advances in climate sciences

Dr. Yi WangDept. of Geography

School of Global StudiesUniversity of Sussex

(yi.wang@sussex.ac.uk)

Advances in Climate Sciences

Two Aspects of The Course1. Current status/theory of climate sciences

– Atmosphere: Dynamics/circulations, physical parameterisation, observations…

– Ocean: Dynamics (thermohaline circulation, wind-driven gyres), ENSO, Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO)…

– Biosphere: Biogeophysical/biogeochemical processes, land-use-land-cover changes

– Cryosphere: Sea ice, ice sheet

Two Aspects of The Course2. Skills used in climate sciences

– Linux system commands (You will be given an account on our climate research Linux workstation)

– Climate data formats (e.g., NetCDF)– Climate data operators (e.g., CDO, NCO)– Climate data visualisation tools (e.g.,

GrADS)

Edward Lorenz’s Butterfly• Have you ever heard this? Organized

chaos?

Edward Lorenz’s Butterfly• Predictability- Does the Flap of a Butterfly's Wings in

Brazil Set Off a Tornado in Texas?----Lorenz, December 1972, AAAS Talk.

• Weather and climate are both nonlinear systems.• Climate is what you expect, but weather is what you

get everyday.

Climate science is NOT about weather forecasting!

• Climate sciences try to advance our knowledge over timescales at:– Seasonal– Interannual– Decadal– Muti-decadal– Centenary– Millennial– Longer

Community Earth System Model

Course Outline

• Teaching staff: Dr. Yi Wang• One lecture per week.• One seminar per week.• One lab session per week.

Assessment• A research presentation (weeks 8-10) ---

10% with feedbacks from the tutor.• A 4000-word climate analysis essay

(submission during the spring assessment period)---90%– Examples of essay topics will be given in the

course.– You are welcome to develop your own essay

topics.

Learning outcomes• Demonstrate a sound knowledge of the climate

system.• Understand the cause of climate changes and

variability. • Understand the key elements of climate models

and their predictions.

Learning outcomes• Summarise key debates and uncertainties in the

climate change.• Identify research topics and develop

independent research questions on the climate change.

• Understand the approaches used in climate analyses and evaluations.

Climate Sciences

Thank you!

Incoming book