This is a required course for environmental science majors in their senior year that brings together students from all concentrations (ecosystems, climate change, geography and sustainability science & policy) to address major topics in environmental science.
This course will focus primarily on anthropogenic climate change (‘global warming’), arguably one of the most important environmental issues of our time, and how it relates to the four environmental science concentrations climate change (radiation balance, paleoclimate, the carbon cycle, climate modeling), ecosystems (impacts of climate change on biodiversity, agriculture, the marine food web, vegetation shifts), sustainability science & policy (climate change policies, international treaties, perceptions of climate change, mitigation and adaptation) and geography (new energy technologies, future projections and emission scenarios, human health).
In this course we will focus on the science of Climate Change – highlighting what is known and but also discuss what remains uncertain. The class will be a mixture of lectures and student presentations. The goal is to encourage students to debate the issue actively and critically, both verbally and in writing. Most of the semester (weeks 1-12) will be based on lectures, assigned readings of relevant papers and book chapters, small modeling exercises, but also include discussions of current topics related to climate change. The semester ends with in-class presentations of student research projects (weeks 13-15).
INSTRUCTOR:
Mathias Vuille
ETEC 439
ph.: 442-4472
mvuille@albany.edu
TIME AND LOCATION: TBD
CREDITS: 3
TEXTBOOK: TBD
In addition, we will rely on material from the IPCC 6th Assessment report.
It is recommended to download the Summary for Policymakers of WG1:
Course material, including class lectures and papers are posted on Brightspace.
PREREQUISITES: A ATM 210 and A ENV 315, or permission of the instructor
OFFICE HOURS: by appointment.
FORMAT: The class is a mixture of lectures, seminar-style discussions and student presentations.
EVALUATION:
1) Homework assignments (35%)
2) Two exams (25% each)
3) Oral presentation in class (15%)
