AOSC 680

AOSC 680 Introduction to Earth System Science

Tues-Thurs, 2:00 to 3:15 pm, Atlantic 2316

Fall 2022: 3 units

Required Texts:

Chemistry in Context: Applying Chemistry to Society 7th edition

The Chemistry in Context text can be purchased, rented from me for $20 (refunded upon return of book), or downloaded here. I'll review how to open the PDF file, if downloaded, in class on 30 August 2022.

Princeton Primers in Climate:

Atmospheres, Clouds, and Climate by David Randall

Climate and Oceans by Geoffrey Vallis

Climate and Ecosystems by David Schimel

The Cryosphere by Shawn Marshall

These four Princeton Primers in Climate books, available in various formats including paperback for less than $30 each, will be the primary source for the student led discussions, which will take place from 13 Oct until 2 Dec. We will almost certainly read multiple chapters from the first three of these books, and will delve into the fourth if there is student interest in reading about the cryosphere.

Syllabus

ELMS Course Page

Supplemental Text:

Global Warming: The Complete Briefing (5th edition) by John Houghton

Paris Climate Agreement: Beacon of Hope by Ross J. Salawitch, Timothy P. Canty, Austin P. Hope, Walter R. Tribett, and Brian F. Bennett

Readings from Supplemental Text will be assigned via password protected files posted below.

Notes:

1) We will use the 7^th edition of Chemistry in Context rather than the latest (9^t^h edition) because of student cost (there are hundreds of used copies of the 7^th edition available on Amazon for under $20; there is no used copy market for the 9^th edition). In addition, since Ross actually helped write the 7^th edition, as noted on page xiv of the Preface, he is able to provide registered students access to an electronic version of the book, as will be discussed during the first class meeting.

2) We will use Chapter 1 and a few other readings from Paris Climate Agreement: Beacon of Hope that Ross and his team wrote. This book is available electronically, for free, via open access. Hard copies can be purchased from various on-line venders for ~$45 to $60. Students are welcome to use the free electronic version of the book for the class.

3) We will attempt to record all lectures. If the recording is successful, the link for "Video" in the table below will become "hot". Students are expected to attend lecture in person, whenever possible. We record lectures to assist students with occasional inability to attend class and to help students review lecture material, particularly for exam preparation.

1. Course Description

2. Course Schedule

3. Grade Policy

4. Admission Tickets

5. Additional Readings

6. Collaboration Policy

7. Office Hours

1. Course Description

An introduction to the study of the earth as a system: atmosphere, oceans, land, cryosphere, solid earth, and humans. Cycling of materials and energy in the earth system: the energy cycle, the hydrologic cycle, the carbon cycle, the nitrogen cycle. Climate processes and variability: land-atmosphere, ocean-atmosphere, biosphere-climate, and human interactions, short- and long-term variability in climate.

The course is taught at a level appropriate for first year graduate students in Atmospheric and Oceanic Science. We’ll begin in traditional format, consisting of 9 lectures designed to provide a broad background to Earth System Science. This portion of the class will make use of equations, at a level considerably simpler than you will see in the other AOSC Core Classes. We will then transition to the student led discussion part of class, which will make use of either three or perhaps all four of the most excellent Princeton Primers In Climate series textbooks. These readings, which consist of light equations, emphasize fundamental understanding of concepts in Earth System Science, which is the mantra of this class.

