Summary: Discussion of the basic principles of the Earth's
climate system and water cycle. The Climate System component of the
class provides an integrated view of the Earth's energy budget, structure
and circulation of the atmosphere and ocean, interactions between oceans
and atmosphere, climate change in past, present and future. The water cycle
part of the class is focused on basic physical principles (evaporation,
condensation, precipitation, runoff, stream flow, percolation, and
groundwater flow), as well as environmentally relevant applications based
on case studies.
Prerequisites: familiarity with web browsers, MS Excel or other
spreadsheet software, wordprocessor, TBA
Credits: 4.5 points.
Hours: TBA
Format: Lecture, assigned readings, demonstrations in class,
problem sets, and laboratory exploration of topics through demonstrations,
experimentation, computer data analysis and modeling.