GEOL1302: Introduction to

Global Climate Change

Course Syllabus
&
Chapter 1: The Climate Problem

Will Wallace
University of Houston
Monday, 24 August 2015

Course Description
This course is focused on the problem of modern climate change. It is
different from most other climate change classes in that it combines an
introduction of the science with an introduction to the non-science issues
such as the economic and policy options.
Unlike more purely descriptive courses, it contains the quantitative depth
that is necessary for an adequate understanding of the science of
climate change.
The goal of the course is to:
Provide students with an overview of recent climate change science,
economics and policy
Cover climate science in depth.
Be suitable for both science and non-science majors

Lectures
You are strongly encouraged to ask questions and
participate constructively in class.
Course lectures, syllabus, grades, and news about
class cancellations posted on: Blackboard
http://www.uh.edu/blackboard

Course Info

COURSE TITLE:
GEOL1302 Introduction to Global Climate Change
CLASS NUMBER: 17046
CLASS TIME: M/W 02:30 PM 03:50 PM
CLASS LOCATION:

Fleming (Room 160)

FACULTY: Dr. Will Wallace

Office:
to be determined, Science & Research Bldg 1
Office Hours: M/W 4:00 5:30 or arranged via email
E-mail:
wwallaceiv@gmail.com
Phone:
713-348-3036
Course Syllabus: http://www.uh.edu/blackboard

Required Materials
Textbook

Introduction to Modern Climate Change

Andrew Dessler
Paperback
eBook
ISBN: 9780521173155
Publication Year: 2012
252pages

Facebook Group with Professor

Dessler
GEOS climate change
https://www.facebook.com/groups/266153916758531/

Evaluation
Note: Exam dates may change, please consult Blackboard calendar and
announcements in class.
Exam #1
18% Monday
Exam #2
18% Monday
Exam #3
18% Monday
Quiz & Homework 16% TBD
Final Exam**
30% Wednesday

28 September 2015 02:30 03:50 PM

26 October 2015
02:30 03:50 PM
23 November 2015 02:30 03:50 PM
16 December 2015 02:00 04:50 PM

*All exams are mandatory

**Final Exam is cumulative and mandatory.

Grading
The distribution of accumulated scores will assist me in assigning grades at the end of
the course, so grades may be curved.
You can see your grades by checking the Grades page on the Blackboard site. The
following is the grade system I use:
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD+
D
DF

93 100%
90 93%
87 90%
83 87%
80 83%
77 79%
73 77%
70 73%
67 69%
63 67%
60 63%
Below 60%

Honor Code
You are expected to uphold the University of Houston Honor
Code as it relates to all work for this course. I take the
honor code very seriously. In no case are you allowed to
submit work copied electronically or otherwise from other
students or any web sites. Nor are you allowed to help
other students on exams or quizzes.

Make-up Work
There will be no make-ups or late work accepted. Under
exceptional circumstances (medical emergency, official
university business, etc.) arrangements can by made to
take exams at an alternative time or location. Please
contact me via email in advance so that alternate
arrangements can be made.

Help
1) Office hours with Professor Wallace wwallaceiv@gmail.com
M/W 4:00 5:30 PM
Or by appointment.
2) Visit Geosciences Learning Center (GLC)
3) Tutoring with Course TAs:
Abbie Corbett abbie.m.corbett@gmail.com
Ruixue Lei rlei2@central.uh.edu

Geosciences Learning Center

The Department of Geosciences operates a Geosciences Learning Center
(GLC) in Fleming 136.
The GLC is staffed by faculty and by graduate students who are available to
help students in their studies in the geosciences,
The purpose of the Learning Center is to provide a second approach to the
study of the Earth, outside of the classroom-led instruction. We are aware
that the study of the Geosciences can cover a vast amount of material, and
that the time spent in formal classes is limited.
While available to answer queries on a wide variety of Earth science topics, the
major activities of the GLC are aimed at providing assistance to students
registered in the introductory classes. The ultimate goal of the GLC is to
make learning easier and more enjoyable by allowing a more personal
encounter.

