CE 575: Climate and the Earth System

This course deals with the Earth’s operation as a system, covering its energy budget along with its interacting atmosphere, ocean, biosphere and geologic systems. By showing how all systems work together to form feedback loops that can amplify or counteract input perturbations and forcings of the overall system, the course illustrates how these systems modulate and control our planet’s climate system. Throughout, an Anthropocene point of view is taken to study not only “natural” systems but also the ways in which human societies interact with and are an integral part of the Earth system. The course integrates physical, chemical, and biological basics to arrive at an understanding of complex natural and human systems.