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Undergraduate & Graduate Climate Resources
Undergraduate Climate Resources
Rutgers Undergraduate Courses Related to Climate and Environmental Change
Meteorology Program
11:670:111-112 WEATHER, CLIMATE, AND TELEVISION I, II (1.5, 1.5)
Provides a theoretical foundation of television broadcasting and meteorology to supplement the hands-on television experience gained from the WeatherWatcher Living-Learning Community. By examining the history and characteristics of television, critical analyses of news and weather-related programming, and special topics pertaining to meteorology, students will gain a rounded understanding of the medium and its impact on the field of meteorology and broadcasting. This WeatherWatcher Living-Learning Community academic course is required of all first-year residents.
11:670:201 ELEMENTS OF METEOROLOGY (3)
Overview of current weather maps; structure of the atmosphere and the role of moisture in the development of dew, clouds, and precipitation; air masses, fronts, cyclones, thunderstorms, tornadoes, and hurricanes. Elements of weather forecasting, instrumentation and communication.
11:670:202 ELEMENTS OF CLIMATOLOGY (3)
Major climatic controls; climatic classifications and comparisons of major climatic types; an overview of current climate issues such as global warming and El Niño; overview of the global climate.
11:670:414 HYDROLOGIC PROCESSES (3)
Physical processes governing the occurrence and movement of water through the atmosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere. Techniques for collecting and analyzing hydrologic data and predicting the hydrologic states of particular systems.
11:670:431 PHYSICAL METEOROLOGY (3)
Atmospheric optics; atmospheric radiation and applications to climate; atmospheric convection; cloud and precipitation formation; turbulence and boundary layer processes; atmospheric electricity.
11:670:444 TROPICAL METEOROLOGY (3)
The dynamics and thermodynamics of the tropics, including regional and large-scale tropical circulations and their role in the global general circulation, tropical wave dynamics, convection and convective systems, synoptic, intraseasonal, and seasonal variability; monsoons, the El Nino/Southern Oscillation, tropical cyclones and hurricanes.
11:670:451 REMOTE SENSING OF OCEANS AND ATMOSPHERE (3)
Methods, instruments, and their application to observations of ocean and atmosphere. Sensing of oceanic parameters such as temperature, salinity, currents, sea state, turbidity and pollutants.
11:670:461 CLIMATE DYNAMICS (3)
The climate system and how it is changing due to natural and human causes, including past climate variations, El Nino, global warming, climate modeling, nuclear winter, mitigation options, and geoengineering.
Department of Environmental Sciences
11:375:346 INTRODUCTION TO ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY (3)
Principles of atmospheric chemistry. Issues include the Antarctic ozone hole, ozone smog, acid rain, air toxics, greenhouse gases, and aerosols. Environmental implications of changing atmospheric composition.
Marine & Coastal Sciences
11:628:204 THE WATER PLANET (3)
Characteristics of water: hydrologic cycle; runoff and erosion; river systems; past and present climates. Environmental impact; resources of water; political and economic aspects of water.
11:628:451 PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY (4)
Physical and chemical properties of sea water. Sound and radiation in the oceans. Heat, water, and momentum exchange at air-sea interface. Tides, waves, and currents.
Department of Ecology Evolution and Natural Resources
11:704:451. ECOSYSTEMS ECOLOGY AND GLOBAL CHANGE (3)
Analysis of the major global changes based on principles of ecosystems ecology; carbon, nutrient, and pollution cycling mechanisms and budgets; the methods used to study these phenomena.
Department of Human Ecology
11:374:102 GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE (3)
Scientific and policy dimensions of international environmental affairs; problems, response mechanisms, regional and national activities, and alternative strategies.
1:374:315 INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY (3)
The creation of international institutions to deal with shared and global environmental problems, such as ocean use and population. Assessment of the effectiveness of existing/proposed regimes, using decision-making simulations.
School of Arts and Sciences
01:556:143 ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE (4)
Introduction to science and the scientific method within the context of humanity's need for energy and the resulting impact on climate. Climate, physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering as they relate to energy and sustainability from a global perspective. Survey of energy-related economics and policy options.
Earth and Planetary Sciences
01:460:102 INTRODUCTORY GEOLOGY II (3)
Principles and concepts of plate tectonics and reconstructing past geography and environments; the history of Earth's climate, environments, biogeochemical cycles, and life through time. Designed for majors and minors.
01:460:110 SEA CHANGE: THE RISE AND FALL OF SEA LEVEL AND THE JERSEY SHORE (3)
History of climate and sea-level change over the past billion years.
