|
AOSC360:
How to solve the climate change problem?
Instructor:
Prof. Ning Zeng |
Course Objective
Climate
change is the greatest challenge humanity faces in the 21st century.
Global mean surface temperature has increased by 1.2C since the beginning of industrialization,
driven by fossil fuel burning and land use change. The Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change has proposed to limit global warming to within 1.5-2C, beyond
which many tipping points in the Earth system would be reached and cause
irreversible damages. This course will examine potential solutions to mitigate
climate change.
Students will learn the basics of climate change, energy science,
and carbon cycle. Students will be engaged in evaluating the scientific,
technological, and socioeconomic constraints of possible solutions.
1)
Reduce fossil fuel emissions
2)
Energy efficiency
3)
Renewable energy
4)
Carbon removal and sequestration
5)
Geoengineering
6)
Socioeconomics of climate change
7)
Adaptation
Course Content
The basic science behind the greenhouse effect. Climate change in
Earth’s history and global warming. Causes of human induced climate change:
fossil fuel burning and land use change. Impacts and vulnerability of climate
change: tipping points. The natural carbon cycle. Anthropogenic disturbance to
the global carbon cycle. Conventional energy sources: coal, oil, gas, nuclear.
Renewable energy sources: biomass, hydro, geothermal, solar, wind. Carbon
removal and sequestration and management of the carbon cycle in the land, ocean
and geological reservoirs and fluxes. Economics of climate change.
Geoengineering by solar radiation management. Mitigation vs. adaptation.
