Course syllabus

Course-PM

FFR166 Science of environmental change lp1 HT19 (7.5 hp)

Course is offered by the department of Space, Earth and Environment

 

(1) Course management and contact details

Examiner/course leader

Stefan Wirsenius, Department of Space, Earth and Environment
stefan.wirsenius@chalmers.se; 031-772 3146

 

Course co-leader

Daniel Johansson, Department of Space, Earth and Environment daniel.johansson@chalmers.se; 031-772 2816

 

Additional teachers

Anqi Li, Department of Space, Earth and Environment
anqi.li@chalmers.se

Florence Pendrill, Department of Space, Earth and Environment
florence.pendrill@chalmers.se

Kristell Pérot, Department of Space, Earth and Environment
kristell.perot@chalmers.se

Jinxi Yang, Department of Space, Earth and Environment
jinxi.yang@chalmers.se

 

Course administrator

Jinxi Yang, Department of Space, Earth and Environment
jinxi.yang@chalmers.se

 

(2) Course purpose

The course is part of the Master’s program Industrial Ecology at Chalmers University of Technology, but can also be taken as an elective by others that fulfill the course prerequisites.

The course is taught in English. 

 

The course web site can be found at Canvas. Please check this page regularly for updates, news and clarifications.

 

(3) Schedule

TimeEdit

Schedule

Week	Date	Time	Venue	Activity	Content	Readings	Teacher
1 (36)	Tue Sept 3	8-10	SB-H4	Intro/ Lecture 1	Course introduction. Overview of environmental changes	Course info sheet	Stefan W
		10-12	SB-H4	Lecture 2	Basic chemistry and physics I: Introduction, Concepts	Jackson & Jackson: 1.1-1.3, 1.5, 1.6, 2.1-2.3	Kristell P
	Wed Sept 4	8-10	EB	Lecture 3	Hazards and damages from environmental changes		Stefan W
	Fri Sept 6	8-10	EE	Lecture 4	Basic chemistry and physics II: Flows, stocks and time scales	Rodhe: 4.1-4.3.1, 4.9	Daniel J
		10-12	EE	Lecture 5	The carbon cycle I: Introduction. Rock carbon. Fossil organic carbon	Archer: Ch 8, 9 (excl. section “Energy consumption”), 10 Ricklefs & Miller: 11.5	Stefan W
2 (37)	Tue Sept 10	8-10	SB-H4		LECTURE CANCELLED
		10-12	SB-H4	Lecture 6	Basic chemistry and physics III: Radiation and its interaction with the atmosphere	Archer: Ch 2, 4 Jackson & Jackson: Box 4.1	Kristell P
	Wed Sept 11	8-10	EB	Lecture 7	The atmosphere I: Composition and vertical structure	Archer: Ch 5, 6 Jacobson: 3.1-3.5	Kristell P
	Fri Sept 13	8-10	EE	Lecture 8	The ocean: Basics and ocean circulation	Vallis: pp 75-81, 89-96, 182-186 Wallace & Hobbs: Section 2.1.1 Williams & Follows: Ch 1	Florence P
		10-12	EE	Lecture 9	The atmosphere II: Global wind circulation	Archer: Ch 5, 6	Kristell P
3 (38)	Tue Sept 17	8-10	SB-H3	Lecture 10	Climate change I: Background, observations, global energy balance	Archer: Ch 2, 3, 4, 7 (about clouds), & 11 Goosse et al: 2.1.1-2.1.2, 2.1.4-2.1.6 IPCC: TS2.1-TS2.2,TS2.8	Daniel J
		10-12	SB-H3	Lecture 11	Climate change II: Continuation of global energy balance, radiative forcing, climate sensitivity, feedbacks	Archer: Ch 7 Goosse et al: 4.1.1, 4.1.3-4.2, IPCC: TS.3.1-TS.3.6, box TS.2,TFE.6	Daniel J
	Wed Sept 18	8-10	SB-L200 SB-L216	Assignment 1	Tutorial 1 Assignment 1		Anqi L Jinxi Y
