Department of Earth and Environmental Science

Irina Marinov

Teaching

ENVS 204-001  Global Climate Change, Fall 2009 (with Prof. Ben Horton)

The course goal is to provide a general understanding of the Earth’s climate system and how and why this has changed through time.
The class focuses on Quarternary climate (i.e., the climate of the past 1.8 million years) in the longer geological context. Topics discussed include: orbital theory, Milankovitch cycles and radiocarbon dating; basic physics and chemistry of the oceans; history of oceanic thermohaline circulation; paleoceanography and the use of sedimentary cores to understand past climates; ice cores and the use of oxygen isotopes to understand past temperature and ice volume changes; major physical atmospheric and oceanic mechanisms responsible for future climate change, glacial-interglacial cycles, Heinrich and Dansgard-Oescheger events; basics of climate modeling; adaptation and vulnerability to future climate change; mitigation strategies for future climate change.
As part of this class, students are required to undertake an original research project based on the collection and/or analysis of data related to a subject area covered in the course. This is a group project (4-6 students), which counts for a significant percent of the grade.

ENVS 312-401 Ocean-Atmosphere Dynamics and Implications for Future Climate Change, Spring 2009

This course covers the fundamentals of atmosphere and ocean dynamics, and aims to put these in the context of climate change in the 21st century. The lectures focus on the physical mechanisms responsible for large-scale atmospheric and oceanic circulation, the global energy balance, and the global hydrological cycle. I introduce fundamental concepts of fluid dynamics and apply these to the vertical and horizontal motions in the atmosphere and ocean. Concepts covered include: hydrostatic law, buoyancy and convection, basic equations of fluid motions, Hadley and Ferrel cells in the atmosphere, thermohaline circulation, Sverdrup ocean flow, modes of climate variability (El-Nino, North Atlantic Oscillation, Southern Annular Mode). The course incorporates student led discussions based on readings of the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report and recent literature on climate change.

Aimed at undergraduate or graduate students who have no prior knowledge of meteorology or oceanography or training in fluid mechanics. Previous background in calculus and introductory physics is very useful. This is a very general course, which spans many sub-disciplines (fluid mechanics, atmospheric science, oceanography, hydrology).