Climate Change

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FACULTY: Christine Muller, Arthur Lyon Dahl, Laurent Mesbah

Extreme natural events such as storms, heat waves, droughts, and wildfires, as well as heavy downpours, floods, and mud slides have become more frequent and severe. Although many of these climate-related natural disasters have already caused much human suffering and economic loss, they are just the first signs of a changing climate caused by global warming. Projections for the future are alarming. Rising sea levels threaten low-lying coastal areas all over the world, including large coastal cities. The people who suffer first and the most are the poor, people of color, and indigenous people, while the rich people of the world are most responsible for the warming of the Earth. Therefore, many people of faith see climate change as an issue of justice. At the same time, many people are confused, because climate change is a complex issue and because political and vested interests have shed false doubts about climate science.

This course on Climate Change provides a basic understanding of the causes and impacts of climate change, discusses its ethical challenges, and relates them to the spiritual teachings of the world’s religions, particularly those of the Bahá’í Faith. It will help you consider changes in your lifestyle to bring greater coherence to your life and show you how to incorporate environmental and social responsibility in your community gatherings. It elevates public discourse above partisan politics by introducing spiritual responses to the climate crisis and demonstrates how the harmony of science and religion can be applied for the well-being of humankind.

The course, which is open to people of all, or no, religious backgrounds, includes many optional resources for those who wish to delve more deeply into climate-change issues.

Climate Change Syllabus (2018)

Join Our Online Learning Community

You may join our online learning community either as an individual or as part of a study group (2 to 20 people). In either case, you can do all your work at home at any time of the day or night. We assign mentors to individuals and to groups to advise, encourage, assist, and answer questions. Groups are expected to meet every week or two for group discussions. Web-based forums connect all learners—individuals and members of a group--to the insights and perspectives of fellow students from all over the world.

To form a group, ask some friends whether they'd like to take the course with you. If at least one other agrees, go into the registration system, establish a group, and pay for it. Be sure to select “group” rather than “individual” on the first screen. Then follow the guidance here: Study Alone or in a Group on how to add additional study group members, and to manage the payments, which can now be done individually. Scholarship seekers should email wi@usbnc.org to let us know how much they can afford to pay. See the Wilmette Institute's Financial Aid Policy.

Note: All our courses are "asynchronous," which means there is no work that has to be done at a particular time. You can do everything at any time. For more information, go to http://wilmetteinstitute.org/ourcourses/frequently-asked-questions/.