Dates and topics may change depending on student interests and how quickly we cover the material.
All assignments are due at the start of class on the date indicated, unless shown otherwise.
| Part I: The climate system | ||
| Date | Topic | What's due today? Reading and assignments |
| Jan 10 | Class overview. Introduction, team formation, and topic suggestions. Introduction to climate as a system. | Online textbook: Introduction. Section 1.2.1: Composition and temperature. |
| Jan 12 | Atmospheric composition and structure. Controls on climate: The global energy balance. | Online textbook: 2.1.1 The heat balance at the top of the atmosphere. 2.1.2 The greenhouse effect. |
| Jan 17 | Variations in the global energy balance. | 2.1.4 The heat balance at the top of the atmosphere: geographical distribution Submit project title by this date. |
| Jan 19 | Surface energy balance. | Online textbook: 2.1.6 Heat balance at the surface. |
| Jan 24 | Heat transport by the atmospheric and oceanic general curculation.
Team 3 Climate News presentation. |
Online textbook: 1.2.2 General circulation of the atmosphere |
| Jan 26 | The atmospheric general circulation. | |
| Jan 31 | Perturbations to the atmospheric general circulation: Monsoons.
Ocean circulation: Wind driven circulations. Upwelling and downwelling. Composition and properties of ocean water. Team 5 Climate News presentation. |
Online textbook: Online textbook: 1.3.1 Composition and properties.
Rahmstorf, S.: The Ocean Thermohaline Circulation: A Brief Fact Sheet |
| Feb 2 | Ocean circulation: Thermohaline cicrculation and the ocean conveyor belt. | Kent, E.C. and Taylor, P.K. 2006. Toward estimating climatic trends in SST. Part I: Methods of measurement. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol., 23, 464-475. |
| Feb 7 | El Niño and the Southern Oscillation. | Online textbook: 5.2.1 El Niño-Southern Oscillation
National Center for Atmospheric Research, El Niño, La Niña, and ENSO FAQ Submit project proposal by this date. |
| Feb 9 | El Niño and the Southern Oscillation.
Team 7 Climate News presentation. |
Project proposals due by start of class. |
| Feb 13 Monday |
METED Module: Understanding the Hydrologic Cycle. | Quiz from METED module due by 11:59 pm. Late quizzes will not be accepted. |
| Feb 14 | The hydrologic cycle. | |
| Feb 16 | The hydrologic cycle.
Team 2 Climate News presentation. |
Each team submits three essay questions for the midterm. Due at start of class. |
| Feb 21 | Active review session for midterm exam (questions and discussion). | |
| Feb 23 | Midterm exam | |
| Part II: Climate and Society | ||
| Feb 28 | Review of midterm exam. A world tour of climates, including extremes. | |
| Mar 2 | A world tour of climate (continued).
Team 1 Climate News presentation. |
|
| Mar 7 | The climate of Iowa and its surrounding region. Climate and agriculture. | UN Food and Agriculture Organization summaries: Maize. Wheat. |
| Mar 9 | Climate and agriculture. | UN Food and Agriculture Organization summaries: Soybean. Sugarcane. |
| Mar 14 | Spring Break | Rest and relaxation. |
| Mar 16 | Spring Break | Fun in the sun (or snow, or rain). |
| Mar 21 | Climate data sources: Instrumental data. Proxy data.
Team 8 Climate News presentation. | Readings: NASA, Paleoclimatology: The Oxygen Balance. National Climatic Data Center, Paleo proxy data. |
| Mar 23 | In-class workday for climate reports. Attendance required. | |
| Mar 28 | Proxy data (continued). Causes of natural climate changes.
Team 6 Climate News presentation. |
Online textbook: 5.4.1 Variations of the orbital parameters and of the insolation.
Online textbook: 5.4.2 Orbital theory of paleoclimates. Complete plagiarism tutorial and post-test. Remember, you will have a letter grade deducted from your climate report if you do not achieve a passing score on the post-test by this deadline. |
| Mar 30 | Causes of natural climate changes (continued).
Richard Alley lecture: The Biggest Control Knob. Discussion. |
View the Alley video and take notes in preparation for discussion. Annotated bibliography for climate report due by start of class. |
| Apr 4 | Anthropogenic climate change: Changes to atmospheric composition. |
Reading: "Bad Greenhouse"
Materials for class: Summary for Policymakers: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment Report, Working Group I. Readiness quiz for climate reports. One-question quiz on greenhouse effect. |
| Apr 6 |
Anthropogenic climate change: Changes to land use.
Team 4 Climate News presentation. |
Materials for class: Summary for Policymakers: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment Report, Working Group I. |
| Apr 11 | Understanding and predicting climate change: Climate models. | Materials for class: Summary for Policymakers: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment Report, Working Group I. and Summary for Policymakers: Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation |
| Apr 13 | Understanding and predicting climate change: Scenarios. Sea level rise simulator. | Bring a laptop (not tablet) to class.
Written climate reports due. Remember, late reports are not accepted for any reason! |
| Apr 18 | Poster presentations of climate reports. | |
| Apr 20 | Poster presentations of climate reports. | |
| Apr 25 | Projected global climate changes, including changes to extremes. | |
| Apr 27 | Projected climate changes for Iowa and the Midwest. | |
| May 1-5 (date TBA) |
Final exam
|
|