Atmosphere, Ocean and Environmental Change
By Ronald B. Smith
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Description
This course explores the physical processes that control Earth's atmosphere, ocean, and climate. Quantitative methods for constructing mass and energy budgets. Topics include clouds, rain, severe storms, regional climate, the ozone layer, air pollution, ocean currents and productivity, the seasons, El Niño, the history of Earth's climate, global warming, energy, and water resources.
| Name | Description | Released | Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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1 |
18. Seasons and Climate Classification | The seasonal cycle on Earth causes shifts in the bands of precipitation in the northern and southern hemispheres. | 4/2/2012 | Free | View in iTunes |
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2 |
34. Renewable Energy | Renewable energy sources are discussed. These include wind energy, solar energy, biomass energy and geothermal energy. | 4/2/2012 | Free | View in iTunes |
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3 |
33. Energy Resources, Renewable Energy | The various types of resources currently used for energy production are discussed. | 4/2/2012 | Free | View in iTunes |
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4 |
35. Review and Overview | The material covered throughout the course is reviewed. Properties of air and water are discussed. Hydrostatic balance is discussed as related to the atmosphere, ocean and solid earth. | 4/2/2012 | Free | View in iTunes |
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5 |
32. The Ozone Layer | Stratospheric ozone is important as protection from harmful ultraviolet solar radiation. | 4/2/2012 | Free | View in iTunes |
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6 |
30. Climate Sensitivity and Human Population | Climate sensitivity is defined as either the temperature change resulting from a doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration or the temperature change resulting from a 1W/m2 increase in radiative forcing. | 4/2/2012 | Free | View in iTunes |
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7 |
31. The Two Ozone Problems | There are two ozone problems in the atmosphere. | 4/2/2012 | Free | View in iTunes |
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8 |
29. Global Warming, Part III | Several greenhouse gas emissions scenarios have been developed by the IPCC to determine possible affects on atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations and related climate warming. | 4/2/2012 | Free | View in iTunes |
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9 |
28. Global Warming, Part II | The current Holocene epoch is considered to be a time period of relatively stable climate compared to earlier geological periods. | 4/2/2012 | Free | View in iTunes |
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10 |
26. Isotope Evidence for Climate Change | Isotopes are used to measure past climate properties. Deuterium and oxygen 18 are the most commonly used climate proxies. | 4/2/2012 | Free | View in iTunes |
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11 |
27. Global Warming | The issue of global warming is discussed. Recent climate change over the last half of the 20th century is thought to be driven largely by greenhouse gas emissions, with carbon dioxide playing a large role. | 4/2/2012 | Free | View in iTunes |
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12 |
25. Ice and climate change | Ice on earth is sensitive to climate change and ice plays a role in climate change processes. Recent trends in the Greenland ice sheet provide an important example. | 4/2/2012 | Free | View in iTunes |
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13 |
23. El Niño | The El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon is the primary mode of variability in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. | 4/2/2012 | Free | View in iTunes |
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14 |
24. Ice in the Climate System | Five types of ice in the climate system are discussed. Sea ice forms when ocean water reaches its freezing temperature of about -2°C. Sea ice is currently found in the Arctic Ocean and around Antarctica. | 4/2/2012 | Free | View in iTunes |
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15 |
21. Ocean Currents | The atmosphere forces the ocean in three ways: addition and removal of heat, precipitation and evaporation, and wind stress. | 4/2/2012 | Free | View in iTunes |
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16 |
22. Ocean Currents and Productivity | Ocean currents are generally divided into two categories: thermohaline currents and wind driven currents. | 4/2/2012 | Free | View in iTunes |
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17 |
17. Seasons and Climate | There are several factors that impact climate on Earth. Different areas on Earth have different climates depending on factors such as their latitude and surrounding terrain. | 4/2/2012 | Free | View in iTunes |
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18 |
20. Ocean Water Density and Atmospheric Forcing | Stability in the ocean is based on the density of the water. Density must increase with depth in order for the ocean to be stable. | 4/2/2012 | Free | View in iTunes |
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19 |
