Outcomes
In order to successfully complete this course, the student will:
1. Define climate.
2. Distinguish between climate and weather.
3. Describe the climatic norm.
4. Identify the linkage between climate and society.
5. Describe, compare, and contrast the complementary empirical and dynamic definitions of climate.
6. Investigate the spatial and temporal characteristics of climate, climate variability, and climate change by observing the climate system and analyzing climate anomalies.
7. Describe the international cooperation in the Earth’s climate system and how the Earth’s climate system is modeled.
8. Explain and demonstrate how to access climate data on the Internet.
9. Identify the forms of electromagnetic radiation and describe radiation laws that have been developed.
10. Evaluate the differences between incoming solar radiation and outgoing terrestrial radiation.
11. Compute the global solar radiation budget and investigate the benefits of the stratospheric ozone shield.
12. Distinguish between heat and temperature.
13. Identify the causes and consequences of heat transfer with Earth’s climate system.
14. Define heat transfer processes particularly regarding the phase changes of water and explain the global heat imbalance.
15. Explain the components of the global water cycle and the role of water vapor in the atmosphere.
16. Describe how clouds are classified.
17. Distinguish the principal cloud types.
18. Explain precipitation formation.
19. Expound upon the different methods of measuring precipitation. Through laboratory exercises, compare precipitation amounts at locations on the windward and leeward sides of a mountain range.
20. Characterize the principal forces that initiate and govern the circulation of air and explain how those circulations influence climate.
21. Describe the seasonal changes in the planetary-scale circulation as well as the role of zonal and meridional flow patterns in seasonal shifts of climate. Through real-time data analysis, confirm the basic wind movements around high and low pressure systems as well as explain the general relationships between Rossby wave ridges and troughs and surface weather and climate.
22. Define and classify various types of air masses and the fronts that separate them.
23. Describe the life cycle of extratropical cyclones as well as anticyclones.
24. Investigate local and regional circulation systems that distinguish the climate in different locales.
25. Explain the mean state of ocean circulation and apply reasoning to various air/sea interactions.
26. Describe local, regional, and global scale impacts or teleconnections such as ENSO and the North Atlantic Oscillation. Apply to worldwide climate and short-term climate variability.
27. Describe ways in which analyses of deep-sea sediment cores are employed in reconstructing past climates.
28. Compare possible similarities between past climates and modern climate change.
29. Classify global climate patterns by temperature and precipitation and identify trends in mean annual temperature and precipitation by evaluating the integrity of instrument data.
30. Illustrate ways the climate record may be analyzed.
31. Summarize the climatology of severe weather in terms of thunderstorms, tornadoes, and tropical storms.
32. List several natural forcing agents and mechanism of Earth’s climate system, including how solar variability, Earth’s orbit, plate tectonics, and volcanic activity affect the system.
33. Describe polar amplification and the observed changes in snow and ice cover in recent decades.
34. Explain how human activities affect global climate and contrast the significance of those influences with natural causes of climate change.
35. Utilize critical reasoning skills to identify the potential impacts of global climate change, such as rising sea level shrinking glaciers.
36. Describe climate classification and utilize the various methods to classify regions of the globe.
37. Understand what climate mitigation techniques are being proposed and apply reasoning to theoretical scenarios to evaluate and suggest optimal geoengineering efforts.
38. Apply policy lessons from stratospheric ozone depletion to respond to current climate change policy at the local, regional, national, and global levels.