01:460:202 ENVIRONMENTAL GEOLOGY (3)
Analyses of issues and case studies related to cleaning of the environment, finding and using resources, predicting and mitigating natural disasters, and understanding global change.
01:460:203 BUILDING AND MAINTAINING A HABITABLE PLANET (3)
Understanding human-caused environmental changes in the context of Earth’s 4.6 billion year history. Geological and human timescales; planetary habitability; planetary, biological, and civilization flows of energy and entropy; feedbacks between life, the carbon cycle, and climate; the evolution of complex life; human alterations of the Earth system; intelligent life in the Universe.
01:460:208 THE LAST 11,000 YEARS (3)
Geologic events since the last ice age. Sea-level changes, volcanism, earthquakes, climatic change, erosional and depositional effects. Ancient record of events, myths
01:460:212 EARTH AND LIFE THROUGH TIME (3)
Relationships between the development of Earth and its continents and oceans, atmosphere and climate, and the evolution of life through time. Designed for non-majors.
01:460:476 HISTORY OF THE EARTH SYSTEM (3)
Integration of atmospheric, oceanographic, geological and biological concepts with an historical perspective to introduce the major processes that have shaped Earth's environment; climatic processes on geological time scales; the evolution of organisms; the cycling of elements; the feedbacks between these processes.
01:460:434 THE QUATERNARY PERIOD (3)
Glaciology and glacial geology; study of erosion and deposition by glaciers; creation of landforms; effect of the glacial period on flora and fauna.
Department of Geography
01:450:101 EARTH SYSTEMS (3)
Systematic introduction to physical processes on earth; including earth-sun relations, weather and climate, the hydrologic cycle, earth materials, and landforms. Emphasis on interrelationships among these phenomena.
01:450:102 TRANSFORMING THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT (3)
Introduction to the role of humans as modifiers and transformers of the physical environment. Emphasis on current changes and contemporary public issues.
01:450:140 THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT (3)
Physical and chemical bases of the "greenhouse effect" and its global impact; biological, climatic, economic, and political. Reducing the emission of "greenhouse" gases; nuclear energy and other alternative energy sources. Lec. 2 hrs., lab. 1.5 hrs. For nonscience majors; not for major credit in science and engineering.
01:450:370 GLOBAL AND REGIONAL CLIMATE CHANGE (3)
Physical aspects and societal implications of climate change. Means of predicting and detecting change. Impacts on physical and human systems. Climate in the political arena; planning for the future.
01:450:403,404 ADVANCED PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY (3)
Problems in the geography of landforms, climate, soils, and vegetation analyzed from the viewpoints of both pure and applied sciences.
01:450:413 CLIMATE SYSTEM AND GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE (3)
Exploring the climate system and climate change from a geographic perspective. The earth's energy budget, hydrologic cycle, and atmospheric circulation will be examined at a variety of spatial and temporal scales. Present climate events and aspects of climate change will also be covered, including anthropogenic impacts resulting from deforestation, atmospheric pollution, urbanization, etc.
01:450:417 COASTAL GEOMORPHOLOGY (3)
Processes of erosion and deposition in coastal environments. Process-response models and problem-solving methods in coastal research.
01:450:311 NATURAL HAZARDS AND DISASTERS (3)
Human dimensions of selected types of extreme natural events (e.g., windstorms, earthquakes, floods, and droughts) in developed and developing countries.
01:450:491 GEOGRAPHICAL PROBLEMS (The World in 2050) (3)
How will population increase, climate change, and resource needs change the world by 2050? Chances are you will be around to find out. If you were born in 1990, you will be 60 years old in 2050.
Department of Physics
01:750:140 THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT (3)
Physical and chemical bases of the "greenhouse effect" and its global impact: biological, climatic, economic, and political. Reducing the emission of "greenhouse" gases; nuclear energy, and other alternative energy sources. For nonscience majors; may not be taken for major credit in science and engineering.
Graduate Climate Resources: Courses and Programs
Rutgers Graduate Courses Related to Climate and Environmental Change
Atmospheric Sciences
16:107:532 ATMOSPHERIC PHYSICS(3)
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor
The atmospheric physics of gravitation, clouds and aerosols, precipitation, energy and momentum transfer, solar and terrestrial radiation, optics, acoustics.
16:107:545 PHYSICAL CLIMATOLOGY(3)
Prerequisite: A basic course in meteorology or climatology.
The climate system, surface-energy balance, past climate variations, climate-feedback mechanisms, climate modeling, causes of climate change, detection and attribution of anthropogenic climate change.