What

When

The Geoscience Learning Center (GLC)

Room 9 - Old Science Building

M
T
W
Th
F

Where
Fleming Room 136

How to Contact Us
http://www.geosc.uh.edu/undergraduate/learning-center/index.php

geolearn@nsm.uh.edu
713-743-3437

8:00 am - 7:30 pm
8:00 am - 7:30 pm
8:00 am - 7:30 pm
8:00 am - 7:30 pm
8:00 am - 3:30 pm

Why

One-on-one tutoring
Computers
Interactive learning resources
Geology DVDs
Minerals, rocks, maps, models, etc.
Texts, lab manuals, learning guides
Small group tutorial sessions

A chance to understand and learn more

Who
Dr. Wendy Nelson
Dr. Jinny Sisson
Graduate Instructors

Academic accommodations
Any student with a documented disability needing academic
adjustments or accommodations must speak with Dr.
Lefer during the first two weeks of class. All discussions
will remain confidential. Whenever possible, and in
accordance with 504/ADA guidelines, the University of
Houston will attempt to provide reasonable academic
accommodations to students who request and require
them. Please call 713-743-5400 for more assistance.

Intro. to the Climate Problem

What is climate?
What is climate change?
What is the Earths coordinate system?
Why should you believe your textbook?

Climate vs. Weather

Weather
Shorter-term fluctuations

Climate
Longer-Term Changes

in atmospheric environment
(e.g., temp, press, ws, wdir,
rainfall amount, etc)

broad composite of average (or mean)

condition of a region (e.g., temp, rainfall,
snowfall, ice cover, winds)

Hours, Days, Weeks

Years (and longer)

Specific location for specific time

Mean state of a specific region

(e.g., continent, ocean, or entire planet)

Climate vs. Weather

Climate is what we expect, weather is what we
get. Mark Twain

August High and Low Temperatures

Fairbanks, AK

Fig. 1.1: Frequency of occurrence of daily high and low temperatures in August in Fairbanks, AK
between 1975 and 2009. Data from National Climatic Data Center.

2015 Temperature and Rain

http://www.srh.weather.gov/rtimages/hgx/KIAH2015plot.png

2014 Temperature and Rain

http://www.srh.weather.gov/rtimages/hgx/KIAH2014plot.png

2013 Temperature and Rain

http://www.srh.weather.gov/rtimages/hgx/KIAH2013plot.png

2013 Temperature and Rain

http://www.srh.weather.gov/rtimages/hgx/KIAH2013plot.png

2011 Hot and Dry

http://www.srh.weather.gov/rtimages/hgx/KIAH2011plot.png

2014 Drought

2014 Drought
U .S . D r o u g h t M o n i t o r

A ugust 19, 2014

(R e le a s e d T h u r s d a y , A u g . 2 1 , 2 0 1 4 )
V a l id 8 a . m . E D T

SL

SL

SLS
S

SL
SL

SL

S
SL

D ro u g h t Im p a c t T y p e s :
D e lin e a t e s d o m in a n t im p a c t s

S = S h o r t - T e r m , t y p ic a lly le s s t h a n
6 m o n t h s ( e . g . a g r ic u lt u r e , g r a s s la n d s )
L = L o n g - T e r m , t y p ic a lly g r e a te r t h a n
6 m o n t h s ( e . g . h y d r o lo g y , e c o lo g y )

In te n s ity :
A u th o r:
R ic h a r d T in k e r
C P C /N O A A /N W S /N C E P

D
D
D
D
D

SL
L

SL

SL

SL
SL

A
M
S
E
E

b n o r m a lly D r y
o d e ra te D ro u g h t
e v e re D ro u g h t
x tre m e D ro u g h t
x c e p tio n a l D r o u g h t

T h e D r o u g h t M o n it o r f o c u s e s o n b r o a d s c a le c o n d i t io n s . L o c a l c o n d i t io n s m a y
v a r y . S e e a c c o m p a n y i n g te x t s u m m a r y f o r
f o r e c a s t s ta te m e n ts .

L
SS SL
S S SS L S L
S L
L

0
1
2
3
4

SL
SL

h t tp : / / d r o u g h tm o n i t o r.u n l . e d u /

2013 Drought

2011 Drought

Temperature Scales
Gabriel Fahrenheit
Anders Celsius
William Thomson
Ave Temp = 15C
= 59F
Typical Range = 0 - 30C
= 32 - 86F
C = (F 32) x (5/9)
F = (C x 9/5) + 32

What is climate change?

