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Global Climate Change and Fossil Fuels At the end of this course you will be able to: Critically evaluate media coverage of global climate change Apply information on the origin, and production rates of fossil fuels in order to evaluate predictions of future fossil fuel supplies MWF 1:55: 2:45 in Delehanty room 219 Prof. Charlotte Mehrtens 207 Delehanty Bldg [email protected] Office Hours: Wednesday 3-4; Tuesday 10-11or by appointment Email for appointments Text: Pdf files will be available on Blackboard throughout the semester. You will need regular access to a computer that will allow you to view pdf’s. Deffeyes, Ken, 2005, Beyond Oil: The View from Hubert’s Peak, Hill and Wang Pubs, ISBN – 13:978-0-8090-2597-0 Supplemental Materials from which the pdfs originate: Alley, R. 2000, The Two Mile Time Machine, Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, NJ. 229 pp Campbell, C. and J. Laherrere, 1998, The End of Cheap Oil, Scientific American. pp78-83. Deffeyes, K., 2008, Hubbert’s Peak: The Impending World Oil Shortage, Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, NJ, 232pp. Downey, M. 2009, Oil 101 Wooden Table Press, 440pp Huddart, D. and T. Stott, 2010, Earth Environments, Wiley Blackwell, Oxford. 896pp Kolbert, E. 2007, Unconventional Crude, The New Yorker Magazine, November 12, 2007, p46-51. Lemley, B. 2002 The New Ice Age, Discover Magazine, September, 2002, pp.34-41. Ruddimanm W.F. 2007 Plows, Plagues, and Petroleum, Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton NJ 226pp Trefil, J. and R. Hazen, 2007, The Sciences, 6th ed, Wiley and Sons, NY. 113pp Assessment: your grade will be based on several forms of evaluation: Attendance- I expect you to be in class. Poor attendance will result in borderline final grades moving downwards at least one half letter grade Homework assignments: throughout the semester there will be a variety of homework assignments, some will be calculations and some will be reading and writing responses (15%) There will be two writing assignments (10 pts each; 20%) Classroom discussion/participation. I keep track of who participates in class. Regular participation will result in borderline final grades moving upwards at least one half letter grade mid-term and final exams (15 pts each; 30%) Final term paper and presentation. Due before the last week of the class (around Dec 1) will be an approx 20 page paper on a topic of your choice related to the class topic as well as a presentation to the class of your findings. On time submission of material prior to final paper will be part of the final grade (35%) Writing assignments: Early in the semester you will be asked to write two articles, written in a journalism format (we will use the campus newspaper, The Cynic, as the intended outlet). The purpose of these assignments is for you to demonstrate your understanding of the scientific basis to climate change and fossil fuel consumption. The first assignment will ask you to explain and demonstrate a student’s typical daily electrical usage and what this means in terms of fossil fuel consumption. The second assignment will ask you to explain the science behind global climate change and how it is related to the topic of the first essay. Term Paper: This course covers a variety of topics related to the consumption of fossil fuels and its impact on global climate. There are many related topics that can be explored by you in your term paper, including economic, environmental and social issues. The audience for your term paper is the American public (i.e. a confused or poorly informed but opinionated person). Your term paper should take the format of a “briefing paper” produced by a non-profit organization who aims to explain your particular issue to the public. Term Paper Deadlines: No later than Oct 8th you need to provide me with the topic of your term paper. No later than Oct 20th you need to provide me with an annotated bibliography of at least five resources that you’ve examined and decided will be useful, and why they will be of use (in other words, you need to have examined them). During the class periods on Nov 3 and 5 you will meet with me to discuss progress on your paper. The first draft is due on Nov. 15th and it will be returned to you for revision on Nov. 19th. The final paper, along with your draft, is due on Dec 1st. You will distribute an abstract of your paper to your classmates on Dec 1st and make a presentation to the class between Dec 3 and 8th. I will describe what an “abstract” consists of as this deadline approaches. Your final grade for the term paper will include successfully meeting the above deadlines. The UVM Academic Honesty Policy This course adheres to the Code of Academic Integrity set out in the Cats Tale. You will be asked to read and sign the academic honesty statement, acknowledging that you are aware of the University policy, including but not limited to cheating on quizzes/exams, ownership of one’s work, and plagiarism. If found guilty of a violation of the University’s academic honesty policy, a grade of XF will appear on your transcript, indicating that you received a failing grade due to an honesty violation. Course Topics Part I Controls on earth’s climate Heat and energy flow Electromagnetic radiation and the greenhouse effect Components of a climate model Distributing heat on earth Part II The Carbon cycle The complex cycling of carbon on earth The relationship of carbon to climate Part III Fossil Fuels What are they and how they form Finding , recovering, and marketing Part IV Future Predictions SCHEDULE: FOLLOWING PAGE (subject to change…syllabus will be modified and uploaded on Blackboard regularly…it is your responsibility to keep track of revisions and changes to schedules and assignments) ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE POSTED ON BLACKBOARD IN THE “ANNOUNCEMENTS” ON THE HOME PAGE DATE TOPIC ASSIGNMENT DUE 30-Aug class introduction knowledge survey 1-Sep work and power 3-Sep energy…what is heat? Trefil & Hazen pdf Problem set Trefil & Hazen pdf Problem set 6-Sep no class labor day 8-Sep waves & electromagnetic radiation Trefil & Hazen pdf 10-Sep absorption spectra Trefil and Hazen chapters On electromag. spectrum 13-Sep building our first climate model 15-Sep 17-Sep computer model of earth's IR spectrum distributing heat on earth First writing assignment due 20-Sep distribution, continued 2nd Huddart & Stott pdf 23-Sep thermohaline circulation Lemley article 27-Sep THC continued second writing assignment due 29-Sep monsoons and El Nino 1-Oct carbon cycle 4-Oct carbon cycle 6-Oct exam 1 8-Oct the record of CO2 11-Oct Library activity 13-Oct Geologic record of CO2 Alley article 15-Oct Milankovitch cycles Ruddiman chapts 3,4,5 18-Oct Milankovitch cycles & CO2 20-Oct human influence on climate Energy audit due Stanley pdf term paper topic due 22-Oct Pulling it all together: what controls climate? 24-Oct Hydrocarbons: what they are 27-Oct how hydrocarbons form 29-Oct the geology of oil and gas 1-Nov O & G geology, continued 3-Nov term paper discussions 5-Nov term paper discussions 8-Nov Hubbert's Peak Deffeyes, chap 1-3 10-Nov Hubbert's, continued Campbell and Laharrere 1998 12-Nov tar sands Kolbert article; Deffeyes chapt 15-Nov methane first draft due Deffeyes, chapt Huddart and Stott pdf annotated bibliography due "Oil 101" chapters 19-Nov 11/2211/26 THANKSGIVING BREAK 19-Nov coal resources Deffeyes chapt 1-Dec the IPCC report term paper due 3-Dec presentations of reading all term paper abstracts 6-Dec term paper 8-Dec research 8/2010 8/2010