CAUSES, IMPLICATIONS, AND IMPACTS OF GLOBAL CHANGE
AOSC 123/GEOG 123/GEOL 123 /METO 123
SPRING 2008
SYLLABUS
Lectures: MW, 12:00-12:50 p.m., 2205 LeFrak Hall
INSTRUCTORS
|
Professor |
Dr. Eric S. Kasischke |
Dr. Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. |
Dr. Rachel T. Pinker |
|
Office
# |
1153
LeFrak Hall |
1216
Centreville Hall |
2427
Computer and |
|
Office
hours |
MW
1:00 – 2:00 or by appointment * |
Tuesday
8:30 – 11:00 am or by appointment* |
MW
1:00 – 2:00 or by appointment * |
|
Email
address |
ekasisch@umd.edu |
tholtz@umd.edu |
pinker@atmos.umd.edu |
|
Telephone
# |
301-405-2179 |
301-405-4084 |
301-405-5380 |
*
To ensure that faculty will be available during office hours, please email your
intention to attend a professor’s office hours two or three days in advance if
possible. A telephone call or email the night before or the day of the
office hour is also advisable. Global Change faculty have commitments to
research, attending meetings outside the University, and are occasionally asked
to provide expert scientific opinion for federal and state legislatures with
little advance notice. Because of this, they may not always be available during
scheduled office hours during periods they are not lecturing unless you contact
them in advance to request an appointment.
TEACHING ASSISTANT CONTACT INFORMATION:
Teaching Assistant Office # Office
Hours Email Address Telephone
#
Aaron Mulhollen 1113 Lefrak Th 1-2p apm74@umd.edu 405-8598
Phil Farris 2176 Lefrak W 1-3p pfarris@umd.edu 405-8598
Kristin Miller 1223A Chem F 2-4p millerk@umd.edu 405-6354
Eric Nussbaumer 4343 CSS M 12:30-1:30p ebaumer@atmos.umd.edu
405-5367
Richard Russo 2136 Lefrak Th 2-3p rarusso@umd.edu
405-2451
Tony Santorelli 3107 Jull W 2-3p asantor@atmos.umd.edu 405-7724
Students are not required to
make an appointment for a scheduled office hour with a Teaching Assistant as
long as they arrive within the first 40 minutes of the fifty-minute
“hour”. However, it would not hurt to
inform the TA that you would like to meet with them.
TEXTBOOK AND
Required: Mackenzie,
F.T., Our Changing Planet – An Introduction to Earth System Science and
Global Environmental , 3rd Edition, Pearson Education, Upper
Saddle, NJ, 580 pages, 2003.
Optional:
Kump, L.R., Kasting, J.F., and Crane, R.G., The Earth System, 2nd
Edition, Pearson Education, Upper Saddle, NJ, 432 pages, 2004.
Additional
LECTURES: Lectures
are held in LeFrak 2205 on Monday and Wednesday from 12:00 – 12:50 P.M..
Attendance in lecture is mandatory.
LECTURE AND COURSE MATERIALS:
While the lectures for this cover material presented in the course text,
the lecturers will often present material that is not in the text based on
their own unique perspectives on the topic of Global Environmental Change.
Because of this, a summary set of viewgraphs will be posted on the class
website after each lecture. These summaries will include graphics not available
from the textbook and include an overview of material not covered in the text. All course materials will be posted on
ELMS/BLACKBOARD.
COURSE OBJECTIVE: This
course provides a unique experience in integrating physical, chemical,
geological, and biological sciences with geographical, economic, sociological,
and political knowledge skills toward a better understanding of global environmental
change. Review of environmental science relating to weather and climate change,
acid precipitation, ozone holes, global warming, and impacts on biology,
agriculture, and human behavior. Study of the natural, long- term variability
of the global environment, and what influence mankind may have in perturbing it
from its natural evolution. Concepts of how physical, biological, and human
behavioral systems interact, and the repercussions which may follow human
endeavors. The manner in which to approach decision and policy making related
to global change.
DISTRIBUTIVE STUDIES
(PHYSICAL SCIENCES, NON-LAB): You may have chosen this
course as part of your CORE Liberal Arts and Sciences Studies Program, the
general education portion of your degree program. CORE Distributive
Studies Courses are designed to ensure that you examine several different
academic disciplines and the way knowledge is created and analyzed. A
faculty member and student committee approved this course as a CORE
Distributive Studies Course because it will introduce you to ideas and issues
central to a major intellectual discipline and because it promises to involve
you actively in the learning process.
