GLY 3074

The Oceans and Global Climate Change

Spring 2009

 

Dr. Ellen E. Martin

Office: 362 Williamson Hall                                   email: eemartin@ ufl.edu

Office Hours: Mon. and Wed. 3:00 – 4:00

or by appointment (preferably not right before class)

 

TA: Derrick Newkirk (drnewk@ufl.edu)

            Office Hours: Tues. 3-4 (or by appointment) Williamson 258

 

Lectures: M,W,F, Period 5, 11:45 – 12:35, Rm 202 Williamson Hall

 

Objectives: The oceans store huge amounts of heat, moisture and carbon dioxide.  As such, they profoundly influence climate and modulate natural and anthropogenic climate change.  The goal of this course is for you to understand the role the oceans play in determining climate and regulating global climate change.  We will start with an introduction to the climate system, then cover atmospheric and ocean circulation, the relationship between the oceans and the global carbon system, and finally discuss the long-term record of global climate preserved in the oceans. 

 

Required Materials:

Kump, Kasting and Crane, 2nd edition, 2004, The Earth System, Prentiss Hall.

 

There is no perfect textbook for this course.  The Kump, Kasting and Crane book covers a lot of the important material, but not all of it, and there are a number of chapters you will not be assigned.  I’ve placed a number of books on reserve to try to cover topics that are not handled in the textbook.

 

Grading         In-class/take home/ GW opinion                                                5%

                        3 Exams (15% each)  (Jan. 30, Feb. 25, Apr. 6)                               45%

2 Lab exercises (5% each)                                                                10%

                        Position paper (Mar. 27)                                                                 10%

                        Stabilization Triangle                                                                      5%

Written assignment (due Apr. 15)                                                 10%

                        Presentation and abstract                                                               10%

                        Presentation evaluations                                                                5%

 

Assignments handed in late will only receive 50% of their original value.

                       

Assignments:  There will be a number of short take home and in-class assignments throughout the semester.  These will be designed to let you think about some of the concepts independently or to give you hands-on experience manipulating some of the data.  Part of the assignment grade will also include a short write-up early on about your views on global warming based on your knowledge prior to this course.

 

ALL assignments during the semester need to be handed in as hard copies on the day they are due.  DO NOT send them to me electronically.  I will not count them as turned in until I have the piece of paper in hand.  This means you need to plan time for completing and printing the assignments.

 

Exams:  There are 3 one hour exams that will be administered during regular class times.  Each exam will cover the material from the previous third of the course.  Exams will consist of a mixture of short answer, fill-in-the-blank, and essay questions.  Exams are scheduled for Jan. 30th, Feb., 25th  and Apr. 6th. There is no final exam; however we may need to utilize that time to get through all of the presentations.

 

Written Assignments: 

1)      One short written assignment (~1 page) early in the semester about your current views on global warming.  This will not be graded, but will constitute part of your “assignments” grade (due Jan 16th)

2)      A position paper expressing your view on whether or not global warming is a problem.  This 1 page paper will not require extensive research beyond what we have discussed in class, but you will need to support your thoughts with scientific arguments (due March 27th).  The assignment will be graded on a score of 1-10 based on the strength of your argument and the presentation of your ideas. 

3)      A final written assignment near the end of the semester that is essentially a final essay question (Apr. 15th); in this format you will have more time and resources to answer the question.  You will be graded on a score of 1-10 based on the scientific content as well as the quality of the written presentation.  This assignment will represent the 10% of your grade listed as “written assignment.”

4)      A one page abstract of your presentation will be due on the day of your presentation.  It comprises part of your presentation grade

 

Lab exercises:  Two days during the semester have been set aside for lab exercises.   One exercise covers surface ocean circulation, the other covers deep ocean circulation.  Both will require some computer work outside of class.  The purpose of these exercises is to give you an opportunity to work with data on these topics.  There are questions to be handed in for each exercise. (due Feb. 6th and Feb. 20 th). 

 

The Stabilization Triangle: A Concept and Game- is a game put together by a group at Princeton to evaluate potential solutions to greenhouse gas emissions.  The goal is to determine a strategy to keep atmospheric CO2 emissions flat over the next 50 years.  The game presents a range of strategies and discusses the pros and cons; there are no right or wrong answers.  You will work in groups of ~5 to put together a strategy, then each group will present their strategy to the class and each individual will write up a summary explaining the choices made.

 

Presentations: Each student will give a short (10 min) presentation to the class on a topic related to oceans and global climate change.  These presentations will take up all of the class time near the end of the semester.  I will provide a list of possible topics, but you are free to work on any topic you find interesting.  The idea is to give you an opportunity to delve into some topic in more detail, to put together a Powerpoint presentation, write up a 1 page abstract, and then present your findings to the class.  Everyone will be asked to critique the quality of the science and the presentation.  Your grade for this portion of the class will be based on your presentation and your abstract.  An additional portion of your grade will be based on your contribution to evaluating other presentations.  I will provide more information on topics and how to write an abstract later in the course. 

 

Webpage:  The website for this course can be found at http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/emartin/GLY307409/GLY3074S09.html .  It can also be accessed through the course notes link on the Department of Geological Sciences homepage (http://web.geology.ufl.edu).  The class site includes a copy of the syllabus, course description, information about upcoming assignments, changes in the schedule, study guides for exams, grades, and a version of the PowerPoint presentations given in class.

 

Common Sense:  I don’t think it is necessary to include a long section on classroom etiquette, respect for other students, plagiarism, cheating....  There are standard university policies on all of these topics, and everyone should be aware of them.  Because you will also be turning in assignments and giving presentations on material that is readily available on the web, I want to stress that taking information verbatim off the web is plagarism (and it’s a form of plagarism that is relatively easy to track down).  The web can be a great resource, but remember that you must properly credit websites that you use for information.  Also remember that anyone can post anything on the web.  Make sure you use sites that have some validity.