Unit name | The Earth System |
---|---|
Unit code | GEOG20003 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | I/5 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24) |
Unit director | Professor. Dan Lunt |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
All units in Single Honours Geography Year 1 |
Co-requisites |
N/A |
School/department | School of Geographical Sciences |
Faculty | Faculty of Science |
This unit is concerned with understanding the components of the large-scale climate system: atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere and biosphere, and the feedbacks and interactions between the systems. Through a series of lectures and practicals, the students will investigate the processes that influence the structure of each sphere of the climate system, and how they interact. The course will also provide an introduction to how and why we use climate models to inform our understanding of the climate system.
Aims: To introduce students to study of the mechanisms of natural climate and environmental variability, through an 'Earth System Science' approach, which stresses the complex interactions between the oceans atmosphere, ice sheets; biosphere, and how and why scientists model the climate system
On completion of this Unit students should be able to:
Twelve 1 hour lectures; Fourteen hours of practicals; Two 1 hour tutorials; Mock exam and feedback sessions (2 hours); Revision Q&A session (1 hour).
Practical assessment: design a climate model (50% of total).
Unseen 2-hour examination at the end of the unit (50% of total)
Both assessments test all of the ILOs.
Essential reading: