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This course discusses the science of global warming as well as the projected impact of humans on the Earth's climate. The class, which is aimed at people with little scientific background but a healthy sense of curiosity, brings together insights and perspectives from physics, chemistry, biology, earth and atmospheric sciences, and even some economics—all based on a foundation of simple mathematics (algebra).
Syllabus :
1. Overview
- What you will find in this class.
2. Heat, Light, and Energy
- Using Units
- Units of Energy
- Heat
- Units of Light
- Light
- Blackbody Radiation
3. First Climate Model
- Naked Planet Climate Model
- The Greenhouse Effect
4. Greenhouse Gases and the Atmosphere
- Greenhouse Gas Physics
- The Band Saturation Effect
5. The Structure of the Atmosphere
- Atmospheric Temperature Structure
- Pressure in a Standing Fluid
- Water Vapor and Latent Heat
- Moist Convection
6. Weather and Climate
- Heat Transport
- Coriolis Acceleration
- Geostrophic Motion
- The Turbulent Cascade
7. Feedbacks
- Positive and Negative Feedback
- Ice Albedo Feedback
- Water Vapor Feedback
- Clouds
- Aerosols
- Climate Sensitivity
8. The Carbon Cycle
- The Weathering CO₂ Thermostat
- The Goldilocks Planets
- The Oceans in the Carbon Cycle
- The Land Biosphere in the Carbon Cycle
- The Battery of the Biosphere
- Oxidation and Reduction of Carbon
- Coal
- Oil
- Natural Gas
9. The Perturbed Carbon Cycle
- Forecasting Future Emissions
- Where Our Carbon Is Going
- Ocean Buffer Chemistry
- The Perturbed Carbon Cycle
- Methane as a Greenhouse Gas
- The Long CO₂ Tail
- Why the CO₂ Tail Matters
10. Looking for a Human Impact on Climate
- Land Surface Temperature Records
- Sea Surface Temperature Records
- Satellite Temperature Records
- The Smoking Gun: Warming Since the 1970
- Paleoclimate and Proxy Measurements
- Tree Rings
- Borehole Temperatures
- Oxygen Isotopes
- Solar Intensity and the Hockey Stick
- Glacial - Interglacial Cycles
11. Potential Impacts
- Global Weirding
- Monsoons
- Vegetation
- Impacts of Sea Level
- Antarctic Ice Sheet
- Greenland Ice Sheet
- Paleo Sea Level Changes
- Water Vapor and Storminess
- Hurricanes
- Extreme Weather
- Ecosystem Impacts
- Human Impacts
12. Mitigation
- Stabilization Scenarios
- Temperature Targets
- Slug Theory
- Geoengineering: CO₂ Capture and Sequestration
- Geoengineering: Solar Radiation Management
- Economics of Climate Change
- Mitigation: Short-Term
- Mitigation: Long-Term