	Fri Sept 20	8-10			NO TEACHING
		10-12	EC	Lecture 12	Air pollution	Jacobson: 3.6.5, 4.2-4.5	Kristell P
4 (39)	Tue Sept 24	8-10	EF	CANCELLED: Lecture 13 Moved Tuesday 1/10	CANCELLED: Climate change III: Continuation of climate sensitivity and feedbacks, the role of oceans, thermal inertia, sea level rise	Goosse et al: 4.1.2 Vallis: pp 175-193, 200-204 IPCC: TS.2.3, TS.2.5-TS.2.6, TFE.2, TFE.4	Daniel J
		10-12	ES52 ES53	Assignment 1	Tutorial 2 Assignment 1		Anqi L Jinxi Y
	Wed Sept 25	8-10			NO TEACHING
	Fri Sept 27	8-10	EF	Lecture 14	The carbon cycle II: Ocean carbon. Ocean acidification	Archer: Ch 8, 10 Williams & Follows: Ch 1, 6 Doney et al.	Stefan W
		10-12	EF	Lecture 15	The carbon cycle III: Land carbon – Basics	Archer: Ch 8 Jackson & Jackson 9.2, 9.5, 9.7 Ricklefs & Miller: 11.5	Stefan W
5 (40)	Tue Oct 1	8-10	ED	MOVED: Lecture 13	Climate change III: Continuation of climate sensitivity and feedbacks, the role of oceans, thermal inertia, sea level rise	Goosse et al: 4.1.2 Vallis: pp 175-193, 200-204 IPCC: TS.2.3, TS.2.5-TS.2.6, TFE.2, TFE.4	Daniel J
		10-12	ED	Lecture 16	The carbon cycle III: Land carbon – Human influence through land use	Archer: Ch 10 Erb et al.	Stefan W
	Wed Oct 2	8-10	EB	Lecture 17	The carbon cycle IV: Methane. Land carbon feedbacks	Archer: Ch 8, 10 Jackson & Jackson 9.2, 9.5, 9.7 Ricklefs & Miller: 11.5	Stefan W
	Fri Oct 4	8-10	ED	Lecture 18	Climate change IV: Impulse response, aerosols, greenhouse gases,   emission metrics (GWP & GTP), climate scenarios	Archer: pp 153-162 Goosse et al: Ch 6 IPCC 2013: TS.3.8,	Daniel J
		10-12	ML1 ML2	Calculations 1	Calculation exercises 1	Calculation exercises sheet	Anqi L Jinxi Y
	Fri Oct 4	23.59		Assignment 1	Deadline for hand-in of Assignment 1

 

6 (41)	Tue Oct 8	8-10	EL41 EL42	Assignment 2	Tutorial 1 Assignment 2		Anqi L Jinxi Y
		10-12	ED	Lecture 19	Ozone depletion	Jacobson: Ch 11	Kristell P
	Wed Oct 9	8-10	EB	Lecture 20	Climate change V: Emission budgets and climate targets	Archer: pp 181-184 Matthews et al.	Daniel J
	Fri Oct 11	8-10	Study on your own	Lecture 21	The nitrogen & phosphorous cycles I: Nitrogen intro. Food nitrogen. Lecture slides available in CANVAS.
		10-12	Study on your own	Lecture 22	The nitrogen & phosphorous cycles II: N₂O. NOx. Phosphorous. Eutrophication. Lecture slides available at CANVAS.
7 (42)	Tue Oct 15	8-10			NO TEACHING
		10-12	ML1 ML2	Assignment 2	Tutorial 2 Assignment 2		Anqi L Jinxi Y
	Wed Oct 16	8-10			NO TEACHING
	Fri Oct 18	8-10			NO TEACHING
		10-12	EE		NO TEACHING
		23.59		Assignment 2	Deadline for hand-in of Assignment 2
8 (43)	Tue Oct 22	8-10			NO TEACHING
		10-12	ED		NO TEACHING
	Wed Oct 23	8-10	SB-L200 2B-L216	Calculations 2	Calculation exercises 2	Calculation exercises sheet	Anqi L Jinxi Y
	Fri Oct 25	8-10	EE	Q & A	Questions and Answers on course content – Stefan’s parts		Stefan W
		10-11	EE	Q & A	Questions and Answers on course content – Daniel’s parts		Daniel J
		11-12	EE	Q & A	Questions and Answers on course content – Kristell’s parts		Kristell P
9 (44)	Fri Nov 1	8.30-13.30	J-berg	Exam	Written exam		Stefan W