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2. Schedule

Date	Lecture Topic	Required Reading	Admis. Tickets	Lecture Notes	Problem Sets	Additional Readings	Learning Outcome
08/30	Class Overview	No reading for first meeting	No AT	Lecture 0 Video			No Quiz
09/01	Geological Evolution of Earth's Atmosphere	Paris Beacon of Hope Sec 1.1, 1.2 (intro), and 1.2.1 (11.5 pages)	AT 1	Lecture 1 Video		Ivany and Salawitch, Geology, 1993 NOVA: The Day The Dinosaurs Died Meckler et al., Science, 2022 Excellent news article on Meckler et al. study	Quiz 1
09/06	Overview of Global Warming	Climate Change Evidence and Causes, Royal Society (36 pages) IPCC 2007 FAQ (1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.1, & 3.1) (11 pages) Paris Beacon of Hope Sec 1.2.2 (3 pages)	AT 2	Lecture 2 Video		Kerr, Science, 2007 Warming Animation ENSO Video Entire IPCC 2007 FAQ	Quiz 2
09/08	Fundamentals of Earth's Atmosphere	Chemistry in Context: Sections 1.0 to 1.3, 1.5 to 1.8, 1.14, 2.1, 3.6 & 3.7 (~32 pgs) McElroy, Effective Temperature & The Concept of Geostrophy McElroy, Adiabatic Motion in the Vertical (7 pages)	AT 3	Lecture 3 Video		Houghton, Ch 2 CNN story on Antarctic glacier Arctic Melting Sept 2022	Quiz 3
09/13	Climates of the Past	Chemistry in Context, Sec 2.2, 3.0, 3.1, 3.2 (14 pages) Houghton, Ch 4 (pgs 77-84) Paris Beacon of Hope Sec 1.1 (these 7 pages had been assigned for Lecture 1; please review) as well as Sec 1.2.3 (2 paragraph into) and 1.2.3.1 (2 pages)	AT 4	Lecture 4 Video		Chylek & Lohmann, GRL, 2008 IPCC 2007 FAQ (questions 6.1, 6.2) Parrenin et al., Science, 2013 Press release for Sept 2020 paper News story on Jupiter's influence that dropped day of lecture!	Quiz 4
09/15	Global Carbon Cycle	Chemistry in Context, Sec 3.5, 4.0, 4.1, 6.5 (8 pages) Houghton, Pg 33-46 Paris Beacon of Hope Sec 1.2.3.2 (8 pages)	AT 5	Lecture 5 Video		IPCC 2007, Section 7.3.4.1 & Box 7.3 Doney, Ocean Acidification, Scientific American, March 2006 Global Carbon Project	Quiz 5
09/20	Biogeochemical Cycles of CH₄and N₂O	Chemistry in Context, Sec 3.8 & Sec 6.9 (8 pages) Houghton, Pg 46-50 Paris Beacon of Hope Sec 1.2.3.3 & 1.2.3.4 (5 pages) Nature CH₄ Summary published 8 Feb 2022	AT 6	Lecture 6 Video		Kirschke et al., 2013 Kort et al., 2014 Saunois et al., 2019	Quiz 6
09/22	Radiative Forcing	Chemistry in Context, Sec 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, 3.3 & 3.4 (14 pages) Paris Beacon of Hope Sec 1.2 (intro), 1.2.1 (please review), & 1.2.3.6 (8 pages)	AT 7	Lecture 7 Video		Green Chemistry, Chapter 3.4 (Sections 3.4.4.1 to 3.4.4.4 provide a nice mathematical complement to the lecture material) Myhre et al., GRL, 1998 Bera et al., JPC, 2009	Quiz 7
09/27	Modeling Earth's Climate: Water Vapor, Aerosol, Cloud, & Albedo Feedbacks	Chemistry in Context, Sec 3.9 (6 pages) Houghton, pg 105-116	AT 8	Lecture 8 Video		Bony et al., 2006 McBride et al., 2021	Quiz 8
09/29	Consequences of Climate Change	Chemistry in Context, Sec 3.10 (5 pages) Forbes Article	No AT	Lecture 9 Video	Problem Set due today	Union of Concerned Scientists Climate Reality Project Climate Change and Disease Wildfires and Climate Change NY Times, Bangladesh NY Times, Kiribati	No Quiz
10/04	Review of Problem Set as well as Lectures 1 to 8 in preparation for First Exam		No AT	Review A Video			No Quiz
10/06	First Exam: Will cover Lectures 1 to 8, all required readings, as well as concepts that underlie the Problem Sets		Students are responsible for the material covered in Lectures 1 to 8, the material in Chapter 1 of Paris Beacon of Hope (minus Section 1.2.3.5 and the Methods section; 31 pages) and the all other Required Readings from Chemistry in Context, Houghton, plus the IPCC assigned for Lecture 2.
10/11	Review of First Exam and Introduction to Rest of the Semester		No AT	Lecture 10 Video
10/13	Tips on Giving a Good Talk	No reading	AT 11 ET 11	Lecture 11 Video
10/18	Climate Basics & Atmospheric Energy Flow	Chapters 1 & 2 of Atmospheres, Clouds, and Climate	AT 12	Ross Lecture 12 Video
10/20	Turbulence and Cumulus Clouds	Chapter 3 of Atmospheres, Clouds, and Climate	AT 13	Jhayron Lecture 13 Instructor Video		Anderson et al., Nature Comm., 2016
10/25	Energy Flows and Climate Feedback	Chapters 4 & 5 of Atmospheres, Clouds, and Climate	AT 14 Paper/Project Desc	Maddie Lecture 14 Instructor Video		Hausfather et al., Nature, 2022 Zelinka et al., JGR, 2022
10/27	Water Planet and Weather Predictability	Chapters 6 & 7 of Atmospheres, Clouds, and Climate	AT 15	Akarsh Lecture 15 Instructor Video		Wash Post article Ellicott City floods Forbes article Water Cycle
11/01	Basics of Climate and the Oceans	Chapters 1 & 2 of Climate and the Oceans	AT 16	Ross Lecture 16 Video		Weblink 1 Weblink 2 Weblink 3 Weblink 4
11/03	Ocean Dynamics and Circulation	Chapters 3 & 4 of Climate and the Oceans	AT 17	Shaun Lecture 17 Instructor Video		Schlesinger and Ramankutty, Nature, 1994 Canty et al., 2013 AMOC Variability
11/08	Oceans Role in Climate & Climate Variability	Chapters 5 & 6 of Climate and the Oceans	AT 18	Rachel Lecture 18 Instructor Video		Weblink 1 Weblink 2 Youtubelink 1 Youtubelink 2 Youtubelink 3
11/10	Global Warming and the Ocean	Chapters 7 of Climate and the Oceans	AT 19	Alisha Lecture 19 Instructor Video		Weblink 1 Solomon et al., PNAS, 2009 Mauristen and Pincus, Nature Climate Change, 2017
11/15	Tips on Writing a Good Paper	Baker: first paper WEB Baker: first paper PDF Mensh & Kording: Ten simple rules	AT 20	Ross Lecture 20 Video		McBride et al., 2021 Zaumanis: Write An Impactful Research Paper Strunk & White: Elements of Style Borja: Six Tasks Before Starting to Write Provost: 100 Ways To Improve Writing
11/17	Introduction to Ecosystems and the Cryosphere	Chapters 1 & 2 of Climate and Ecosystems and Chapter 1 of The Cryosphere	AT 21	Ross Lecture 21 Video
11/22	Cryosphere	Chapter 4 from start to end of page 92 (i.e., stop at Thermodynamics of Ice Growth and Decay) and all of Chapter 5 (about 50 pages) of The Cryosphere	AT 22	Natalia Lecture 22 Instructor Video
11/29	Ecosystems	Chapter 3 from start until page 57 (stop at Plant Adaptation to Climate) and Chapter 4 from start to page 121 (stop at Land Use Change and Deforestation) Climate and Ecosystems	AT 23	Yixin Lecture 23 Instructor Video
12/02	Student Presentations, Day 1		No AT	Jhayron, Maddie	Each Presentation is 18 minutes, with 5 mins for discussion. 2 x 23 = 46 minutes Paper due 11:59 pm on the next class meeting after the discussion.
12/06	Student Presentations, Day 2		No AT	Akarsh, Shaun, Rachel	Each Presentation is 18 minutes, with 5 mins for discussion. 3 x 23 = 70 minutes Paper due 11:59 pm on the next class meeting after the discussion.
12/08	Student Presentations, Day 3		No AT	Alisha, Natalia, Yixin	Each Presentation is 18 minutes, with 5 mins for discussion. 3 x 23 = 70 minutes Paper due Dec 11, 11:59 pm

