Overview

The core part of this module consists of four parts:

PART A: Climate Processes and Interactions - including radiation and global energy balance, the greenhouse effect and climate feedbacks, redistribution of solar energy across the globe, ocean circulation including vertical mixing and deep water formation, and ice and ocean interaction;

PART B: Natural Climate Variability on Geological Timescales - including large scale processes (such as orogeny, erosion and long term biogeochemical processes that operate on timescales of tens or hundreds of millions of years), external orbital forcing (glacial/interglacial cycles), external solar forcing (eg solar minima such as the Maunder Minimum), event-based perturbations (eg volcanic events) and Earth system feedbacks (e.g. ice-ocean-climate feedbacks);

PART C: Decadal and Annual Climate Variability and the Impacts of Climate Change* including decadal scale and regional climatic oscillations such as El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), oceanic CO2 drawdown, in situ monitoring of marine climate change, sea level and coastal flooding, and Earth observation (remote monitoring) of climate variability.

PART D: Climate modelling. The basics of climate modelling are addressed through the investigation of the climate on Earth and other planets. .

Assessment Strategy

Threshold - (D- grade) Demonstrating a basic ability to analyse the response of the climate system to forcings over different timescales and at varying frequencies, to appreciate the complexity of the climate response of the Earth system and in particular the feedbacks that characterise this complexity, to undertake simple calculations relating to the Earth's radiation and global energy balance, and to offer informed advice on climate prediction (including an appreciation of probability), climate change impacts and mitigation strategies.

Good - (B grade) Demonstrating a good ability to analyse the response of the climate system to forcings over different timescales and at varying frequencies, to appreciate the complexity of the climate response of the Earth system and in particular the feedbacks that characterise this complexity, to undertake simple calculations relating to the Earth's radiation and global energy balance, and to offer informed advice on climate prediction (including an appreciation of probability), climate change impacts and mitigation strategies.

Excellent - (A grade) Demonstrating an excellent ability to analyse the response of the climate system to forcings over different timescales and at varying frequencies, to appreciate the complexity of the climate response of the Earth system and in particular the feedbacks that characterise this complexity, to undertake simple calculations relating to the Earth's radiation and global energy balance, and to offer informed advice on climate prediction (including an appreciation of probability), climate change impacts and mitigation strategies.

Learning Outcomes

• analyse the response of the climate system to forcings over different timescales and at varying frequencies;

• appreciate the complexity of the climate response of the Earth system and in particular the feedbacks that characterise this complexity;

• offer informed advice on climate prediction (including an appreciation of probability), climate change impacts and mitigation strategies.

• undertake simple calculations relating to the Earth's radiation and global energy balance;