19. Ocean Bathymetry and Water Properties | Plate tectonics and ocean bathymetry are discussed. Bathymetry is the study of ocean depth, which is affected in some regions by plate tectonics and mantle dynamics. | 4/2/2012 | Free | View in iTunes |
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20 |
16. Frontal Cyclones | Mid-latitude frontal cyclones gain energy from temperature gradients rather than latent heat release as is the case with convective storms. | 4/2/2012 | Free | View in iTunes |
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21 |
14. Coriolis Force and Storms | Large scale air motion in the atmosphere occurring sufficiently above the surface is in geostrophic balance. | 4/2/2012 | Free | View in iTunes |
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22 |
15. Convective storms | There are three main types of convective storms: airmass thunderstorms, severe thunderstorms and hurricanes. | 4/2/2012 | Free | View in iTunes |
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23 |
13. Global Climate and the Coriolis Force | The circulation in the atmosphere is composed of three circulation cells in the northern and southern hemispheres. | 4/2/2012 | Free | View in iTunes |
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24 |
12. Circulation of the Atmosphere (Exam I review) | There is a latitudinal gradient of heat on the Earth caused by the tilt of the Earth’s axis with respect to the sun. | 4/2/2012 | Free | View in iTunes |
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25 |
10. Water in the Atmosphere II | Air is able to hold a limited amount of water vapor, and that amount depends on the temperature of the air. | 4/2/2012 | Free | View in iTunes |
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26 |
11. Clouds and Precipitation (cloud chamber experiment) | Scattered visible light and microwave radar can used used to detect clouds and precipitation. | 4/2/2012 | Free | View in iTunes |
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27 |
09. Water in the Atmosphere I | The lapse rate describes the rate at which air cools with altitude. Atmospheric stability depends on the lapse rate. | 4/2/2012 | Free | View in iTunes |
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28 |
08. Horizontal Transport | This lecture describes how pollutants mix in the atmosphere. Three cases are considered: confined mixing, unconfined mixing, and unconfined mixing with wind. | 4/2/2012 | Free | View in iTunes |
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29 |
07. Hydrostatic Balance | The hydrostatic law describes the weight of a fluid overlying a given area, or the pressure at a particular point. | 4/2/2012 | Free | View in iTunes |
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30 |
06. Greenhouse Effect, Habitability | A simple model of the overall Earth’s heat budget is derived. The Earth is assumed to be in equilibrium with the input of solar radiation balanced by the output of infrared radiation emitted by the Earth’s surface. | 4/2/2012 | Free | View in iTunes |
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31 |
01. Introduction to Atmospheres | This course studies the atmosphere and the ocean as parts of Earth’s climate system. | 4/2/2012 | Free | View in iTunes |
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32 |
03. The Perfect Gas Law | The Perfect Gas Law relates temperature, pressure, and density of gases in the atmosphere. It can be used to demonstrate why warm air rises, cool air sinks, and helium balloons float in the air. | 4/2/2012 | Free | View in iTunes |
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33 |
04. Vertical Structure of the atmosphere; Residence Time | Pressure and density decrease exponentially with altitude in the atmosphere. This leads to buoyancy effects in the atmosphere when parcels of air are heated or cooled, or raised or lowered in the atmosphere. | 4/2/2012 | Free | View in iTunes |
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34 |
05. Earth Systems Analysis (Tank Experiment) | Several experiments are performed using a water tank with an input flow of water and an output flow. | 4/2/2012 | Free | View in iTunes |
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35 |
02. Retaining an Atmosphere | There are other ways in which we can perceive the existence of the atmosphere, predominantly through our perceptions of pressure. | 4/2/2012 | Free | View in iTunes |
| 35 Items |
Customer Reviews
Teacher doesn't know things
On the section about tornadoes he called 4 dots in the south and southeast flukes! How can I trust his teachings when he has no knowledge, yet well known everywhere, about Dixxie Alley? Southern Mississippi and central Alabama actually have cities that get hit by more tornadoes than I tornado alley annually. Plus the south produces more EF4-5's than tornado alley.
Dixxie alley kicks up earlier than tornado alley and runs longer. From Dec - April. This is very well known data not some fluke and there is lots of data on it. Suggest starting with NOAA or NWS. Hard to believe that Yale in 2011 has no clue about southern tornadoes. Especially after the largest outbreak in years in April 2011 killing over 300 people.
Once again not a fluke happens every year. Deleting this from iPhone since I can not trust being taught good and factual information from a professor who lacks the knowledge any high schooler with an interest in weather knows
