GS 141 General Science: Earth Systems Science

1. Discuss the timescales of global change and some important changes that have occurred over the span of Earth’s history.
2. Use the concepts of systems science in discussing a simple self-regulating climate model such as daisy world.
3. Describe the uses and importance of numerical models for understanding climate and making decisions.
4. Describe the greenhouse effect and its causes and identify the principle greenhouse gases.
5. Discuss earth’s global energy budget, identifying incoming and outgoing energy fluxes. Discuss the contradictory effects of clouds.
6. Identify the major features of Earth’s atmospheric circulation system, including the vertical structure of the atmosphere, circulation cells, the distribution of surface winds, seasonal variations, land - sea contrasts, global precipitation patterns. Discuss the role of latent heat in energy transfer and its effect on global temperature patterns.
7. Identify the major features of Earth’s ocean circulation system, including surface currents and deep currents. Identify the forces that create the ocean currents, and how deep currents and surface currents are connected. Identify some of the major water masses, and where and how they form. Describe some ways in which ocean circulation is connected to the climate system.
8. Explain the evidence for plate tectonics, and the relationship of faults and earthquakes to plates. Identify and describe the major features of Earth’s internal structure. Identify the main forces that cause plate motions. Describe the main processes involved in the rock cycle, and how the rock cycle interacts with atmospheric and oceanic processes.
9. Identify the important reservoirs of carbon in the Earth system. Identify the processes that move carbon between these reservoirs. Explain the role of biological processes in moving carbon among reservoirs. Describe the long-term processes involving organic and inorganic carbon. Explain the importance of weathering of silicate minerals in the long-term storage of carbon.
10. Explain the importance of biodiversity to the stability and functioning of Earth’s ecosystems. Describe the effects of major catastrophes, such as the end-Cretaceous extinction, on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Describe some of the ways in which humans have caused and are causing, loss of biodiversity. Explain the reasons that loss of biodiversity as a consequence of human actions, is a serious concern.
11. Describe some of the major features of Earth’s climate changes through time, including glaciations and warm intervals. Describe some of the long-term controls on climate such as atmospheric chemistry and solar irradiance. Describe some of the features of present-day short-term climate variability.
12. Describe the relationship between increasing atmospheric CO2 levels and global warming. Identify additional causes of global warming. Identify some of the consequences of global warming expected to occur over the next century or more. Describe the expected effectiveness of actions proposed to mitigate these consequences.

Statewide General Education Outcomes:

1. Gather, comprehend, and communicate scientific and technical information in order to explore ideas, models, and solutions and generate further questions.
2. Apply scientific and technical modes of inquiry, individually, and collaboratively, to critically evaluate existing or alternative explanations, solve problems, and make evidence-based decisions in an ethical manner.
3. Assess the strengths and weaknesses of scientific studies and critically examine the influence of scientific and technical knowledge on human society and the environment.

• Concept of Global Change, Timescales of Global Change, Anthropogenic Change
• Systems, Couplings, Positive and Negative Feedback Loops, Stable and Unstable Equilibrium, External Forcing, Possibility of a Self-regulating Climate System
• Importance of Numerical Modeling in Climate Studies
• Global Energy Balance:  The Greenhouse Effect 
• Atmospheric Circulation
• Ocean Circulation
• Plate Tectonics: Circulation of the Solid Earth
• The Carbon Cycle and Other Biogeochemical Cycles: Interactions of the Biosphere, Solid Earth, Atmosphere and Hydrosphere
• Biodiversity through Time and Loss of Biodiversity in our Modern World
• Climate Change Throughout Earth’s History, on Long and Short Time Scales
• Global Warming