The course of study aims to provide knowledge to understand the mechanisms that determine the natural variability of the climate system and the causes of the ongoing climate change induced by the use of fossil fuels and by the change in land use. Within the framework of this course, the course aims to provide 1) a thorough knowledge of the global climate system (atmosphere-hydrosphere-cryosphere-lithosphere); 2) to provide knowledge on natural climatic variations and the causes of climatic changes induced by anthropogenic forcers on a short-medium term scale (from decadal to one million years) from historical and geological archives; 3) provide knowledge on future scenarios of climate change globally and in Italy. At the end of the course students will have developed the basic knowledge on the natural variability of the climate system and on climate change. The expected learning outcomes are the students’ ability to recognize and contextualize future scenarios due to climate change and to solve simple problems related to the impact of climate change on the environment on a local scale.
teacher profile teaching materials
The climate system: atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere (3 h)
Climate variability, climate change, anthropocene (3h)
The cryosphere: glaciers, permafrost, ice sheet, sea ice (3 h)
The climate system and its natural and anthropogenic perturbations: Variation of the relative position of the continents, astronomical, greenhouse gases, aerosols, volcanic eruptions, solar activity, land use variations, meteorite impacts, (3h)
Sea Level rise (6 h)
The paleoclimate: reconstruction of climate change in the past (ice cores, speleothems, marine cores, etc.). (3 hours)
Points of no return "Tipping Point" (3 h)
Extreme events (3 h)
Climate Models (3 h)
Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (3 h)
Climate change simulations for the 21st century (3 h)
Impacts of Climate Change: cryosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, biosphere. (3h).
The economic costs of climate change (3 h)
Technological innovation for a decarbonised society (3 h)
Fruizione: 20410761 CAMBIAMENTI CLIMATICI in Scienze geologiche L-34 FREZZOTTI MASSIMO
Programme
History of climatology, international organizations, Global warming: reality and negation (3 h)The climate system: atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere (3 h)
Climate variability, climate change, anthropocene (3h)
The cryosphere: glaciers, permafrost, ice sheet, sea ice (3 h)
The climate system and its natural and anthropogenic perturbations: Variation of the relative position of the continents, astronomical, greenhouse gases, aerosols, volcanic eruptions, solar activity, land use variations, meteorite impacts, (3h)
Sea Level rise (6 h)
The paleoclimate: reconstruction of climate change in the past (ice cores, speleothems, marine cores, etc.). (3 hours)
Points of no return "Tipping Point" (3 h)
Extreme events (3 h)
Climate Models (3 h)
Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (3 h)
Climate change simulations for the 21st century (3 h)
Impacts of Climate Change: cryosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, biosphere. (3h).
The economic costs of climate change (3 h)
Technological innovation for a decarbonised society (3 h)
Core Documentation
Pdf and copies of recent specialistic scientific publications given by the teacherType of delivery of the course
Lectures are carried on using ppt slides. During lessons, students are encouraged to ask questions and make comments.Type of evaluation
The examination consists in an evaluation interview in order to assess the student acquired knowledge of the topics discussed during the lessons.