Welcome to Geol. 488
Environmental Change
Week 1:
Course syllabus distributed. Course structure and purpose explained. Course is designed in 3 parts: (a) principles and theories concerning environ. change, (b) description of most important natural systems involved in environment, and (c) examples of environmental change - local, regional and global - with analysis.
The course is evaluated by three means: (1) in class tests - these are non-comprehensive, testing the material covered since the previous test, (2) homework problems - there will be about one a week for the first half of the semester, (3) a research paper to be done by the schedule on the syllabus for the end of semester.
The grading scheme will be 60% on test results, 20% on homework and 20% on the research paper.
Sources of information: See the syllabus for Text Book reading. Information will come from lectures and also assigned reading. The reading will be on reserve in the Map Library, second floor (south end) of Davis Hall.
Most assigned problems will come from: Consider a Spherical Cow, a course in Environmental Problem Solving, by John Harte (1988, William Kaufmann, Inc.)
Link to SnowBall Earth Article
Link to Test 1 subject outline
Link to first half of Venus article
Link to second half of Venus article
Link to Ocean Circulation and Climate Change
Link to Second Reading on ENSO
Link to Class Diagrams for ENSO
Link to Topic Summary for Test 3
Link to Key Diagrams for Great Lakes Modeling
Link to Warming impact on Ecology Article
Link to human impact on Holocene Interglacial Cycle Article
Link to key diagrams for the Carbon Cycle