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JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY
COURSE CODE: "NS 202"
COURSE NAME: "Global Warming"
SEMESTER & YEAR:
Spring 2018
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SYLLABUS
INSTRUCTOR:
Margaret Kneller
EMAIL: [email protected]
HOURS:
TTH 8:30-9:45 AM
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS:
45
CREDITS:
3
PREREQUISITES:
OFFICE HOURS:
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COURSE DESCRIPTION:
The class will examine the chemical, biological, physical, and geological processes involved in that climate change, already evident in the 20th century, and predicted for the 21st century. The human impact upon the “greenhouse effect” is explained, the merits of the scientific theory are examined in light of available evidence to date. Climate changes apparent at the century time-scale, and longer, are introduced; the physical forcings responsible for these changes are presented. The international treaties (the UNFCCC and Kyoto Protocol) that address anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions are introduced, along with local to regional initiatives developed by the private and public sectors.
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SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:
Lectures and Discussion will address the following:
Greenhouse Effect, Global Warming, and Climate Change…what do they mean?
What are the Primary Controls, or Forcings, of Earth’s Temperature?
What is the Temperature on Earth?
What is the Carbon Atom?
Basic Chemical Equations with Carbon.
What are the Greenhouse Gases?
The Global Carbon Cycle.
What are “normal” precipitation patterns?
What key role are Aerosols playing?
Doesn’t the earth’s climate always change?
What are the predictions for climate change in the 21st century?
What are “impacts?”
How do Human Activities produce greenhouse gases?
What is a Greenhouse Gas Inventory?
How much greenhouse gas do I produce?
Which international treaties address greenhouse gases?
What is currently “being done” to reduce greenhouse gas emissions?
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LEARNING OUTCOMES:
The class provides the non-science oriented student with a basic scientific understanding of climate change and the greenhouse effect. The student is also introduced to some of the policy instruments being developed, to address climate change.
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TEXTBOOK:
| Book Title | Author | Publisher | ISBN number | Library Call Number | Comments | Format | Local Bookstore | Online Purchase |
| Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis | Stocker, T.F., and others (eds.) | Cambridge University Press | 978-1-107-66182-0 | | See schedule for chapter sections to read. | | | |
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REQUIRED RESERVED READING:
RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:
| Book Title | Author | Publisher | ISBN number | Library Call Number | Comments |
| Global Warming: The Complete Briefing 5th Edition | John Houghton | Cambridge | 978-1107463790 | | This is a good introduction to global warming/climate change. |
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GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:
| Assignment | Guidelines | Weight |
| 4 short Assignments and/or Research Papers | Students will compose 4 short papers/assignments, on an assigned topic related to climate change or greenhouse gases.
The use of up-to-date reference materials, from original sources, is required.
Correctly citing sources is important, the bibliography is important.
The Results of your research will be presented in 1 to 2 pages of text (up to 1200 words approximately), followed by the bibliography.
We use Moodle for assignments. TurnitIn may be used.
LATE ESSAYS: if you miss the due date, then you risk that I will not grade your paper. | 30% (7.5% times 4) |
| Final | The Final will be based upon definitions, short answers, and descriptions of graphs and figures | 30% |
| Participation and Attendance | Classroom discussion related to material presented. | 10% |
| Midterm | The Midterm will be based upon definitions, short answers, and descriptions of graphs and figures. | 30% |
-ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
AWork of this quality shows an extensive knowledge of relevant information or content. This type of work demonstrates the ability to critically evaluate concepts and theory and a respect for evaluating data. There is clear evidence of full comprehension of the readin
BThis is highly competent level of performance and directly addresses the question or problem raised.There is a demonstration of some ability to critically evaluatetheory and concepts and relate them to practice. Discussions reflect the student’s own arguments and are not simply a repetition of standard lecture andreference material. The work does not suffer from any major errors or omissions and provides evidence of reading beyond the required assignments.
CThis is an acceptable level of performance and provides answers that are clear but limited, reflecting the information offered in the lectures and reference readings.
DThis level of performances demonstrates that the student lacks a coherent grasp of the material.Important information is omitted and irrelevant points included.In effect, the student has barely done enough to persuade the instructor that s/he should not fail.
FThis work fails to show any knowledge or understanding of the issues raised in the question. Most of the material in the answer is irrelevant.
-ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS:
Class attendance is required, more than four unexcused absences will lower the grade by one whole point (e.g. from B to C).
Please refer to the university catalog for the attendance and absence policy
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ACADEMIC HONESTY
As stated in the university catalog, any student who commits an act of academic
dishonesty will receive a failing grade on the work in which the dishonesty occurred.
In addition, acts of academic dishonesty, irrespective of the weight of the assignment,
may result in the student receiving a failing grade in the course. Instances of
academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Academic Affairs. A student
who is reported twice for academic dishonesty is subject to summary dismissal from
the University. In such a case, the Academic Council will then make a recommendation
to the President, who will make the final decision.
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STUDENTS WITH LEARNING OR OTHER DISABILITIES
John Cabot University does not discriminate on the basis of disability or handicap.
Students with approved accommodations must inform their professors at the beginning
of the term. Please see the website for the complete policy.
