516037.Smith, Pete, et al. “Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU).” IPCC.
Lobdell, David and Sharon Gourdji. “The Influence of Climate Change on Global Crop Productivity.” Plant Physiology 160, no. 4 (2012): 1686–1697.
Duffy, Philip, et al. “Letter to the Senate on Carbon Neutrality of Forest Biomass.” Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies. February 26, 2016.
Alexandratos, Nikos and Jelle Bruinsma. “World Agriculture: Towards 2030/2050.” Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. June 2012.
The State of the World’s Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture: Managing Systems at Risk. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and Earthscan. 2011.
Wotzak, Rob. “Best Energy-Smart Home 2017: Net-Positive in New England.” Houses 267 (2017).
Murcott, Susan. “D-Lab and MIT IDEAS Global Challenge: Lessons in Mentoring, Transdisciplinarity, and Real World Engineering for Sustainable Development.” In New Developments in Engineering Education for Sustainable Development. Leal Filho W., Nesbit S. (eds). World Sustainability Series. Springer, Cham, 2016.
“Greenovate Boston: 2014 Climate Action Plan Update.” City of Boston.
Documentary originally created as the Term Project in MIT “D-Lab Water and Climate Change” class. “Local Water” investigates the challenges to the oyster industry in Wellfleet, Massachusetts. Those major challenges include ocean acidification, caused by climate change, and coastal pollution, caused by development stresses.
“In an Oyster Nutshell” (25:14 min).
“Local Water” short version (14:35 min) of “In an Oyster Nutshell.”
A Very-Low-Cost GNSS Precipitable Water Vapour Sensor (PDF). The goal of the project is to develop a very-low-cost system for the measurement of precipitable water vapour from GNSS data utilizing inexpensive, off-the-shelf, commercially available components. Term project final report.
Example Dream Project Summary: Protecting Rapid Transit Infrastructure from Extreme Precipitation Events (PDF)
Blain, Loz. “‘World’s First Working Thermal Battery’ Promises Cheap, Eco-Friendly, Grid-Scalable Energy Storage.” New Atlas. April 1, 2019.
Childers, Linda. “How VR Enhances the Business School Experience.” U.S. News & World Report. March 28, 2019.
Strickland, Ashley. “After 15 Years, the Mars Opportunity Rover’s Mission Has Ended.” CNN. February 14, 2019.
Wotzak, Rob. “Best Energy-Smart Home 2017: Net-Positive in New England.” Houses 267 (2017).
“Using VR Simulations to Create Climate Empathy - Jennifer Ballen.” MIT ClimateX. July 17, 2017.
WWF UK. “Greta Thunberg Full Speech to UK Parliament | Climate Strikes.” April 24, 2019. YouTube.
Dennis, Danfung and Eric Strauss. “This is Climate Change: Melting Ice.” With.in. 2018.
Williams College. “James Hansen at Williams College.” March 17, 2017. YouTube.
“This Country Isn’t Just Carbon Neutral—It’s Carbon Negative.” TED. 2016.
“The Inside Story of the Paris Climate Agreement.” TED. 2016.
TedxTalks. “TEDxCanberra - Will Steffen - The Anthropocene.” November 14, 2010.
An Inconvenient Truth: A Global Warning. Paramount, 2006.
An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power. Paramount, 2017.
Chasing Ice. National Geographic, 2012.
Before the Flood. National Geographic, 2016.
How to Let Go of the World and Love all the Things Climate Can’t Change. HBO, 2016.
Years of Living Dangerously. Season 2 Episode 2 “Gathering Storm”, 2016.
Are We Changing Planet Earth? BBC, 2006.
Can We Save Planet Earth? BBC, 2006.
Cool It. Roadside Attractions, 2010.
NASA Goddard. “Older Artic Sea Ice Disappearing.” October 28, 2016. YouTube.
Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions. “Ice Melt, Sea Level Rise and Superstorms Video Abstract.” March 21, 2016. YouTube.
“Oceans 2016 Program Videos.” Bio4Climate. 2016.
“The Boat - Interactive Experience.” SBS.
