The outline of the course is as follows:
1) Climate vs. weather. Climate system: components and parameters. Climate measurements and observations.
2) Energy balance of planet Earth. Solar constant, planetary albedo, greenhouse effect. Climate forcings and feedbacks.
3) Natural climate forcings and climate changes across geological history of the planet. Anthropocentric climate forcing and actual climate change.
4) Human fingerprints on climate: evidence.
5) Climate modeling: principles, verification, projections. Climate scenarios. Carbon budget.
6) IPCC assessment and special reports.
During first five meetings (1-5) I will provide a tutorial: 5 two-hour lectureas about physical backgrounds of climate science and global warming. paralellyI wil provide a list of subjects to be actively covered by the students, All participants will be assigned (accounting for their topical preferences) to working grouups. The groups will prepare subject presentations, based on IPCC reports and scientific literature. The presentations will be given in the course of the next 6-8 meetings (depending on groups) and discussed by all of us.
In the final few meetings we will collectively summarize the conclusions.
Finally, at the end of the course, every student will wtite an essay on the specific subject related to their interest within the topic of the course.
The final grade will be based on:
- participation ain presentation (50%)
- essay (50%)
According yo this year schedule the first meeting will be on Wed, Oct. 21 st.
You will receive invitation to Zoom meeting by e-mail before the meeting.
REFERENCES and readings:
Our course will be based directly on IPCC reports. All relevant reports are available from: https://www.ipcc.ch/reports/
We will also refer to some key scientific papers, in most cases published in renowned journals like “Nature”, “Science”, PNAS. “Nature” and Science” publish not only scientific articles, but also discussions and commentaries which are interesting and written in plain language.
Typical press materials are not recommended.
