Program
The topic of climate change and its present and future consequences has now become of daily relevance in the physical, natural, economic and social sciences, as well as in the political debate.
The climate system is characterised by complex interactions between atmosphere, ocean, ice, soil and biosphere: the knowledge of the dynamics of these interactions is crucial for understanding the
implications of climate change and predicting its impact.
The aim of this course is to provide students with the minimum tools to interpret and communicate the knowledge produced and disseminated by the scientific community on climate change, and integrate it within their personal, educational and professional path.
The course covers:
1) The physical processes of the climate system;
2) The main characteristics of climate variability and global change;
3) The tools for climate observation, analysis and forecasting;
4) The periodic reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Information
The course will take place mainly in the form of frontal lectures.
The material of the course is in English. Lectures will be held in English, recorded and made available
to the students.
The exam consists of a multiple choice test.
Bibliography
- Material presented during the lessons.
- James, I. (1994). Introduction to Circulating Atmospheres (Cambridge Atmospheric and Space Science Series). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511622977
- Marshall and Plumb (2005). Circulation of the Atmosphere and Ocean: an introductory text.
- J.D. Neelin, 2011: Climate change and climate modelling.
- Vallis, G. (2019). Essentials of Atmospheric and Oceanic Dynamics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781107588431
- IPCC, 2021: Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Masson-Delmotte, V., P. Zhai, A. Pirani, S.L. Connors, C. Péan, S. Berger, N. Caud, Y. Chen, L. Goldfarb, M.I. Gomis, M. Huang, K. Leitzell, E. Lonnoy, J.B.R. Matthews, T.K. Maycock, T. Waterfield, O. Yelekçi, R. Yu, and B. Zhou (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, pp. 3−32, doi:10.1017/9781009157896.001. https://www.ipcc.ch/report/sixth-assessment-reportworking-group-i/
- Professor: MARCO GAETANI