ABOUT THE COURSE:This course will provide an understanding of the factors that control earth’s climate, how the earth’s climate may change in the future and how stable is earth’s climate. The role of the sun in earth’s climate. What is the greenhouse effect? Why do ice ages occur? The radiative properties of earth’s surface and atmosphere.INTENDED AUDIENCE: under-graduate students who want to know about the science related to climate changePREREQUISITES: High school physics and Mathematics sufficient
Overview
Syllabus
Week 1:Weather and climate, blackbody radiation, spectral variation, Wien’s lawWeek 2:emissivity, absorptivity and Kirchoff’s law, greenhouse effectWeek 3:Simple model for the global mean temperatureWeek 4:Radiative properties of gases and greenhouse effectWeek 5:Stability of the earth’s climateWeek 6:Feedback in the earth’s climate systemWeek 7:Climate sensitivityWeek 8:How did climate change in the pastWeek 9:clouds and climate changeWeek 10:Snowball earthWeek 11:Runaway Greenhouse in VenusWeek 12:Impact of climate change
Taught by
Prof. J.Srinivasan
