Predictions for Earth's future climate require both an understanding of the fundamental processes that control climate today and knowledge of how Earth's climate behaved over the past 4.5 billion years. In this course we will discuss the processes that control the Earth's climate, such as the Earth's energy balance, and will explore the tools and archives available to scientists for studying past climate conditions, e.g., atmospheric CO2 levels, ocean productivity, temperature, and ice-sheet volume. We will then march through time, starting with Earth's early climate and ending with projections for future climate scenarios. This course will consist of class activities, discussions, problem sets, and a possible optional field trip.

Units: 1

Max Enrollment: 16

Crosslisted Courses: ES 216

Prerequisites: Any 100 level ES or GEOS course, or permission of instructor.

Distribution Requirements: NPS - Natural and Physical Sciences

Typical Periods Offered: Every other year; Fall

Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Fall