Climate Systems

Doel vak

Quantitative approaches are increasingly important to mechanistically understand the processes leading to and resulting from Climate Change. The aim of this course is to gain basic knowledge of the modern climate system as a prerequisite for studying the climate of the present and the past.

At the end of the course students will:

• know the main properties that characterize the atmospheric and oceanic state;
• understand the main processes driving the atmospheric and oceanic circulation;
• know important influences of climate change on atmospheric and oceanic dynamics;
• be able to critically evaluate and present scientific literature on the Earth’s climate system.

Inhoud vak

The course gives an introduction of present-day atmospheric and oceanic processes that explain the main large-scale circulation patterns. Besides important basic parameters and processes, the main circulation patterns will be discussed together with their implications for the regional climate and climate change. The students will apply the gained knowledge by selecting a topic on climate processes in relation to the cryo-, bio-, geo-, or anthropo-sphere, that they will study in detail and present to others.

Aanvullende informatie onderwijsvormen

Lectures, literature reading, oral presentations by the students and discussions on the contents and quality of the presentation.

Toetsvorm

Written exam about the theory (50% of the grade)
oral and written presentation of a topic (50% of the grade)

Vereiste voorkennis

Basic knowledge of physics. Interest in climate change.

Literatuur

Lecture notes (powerpoints of the presentations by the teacher), selected papers and Ruddiman, W.F., 2013. Earth's Climate: past and future.W.H. Freeman and Company New York.

Aanvullende informatie doelgroep

Target audience is geoscience / environmental science students. Not suited for second year MSc Hydrology students

Afwijkende intekenprocedure