精东传媒app

A better understanding of the world's climate system is essential in order to achieve sustainable development of our natural environment and to appreciate the impact of future climate change and variability. Insight comes from the physical mechanisms that drive our climate and its variability and are underpinning the development and application of climate system models. This course is designed to provide students with a sound understanding based on physical principles into the functioning of the climate system.

The course discusses the underlying physical processes and mechanism that drive the world's climate system and future climate change. Students examine the architecture and design of climate models ranging from simple energy balance models to complex climate system models. Insight is provided into the phenomena of climate change and variability and past climates of the planet on regional and global scales are investigated in the context of presently observed climatic changes. The course highlights examples of climate change and variability and historical approaches to adapting to climate change and harnessing the opportunities that arise from projecting climate variability and its application to managing economic activities.

On completion of this course students will be able to:

1. describe general dynamics of the climate system on global scales;
2. apply simple models based on physical processes of the climate system to study the response of climate to varying forcing;
3. explain the physical processes that apply to the circulation of the ocean and atmosphere;
4. describe the passage of energy throughout the climate system;
5. understand the ENSO ocean/atmosphere interaction;
6. recognise the difference between the human induced and natural greenhouse effect;
7. explain the concept of Climate Change forecasting;
8. describe the practical benefits of Climate Change and variability studies in areas such as agricultural climatology and applications.