Prerequisites: PHYS 002C or PHYS 040C or consent of instructor
Description: Surveys historical and paleoclimate change using basic principles on gas laws, radiant energy exchange, atmospheric circu- lation and oceanography, and use of proxy data. Topics include variability in modern climate, green- house gases, global warming, El Nino, Pacific decadal oscillation, ozone hole, volcanism, ice age climate and Milankovitch cycles. Also covers stable isotope pro- files, plate tectonics, greenhouse climates, paleovege- tation, modern species diversity, and snowball Earth.