GEOG 212 - Introduction to Climate and Climate Change w/Lab

Credits: 5
LEC hours per week: 4
LAB hours per week: 2
An introductory course in climatology, the study of Earth’s present, past, and future climate. Examine natural and anthropogenic(human-caused) climate change on various timescales (from tens of years to hundreds of millions of years). Included are the effects of atmospheric greenhouse gases, tectonic climate forcing, orbital cycle variations, deep ocean circulation, and biological feedbacks. This is a lab course. Students may not earn credit for both this course and the non-lab version GEOG 211.
Prerequisite(s): MATH 014 or AMATH 106 with a grade of C or higher or appropriate placement; ENGL 087 or AENG 100 with a grade of C or higher or appropriate placement; or permission of the Science Division Chair or designee.
Recommended: READ 088.
Course Outcomes:

Evaluate climate data using the scientific method.
Evaluate climate change science based on natural archives (biological, geological, and chemical)in which climate information is preserved.
Explain natural and anthropogenic causes of climate variations over a broad range of scales.
Infer how the Greenhouse Effect works and its impact on global climate change through experimentation.
Explain how the earth’s orbital cycles influence climate shifts.
Analyze human’s effects on climate and climate’s effects on humans.

Course Topics:

Framework of Climate Science
Tectonic Scale (10s - 100s of millions of years) Climate Change
Orbital Scale (10s of thousands of years) Climate Change
Millennial Scale Climate Change
Historic (human perspective) and Future Climate Change

Course Attribute(s): Natural Science