Department of Geosciences San Francisco State University Syllabus Spring 2009
GEOL/METR/OCN 405: Planetary Climate Change (Main home page: http://ilearn.sfsu.edu Backup: http://funnel.sfsu.edu/courses/gmo405/S09)
TuTh 9:35-12:15 Rm. 604, Thornton Hall	Prerequisites: At least six units of physical science (physics, chemistry, or geoscience). Credit: Four semester units (3 lecture, 1 lab). Counts for: Single-subject subject-matter preparation for pre-service teachers of science (satisfies a geology/meteorology/oceanography breadth requirement) Liberal Studies (science/math area of emphasis) Earth Science B.A., Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences B.S., Earth Science Minor, and Geology B.S. Text: The Earth System, 2nd Ed., 2003; Kump, Kasting, and Crane; Prentice Hall.
Instructors: Dr. Dave Dempsey (Prof. of Meteorology) Dr. Petra Dekens (Asst. Prof. of Oceanography) Office: 610 Thornton Hall 623 Thornton Hall Office hours: T 2-3, W 12-2, F 1-2, or by appt. TBA Phone: 338-7716 338-6015 E-mail: dempsey "at" sfsu.edu dekens "at" sfsu.edu
Table of Contents Introduction Objectives Content Style and Organization Assessment and Grading Schedule

I. Introduction

We hear often about dire consequences predicted for weather patterns, oceans, and life on Earth as a result of global climate change. What are weather and climate? How has climate changed in the past, and how do we know? What causes climate to change, and how can we predict future climate? Planetary Climate Change explores scientists’ current understanding of the answers to these questions, sometimes applying methods of scientific investigation like theirs. Our study will encompass not only the atmosphere, oceans, solid earth, and living organisms—the separate components of the earth "system"—but also, and more importantly, the interactions among them. Those interactions are crucial to shaping Earth’s climate and hold the key to predicting future climate and understanding the role that humans might play.

II. Objectives

We expect students in Planetary Climate Change to develop an understanding of:

• Planetary climate change as a consequence of dynamic, interconnected solar, geologic, meteorological, oceanographic, biological, and anthropogenic processes.
• The evolution of Earth's climate system.
• Energy in the Earth's climate system.
• Biogeochemical cycles, particularly carbon.
• Positive and negative feedbacks in climate systems and their implications for climate prediction.
• Time scales of climate change, including both periodic and intermittent variations.
• Some possible consequences of global climate change for people on Earth, and potential responses.
• The relation between science and technology, including computer models, in the context of climate change research.
• The nature of scientific knowledge and the history of ideas about climate and climate change.
• How to conduct some aspects of a scientific inquiry.

III. Content

GEOL/METR/OCN 405 will address aspects of planetary climate and climate change organized around the five primary questions listed below. These questions also govern the approximate order in which topics will be covered. Additional topics will be introduced along the way, including the nature and history of scientific inquiry and the role of technology and computer models in the context of climate change research; basic physical principles underlying climate and climate change; and time scales of climate change.

1. What Is Climate?
   1. Definition
   2. Observations
      1. planetary averages
      2. spatial variations in temperature and precipitation
         1. variations with latitude: tropical rainforests, subtropical deserts, temperate midlatitudes, etc.
         2. variations between continents and oceans/large lakes
         3. variations across ocean basins and across continents
         4. variations with elevation and across mountain ranges
      3. short-term (daily to interannual) temporal variations
   3. Energy budgets
      1. concept of a budget
      2. principles of radiation
      3. atmospheric composition and thermal structure, including the ozone layer
      4. absorption spectra
      5. the greenhouse effect
      6. regional and latitudinal budgets
         1. variation of solar heating with latitude
         2. variation of infrared emission with latitude
         3. transport of energy poleward by ocean and atmospheric circulations
         4. the water cycle: transfer of energy between ocean and atmosphere
      7. the seasons
         
         
   4. Atmospheric and ocean circulations
      1. causes and influences (differential heating, pressure differences, earth's rotation, friction)
      2. Hadley cells in the tropics and subtropics (cloud patterns, pressure patterns)
      3. midlatitude cyclones (cloud patterns, high/low pressure systems, fronts) and other storms
      4. connections to regional climate regimes

2. How Has Climate Varied in the Past?
   1. Types of evidence of long-term change
      1. sedimentary rocks, marine sediments
      2. geochemistry, oxygen and carbon isotopes
      3. fossil assemblages
      4. landform analysis
   2. Reconstruction of past climates
      1. proxy data for temperature and precipitation
      2. past climates
   3. Shorter-term climate variations
      1. Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO)
      2. El Niño/La Niña

3. How Does Climate Change?
   1. Changes in solar radiation reaching the planet.
      1. variations in solar output
      2. orbital variations
   2. Changes in planetary albedo
      1. changes in polar ice cover
      2. changes in cloudiness
      3. changes in aerosol concentrations (natural and anthropogenic)
      4. changes in vegetation and land use
   3. Changes in greenhouse gas concentrations.
      1. the carbon cycle: removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere
         1. weathering of rock (via precipitation)
         2. dissolving directly in oceans
         3. photosynthesis
         4. human activities
      2. the carbon cycle: input of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere
         1. volcanoes (plate tectonics)
         2. carbonate formation (oceans)
         3. decomposition of organic material (land)
         4. human activities

4. How Does the Earth's Climate Behave as a System?
   1. External forcing
   2. Internal climate interactions and feedbacks
      1. changes in ocean circulation
      2. changes in atmospheric circulation

5. How Will Climate Change in the Future?
   1. Computer climate models
      1. principles of construction
      2. limitations
      3. verification
   2. Forecasts of global warming
      1. consequences
      2. uncertainties

IV. Style and Organization

Our three-hour class meetings on Tuesdays and Thursdays accommodate a combination of physical laboratory activities, computer lab exercises, small-group problem-solving and whole-class discussions in addition to traditional lectures, films, and demonstrations. In practice there will be no formal distinction between the official "lab" and "lecture" portions of the course. We will often use an inquiry-based instructional approach, in which you will investigate physical phenomena or geophysical data, and try to interpret and explain what you observe, before getting much formal introduction to the topic via assigned readings and lectures. For this approach to work, you have to prepare for classes in advance and attend and participate consistently. Several computer lab exercises early in the course will use software called My World GIS (http://www.myworldgis.org/). Other lab activities will use a commercially-available modeling software called STELLA. (Both software packages are installed in the Department of Geosciences' computer labs in TH 604 and 607.) Yet other lab activities will access data and other information via WWWeb browsers.

V. Assessment and Grading

The quizzes will generally comprise short answer or short essay questions. They will be relatively brief (~20-30 minutes) and will be administered frequently (every 2-3 weeks). Discussions of articles from the literature on several topics will be interspersed throughout the last 2/3 of the semester. The writing assignment, which substitutes for a final exam, will be based on articles from one of those topics. Students will have some degree of choice in the topic they will write about.

VI. Course Schedule