Science of climate change

ENV-410 / 4 credits

Teacher: Schmale Julia

Language: English

Summary

The course equips students with a comprehensive scientific understanding of climate change covering a wide range of topics from physical principles, historical climate change, greenhouse gas emissions, the IPCC assessment to future scenarios and climate action.

Content

The basics: physics and chemistry of the climate system, historical climate change, climate variability, sensitivity, feedbacks

Climate change assessment: IPCC review of present-day climate change, tipping elements, extremes, regional climate change

Scenarios and carbon budget: climate change scenarios, remaining carbon budget, climate metrics, short-lived climate forcers/pollutants

Climate action: mitigation, adaptation and climate engineering

Keywords

Climate change, regional climate change, Earth system, IPCC, greenhouse gases, carbon budget, climate scenarios, greenhouse gas emissions

Learning Prerequisites

Required courses

none

Recommended courses

 

ENV-320 : Physics and chemistry of the atmosphere

ENV-409 : Air pollution

ENV-407: Atmospheric processes: from cloud to global scale

 

Important concepts to start the course

Basics of physics and chemistry

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, the student must be able to:

  • Express the basic physics and chemistry of climate change
  • Discuss the concepts of climate variability and climate sensitivity
  • Reason why present day climate change is different from historical climate change
  • Contrast climate change scenarios
  • Apply simple climate metrics
  • Interpret basic climate data and model output
  • Critique mitigation, adaptation and climate engineering options

Transversal skills

  • Assess one's own level of skill acquisition, and plan their on-going learning goals.
  • Plan and carry out activities in a way which makes optimal use of available time and other resources.
  • Communicate effectively with professionals from other disciplines.
  • Give feedback (critique) in an appropriate fashion.
  • Summarize an article or a technical report.
  • Access and evaluate appropriate sources of information.

Teaching methods

In-depth teaching. Exercises with educational support. Project work in teams. Discussions.

Expected student activities

Lecture attendance, exercise assignments, project work, presentations

Assessment methods

50 % exercises, 50 % exam

Supervision

Assistants Yes
Forum Yes

Resources

Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI)

No

Bibliography

Seinfeld, J. H. & Pandis, S. N. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics: From Air Pollution to Climate Change. John Wiley & Sons, New York, 2016.

John M. Wallace and Peter V. Hobbs Atmospheric Science, An Introductory Survey, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 2006

Peixoto, José P., Physics of climate, New York : American Institute of Physics, 1992

Ressources en bibliothèque

Notes/Handbook

lecture slides; recordings

Websites

Moodle Link

In the programs

  • Semester: Fall
  • Exam form: Written (winter session)
  • Subject examined: Science of climate change
  • Lecture: 2 Hour(s) per week x 14 weeks
  • Exercises: 2 Hour(s) per week x 14 weeks
  • Type: mandatory
  • Semester: Fall
  • Exam form: Written (winter session)
  • Subject examined: Science of climate change
  • Lecture: 2 Hour(s) per week x 14 weeks
  • Exercises: 2 Hour(s) per week x 14 weeks
  • Type: optional
  • Semester: Fall
  • Exam form: Written (winter session)
  • Subject examined: Science of climate change
  • Lecture: 2 Hour(s) per week x 14 weeks
  • Exercises: 2 Hour(s) per week x 14 weeks
  • Type: optional
  • Exam form: Written (winter session)
  • Subject examined: Science of climate change
  • Lecture: 2 Hour(s) per week x 14 weeks
  • Exercises: 2 Hour(s) per week x 14 weeks
  • Type: mandatory
  • Semester: Fall
  • Exam form: Written (winter session)
  • Subject examined: Science of climate change
  • Lecture: 2 Hour(s) per week x 14 weeks
  • Exercises: 2 Hour(s) per week x 14 weeks
  • Type: optional
  • Semester: Fall
  • Exam form: Written (winter session)
  • Subject examined: Science of climate change
  • Lecture: 2 Hour(s) per week x 14 weeks
  • Exercises: 2 Hour(s) per week x 14 weeks
  • Type: optional
  • Semester: Fall
  • Exam form: Written (winter session)
  • Subject examined: Science of climate change
  • Lecture: 2 Hour(s) per week x 14 weeks
  • Exercises: 2 Hour(s) per week x 14 weeks
  • Type: optional

Reference week

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