Syllabus for: Climate Change: Past, Present, and Future
ENVR E-128 (22972), Climate Change: Past, Present, and Future Thursday 7:35-9:35 PM Sever 213 Instructor: Dr. Robert P. Ackert Jr. Office: 208 Hoffman Laboratory, 20 Oxford St, Cambridge, MA 02138 Office Hours: to be arranged. Text: Earth’s Climate: Past and Future 2nd edition (EC) William Ruddiman, WH Freeman and Company Supplemental Text: The Atmospheric Environment (AE) Michal B. McElroy On Line text: The Habitable Planet (HB). www.learner.org/courses/envsci/index.html
Course Overview
Course Description This course will provide students the tools and background to better understand global climate change and it’s implications for the environment. A survey of the range of past climate changes preserved in the geologic record, with an emphasis on the last Ice Age and periods in which climate was warmer than today, will place current climatic changes in perspective. The basic physics and feedbacks of the atmosphere, oceans and ice sheets that control weather and global temperatures will be introduced. Using this background, the potential effects of global warming on hurricanes, drought, El Nino and ice sheets will be examined. Intended Audience This course will be accessible to anyone that wants to better understand how changes in the Earth’s climate system effect the environment. Students will gain the necessary tools and background to understand the climate change debate and make informed decisions about future policy. Although designed to be accessible by non-specialists, the course will emphasize the scientific method; students will be asked to think critically and to use basic (high school) algebra, chemistry and physics
Jan. 29
Feb. 5
Part 1: The present climate system. Components of the climate system: Forcing and response. feedbacks, introduction to carbon cycle. Vertical motion in the atmosphere: Buoyancy, adiabatic systems, lapse rates, dew points, cloud formation.
EC Ch. 1 HP Unit 1.11.2, 1.4, 2.8 HP Unit 2.1 2.2, 2.5. AE Ch 4, 7
Problem Set 1
Feb. 12
Feb. 19
Horizontal motion in the atmosphere: Hadley circulation, coriolis force, high and low pressure systems, prevailing winds, fronts and weather. Ocean circulation: Wind driven and thermal-haline circulation, the green house effect, global heat, monsoons.
Feb. 26
March 5
March 12 March 19 March 26 April 2 April 9 April 16 April 23 April 30 May 7 May 14 May 21
Part 2: Past Climate. The rock record: The geologic time scale, geologic dating tool box, climate archives. Tectonic Scale Climate Change: Plate tectonics, ancient ice ages, uplift and erosion. Extreme Climate States: CO2- rock weathering feedback, green EC Ch 3,5,6 house to ice house, future analogs, the PETM and Early Pliocene. Orbital Scale climate change: Milankovitch Forcing EC Ch 7,9Ice sheets, 100 kyr cycle, Ice core records. 11 Midterm Spring Break Millennial Scale Climate Change: The Ice Age World, Heinrich Events, D-O cycles, causes and implications. Historical Climate Change: Fall of civilizations ENSO The Little Ice Age Post-Industrial Climate Change: Potential climate forcings, The hockey stick Part 3: Future climate change. Potential changes: hurricanes, ice sheet melting, sea-level rise. Ominous signs: Arctic sea ice, ocean temperatures, ocean acidity, changes in seasonality. Climate engineering: Iron fertilization, aerosols, carbon sequestration. Course Review. Final Exam EC Ch 1214 EC Ch 1516 EC Ch 1718 EC Ch 19 HP Unit 12
HP Unit 2.62.7 AE Ch 8 HP Unit 2.3 3.1-3.5 AE Ch 9 EC Ch 2,4, App 1&2 HP Unit 1.3
Problem Set 2 Problem Set 3 Problem Set 4
Problem Set 5 Problem Set 6
Problem Set 7 Problem Set 8 Problem Set 9 Problem Set 10 Problem Set 11
HP Unit 13