Snow, Glaciers, and Climate Change

3 credits · Nicholas School of Environment

As the climate warms, rapid and dramatic changes are occurring to the cryosphere - melting glaciers and ice sheets, disappearing sea ice, thawing permafrost, and shrinking winter snowpacks. We will study these processes, their relationship with the earth and climate system, & how they are responding to climate change. Discuss the ways humans interact with the cryosphere, including the impact of climate change on communities and geo-engineering for mitigating cryospheric change. Grad students will lead weekly discussions & complete a more rigorous final project involving analysis of cryospheric data. This is a graduate level version of an undergraduate introductory course. Open to grads only.