UNST 232 Global Environmental Change

e-mail: ruzickaa@pdx.edu
 
 

Earth's atmosphere and climate controls habitats on Earth, and prevents our planet from looking like our airless, bombarded moon (center) or the hothouse of Venus or firigid desert of Mars.  Global climate has changed in the past and will certainly change in the future, with major implications for life on Earth.  Important questions that need to be addressed include how Earth's climate system works, what we can expect for future changes in climate, and what we should do, if anything, about it.  [All images by the instructor except center, courtesy of NASA.]
 

Course information & resources

• Syllabus  (posted 12/18/07).

• Figures from the book (both first and second edition) are available for downloading at the following URL: http://www.whfreeman.com/ruddiman . If you want to access the second edition materials, you will have to register, but most of the same figures are available from the first edition without needing to register. (posted 12/18/07)

• Extra credit opportunity.  In the aftermath of Quiz 1, I am offering an extra credit opportunity that can earn you up to 1% extra on your total grade (that's a lot), involving attending part of a roundtable discussion at PSU on climate change.  To get credit, attend one or more events and write a mininum of 2 typed pages (12 font, 1" margins) that summarizes how much time you spent at the event, how many people were attending, and what you thought.  This assignment is due in main class on Feb. 5 (sorry, no late work accepted).  More details about the forum can be found at http://www.pdx.edu/sustainability/focusthenation_agenda.html . (posted 1-29-08)

• Correction to Final Exam time.  The final exam will be held Tuesday, Mar 18, at 10:15-12:05 in our usual classroom.  This corrects what was said in the syllabus.  (posted 3-13-08)

• Missing debate briefs.  I do not have debate briefs for the second and third days of debates.  To ensure that you receive grades promptly, those of you that debated these days should bring a copy of your team briefs to class for the Final Exam.  They are worth 10% of your total debate score.  Ryan and I plan to discuss these debates soon and I will need to have the briefs available.  (posted 3-17-08)  (6 pm Update: In amongst the scrapbooks I found briefs from Warren, Brittany, Jeff, Arthur, David, James, Katie, Morrigan, Anna, and Mark, so you guys and your teammates are fine and don't need to turn in anything else.)

Mentor section and other assignments

• An introduction of yourself (posted 12/18/07).  Due to mentor by Jan. 17.

• Tree-ring exercise (posted 12/18/07, revised due date posted 1/29/08).  Due to mentor by Feb. 5 12.

• Scrapbook (posted 1/9/08).  Due in 3 installments, the first Jan. 19. 

• Oral presentations: assignment & suggestions (posted 1/22/07).  Here are some tips to consider as you start to work on group oral presentations.  I will be discussing this in class Jan. 29.

• Annotated bibliography (posted 2/12/07). Due in main section Mar. 4.

Instructor presentations

• Overview of Earth's climate system (Ch. 1, 2.1 Mb Powerpoint). 

• Climate Today, part 1 (4.8 Mb Powerpoint).

• Climate Today, part 2 (3.3 Mb Powerpoint).

• Climate Archives (Ch. 2, 5.1 Mb Powerpoint).

• Long Term Climate (Ch. 3-6 highlights, 6.7 Mb Powerpoint).

• Climate since the 1800s (Ch. 17 & 18, 6.7 Mb Powerpoint).

• Climate in the future (Ch. 19 & portions of Ch. 18, 3.5 Mb Powerpoint).

Student presentations

• Group assignments  (posted 1/24/08).

• Astronomical Control (Ch. 7, 8.7 Mb Powerpoint).

• Orbital scale changes in CO₂ and CH₄ (Ch. 10, 8.0 Mb Powerpoint).

• Last glacial maximum (Ch. 12, 30 Mb Powerpoint).

• Climate since the last deglaciation (Ch. 13, 9.8 Mb Powerpoint).

• Humans and pre-industrial climate (Ch. 15, 7.2 Mb Powerpoint).

• Climate in the last 1000 years (Ch. 16, 22.3 Mb Powerpoint).

Debates

• We will be having 5 (or maybe 6) debates, and need to decide not only on topics but teams. Each team should have no more than 3 people, no less than 2, and can be made of students from either the same or different mentor sections.  Look at the propositions we discussed in class (found here; I've taken the liberty of changing the wording in places), and think about which of the various pro and con teams you would be willing to join and whether you like the particular proposition wording. Within the next week or so I will be asking you to commit to a particular team. (posted 1/29/08)

• Topics and teams (posted 2/12/08, revised 2/15/08, 2/19/08, 3/4/08).  The wording for the debate 4 proposition has changed slightly. Debates will occur in the order they were originally listed (click on the link for more details). 

• Format of debate and debate briefs (posted 2/19/08).

Exam score distributions and answer keys

• Quiz 1 (posted 1/29/08).

• Quiz 2 (posted 3/4/08).

• Final score distributions (posted 3/21/08).

Who's who in the class

• Click here to see biographies (posted 1/22/08).