Seasonal Cycle Most familiar is seasonal temperature or
precipitation changes.
Concern of this book is with Longterm Climate Change
American Meteorological Society defines climate change as:
any systematic change in the long-term statistics of climate
elements (such as temperature, pressure, or winds)
sustained over several decades or longer.
If when we compare climate for one period against the climate
for another period, and the statistics have changed, then
we can say that the climate has changed.

Frequency of daily August low temperatures

Fairbanks, AK

1945-1975: Mean 7.6C

1975-2009: Mean 8.5C
Warmer Low Temperatures more frequent, cooler lows less.
How important is an increase in daily low temperature of 0.9C?

Climate System Response

Earths Coordinate System

Latitude (North South Location)
Equator: Location halfway
between N and S pole.
Latitude: Angle (position) N or
S of the equator.
Tropics 23.5 North and South
of equator. Approximately
50% of Earths surface.
Mid-latitudes: 30-60 N or S
of Eq. ~ 33% of Earths
surface.

Why is less area between 0-30 and 60-90?

Polar Regions: 66.5 - 90N or

S of Equator. ~ 15%
Earths surface.

Earths Coordinate System

Longitude (East West Location)
Prime Meridian : a line that runs
from N-pole to S-pole through
Greenwich, England.
Longitude: Angle (position) E or
W of the Prime Meridian.
Tropics 23.5 North and South of
equator. Approximately 50%
of Earths surface.
Eastern Hemisphere meets
Western at 180.
Why are lines of Longitude closer
together in further away from
equator?

Should you believe your textbook?

- Students in most classes accept without question that the
textbook is correct. Author is an authority on the subject, the
publisher has reviewed material for accuracy, instructor of
class (someone with knowledge in the field) selected the
textbook.
- However, climate change is not like every other subject. Internet
search will likely find a page that disputes almost any claim
made in textbook. Your friends and family may not believe
that climate change is a serious problem or even think it is a
hoax.
- You may even agree with them. This book will challenge many
skeptical viewpoints and you may face the dilemma of whom
to believe.

Should you believe your textbook?

- Interesting question: How do you determine whether or not to
believe a scientific claim?
- If you happen to know a lot about an issue, you can reach your
own conclusions. However, no one can be an expert on every
subject; for the majority of these issues you will need to find
another way.

Should you believe your textbook?

1) Often times people rely on first hand experience about how the world works.
Claims that fit your own experience are easy to accept.
- Consider a claim that the Earths climate is stable. In your lifetime climate
has changed very little, so seems plausible. However, a geologist who
knows that dramatic shifts in climate are responsible for variety of rocks
and fossil deposits found on Earth will likely regard the idea of a stable
climate as ludicrous.
- In turn, the geologist might be less likely to accept a human origin for
climate change.
- A problem with relying on first hand experience about the climate is that
our present situation is unique people have never changed the global
atmosphere as much or as fast as is currently occurring.
- Consequently, whatever the climate response, it may likely be outside the
realm of human experience.

Should you believe your textbook?

2) Rely on your values: You can accept the claims that fit with your overall
world view while rejecting claims that do not.
- For example, consider the scientific claim that second-hand cigarette
smoke has negative health consequences.
- If you are a believer in unfettered freedom, you might choose to simply
reject this claim out of hand because it implies that governments should
regulate smoking in public places to protect health.

Should you believe your textbook?

3) Rely on an opinion leader:
- Opinion leaders are people you trust, because they appear authoritative
or because you agree with them on other issues. They might include a
family member or influential friend, a media figure (such as a talk show
host), or an influential politician.
- In the absence of a strong opinion of your own, you can simply adopt the
view of your opinion leaders.
- The problem this approach is that there is no guarantee that the opinion
leaders have a firm grasp of the science.

Should you believe your textbook?

3) Rely on the opinion of experts:
- When the relevant experts on some subject have high confidence that a
scientific claim is true, that is the best indication we have that the claim is
actually true.
- This is a commonly accepted view. For example, if a friend tells you that
she think she may be sick, what would you recommend?
- Your recommendation is likely to be that she should go see a doctor not
just any doctor, but one who is an expert in that particular ailment.
- This is also the view of the U.S. legal system. Many court cases involve
questions of science (e.g., cause of death, if chemical causes cancer, does
DNA sample match the defendant). To settle those cases, the court will
frequently turn to expert witnesses.

Should you believe your textbook?

