Unit name | Environmental Change 4 |
---|---|
Unit code | GEOGM1110 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | M/7 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
Unit director | Professor. Andy Ridgwell |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
Having followed the A or B Syllabus in Years 2 and 3 |
Co-requisites |
The A or B Syllabus units in Year 4 |
School/department | School of Geographical Sciences |
Faculty | Faculty of Science |
This unit will provide hands-on learning in and a chance to explore the dynamics of the Earth’s climate system as well as of global carbon cycling and the biogeochemical impacts of fossil fuel CO2 emissions. Learning will be facilitated through a mix of interactive seminars, with personal research and literature review, and practical work, with a strong emphasis on computer model based practical classes using a real research Earth system model.
The cumulating objectives of the Unit will be to develop a deeper understanding of the role and nature of feedbacks in the Earth system and the impacts of current human activities. The Unit will also foster a critical appreciation of the nature and limitations of climate and Earth system modelling in understanding and predicting global change.
Unit aims:
Upon completion of the Unit, students will have gained knowledge in:
This Unit will provide transferable skills in:
Lecturer-led seminars with student input and computing tuition: 5 x 1 hour sessions Computer practical classes: 5 x 3 hour sessions
The 5 time-tabled seminar and practical classes will be grouped into 2 clusters -- one of 3 weeks, which will take place during weeks 1-5, and a second cluster of 2 weeks, which will take place during weeks 6-10. The 5 taught weeks are clustered to dovetail with the assessment and hence provide time in between them for completing assessed research.
Group oral presentation of one of the computer modelling practical exercises ('snowball Earth' or 'AMOC') = 25%
Model investigation report: 3000 words max (Nature Article format). The will consist of a write-up of the computer model based research exercise into the causes of low glacial CO2 = 75%
Total for unit = 100%
Surface Ocean--Lower Atmospheres Processes, Eds. C. Le Quéré and E. S. Saltzman, AGU Geophysical Monograph Series, Volume 187, 350 pp.