Transcript the International Panel on Climate Change

CE 401
Climate Change Science and Engineering
TuTh 9:10 – 10:25
George Mount and Brian Lamb
CEE Laboratory for Atmospheric Research
11 January 2011
•
•
•
•
new class in the CE department – we hope it will be a good one that will challenge you all
senior elective to give you details on the science and engineering of climate change
topic is polarizing and controversial – you read about it everywhere all the time
the discussion and politics often have a “take no prisoners” flavor
• our job is to give you the facts as best we can, and let you come to your own
conclusions as regarding human influences on climate
• irregardless of where you come down on that controversial topic, engineers are
responding to current global discussions concerning sustainability, energy conservation,
and climate change  you need to
• be knowledgeable
• understand the physical concepts that underlie climate change
• understand the various pro/con arguments regarding climate change and
human influence and be able to separate fact from fiction
• understand how engineers can accommodate climate change in their designs
• at the end of the semester, you should be able bring analytical tools to bear on engineering
problems regarding climate change, and you will be capable of understanding and
criticizing popular and scientific articles about climate change and their influence
on your lives and your profession.
learning objectives:
•
•
•
•
•
•
intelligently and quantitatively discuss the pros/cons of climate change
critique popular and scholarly articles on climate change
understand the biases and uncertainties inherent in climate data and models
understand the impacts of climate change on humans and the natural world
understand how engineering tools can be applied to mitigate and adapt to climate change
understand policies put in place by decision makers, based on information and
misinformation
• evaluate the prospects for future management of climate change
• carry out a team-based research project and present the project in written and oral format
text(s):
• Global Warming, The Complete Briefing, 4th Edition, John Houghton
• frequent use of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports – these
will be placed onto the class web site
http://courses.cee.wsu.edu/site/gmount/home
assessment:
• participation (pop quizes): 5%
• homework assignments: 25%
• term project: 30% [15% written, 15% oral]
• exams: 40% [20% each, second not cumulative]
• 22 February
• 19 April
no final exam
term project: 30% of your grade
• 3-student teams
• choose a term project related to your interests on a topic related to the engineering
of climate change – study in depth related to engineering
• 10 pages double spaced
• oral presentation as a team last week of class (approx 25 min/presentation)
will involve:
• literature search (NOT just the web, also use journals and science/engineering articles)
• possible use of observational data
• climate science
• possible use of climate models
• engineering analysis
choose a topic by Friday, 18 February
topic must be submitted to both instructors with a short paragraph describing what you
want to do and expect to accomplish as a team. Choose your teams yourselves.
draft of paper due 31 March
written term paper due 28 April, last day of class
oral report nominally last week of classes (25 minutes each presentation)
schedule for the semester:
• get on the web for details and reading assignments
http://courses.cee.wsu.edu/site/gmount/home
week
topic
1
introduction and science summary
2
solar input and variations, orbital effects, global mean energy budget
3
global carbon cycle, greenhouse gases, radiative forcings
4
past evolution of climate, climate since the industrial revolution
5
modeling of climate change
6
predicted effects of climate change
18 February term paper topic submittal; 22 February – exam 1 on science of climate change
7
introduction to engineering aspects of mitigation and adaptation
8
energy and climate
9
transportation
10
spring recess
11
agriculture and forestry
12
infrastructure
31 March – first draft of term paper due
13
sustainable development and waste management
14
exam 2 on engineering aspects of climate change
15
guest lectures
16
oral project presentations
homework assignment 1:
• read “Summary for Policymakers”, a report of working group I of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [on the class website]
• read “The Myth of Dangerous Human-Caused Climate Change”, RM Carter
on the class website
due: Thursday, 13 January 2011
what are class opinions about climate change?
-
not happening
overblown as an environmental issue
just nature at work
not human caused
just a bunch a scientists trying to keep their research going
the end of the world as we know it – the Earth is going to radically change
politics of CC is going to just tax us more
not understood well enough to make political decisions
should be a national policy on CC
should be a local issue
wayyyyyyyy overblown
too polarizing to see the real facts
an international conspiracy
climategate
too complex an issue to make reliable predictions