3) Rely on the opinion of experts:
-To be an expert witness, one must demonstrate expertise in a particular
subject. It should be emphasized that one must demonstrate specific,
recent expertise in the exact area under consideration to be an expert
witness. Showing expertise in general technical matters or in a related
field is not sufficient.
- For example, one might consider anyone with a Ph.D. in physics to have
a credible opinion about the science of climate change. This is not so.
Similarly, someone that is a weather forecaster may be a expert about
meteorology and forecasting, but not necessarily about climate. Climate
and weather are different things.
- The reverse is also true, a climate expert is not qualified to be a weather
expert.

Should you believe your textbook?

3) Rely on the opinion of experts:
- Not all experts are equal. Think of a recommendation for a doctor. Dont
just pick the first one you find in a Google search.
- For important medical decisions, even finding a doctor you trust is not
enough, after all even the most trusted expert can make a mistake or some
people may have biases they are unaware of. On way to gain confidence
in a particular diagnosis is to get a second opinion. Sometimes even more
than two opinions are needed.

Should you believe your textbook?

3) Rely on the opinion of experts:
- Climate change is no different. One approach would be to ask all of the
worlds climate scientists what they think and if the vast majority agree on
a particular point, then we can have high confidence that point of view is
correct.
- In fact this is what has already been done. In 1988, as nations began to
acknowledge the seriousness of the climate problem, the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was formed.
- The IPCC assembles large writing teams of scientific experts and has
them write, as a group, a report detailing what they know about climate
change and how confidently they know it. Having many authors is like
getting multiple medical opinions.
- After being written by experts, the IPCCs reports are then reviewed by
other expert scientists.

Should you believe your textbook?

3) Rely on the opinion of experts:
- To further minimize the possibility that the group of scientists writing the
report are not biased is some direction, the scientists chosen to help write
the reports are not chosen by a single person or group, but rather
nominated by the worlds governments.
- IPCC reports are available from http://www.ipcc.ch
- In addition to IPCC reports, you can also examine reports from other
assessment organizations, such as the U.S. National Academy of
Sciences.

Chapter Summary
- Weather refers to the exact state of the atmosphere at a point in time, climate
refers to the statistics of the atmosphere over a period time, usually
several decades in length or longer.
- Climate change refers to a change in the statistics of the atmosphere over
decades. Such statistics include not just the averages but also the
measures of the extremes how much the atmosphere can depart from
average.
- Temperatures express in the book are in degrees Celsius; conversion from
Fahrenheit can be done with this equation: C = (F 32) x 5/9
- Any position on the surface of the Earth can be described by a latitude and
longitude; the tropics cover 30N to 30S; mid-latitudes from 30- 60:
polar regions from 60 to 90.

Chapter Summary
- In our society, we frequently rely on experts for advice on highly specialized or
technical fields. For climate change, the IPCC reports represent the
opinion of the worlds experts, and the science described in this course
reflects the IPCCs scientific views.

Homework
1) Purchase Textbook (in bookstore or Online) ASAP.
2) Register/Logon to Blackboard, download powerpoints.
3) Read Chapters 1 and 2.
4) Visit the Geoscience Learning Center and sign Intro.
Climate Change Log Book (Before Wednesday
September 3rd, 2014).

Numerous methane leaks found on Atlantic sea floor

Numerous methane leaks found on Atlantic sea floor

By Eric Hand 24 August 2014 1:00 pm
And up through the ground came a bubbling greenhouse gas. Researchers have
discovered 570 plumes of methane percolating up from the sea floor off the eastern
coast of the United States, a surprisingly high number of seeps in a relatively quiescent
part of the ocean. The seeps suggest that methanes contribution to climate change has
been underestimated in some models. And because most of the seeps lie at depths
where small changes in temperature could be releasing the methane, it is possible that
climate change itself could be playing a role in turning some of them on.
Most of the seeps are thought to be fed by methane stored in hydrates, crystal lattices of
water ice that form under low temperatures and high pressures. Harvesting methane
from hydrates in the sea floor has already aroused commercial interests; both Japan and
the United States have embarked on pilot extraction projects. But the hydrates are also
significant for climate scientists: This immense reservoir is thought to contain 10 times
as much carbon as the atmosphere. The gas, if it reaches the atmosphere, is far more
potent than carbon dioxide as a heat trapper. Even in the more likely event that aerobic
microbes devour the methane while still in the ocean, it is converted to carbon dioxide,
which leads to ocean acidification. Some scientists have implicated runaway methane
hydrate releases in the catastrophic extinctions of marine life at the Permian-Triassic
boundary, 252 million years ago.

