Meeting Time: MWF 1:30-2:20; Meeting Place: OSB 425

Instructors:

Steven Emerson, OSB 419, 3-0428, emerson@u.washington.edu

Lyatt Jaeglé, ATG 302, 685-2679, jaegle@atmos.washington.edu

TA:

Clark Kirkman, ATG 511, 685-7684, ckirkman@atmos.washington.edu

Course Goals and Structure:

The course focuses on factors controlling the global cycle of carbon and the greenhouse gases (CO_2, CH₄, N₂O, O₃ and halocarbons). Goals are to develop an appreciation for:

- The abundance and distribution of carbon and greenhouse gases

- Physical, chemical and biological mechanisms that control ocean-atmosphere and terrestrial-atmosphere exchange of carbon and greenhouse gases.

- Possible causes for changes in green house gases over the last glacial cycles

- The fate of anthropogenic greenhouse gases, their impact on climate and strategies for sequestration of anthropogenic gases

The course emphasizes problems of the carbon and greenhouse gases cycles in the environment and an introduction to research articles on these topics.

Each week will normally consist of two lectures, and one paper or problem discussion. The problem sets should make use of the computer program Matlab. The first week has a lecture on the use of Matlab.

Students are asked to prepare a paper and give a 15-minute presentation during the last week (and in finals week) on one of the topics on the attached list or one of their own choosing. Topics should be discussed with one of the instructors. Papers should be 5-10 pages (1.5 spacing) with greater than 10 references.

Assessment:

Grades will be assigned based on the student's performance on the four problems (40%), the quality of the paper and presentation (40%), and participation in the paper discussions (20%).

Readings:

There is no text for this course. Reading assignments will be put on the web or handed out.

Trends in atmospheric methane concentration

Methane hydrates and climate change

Stratospheric H₂O: trends and climate effects

Tropospheric ozone: past and future changes

Effect of climate change on CH₄, N₂O emissions

Mitigation solutions for CH₄ emissions

Sources of greenhouse gases from biomass burning

Stratospheric ozone and global warming

The interpretation of atmospheric δ¹³C-pCO₂ changes in ice cores

Atmospheric O₂/N₂ ratios as tracers of marine and terrestrial CO₂ uptake

Experimental results of the terrestrial CO₂ fertilization effect

Climate change and nitrogen fixation

CaCO₃ dissolution response to anthropogenic CO₂

Iron fertilization in the southern ocean during the last glacial age

Potential consequences of continued iron fertilization in iron-limited regions of the ocean

Comparing different GCM results for anthropogenic CO₂ penetration into the ocean

Decadal-scale changes in atmospheric CO₂ buildup

CO₂ sequestration: Land and Ocean strategies

Mechanisms responsible for glacial-age changes in atmospheric CO₂ and CH₄

Discussion Papers:

Toggweiler, J. R., J. L. Russell and S. R. Carson (2006) Midlatitude Westerlies, atmospheric CO₂, and climate change during the ice ages, Paleoceanography, 21, PA2005, doi: 10.1029/2005PA001154.

Sabine, C.L., et al., The oceanic sink for anthropogenic CO₂, Science, 305, 367-371, 2004.

Background Reading

Emerson, S. and J. I. Hedges (2007) Carbonate Chemistry, Chapt. 4 In: Chemical Oceanography and the Carbon Cycle (Book in press at Cambridge U. Press, the chapter is on the Web site)

Emerson, S. and J. I. Hedges (2007) The Global Carbon Cycle: Atmosphere-Ocean Interactions, Chapt 11 In: (Book in press at Cambridge U. Press, the chapter is on the Web site)

IPCC (2007), Technical Summary, In: Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

IPCC (2007), Chapter 2 "Changes in Atmospheric Constituents and in Radiative Forcing", In: Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

IPCC (2007), Chapter 7 "Couplings Between Changes in the Climate System and Biogeochemistry", In: Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.