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(4) Course literature

Readings

Purpose

Reading assignments are an important part of the course, as they provide you with depth and knowledge about environmental changes. Lecture content is limited to the most important matters, and you need to learn the rest of the materials on your own through the readings (as well as hand-ins and calculations). The readings will deepen your knowledge, and help understanding environmental changes at a deeper and more theoretical level. You are expected to read the assigned readings. Some questions in the exam will be selected from the assigned readings.    

 

List (for details, see schedule above)

Archer, 2012. Global Warming, 2^nd edition, John Wiley & Sons Ltd (Selected pages, see schedule above) Available at Chalmers Store.

Breitburg et al., 2018. Declining oxygen in the global ocean and coastal waters. Science

Doney et al., 2009. Ocean acidification: The other CO₂ problem. Annual Review of Marine Science.

Erb et al 2018. Unexpectedly large impact of forest mgmt and grazing on global vegetation biomass. Nature

Goosse et al., 2010. Introduction to climate dynamics and climate modelling. (Selected pages, see schedule above)

IPCC, 2013, Technical summary. In: Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. (Selected pages, see schedule above)

Jackson & Jackson, 2000. Environmental Science, 2^nd edition, Pearson Education. (Selected pages, see schedule above)

Jacobson, 2012. Air Pollution and Global Warming, Cambridge University Press. (Selected pages, see schedule above)

Matthews et al., 2017. Estimating Carbon Budgets for Ambitious Climate Targets, Current Climate Change Reports.

Ricklefs & Miller, 2000. Pathways of elements in the ecosystem, In: Ricklefs & Miller, Ecology, 4th ed, WH Freeman. (Selected pages, see schedule above)

Rodhe, 2000. Modeling biogeochemical cycles, In: Jacobson et al., Earth system science, AP. (Selected pages, see schedule above)

Sutton et al 2011. European nitrogen assessment - Technical Summary. Cambridge UP

Vallis, 2012. Climate and the oceans, Princeton University Press. (Selected pages, see schedule above)

Wallace & Hobbs, 2006. Atmospheric Science, 2nd ed, Elsevier (Selected pages, see schedule above)

Williams & Follows, 2011. Ocean Dynamics and the Carbon Cycle. Cambridge University Press. (Selected pages, see schedule above)

Availability

All readings except Archer 2012 Global Warming are available for download at the course website.

 

(5) Course design

Content

1) Overview of environmental changes

The course starts with an overview of major environmental changes and the dangers they pose to humanity.

 

2) Basic chemistry and physics for understanding environmental changes

Thereafter the course gives a review of basic chemical and physical concepts and models important for understanding and analyzing environmental changes.

 

3) The Earth system and its components

Another important basis for understanding environmental changes is knowledge about of the different components of the Earth system. The course gives a review of key properties of the atmosphere and the ocean, and in-depth descriptions of the climate system, and the biogeochemical cycles of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorous. 

 

 

4) Environmental changes caused by humanity

Interwoven in the description of the Earth system, the course gives in-depth accounts of different disturbances induced by human activities. This course focuses in particular on the problem of global warming. Other environmental changes that are dealt with more closely include ocean acidification, eutrophication, air pollution, and ozone depletion.