GRADING: The
grade for this course will be based on the student’s performances on Exams,
Quizzes, a paper/presentation, and discussion problem sets. The weighting for
these different components is as follows:
Hourly
exam 2 17.5%
Lecture pop quizzes 10%
Kyoto Protocol paper
6.7%
Kyoto
Protocol presentation 3.3%
Discussion
problem sets 20%
Final
exam 25%
Lecture
exams consist of multiple choice questions, fill-in-the-blank statements, and
two or three short essays. You will be provided with a list of possible
short essay topics the week before the exam. Lecture pop quizzes consist
of multiple choice questions and will test material covered in previous
lectures. There are no make-ups for missed pop quizzes, but
the student will not be penalized if he/she provides a valid excuse for absence
on the day of a quiz. Six pop quizzes will be given during the term.
EXAM SCHEDULE
Hourly Exam 1 27 February 2008,
12:00-12:50 p.m.
Hourly Exam 2 9 April 2008,
12:00-12:50 p.m.
Final Exam 20 May 2008,
8:00-10:00 a.m.
POLICIES
ON MAKE-UP EXAMS, EXTENDED ABSENCES, INCOMPLETE GRADES AND OTHER COURSE
POLICIES: The
course policy on make-up exams, quizzes, and absences is designed to be fair to
students with legitimate reasons for missing required exams or absences while
also being fair to students who meet course requirements on scheduled
dates. Policies are as follows:
1)
There are no automatic make-ups for any missed lecture
exams. Adequate documentation must be produced to support the reason
offered to a professor or teaching assistant as to why the scheduled exam was
missed. There are no make-ups for any lecture pop quizzes, but the
student will not be penalized if he/she provides a valid excuse for absence on
the day of a quiz.
2)
If a scheduled exam is missed, the student has to notify a professor or
teaching assistant as soon as possible why the test was missed.
Notification must be within 24
hours of the missed exam unless the student is seriously
incapacitated. Email notification is acceptable. Only
university-authorized reasons for missing an exam will be accepted. Drs. Holtz,
Kasischke, and Pinker will make the final decision as to whether a make-up exam
will be provided for a student missing any lecture exam. A physician’s or health center note is
required in case of illness.
3)
The make-up exam must be taken as soon as possible. Make-up exams must be
taken within three days
of the date of the original scheduled exam, or the student will have to
produce documentation supporting reasons for each day beyond three days for why
the student was unable to take the make-up exam on those days.
4)
Failure to make-up an exam within a week of the date of the original exam, even
with an acceptable reason for missing the day of the scheduled exam, will
result in a grade of 0% for that exam. Do not expect to make-up an exam
weeks later with only an excuse for missing the exam on the original scheduled
date, but without adequate reasons for all the following days. This is
unfair to students who took the exam when scheduled because you will have the
advantage of additional study time.
5)
Lecture attendance is mandatory.
Pop quizzes will be given in lecture. There will be no make-ups for pop
quizzes.
6)
Discussion attendance is mandatory
and absences will affect your grade if adequate reasons are not provided
for absences. Most discussion activities are designed as group
activities. Showing up more than 10
minutes late disqualifies you from joining a group in progress and you will
have to complete the assignment independently. Problem sets or worksheets will be collected
and graded at the end of most discussion sections. The discussion grade
will be calculated on the average of these graded problem sets and worksheets.
7)
Incomplete grades are given only for students who have exceptional, documented
reasons for requiring them such as an extended illness, a serious family
emergency, or other significant problems.
8)
Students must attend the
discussion section that they are enrolled in order to get credit for
discussion. Students are allowed to attend a discussion section that they
are not enrolled in on occasion but only with the permission of a professor or
teaching assistant. There are no make-up problem sets allowed in
discussion except in the case of a serious injury, serious illness, or family
emergency. One problem set grade will be dropped before the average
discussion grade is calculated to allow for one missed discussion section.
9)
The Kyoto Protocol project consists of one individually written four-to-five
page, double-spaced paper and a presentation in discussion on April 24 and 25.
Additional information will be provided in class concerning the exact details
for this project.
10)
Exam-taking procedures must be rigorously followed in a class of this
size. Please be on time for exams and bring two sharpened number two
pencils. Student names and
11)
Know your TA’s name and your discussion section number. This information
will be tested on the pop quizzes.
12)
All the information provided on the syllabus is also available on the course
web page at: http://www.geog.umd.edu/homepage/courses/140/GC123.Home_Page.htm
.
STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEEDS AND COUNSELING FOR
STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS: If you are a
student who has special needs that have been recognized by the University of
Maryland at College Park, please see Dr. Eric S. Kasischke (1153 LeFrak Hall,
ekasisch@umd.edu) immediately so that arrangements can be made for you to
maximize the chances of you successfully completing this course. If you
experience difficulties in mastering the academic demands of this course,
please contact the Learning Assistance Service, 2201
HONOR CODE: The
University has a nationally recognized Honor Code, administered by the Student
Honor Council. The Student Honor Council proposed and the University Senate
approved an Honor Pledge. The
"I
pledge on my honor that I have not given or received any unauthorized
assistance on this assignment/examination."
Unless you are specifically
advised to the contrary, the Pledge statement should be handwritten and signed
on the front cover of all papers, projects, or other academic assignments
submitted for evaluation in this course. Students who fail to write and sign
the Pledge will be asked to confer with the instructor.
LECTURE
SCHEDULE
|
Week |
Date |
Lecture |
Topic |
Lecturer |
|
1 |
28-Jan |
1 |
Overview and introduction |
Kasischke |
|
|
30-Jan |
2 |
Global Energy Balance: The
Greenhouse Effect - Basic Principles |
Pinker |
|
2 |
04-Feb |
3 |
Global Energy Balance: The
Greenhouse Effect continued |
Pinker |
|
|
06-Feb |
4 |
The geologic record of
global change & Geologic time |
Holtz |
|
3 |
11-Feb |
5 |
Plate tectonics & the
Earth engine I: Basic principles |
Holtz |
|
|
13-Feb |
6 |
Plate tectonics & the
Earth engine II: Material recycling |
Holtz |
|
4 |
18-Feb |
7 |
The origin and evolution of
life |
Holtz |
|
|
20-Feb |
8 |
Heirarchy, roles, and
functions of biological systems |
Kasischke |
|
5 |
25-Feb |
9 |
Long term changes in
climate & biota |
Holtz |
|
|
27-Feb |
|
EXAM 1 |
|
|
6 |
03-Mar |
10 |
The origin and evolution of
atmospheres |
Holtz |
|
|
05-Mar |
11 |
Atmospheric Circulation
System |
Pinker |
|
7 |
10-Mar |
12 |
Atmospheric Circulation
System continued |
Pinker |
|
|
12-Mar |
13 |
Ocean Circulation |
Pinker |
|
|
17-Mar |
|
SPRING BREAK |
|
|
|
19-Mar |
|
|
|
|
8 |
24-Mar |
14 |
Modeling of the
Atmospheric-Ocean System |
Pinker |
|
|
26-Mar |
15 |
Short-Term Climate
Variability including El Nino |
Pinker |
|
9 |
31-Mar |
16 |
Linkages between the
oceans, atmospheres and land – the carbon cycle |
Kasischke |
|
|
02-Apr |
17 |
Linkages between the
oceans, atmospheres and land – the role of biota |
Kasischke |
|
10 |
07-Apr |
18 |
Linkages between the
oceans, atmospheres and land – biogeochemical cycling |
Kasischke |
|
|
09-Apr |
|
EXAM 2 |
|
|
11 |
14-Apr |
19 |
Linkages between the
oceans, atmospheres and land – the hydrological cycle |
Kasischke |
|
|
16-Apr |
20 |
Linkages between the
oceans, atmospheres and land – human impacts on the environment |
Kasischke |
|
12 |
21-Apr |
21 |
Global natural disasters
& mass extinctions |
Holtz |
|
|
23-Apr |
22 |
The Quaternary Ice Ages |
Holtz |
|
13 |
28-Apr |
23 |
Ozone Depletion |
Pinker |
|
|
30-Apr |
24 |
Ozone Depletion Policy |
Pinker |
|
14 |
05-May |
25 |
Geological energy
resources: origin, distribution, long term prospects |
Holtz |
|
|
07-May |
26 |
Case Studies – Tropical
Deforestation/The Melting Arctic Icecap |
Kasischke |
|
15 |
12-May |
27 |
Case Studies - Acid
Deposition/Wildfires in |
Kasischke |
ASSIGNED
|
Week |
Date |
Book Chapter (Mackenzie) |
Other |
|
1 |
28-Jan |
Preface |
IPCC Synthesis Report,
Pages 1-14 http://www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/ar4-syr.htm |
|
|
30-Jan |
Chapter 3 |
Kump et al. Chapter 3 (optional) |
|
2 |
04-Feb |
Chapter 3 |
Kump et al. Chapter 3 (optional) |
|
|
06-Feb |
Chapter 2 |
|
|
3 |
11-Feb |
Chapter 2 |
|