Climate Variability and Change

Catalog description

This course will be organized in two parts. Part I will cover seasonal to multi-decadal natural variability of the global climate system; the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO); monsoons, droughts and their causes; variability of high impact weather such as hurricanes; the fundamental physics of the coupled atmosphere-land-ocean system and our ability to predict it. Part II will cover anthropogenic climate change, including an objective assessment of observed trends in the past century and the anthropogenic contribution; theory of climate change linked to increased greenhouse gases; climate change predictions and the IPCC process. Prerequisite(s): A MAT 111 or A MAT 112 or T MAT 118; A ATM 210. Corequisite(s): A ATM 315 or permission of instructor. May not be offered in 2024-2025.