Global Change

Meteorology/Agronomy/Env. Science/Env. Studies 404/504

Spring 2009, MWF 11:00-11:50 p.m.

Instructor
William J. Gutowski, Jr.
3021 Agronomy
gutowski@iastate.edu

Teaching Assistant
Brian Viner
3029 Agronomy
bviner@iastate.edu

(Image courtesy of http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov)

Course Description

Current understanding of how climate evolves under natural and human influences. Global energy balance, structure and circulation of the atmosphere and oceans, role of land and snow/ice processes, climate variability, climate modeling, implications of climate change for natural and human systems, policy and ethical issues of climate change.

Course Objectives

To understand

Structure of Course

The class meets 3 times a week. Lectures will introduce topics for the majority of the semester.

Three meetings during the semester will be devoted to a seminar-style format where we will critique current journal articles in various relevant topics.

Much of this course is administered through WebCT. You will need to use it for taking quizzes and (potentially) other course activities.

Readings

  • Chapters relating to each week's topic will be assigned from the Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. You can download relevant chapters from this link. Some chapters are rather long; the lectures will highlight the key points you need to learn.
  • Journal articles to be discussed in class will be linked to this web page.
  • Other relevant materials will be linked as appropriate.

    Quizzes

    Quizzes are administered through WebCT. You can download copies of the quizzes as they become available:

    You may find it useful to look at the quiz first before attempting to take it online.

    Seminar

    The seminar meetings will require a written report and participation in discussion by break-out groups. You should read the further details for seminar reports. Attendance is required for seminar meetings.

    Major, overriding concepts (not specific details) from each assigned seminar paper are fair game for exam questions.

    Discussion Groups

    Seminar sessions and other possible in-class exercises will use assigned discussion groups (download pdf of list). Groups are designed to provide a mix of the backgrounds of students in the class. The first person listed in each group is a 504-level student, who will lead discussion, as needed.

    Online Dialogue

    This is an experimental excercise for Spring 2009. There will be an added discussion using WebCT's tools to organize online discussion groups. Your online discussion group will be the same as for in-class exercises. The online discussion focuses on a particular topic of interest in climate change, specifically the prospects for reducing the "carbon footprint" of agriculture. Further information on how to contribute to the dialogue and grading criteria appear here.

    Term Papers

    Students enrolled in the graduate-level version course (Mteor/Agron/EnSci/EnvS 504) will be required to write a 10-12 page term paper and submit an outline for topic approval. Students in the 504 course are required to pick their topics and to present their findings orally during the last week of classes. Relevant milestones for term papers appear in the course schedule below. Please read the further details for term papers.

    Note the first deadline: January 30, for paper topics.

    Grading

    404 (Undergraduate level)

    Quizzes 20 %
    Seminar Participation and Reports 20 %
    Mid-term Exam 25 %
    Final 35 %

    504 (Graduate level)

    Quizzes 10 %
    Seminar Participation & Critiques 15 %
    Mid-Term Exam 20 %
    Final 35 %
    Term Paper & Oral Presentation 20 %

    Email

    I communicate frequently with the class by email.

    The email address I have for all students is their @iastate.edu address. Students who prefer to use some other email address should follow these instructions to automatically forward your iastate.edu email to another system.

    When sending email to me, please start the SUBJECT line with the words "Global Change". This will help me greatly in finding your emails to me.

    Pre-recorded Lectures

    I may use pre-recorded lectures for some topics for times when I am out of town. Note that material covered on these lectures can appear on tests. I will of course answer questions you may have about the material presented in these lectures.

    To view and listen to them, you simply need to click on the link for the lecture identified as pre-recorded lectures in the course schedule, so long as you have an appropriate browser with the Macromedia Flash Player extension included. Typically, this extension is already in your browser, but if it is not, you will be asked if you want it downloaded and installed on your machine. Basically, Windows and Macintosh OS X machines are ok. Linux machines should work, but success is not guaranteed.

    I would like to know about whatever problems you encounter, so please send me an email on those, even if you fix the problem yourself.

    For best visual clarity, you should make your browser window as large as possible. If you are listening to the lectures with others around you, out of courtesy, please use headphones.

    Students Needing Disability Accommodation

    Iowa State University complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Please address any special needs or special accommodations with me at the beginning of the semester or as soon as you become aware of your needs. Those seeking accommodations based on disabilities should obtain a Student Academic Accommodations Request (SAAR) form from the Disabilities Resources (DR) office (515-294-6624), located on the main floor of the Student Services Building, Room 1076.

    Acknowledgment

    This offering of Mteor/Agron/EnvSci/EnvSt 404/505 is a major revision of the version taught for several years by Prof. Gene Takle. Despite these changes, the overall goals and inspiration for the course stems from the earlier developments by Prof. Takle, whose efforts are much appreciated.