 

Structure

Lectures

The course includes 22 lectures in total, of which three deal with Basic chemistry and physics, and 19 with Earth systems and Environmental changes. After each lecture, slides and notes will be available at the course website.

 

As a preparation for the written exam, a Q & A session is scheduled at the end of the course, to allow you to ask questions about the course content. 

 

Assignments

There are two assignments performed in groups of three students and handed in. The purpose of these hand-ins is to facilitate learning by studying in-depth important Earth system processes and mechanisms. The hand-ins are an optional, but expected, part of the course and give bonus points that are added to the result on the written exam (see Examination and grading below). The assignments will be made available on the course website. The student groups are required to upload their hand-ins onto the course website before the deadline.

 

There are two scheduled tutorials for each of the hand-ins, where you can ask questions and receive guidance. These tutorials are optional, but a good chance for you to get help on the assignment. 

 

The student groups are put together by the course management, and will be announced on the course website by the end of the first study week. Please contact the course administrator if you have issues in finding your group. 

 

Calculation exercises

Although a minor part of the course, being able to perform (simple) calculations relating to Earth systems and environmental change is part of the learning goals of the course. There will be two scheduled occasions where solutions to exercises are presented by teachers. You will also have the opportunity to ask questions about exercises you have tried to solve by yourself. Attendance is optional.

 

Please note that some questions in the exams will be selected from the calculation exercise sheet.

The compendium of exercises will be made available at the course website.

 

 

(6) Changes made since the last occasion

A summary of changes made since the last occasion.

 

 

(7) Aim and learning objectives

The course aims at giving a natural science basis for the understanding of key processes and mechanisms involved in major environmental problems and their solutions, in particular with respect to: 

1) Processes involved in the responses and effects to human impacts on parts of the Earth system, such as the carbon cycle.

2) Factors that influence the scale of human impacts on Earth systems from, for example, different emissions.

3) Mechanisms determining the biophysical potentials for mitigation of human impacts, for example, reductions of various emissions.

 

After the course, you shall be able to:

• explain and apply basic natural and environmental science concepts and models

• explain key properties and processes on Earth of importance for understanding environmental changes

• apply this knowledge to explain the processes involved in environmental disturbances caused by humans 

• perform simple calculations related to Earth systems and environmental change

 

Link to the syllabus on Studieportalen.

Study plan

 

 

(8) Examination form and grading

General information

In order to pass the course, you must pass the written exam.

Points and grades:

- The written exam can give a maximum of 80 exam points.
Grades are: Fail (< 40), 3 (≥ 40 p), 4 (≥ 52 p), or 5 (≥ 64 p).

- Each assignment can give a maximum of 20 bonus points, which are scaled and added to the exam result. 

 

The bonus points obtained for assignments are scaled, i.e. converted to equivalent exam points, using the ratio 12/40. This means that, for instance, 10 bonus points obtained for a hand-in is worth 3.0 exam points. Please note, however, that these exam points obtained from bonus points are counted towards your exam result only if your exam score alone is at or above the level for pass (i.e. 40 exam points). Also note that they are valid for one year only, i.e., you have three exam opportunities to use them (the regular exam by the end of the course, and two re-exams).

 

Some details about the written exam

Duration: 5 hours 

 

Aids:

1. i) Pocket calculator of approved type (any of these: Casio FX-82, Sharp EL-W531, or Texas TI-30)
2. ii) Language dictionaries

Calculation exercises make up around 15 to 20 points, out of a total of 80 points. Formulas and equations needed for solving the exercises are provided in the exam sheet.

 

(9) Evaluation

Student evaluation of the course is done in accordance with current Chalmers practices. A student evaluation contact group (three persons) will be appointed at the introduction class, and subsequently announced at the course website. The course management will hold two meetings with the student group during the course. After the course, all course participants are offered to take part in an evaluation survey on-line.