The present study, published online today in Nature Geoscience, is based on data
collected in a survey from 2011 to 2013 by the research vessel Okeanos Explorer.
Equipped with a multibeam sonar along its hull, the vessel not only mapped the sea floor
along a swath off the coast of North Carolina to Massachusetts, but also recorded
reflections in the water column. Gas bubbles of methane stood out as a distinctive
signature. Most of the seeps were found at depths of 180 to 600 meters along the upper
slope of the continental margin. This is the area where the continental shelf rapidly falls
to the 5000-meter-deep abyssal plain of the ocean.
So far everybody has been looking at small spots. This is the first time anyone has
systematically mapped an entire margin, says Christian Berndt, a marine geophysicist
at GEOMAR in Kiel, Germany, who was not involved in the study. It was also a surprise
because seeps are typically found above known methane reservoirs, or above regions of
active tectonic activity. The continental margin was thought to be virtually devoid of
seepsuntil scientists studied the sonar data. They found that there was much more
methane coming out than was suspected beforehand, Berndt says.
For a handful of the seeps, the researchers were able to take pictures with a remotely
operated submersible. They found carbonate rocks associated with the seeps that would
have taken several thousand years to form. But some of the seeps are shallowand are
at the critical depth where hydrates fall apartso they could be sensitive to rising ocean
temperatures on much shorter time scales, says Carolyn Ruppel, a co-author of the new
study and chief of the gas hydrates project at the U.S. Geological Survey in Woods Hole,
Massachusetts. There are reasons to believe that some of the present seepage has
been triggered by changes in oceanographic conditions, she says.

Proving that climate change is directly responsible could be difficult, Berndt says. In
January, he and colleagues published a study in Science on methane seeps in the Arctic
Ocean off the coast of the island of Svalbard, where temperature changes are occurring
more rapidly. Berndt found evidence that the seeps there had existed for at least 3000
years and saw no evidence that the ocean sediments had been heating upand
releasing methaneon the decadeslong timescales associated with climate change. At
the very least, though, he says, the Atlantic Ocean study shows that ocean and climate
modelers should start to incorporate methane inputs from many more types of seafloor
terrains around the world. We have this extra source here, he says. Not much
attention has been paid to it.
Jens Greinert, who heads the deep-sea monitoring unit at GEOMAR, downplays the
effect of the new seeps on the atmosphere or ocean chemistry because the magnitude
of the releases is dwarfed by human-associated inputs, such as livestock, or even other
marine sites. These little bits of bubbling here or there will not make a memorable
impact, Greinert says. He is more interested in what will happen as the world warms. It
becomes interesting only if you have a catastrophic release, he says.

Deep-sea warming slows down global warming

Global warming seems to have paused over the past 15 years while
the deep ocean takes the heat instead. The thermal capacity of the
oceans far exceeds that of the atmosphere, so the oceans can store
up to 90% of the heat buildup caused by increased concentrations of
greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. Chen and Tung used
observational data to trace the pathways of recent ocean heating.
They conclude that the deep Atlantic and Southern Oceans, but not
the Pacific, have absorbed the excess heat that would otherwise
have fueled continued warming.
Science, this issue p. 897

Deep-sea warming slows down global warming

Ice Loss from Greenland and Antarctica Accelerating

On August 20, The Cryosphere journal published a new study
finding the volume of ice loss in West Antarctica over the last three
years was three times greater than ice loss from 2003 to 2009; in
Greenland, recent ice loss was 2.5 times greater than earlier in the
2000s. Study authors estimated the current total volume loss from
both ice sheets to be 507 cubic kilometers a year. The contribution
of both ice sheets together to sea level rise has doubled since
2009, commented Angela Humbert, study author and scientist at
the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany. To us, thats an incredible
number. The scientists arrived at their conclusions by comparing
data from the European Space Agencys CryoSat satellite from the
period from January 2011 to January 2014 against data from the
U.S. National Atmospheric and Aeronautics Administration (NASA)
IceSat satellite from 2003 to 2009.
For additional information see:
BBC, Study