Cadillac Desert: Water and the Transformation of Nature. PBS, 1997.
Watermark. Entertainment One, 2013.
Funkhouser, David. “Jefferey Shaman: What Makes the Flu Spread?” State of the Planet. July 10, 2017.
Delvisco, Jeffery and Dominic Smith. “Climate Change: It’s the Mother of All Health Issues.” STAT. April 24, 2017.
“Using VR Simulations to Create Climate Empathy - Jennifer Ballen.” MIT ClimateX. July 17, 2017.
Patagonia. “Regenerative Organic Certification (2018).” March 5, 2018. YouTube.
TEDxTalks. “The Other Inconvenient Truth | Jonathan Foley | TEDxTC.” September 2, 2011. YouTube.
“Rebeldes: A Journey Through New Mexican Agriculture.” Terrascope. May 11, 2016.
TEDxTalks. “TEDxWarwick - David MacKay - How the Laws of Physics Constrain Our Sustainable Energy Options.” March 22, 2012. YouTube.
“Paris to Pittsburgh.” National Geographic. December 12, 2018.
Merchants of Doubt. Sony Pictures, 2014.
Abel, David. “Rising Seas Made the Latest Storm Surges More Potent, and Newly Discovered Records Help Prove It.” Boston Globe. March 8, 2018.
Calma, Justine. “Hurricane Maria Hit Women in Puerto Rico the Hardest. And They’re the Ones Building it Back.” Grist. March 8, 2018.
Hardy, Devon. “Hydroelectric Power and the Water-Energy Nexus.” IWA. December 22, 2017.
Myers, Ben and Erica Lusk. “Rising Threat.” The Chronicle of Higher Education. December 6, 2017.
Kolbert, Elizabeth. “The Siege of Miami.” The New Yorker. December 13, 2015.
Howard, Guy, et al. “Climate Change and Water and Sanitation: Likely Impacts and Emerging Trends for Action.” Annual Review of Environment and Resources 41 (2016): 253–276.
Baker, Aryn. “What It’s Like To Live Through Cape Town’s Massive Water Crisis.” TIME. February 19, 2018.
Ross, Helen, Bronwyn Powell, and Suzanne Hoverman. “Public Participation and Community Engagement for Water Resource Management in the Pacific.” International Water Centre. May 2008.
United Nations World Water Assessment Programme. “The United Nations World Water Development Report 2015: Water for a Sustainable World.” UNESCO. 2015.
Economic Commission for Europe International Network of Basin Organizations. “Water and Climate Change Adaptation in Transboundary Basins: Lessons Learned and Good Practices.” UNECE. 2015.
Documentary originally created as the Term Project in MIT “D-Lab Water and Climate Change” class. “Local Water” investigates the challenges to the oyster industry in Wellfleet, Massachusetts. Those major challenges include ocean acidification, caused by climate change, and coastal pollution, caused by development stresses.
“In an Oyster Nutshell” (25:14 min).
“Local Water” short version (14:35 min) of “In an Oyster Nutshell.”
A Very-Low-Cost GNSS Precipitable Water Vapour Sensor (PDF). The goal of the project is to develop a very-low-cost system for the measurement of precipitable water vapour from GNSS data utilizing inexpensive, off-the-shelf, commercially available components. Term project final report.
NASA Goddard. “Older Arctic Sea Ice Disappearing.” October 28, 2016. YouTube.
Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions. “Ice Melt, Sea Level Rise, and Superstorms Video Abstract.” March 21, 2016. YouTube.
“Oceans 2016 Program Videos.” Bio4Climate. 2016.
“The Boat - Interactive Experience.” SBS.
Cadillac Desert: Water and the Transformation of Nature. PBS, 1997.
Watermark. Entertainment One, 2013.
National Snow and Ice Data Center
Southeast Area Monitoring and Assessment Program (SEAMAP)
U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change
Yale Program on Climate Change Communication
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
National Snow and Ice Data Center
Southeast Area Monitoring and Assessment Program (SEAMAP)
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
STRATUS Center for Medical Simulation
U.S. Forest Service: National Lichens & Air Quality Database and Clearinghouse
