Syllabus for GES 41L
Lecturer, Topic, and Reading Assignments for Each Week
Spring Quarter, 2000
- March 29
- Class Introduction, El Niņo and the Southern Oscillation (ENSO, when
considered together) - what are they
and how do we learn about them? El Niņo in the news......Fundamentals of
air-sea interaction as background for understanding ENSO.
Reading (for next class): Glantz, Chapters 1, 2, & 3.
- April 5
- The Physics of ENSO. El Niņo from cradle to grave.......
- Also (so you can do your first assignment) - an introduction to climate data access and use (LDEO
Rainbow among other sites......)
Reading (for next class): Glantz, Chapters 4 & 5.
- April 12
- Rob Dunbar (GES)
ENSO impacts far and wide......smoke in Java, corn in Zimbabwe, cholera in
Peru, rats in Australia.......are they related?
Reading (for next class): Glantz, Chapters 6, 7, & 8.
- April 14
- Optional Field Trip to Fitzgerald State Park and to Aņo Nuevo State Park - We'll leave from the
GeoCorner parking lot about 9AM and be back by 6PM. Dunbar will buy lunch -
maybe Duarte's?
- April 19
-
Rob Dunbar (GES)
Is ENSO predictable? Modern models of a semiperiodic phenomenon.......
Reading (for next class): Glantz, Chapters 9, 10, 11.
-
April 20
- David Battisti, Dept. of Atmospheric Sciences,
University of Washington, "Interannual ENSO and decadal ENSO-related
variability observations, theory, and predictability" - SPECIAL LECTURE,
THURSDAY 3:30, 4TH FLOOR ENCINA HALL EAST.
-
April 26
- Harry Rowe (GES)
- Societal and economic impacts of ENSO: how do we better prepare societies and economies
for withstanding ENSO variability? What kinds of research are needed?
Reading (for next class): to be assigned.
-
May 3
- Harry Rowe (GES)
- El Niņo and La Niņa in the past: do they always happen the same way? Case
studies from the reefs of Galapagos to the jungles of Java!
Reading (for next class): to be assigned.
-
May 10
- Nikolas Wara, Dan Rochberg, Jessica Hartmann, (Institute of International Studies)
- Examples of ENSO prediction in agriculture and human health - student
projects at Stanford
Reading (for next class): to be assigned.
- May 17
- Rob Dunbar (GES)
Storms, hurricanes, and the rising tides of a warming world - the future of
ENSO and it's impacts.
Reading (for next class): to be assigned.
- May 24
- 1st round of student presentations and group discussions
- May 31
- 2nd round of student presentations and group discussions
Field trips: We'll schedule a one-day trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium
Research Institute to hear from scientists currently working on ENSO. We'll also
examine some of the habitats of Monterey Bay that are influenced by ENSO-induced
changes in water temperature and productivity.
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