16:107:539 INTRODUCTION TO RADIATIVE TRANSFER IN THE ATMOSPHERE AND OCEAN (3)
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor
Theory and simple models of radiative transfer in the ocean and atmosphere. Current research utilizing these techniques, including modeling clouds, aerosols and climate, and environmental remote sensing. Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.
16:107:544 MODELING OF CLIMATE CHANGE(3)
Prerequisites: At least one graduate course in meteorology, oceanography, or physical geography. Knowledge of a high-level programming language, such as FORTRAN or C.
Climate models, including energy-balance, radiative-convective, and general circulation models. Actual practice running climate models and analyzing output.
16:107:553 MECHANISMS OF PAST CLIMATE CHANGE (3)
Prerequisite: Graduate-level coursework in meteorology, oceanography, geology, or physical geography.
Mechanisms responsible for changes in climate during Earth's distant past, including orbital forcing of climate change, millennial-scale climate variability, and past changes in tropical atmosphere-ocean interaction.
16:107:603,604 INDEPENDENT STUDY IN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCE (BA, BA)
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor
The student conducts an independent comprehensive literature review and investigation of meteorological areas of interest other than the thesis topic. Regular reports of progress made in conference.
16:375:540 ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY (3)
(Spring, odd years)
This graduate level course in Atmospheric Chemistry will focus on the chemistry of the troposphere, with some discussion of the stratosphere. Students will gain an understanding of the photochemistry of natural as well as anthropogenic species. We will discuss the impact of human activities on the chemistry of the troposphere and stratosphere and will briefly discuss global warming. The required text will be Chemistry of the Upper and Lower Atmosphere (QC879.6 .F57 2000) by Finlayson-Pitts and Pitts. The course will be taught in discussion format (little or no lecture) so reading the assigned chapters in the text before each class period will be vital. The course will also emphasize problem solving.
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences
16:460:503 STUDIES IN PALEONTOLOGY (3)
Topics include methods and case studies in systematics, evolution and extinction, paleogeography, paleoclimate, and other topics of current interest. Emphasis on the relationship between geological and biological processes.
16:460:505 SEDIMENTARY GEOLOGY(3)
Topics of current interdisciplinary research in sedimentary geology. Sequence stratigraphy, facies models, sea-level change, unconformities/hiatuses, tectonics, climate change, evolution, mass extinctions.
16:460:526 PALEOCEANOGRAPHY (3)
Paleoecology, paleoclimatology, and paleogeography of marine microfossils; study of major paleoceanographic events and their relationships to stratigraphy and sedimentary facies.
Department of Geography
16:450:523 THE CLIMATE SYSTEM AND GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE (3)
The earth's energy balance, hydrologic cycle, and atmospheric circulation at a variety of spatial and temporal scales. Present climate events and aspects of climate change.
16:450:504 COASTAL GEOMORPHOLOGY (3)
Erosional and depositional processes in the coastal environment. Process-response models and problem-solving methods in coastal research.
16:450:612 NATURAL HAZARDS MANAGEMENT (3)
Analysis of human and environmental contributions to the generation and management of natural hazards, including, among others, earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, and droughts. Contemporary public policy issues at national and international levels of government. Theoretical emphasis on decision making in the face of uncertainty.
Graduate Program in Oceanography
16:712:502 LARGE SCALE OCEAN AND ATMOSPHERIC DYNMAMICS (3)
The theoretical basis for the observed large-scale, atmospheric and ocean circulation is presented. Topics include: derivation of the three-dimensional equations of motion; vorticity and energy; the planetary boundary layer; synoptic-scale motions; linear waves; hydrodynamic instability; the general circulation on the sphere; the effects of boundaries on large-scale horizontal flow; and vertical structure and motion.
11:628:320 DYNAMICS OF MARINE ECOSYSTEMS 2010 (3)
An overview of the fundamental processes in the marine environment with emphasis on interdisciplinary linkages in the functioning of marine ecosystems. Understanding the dynamics in the physics, chemistry, and biology of the oceans will be emphasized.
16:712:560 HISTORY OF THE EARTH SYSTEM (3)
This course integrates atmospheric, oceanographic, geological and biological concepts with a historical perspective to introduce the student to the major processes that have shaped Earth's environment. The course will examine climatic processes on geological time scales, the evolution of organisms, the cycling of elements, and the feedbacks between these processes. Prerequisites: Introductory Chemistry, Biology, and Physics (or by consultation with the Instructor).
16:712:603 NUMERICAL MODELING OF THE ATMOSPHERE AND OCEAN(3)
Introduction to techniques used to model geophysical fluid systems: approximation of functions and equations; finite difference, finite element, Fourier and spectral methods; advection algorithms; parameterization and smoothing; model testing and evaluation.
