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Academic Year 2004/2005


Oceans and Climate
E&ES 290 FA

Earth's climate is not static. Even without human intervention, the climate has changed. In this course we will study the major properties of the ocean and its circulation and changes in climate. We will look at the effects of variations in greenhouse gas concentrations, the locations of continents, and the circulation patterns of oceans and atmosphere. We will look at these variations on several time scales. Over billions of year there have been changes in: the Sun's energy, the composition of the atmosphere and the biosphere. During this time, Earth's climate has varied from much hotter to much colder than today, but the variations were relatively small when compared to the climate on our neighbors Venus and Mars. Compared with them Earth's climate has been stable: the oceans neither evaporated nor froze solid. On shorter time scales different processes are important. We will look at these past variations in Earth's climate and oceans and try to understand the implications for possible climates of the future.

MAJOR READINGS

Students will be assigned papers for primary literature
Readings from textbooks will come from:
Ruddiman, EARTH¿S CLIMATE, PAST AND FUTURE
Broker, GLACIAL WORLD ACCORDING TO WALLY
Open University, Oceanography Series

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

2 exams, one midterm and one final
1-2 research papers with oral presentation
some smaller class assignments

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS

Required lab (E&ES 292) will involve students with data collection, interpretation, presentation and climate modeling. There may be a day long field trip to a research institution. Students must be registered for E&ES292.

COURSE FORMAT: Seminar

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD    Credit: 1    Gen Ed Area Dept: NSM E&ES    Grading Mode: Graded   

Prerequisites: E&ES101 OR [E&ES197 or BIOL197] OR E&ES199 OR E&ES106 OR E&ES104 OR E&ES115

SECTION 01

Instructor(s): O'Connell,Suzanne B.   
Times: ..T.R.. 09:00AM-10:20AM;     Location: SCIE405;
Reserved Seats:    (Total Limit: 22)
SR. major: 5   Jr. major: 7
SR. non-major: 0   Jr. non-major: 0   SO: 10   FR: 0

Special Attributes:
Curricular Renewal:    Speaking, Writing
Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-21-2005


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