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GC Minor Home
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ASSIGNMENT FOR WEEK OF JAN 22 1. Post your definition of Global Change on the D2L DISCUSSION BOARD -- discuss and comment on each other's definitions and/or refine your own. 2. Read through Spencer Weart's: 3.
Class Contest: Search for the earliest reference to the term /
concept of "global change science" you can find in the literature
-- Winner gets a prize! ASSIGNMENT IN PREPARATION FOR JAN 30th CLASS 1. On Being A (Global Change) Scientist
Read
On
Being A Scientist, Responsible Conduct in Research
2. GC Faculty Look-Up
ASSIGNMENT IN PREPARATION FOR FEB 6th CLASS
1.Global
Change terms, jargon, & nuances: read
through all the terms in these
Then do the following and bring your observations to class for discussion next week.
NOTE: We'll look at the Working Group II and III glossaries later. 2. Begin your interviews with your selected GC Minor Faculty. The interview template is HERE . You should have your interviews with 2 faculty completed by the end of February to report on at the March 6th class. ASSIGNMENT IN PREPARATION FOR FEB 13th CLASS 1. Complete the CREATING & RUNNING A VERY SIMPLE MODEL assignment, including creating and running the model in STELLA.
2. The second part of your assignment which you should bring to class in hard copy next week is to sketch out the Stella Diagram for a simple radiation (energy) balance at the Earth’s surface which can also be used to compute the Earth’s mean surface temperature. Your model will consist of an incoming solar radiation (inflow) and an outgoing terrestrial radiation (outflow) with energy accumulating in, and being released from, the Earth’s “stock” or reservoir of stored surface energy. (see hints on handout). You may sketch this out by hand or actually create the model diagram in STELLA and print it out. 3. LINK to other models ASSIGNMENT IN PREPARATION FOR FEB 20th CLASS 1. MODELING FOLLOW-UP: Go to this LINK to find several saved STELLA models that you can run, adjust, re-run and explore. Be sure you try running the energy balance models we discussed in class, using the handout distributed at the end of class on Feb 13th to guide you. Also available are some STELLA models that illustrate other global change processes and different types of model behavior. 2. Read: Bice, D. M. (2001) Using STELLA models to explore the dynamics of Earth Systems: experimenting with Earth's climate system using a simple computer model. Journal of Geoscience Education, v. 49, n. 2, pp 170-181. which presents and discusses a variation of the energy balance model we discussed in class. [article suggested by Christine Hallman] 3.
Watch the Feb 8, 2007
Congressional Hearing
webcast (referred to in class by Chris Castro) on "The
Findings of the Fourth Assessment Report by the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC), Working Group I Report"
(webcast
link is in the upper right of screen.) Southern Arizona is
specifically addressed in the questioning, along with regional modeling,
well into the proceedings beginning at 2:37:23. ASSIGNMENT PREPARATION FOR FEB 27th CLASS 1. The class has been divided into 3 research tool groups: "Modelers", "Experimenters," and "Monitors." Individual members of each group should create a single PowerPoint slide that:
Here's the slide from Deana Pennington (UNM) that I showed very briefly in class. It uses a schematic diagram to compare two types of approaches in research. Your assignment is a bit different, but it might give you some ideas. Bring your slide to class Feb 27th on a flash drive -- we'll group them by approach, go through them together, and look for communalities and differences. 2. Having trouble getting your interviews done? If you need to choose a new faculty member to interview see the INTERVIEW LIST to find out who's already been selected. [Note: please send me corrections or updates to this list if needed.] ASSIGNMENT PREPARATION FOR MARCH 6th CLASS 1. Read (for discussion): Sustainability or Collapse: What can we learn from integrating the History of Humans and the rest of Nature (Costanza et al. 2007) 2.
Be prepared to share what you
learned and talked about during your
GC Faculty interviews! You will be asked to
give a short intro/bio of your interviewee, then share how the questions
in the template were answered, what else you talked about, and what one
thing about the interview you found most interesting, surprising,
inspiring, exciting, etc., etc.
ASSIGNMENT PREPARATION FOR MARCH 27th CLASS In class on Tuesday March 27th our guest will be Dr. Kirsten Engel who will talk about the Supreme Court case re: Massachusetts v. EPA. The following items (c/o Robert) will help to prepare you for the class: 1. Everyone in class should read the following article from the New York Times about Massachusetts v. EPA. to familiarize yourself with the subject of Kirsten Engel's presentation: Justices’ First Brush With Global Warming [pdf] 2.
Read the actual
amicus brief
[pdf]
written by a number of climate scientists (including
from UA), for the Massachusetts v. EPA case. Then, for further interest . . . . 3. Look over/skim the (long) transcript of arguments [pdf] before the Supreme Court in Massachusetts v. EPA NOTE: this link is now correct! 4. Look over/skim this long but interesting overview of "Global Warming in the Courts." [pdf] ALSO:
here's another good site with a summary and links
(from
Northwestern University - Robert sent this link out via email over the
weekend).
ASSIGNMENT PREPARATION FOR APRIL 3rd CLASS In class on Tuesday April 3rd our guest will be Dr. Julie Cole who we will engage in a discussion of how to address "skeptics" and/or respond to some of the valid and bogus challenges to global change science. The following paper (c/o Eleonora) should be read in advance to get you thinking: 1. Read: Are observed changes in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere really dangerous? [pdf] 2. Read about the author, Dr. Chris de Freitas 3. Review: Christine's list of common skeptic questions [pdf] and come with a few of your own. FOLLOW-UP to Kirsten Engel's talk: Here is the complete "Opinion of the Court" document for the April 2, 2007 Decision of the Supreme Court on Massachusetts v. EPA [pdf] ASSIGNMENT PREPARATION FOR APRIL 10th CLASS In class on Tuesday April 10th students & guest Dr. Paul Brooks will lead the class in a discussion of funding & job opportunities.
Newsflash: The IPCC Working Group II Summary for Policymakers: Climate Change 2007: Climate Change Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability was just released, so we will also discuss it on Tuesday: 1.Read: The IPCC Working Group II Summary for Policymakers [pdf] 2.
Read: Meeting
PhD. graduates' needs in a changing global environment, EOS v. 88, n.
13, March 27. 2007
[pdf]
[password
protected] 4. Check out: ISPE's List of funding opportunities 5. Additional advance reading for discussion on funding (to be posted soon) ASSIGNMENT PREPARATION FOR APRIL 24th CLASS In class on Tuesday April 24th our guest will be Dr. J.E. 'Ed' de Steiguer, School of Natural Resources who will talk on "Carbon Emissions Trading in Theory and in Practice." To prepare for this session: 1. Browse through the European Union (EU) Emission Trading Scheme Site 2. Read the Q & A section of this site 3. Lastly, please come to class
with your calendar
(to set up our end-of-the-class party) &
ideas for how best
to prepare and present the student GC Toolkits. No class on April 17th -- work on your TOOLKITS.
ASSIGNMENT PREPARATION FOR MAY 1st CLASS In class on Tuesday May 1st our guests will be Dr. Tom Swetnam, Director of the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research and Mari Jensen, editor with UA News Services and Communication who will share insights and lead a discussion on communicating with the media. 1. To
prepare, our guests have suggested that you
listen online
to an example of a really fine example of science communication to the
public featuring our own Dr. Lisa Graumlich on NPR's Talk of the
Nation "Science Friday" show which aired Apr 20, 2007:
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