Climate: Past, Present, and Future

3 Hours

Explore the science of climate change. Examine the history of Earth's climate and the factors driving its changes. Discuss the Earth's climate history and the processes driving climate change; physical concepts governing heat and mass transfers in the atmosphere; the role of oceans in climate systems; temporal scales of climate change, from tectonic to millennial; anthropogenic global warming and human impacts on climate; health and ecosystem impacts of climate change; and methods for observing, modeling, and predicting climate change. Three lecture hours and one and one-half laboratory hours a week for one semester.