Introduction to Climate Science

This course reviews the current state of climate science including: the relationship of weather and climate; methods of investigation; major factors that influence climate (e.g. insolation, greenhouse gases); historic climate changes; climate modeling (forcing, responses, feedbacks, tipping points); projections of future climate and possible impacts; mitigation and adaption options.

The objectives of this class are to increase understanding of:

• the earth’s climate system, the forces that influence it, and the evidence that human-induced change is occurring;
• climate models, past changes, projections of future climate change and the likely impacts on human and natural systems;
• alternative adaptation and mitigation measures, from local to international;
• basic quantitative analysis as applied to climate science.