NOTE: THIS SCHEDULE IS FROM FALL 2001. FOR 2002, THE UPDATED SCHEDULE AND ASSIGNMENTS ARE POSTED FROM THE BLACKBOARD WEBSITE
Date
Topic
To consider
 Ruddiman pages
Sept. 6 How do we get information on past climates? •What is a paleoclimate indicator? What kind of events do they record? 57-71
Sept. 11 Energy from the sun

Assignment 1
•What is radiative balance? How do blackbodies absorb energy?

 19-28

Sept. 13

 Atmospheric (greenhouse) effects Assignment 1 Due
Assignment 2
•Is the relationship between the amount of "greenhouse gases" and warming linear? Why is water a greenhouse gas?		 19-28
Sept. 18 The Faint Young Sun Paradox and the Carbon Cycle

Assignment 2 Due
Assignment 3
•What is the "paradox" about the faint young sun problem?
Excel model from class today

 87-102
Sept. 20 How the atmosphere distributes heat •What is the global pattern of winds? How are climatic belts related to atmospheric circulation? 28-38
Sept. 25 How the oceans distribute heat •Why is the Gulf Stream so important to climate? 39-44
Sept. 27 Presentations of models of carbon cycle

Assignment 3 Due
Final Project Assignment
Assignment 4

  
Oct. 2 Modeling the climate system

Assignment 5
•Why is it so difficult to produce precise forecasts of climate in the next century? What aspects of these forecasts are the most reliable?

 71-81
Oct. 4 Predicting future climate warming

Assignment 4 Due
•How much will temperatures warm over the next century? Will some areas warm more than others?
IPCC Report

 424-440
Oct. 9 Long term climate and atmospheric CO2

Assignment 5 Due

•How does plate tectonics influence global climate? How can rates of seafloor spreading be calculated in the past?

 104-128
Oct. 11 Cretaceous climate - another "greenhouse" period? •Does the Cretaceous provide evidence for a tropical thermostat? 130-146
Oct. 16                                   Fall Reading Period - no class
Oct. 18

HOUR EXAM I                                   Hints for studying
Oct. 23 The last 50 million years of cooling Assignment 6 148-170
Oct. 25 Orbital variations and Milankovich cycles

Assignment 6 Due
•Do orbital cycles change the total amount of energy the earth receives in a year? Do they affect both hemispheres in the same way?

 175-192
Oct. 30 Changing the monsoons •How do orbital cycles affect the monsoons? How are past changes in monsoon strength recorded? 194-209
Nov. 1 Glacial cycles and orbits - how are they linked? •How does changing seasonal distribution of insolation cause such large globally synchronous climate shifts? 211-233; 277-300
Nov. 6 Why do greenhouse gas concentrations vary over glacial cycles? •How do variations in atmospheric CO2 over glacial cycles compare with the amount of human-induced changes in atmospheric CO2? 235-273
Nov. 8 Putting the glaciers back in their place - escaping the last glacial maximum •What is the Younger Dryas event and why is it significant? 301-330
Nov. 13 The mystery of climate changes on millennial timescales

Assignment 7
•What is so puzzling about millennial scale climate changes? Where are they recorded?

 350-351
Nov. 15 El Nino Climate Variations

Assignment 7 Due
Assignment 8

 366-368
Nov. 20 Hour EXAM II
Nov. 22   Thanksgiving Recess- no class    
Nov. 27 Climate Change and Noah's Flood •Were Noah's Flood legends inspired by the flooding of the Black Sea as glacial meltwaters rushed in?  
Nov. 29 Guest lecture on methane hydrates and rapid climate changes (Jerry Dickens)

Assignment 8 Due

How does the discovery of seafloor methane hydrates change our view of the carbon cycle? How did methane hydrate release affect climate 55 million years ago?

  
Dec. 4 Presentations of class projects Presentation Due  
Dec. 6 Presentations of class projects Presentation Due  
Dec. 7 Final Project Paper Due by 5 PM