EPS 5 – Introduction to Environmental Science: The atmosphere and oceans, climate and chemical compositionSyllabusProfessorsProfessor Steven C. Wofsy Professor Daniel J. JacobPierce Hall 100E (alt. Geo. Museum 453) Pierce Hall 110C617 495 4566 617 495 [email protected] [email protected] FellowsEloise Marais [email protected] Dayalu [email protected] Kim [email protected] Center Room 3091:00 – 2:30 PM Tu/ThCourse elements Participation 10%Homework 20%Midterm Exam 15%Final Exam 30%Writing Project 25%The course consists of lectures (3 hr/week), sections (1 hr/week), laboratory demonstrations (during the lecture periods), and a reading/writing project conducted throughout the term, using primary scientific articles on climate and environment.Note: Attendance at lectures and sections is required. Students are requested not to use laptops or cell phones during class. EPS 5 Explores some of the most prominent and difficult environmental problems of the 21st century, arising from the global imprint of people on the atmosphere, oceans, andbiosphere: climate change (human—caused and others), global changes in the chemical and biological functions of the atmosphere and oceans, modification of major geochemical cycles.Lecture ScheduleProf. Wofsy- INTRODUCTION02 SEP. 2010. LECTURE 1. WHAT IS EPS5? A graphical representation of topics. Current topics in atmospheric and ocean sciences: The record of past temperatures; Loss of the cryosphere: Arctic floating ice, Himalayan glaciers; El Niño. The EPS5 Writing Project.07 SEP. 2010. LECTURE 2 PART 1. BACKGROUND PHYSICS. Pressure, temperature, momentum. Demonstrations: Basketballs and golf balls, and the atmosphere09 SEP. 2010. LECTURE 2 PART 2. BACKGROUND PHYSICS. Continued.- ATMOSPHERIC RADIATION: ENERGY BALANCE & CLIMATE14 SEP. 2010. LECTURE 3. The energy balance of Earth. Demonstration: Invisibility at 1800oK. Spectra and Planck’s Nobel Prize16 SEP. 2010. LECTURE 4. Greenhouse effect. Demonstration: The thermal camera—seeing is a state of mind.- ATMOSPHERIC PHYSICS: MASS & MECHANICS OF THE ATMOSPHERE 21 SEP. 2010. LECTURE 5. VERTICAL STRUCTURE OF THE ATMOSPHERE.23 SEP. 2010. LECTURE 6. ADIABATIC PROCESSES, ATMOSPHERIC LAPSE RATES. Demonstration: Pumping air, burning METs.28 SEP. 2010. LECTURE 7. STABILITY, CONVECTION, BUOYANCY. Demonstrations: Don’tpush me too far!; Archimedes was a portly gentleman; The mystery in the Wesson oil; Boiling and freezing at the same time.- PHYSICAL CLIMATE: ATMOSPHERE & OCEAN DYNAMICS30 SEP. 2010. LECTURE 8. THERMALLY FORCED ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION. Sea breeze,Hadley circulation. Buoyancy, pressure, and closing the loop.05 OCT. 2010. LECTURE 9. ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION: Coriolis force, thermal wind. Demonstrations: The EPS 5 basketball blowout; the Governor pays a call.07 OCT. 2010. LECTURE 10. GEOSTROPHY AND ATMOSPHERIC SYNOPTIC MOTIONS, CLIMATE ZONES. Washtub dynamics.12 OCT. 2010. LECTURE 11. OCEAN CIRCULATION, CLIMATE INERTIA.14 OCT. 2010. MIDTERM EXAM (LECTURES 2-10)19 OCT. 2010. LECTURE 12. CURRENT TOPICS IN CLIMATE SCIENCE. Theme 1: Is climate changing? Mountain Glaciers and Floating Ice in the Arctic – Case studies. 21 OCT. 2010. LECTURE 13. CURRENT TOPICS IN CLIMATE SCIENCE. Theme 2: Is climate change an important risk to society? Severe storms, heat waves, ecological changes – Case studies. - BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES26 OCT. 2010. LECTURE 14. CARBON CYCLE I: CO2 over geologic time. Geological aspects of the carbon cycle. 28 OCT. 2010. LECTURE 15. CARBON CYCLE II: Ocean and Terrestrial biosphere. 02 NOV. 2010. LECTURE 16. CARBON CYCLE III: Uptake of anthropogenic CO2.04 NOV. 2010. LECTURE 17. ATMOSPHERIC METHANE: Climate Feedbacks.Prof. Jacob09 NOV. 2010. LECTURE 18. NITROGEN CYCLE I: Terrestrial and marine systems.16 NOV. 2010. LECTURE 19. NITROGEN CYCLE II: Human impacts, changes in atmosphere, fresh water, and ocean nutrients.18 NOV. 2010. LECTURE 20. SULFUR CYCLE I. (by Prof. Wofsy)23 NOV. 2010. LECTURE 21. SULFUR CYCLE II. Human impacts, controls.- REGIONAL AND GLOBAL PERTURBATIONS30 NOV. 2010. LECTURE 22. HUMAN-INDUCED CHANGES IN SOILS, STREAMS, AND OCEANS; POPS AND MERCURY – INTERACTIONS BETWEEN PHYSICAL AND BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES.Prof. Wofsy02 DEC. 2010. LECTURE 23: CURRENT TOPICS – THE INTERSECTION OF CLIMATE SCIENCE,PUBLIC POLICY, AND SOCIETY Writing ProjectThe EPS 5 Writing Project is different from most course term papers in structure and purpose.Students prepare a term paper (6-10 pages, due at the end of the first week of reading period) by conducting in-depth analysis of a topic using primary sources from the scientific literature. A structured set of assignments leads up to, and is incorporated into, the term paper. Students will get credit for completing and receive detailed feedback on their short assignments, but only the comparative critical summary and term paper will begiven letter grades. The writing assignments build towards the term paper. Students develop new skills for critical analysis of science/societal questions, and new insight into the process of understanding and analyzing primary sources in general, while preparing a paper on a compelling scientific issue that is developing at the current time.Topics for EPS 5 Writing Project in 2010 (fall)1. Changes in Sea Ice: Arctic and AntarcticThe floating ice in the polar regions represents a sensitive indicator of climate change thatcontributes to feedback in climate system and to regional effects. What do we know aboutchanges in sea ice in each of the polar zones in the recent past and over longer time intervals? What do we learn about observations, climate models, and feedbacks from studies of sea ice? 2. Changes in Atmospheric Composition : Reconstructing the Record Greenhouse Gases over Time. Atmospheric concentrations of important greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, N2O) have changed markedly over time scales of years, decades, centuries, millennia, and longer.What measurements have revealed these changes, how reliable are they, what do we know about the mechanisms causing GHG concentrations to change, what is