Problem sets due on the date listed

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3. Grade Policy

The overall grades will be based on the problems set (10%), admission tickets (30%), one in class exam (20%), the student led presentation (20%), and the final project (10%) and final paper (10%). All students are required to write a research paper that is 6 to 8 pages long (single-spaced; length does not include figures or references), and make an in class presentation, on a topic of their choosing within the realm of Earth System Science. The paper and presentation must be original work for this class.

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4. Admission Tickets

To encourage completion of the reading assignments prior to class, there is an admission ticket to be completed prior to the the start of each class, unless otherwise noted, to be conducted either using ELMS or in person, at the start of each class meeting. The admission ticket (AT) is a short series of questions drawn from the reading. Each ticket will be graded in a prompt manner. The lowest three AT scores will be dropped. The overall AT grade counts 30% towards the final course grade. The ATs require a considerable amount of effort, reflected in the 30% weight towards the final grade.

In many cases, the answer(s) to the admission ticket question(s) will be worked into the lecture. Hence, the requirement that admission ticket solutions be complete in prior to the start of lecture. Late submissions of admission ticket solutions are not accepted unless there is an exceptional circumstance. Again, these questions are designed to motivate completion of the assigned reading prior to lecture, which is an important component of learning.

Please remember to hit the ''refresh'' button to see the latest version of this website each time you visit, as we intend to update the website file frequently during the course.