GEOS 121 1V - Climate and Climate Change

Minimum Credit(s) Awarded: 3
Maximum Credit(s) Awarded: 4

This course explores the science of climatology and climate change. Students will learn about earth systems and how they interact to produce climate. Course topics include earth’s energy budget, the greenhouse effect, the carbon cycle, El Nino, ocean circulation, the science and politics of global warming and climate change impacts on North America. Students will study what causes climate to change across different time scales and how those factors interact; how climate has changed in the past; how scientists use models, observations and theory to make predictions about future climate; and the possible consequences of climate change for our planet. The course explores evidence for changes in ocean temperature, sea level, the reduction of glaciers, sea ice coverage, and acidity due to global warming. Students will learn how climate change today is different from past climate cycles and how climate change can be documented through satellites and other technologies. Finally, the course looks at the connection between human activity and the current warming trend and considers some of the potential social, economic and environmental consequences of climate change.

Offered Fall