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SCHEDULE
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Which text do you read? Read from the www.ipcc.ch since the report was written for professionals and academics; the J Houghton (JH) book is written at a college undergraduate level (usual non-science majors can understand this book).
How do you access the various IPCC reports? …
The IPCC Reports are accessed here: http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/publications_and_data_reports.shtml
IPCC has three Working Groups (WG): WG1 studies Physical Science, WG2 studies Impacts, WG3 studies Mitigation.
The IPCC WG1 “Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis” report is here: http://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg1/ *. SPM is “Summary for Policy Makers.”
FAQ is “Frequently Asked Questions.” The FAQ Bulletin for IPCC WG1 is linked at http://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg1/ **: see “Quick Links” in the center column.
Fig. 1.12 refers to the Figure 12 found in Chapter 1, of IPCC WG1 report, Fig. 2.24 refers to the figure 24 found in Chapter 2, etc.
The IPCC WG2 “Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability” report is here: http://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg2/ **. We look at the “Summary for Policy Makers” which is click-linked in the right column, “Report by Chapters.”
Page numbers in the “Readings” column refer to report page number (not the adobe pdf page numbers).
The schedule is divided into 18 sessions, sessions will usually be covered in 1 to 2 class periods.
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Session: 1 or more class periods
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Concept
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Reading
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Assignment: exact due date decided in class.
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1
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Overview of Course, Intro to the IPCC
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*WG1AR5_Chapter01_FINAL : p 121-125 (Chapter 1);
JH: Chap.1
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2
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Surface Air Temperature, Global Average
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* WG1AR5_SPM_FINAL: p 3-8 (SPM)
JH: p 70-79
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3
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Surface Air Temperature, Ocean Temperature, station data
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IPCC ... ar5/wg1/: Figs. 1.12, 2.24, & FAQ 2.1, 3.1
JH: end p 124 to beg p 128
OTHER: “BEST Temperature Record” (Moodle)
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4
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Atmospheric Composition, Greenhouse Gases, CO2concentration
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* WG1AR5_SPM_FINAL: p 11-12 (SPM)
JH: p 34-49
OTHER:online <NOAA greenhouse gas index> and <NOAA trends atmosphere carbon dioxide>
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Temperature, exercise with gistemp or BEST
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5
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Earth’s Energy Balance, Radiative Forcing, EM Spectrum, Albedo
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* WG1AR5_SPM_FINAL: p 13-14 (SPM)
IPCC ... ar5/wg1/: FAQ 5.1
JH: p 63-64
OTHER: “Climate Forcings Industrial Era” (Moodle)
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6
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Aerosols : Natural and Anthropogenic
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IPCC ... ar5/wg1/: FAQ 7.2, Table 7.2
JH: p 57-62+
OTHER: see http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/Aerosols/printall.php
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7
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Carbon and CO2, Emissions vs. Concentration, Sources and Sink in the Biogeochemical Cycle
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IPCC ... ar5/wg1/: Fig. 6.1, 6.8, and Table 6.1—and the related text, also FAQ 6.2 and BOX 6.1
OTHER: use the U.S. NOAA CarbonTracker < www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/carbontracker/faq.html> and its Mauna Loa CO2 data < http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/index.html>
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8
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Greenhouse theory, electromag. spectrum
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JH: Chap. 2
OTHER: Greenhouse_Effect_from_Mitchel.pptx (Moodle)
EXTRA: “The Discovery of Global Warming, the Carbon Dioxide Greenhouse Effect” by Spencer Weart, at http://www.aip.org/history/climate/co2.htm , and the EM spectrum at https://science.nasa.gov/ems
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Carbon Cycle Questions
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9
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Methane and Review Questions
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IPCC ... ar5/wg1/: Fig. 6.2—and the related text
JH: relevant parts of Chap.3
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10
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MIDTERM
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11
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Introduction to ClimateImpacts
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IPCC ... ar5/wg2/**: Parts A, B and Supplementary Material of the WG2 “Summary for Policy Makers.”
Atlas: Glaciers, Extremes (p.24-27), JH: p Chap 7
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12
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Climate Impact: Less Arctic Sea Ice
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“Artic Sea Ice News” at the US NSIDC: http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/
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Climate Impacts: Short Paper
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13
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Climate Impacts: Hydrological Cycle, Tropical Cyclones
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IPCC ... ar5/wg2/**: Parts A, B and Supplementary Material
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14
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Climate Impacts: Sea Level Rise, the Uncertainty
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IPCC ... ar5/wg1/: FAQ 13.1 and 13.2
OTHER: http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2013/11/sea-level-rise-what-the-experts-expect/ and http://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/sea-level/
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15
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Climate Mitigation: the UNFCCC, Rio to Paris
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OTHER: Kyoto and Lima articles, update to Paris 2016, http://unfccc.int/paris_agreement/items/9485.php (Moodle has older documents)
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16
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Climate Mitigation: Ocean, Hydropower, Wind Power, Solar Power
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Ren21 global status report, summary findings, at http://www.ren21.net/ren21activities/globalstatusreport.aspx
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Climate Mitigation Short Paper
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17
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Climate Mitigation: Fuel Efficiency and Future Climate Change: scenarios
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<IPCC Scenarios> excerpted from IPCC web site (this is heavy reading, we will concentrate on a few key figures)
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