    Tentative Schedule

    Date

    Topic

    Source

    Other Materials

    12 January

    Introductions

    -

    		-

    14, 16 January

    Overview of Climate Change Science

  • Summary for Policy Makers (ppt)
  • Uncertainty Guidance (ppt)
    Pre-recorded lecture: Summary for Policy Makers
    Pre-recorded lecture: Uncertainty Guidance

    • IPCC Working Group-I

  • Summary for Policy Makers
  • Uncertainty Guidance
    		• Background (from earlier GC courses)

    19 January

    ML King Day - no classes

    		    

    21 January

    		 Historical Overview

    IPCC WG-I Chapter 1

    		 Historical overview from the American Institute of Physics

    23 January

    Atmospheric Composition and Radiative Forcing

    IPCC WG-I Chapter 2

    -

    26, 28 January

    Observed Climate: Surface & Atmosphere

    Animations in the lecture:

  • Surface air temperature annual cycle
  • Precipitation annual cycle

    • IPCC WG-I Chapter 3

    Animations of climatic fields (courtesy of Geography Dept., Univ. Oregon)

    30 January

    504 term paper topic due

    		 

    		 

    30 January

    Observed Climate: Snow, ice, permafrost

    IPCC WG-I Chapter 4

    Assigned reading: Box 4.1 in Chapter 4 (page 367)

    2 February

    Class exercise - Energy Balance & Temperature

    Observed Climate: Oceans & Sea Level
    Pre-recorded lecture: Ocean & Sea Level Changes based on Chapter 5

    IPCC WG-I Chapter 5

    Class exercise: Notes

    Assigned reading: Box 5.1 in Chapter 5 (page 397)

    4 February

    Paleoclimate

    IPCC WG-I Chapter 6

    Assigned reading: Box 6.3 in Chapter 6 (page 461)

    6 February

    Seminar - Papers to be reviewed:

  • Essay: Stewart Brand in Nature (2007)
  • News & Views: Philip W. Boyd in Nature Climate Change
  • Chisolm et al. in Science (2001).

    •  

    Questions raised from the class

    9 February

    Climate Models
    Pre-recorded lecture: Part 1 of Chapter 8

    IPCC WG-I Chapter 8

    Assigned reading:Box 8.1 in Chapter 8 (page 632)

    11, 13 February

    Climate Models (continued)
    Pre-recorded lecture: Part 2 of Chapter 8
    Pre-recorded lecture: Part 3 of Chapter 8

    IPCC WG-I Chapter 8

    -

    16, 18 February

    		 Biogeochemistry & Climate

    IPCC WG-I Chapter 7

    Assigned reading:Box 7.4 in Chapter 7 (page 540)

    20, 23 February

    Attribution of Changes

    IPCC WG-I Chapter 9

    Assigned reading: FAQ 9.1 (page 696) and FAQ 9.2 (pages 703-703) in Chapter 9 (page 632)

    25 February

    MID-TERM EXAM

    IPCC WG-I Chapters 1-8

    Mulitple-Choice Questions + Answer Key

    27 February

    Attribution of Changes (cont'd)

    IPCC WG-I Chapter 9

    -

    2, 4, 6 March

    Projected Future Changes


    Pre-recorded lecture: Part 1 of Chapter 10
    Pre-recorded lecture: Part 2 of Chapter 10
    Pre-recorded lecture: Part 3 of Chapter 10

    IPCC WG-I Chapter 10

    Assigned reading: SRES Emissions Scenarios and FAQs 10.1 (page 783), 10.2 (page 818) and 10.3 (pages 824-825)

    6 March

    504 term paper outline due

    		 

    		 

    9, 11, 13 March

    Regional Changes

    IPCC WG-I Chapter 11

    -

    16-20 March

    Spring Break - no classes

    		    

    23, 25, 27 March

    Impacts: Water Resources

    IPCC WG-II Chapter 3

    Assigned reading: Box 3.1 (page 195) and Box 3.2 (page 197) in WG-II, Chapter 3

    30 March

    Seminar - Papers to be reviewed:

  • Hassol in EOS (2008)
  • Akasofu in EOS (2008)
  • Boykoff and Boykoff in Global Environmental Change (2004)

    •  

    Questions raised from the class

    1, 3 April

    Impacts: Ecosystems

    IPCC WG-II Chapter 4

    -

    3 April

    504 term paper due for peer review

    		 

    		 

    6 April

    Impacts: Human Health

    IPCC WG-II Chapter 8

    Assigned reading: Box 8.4 (page 403) and Box 8.5 (page 413) in WG-II, Chapter 8

    8 April

    Guest Lecturer: Brian Viner - Climate Change and Agriculture

     

    -

    10 April

    Impacts: Coastal Systems

    IPCC WG-II Chapter 6

    -

    10 April

    504 term paper peer reviews due

    		 

    		 

    13 April

    Seminar - Papers to be reviewed:

  • Harte in Population and Environment (2007)
  • Potts in Population and Enviroment (2007)

    •  

    Questions raised from the class

    15, 17 April

    Skeptics

    -

    -

    20 April

    Skeptics (continued)

    		-

    -

    22 April

    Development of a Climate Change Assessment: An Example

    U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) Synthesis and Assessment Report 3-3

    Supplementary Documents NOAA news release and companion brochure

    24 April

    Future Directions

    -

    -

    24 April

    504 term paper: Final versions due

    		 

    		 

    27, 29 April

    Student presentations of 504 term papers

    		 

     

    1 May

    Class exercise - Climate Change in Art

    Course Evaluations - Attendance Required

    		 

     

    4 May
    Monday

    Final Exam, 9:45-11:45 am
    in the course classroom

    		   

    Additional Sources of Information:

     

    (Images courtesy of USGS EROS Data Center: Himalayas, Deforestation in Bolivia, Namibian Desert)