Since AT Climate Science is a brand new course at Roosevelt High School for the 2020-2021 school year, there will be a lot of trial and error. However, I’ve decided to base the course topics on Edmond Mathez and Jason Smerdon’s excellent book, Climate Change: The Science of Global Warming and Our Energy Future (2nd Edition). Here’s the tentative syllabus; each topic should take one week in class.
I. Climate System
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- The Atmosphere
- The World Ocean
- Ocean-Atmosphere Interactions
- The Carbon Cycle & How It Influences Climate
II. Climate Change & Its Drivers
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- Radiation Balance
- Radiative Forcing & Feedbacks
- Climate of the Distant Past
III. Consequences of Climate Change
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- Climate of the Recent Past
- Observing Climate Change
- Sea-Level Rise
IV. The Future
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- Climate Models
- Climate Change Risk
- Energy
Once we’re through all of the topics, we should have several weeks left in the semester to take action with a Final Project – details forthcoming!