教學大綱

課程描述

This term's theme is Global Respiration. Respiratory processes return carbon dioxide to the atmosphere and oceans; any inefficiencies can change carbon dioxide levels in the short term and oxygen levels in the long term. Observations indicate that respiration has no characteristic time scale. This undergraduate seminar will address these and related observations, seek theories for them, and consider their applications to problems ranging from contemporary global warming to the evolution of complex life.

Student Assignments

Students are required to read and discuss scientific literature, assemble and analyze relevant data, formulate and criticize quantitative theories, and provide frequent oral reports. An oral and written report on a topic of individual interest is due late in the term.

Prerequisites

Environmental Earth Science Field Course (12.120), and Strange Bedfellows: Science and Environmental Policy (12.103), or permission of instructor.

Grading