“Our Changing Planet: Science, Social Impacts, Solutions”
MASC 310
Spring 2013
Mon – Wed – Fri 2:00 to 2:50 pm, Murray G201
Instructor: Marc Alperin, 4202B Venable Hall, 962-5184
email: alperin@email.unc.edu
Office hours: Tuesday 3:30 to 4:30 pm (or by appointment)
Teaching Assistant: Caleb King
email: cking7@live.unc.edu
Office hours: Monday 12:00 to 1:30 pm (4th floor Murray Hall Conference Room)
Texts: Global Warming: The Complete Briefing, 4th edition (John Houghton)
Additional readings will be available on sakai.unc.edu
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The course is designed to provide background for understanding the scientific and
political issues surrounding the debate over global climate change. Students will be
introduced to the complex interactions between the sun, atmosphere, ocean, and
biosphere that ultimately control Earth’s climate. After covering natural processes that
influence climate, the course will focus on the impact of fossil fuel combustion on the
chemical composition of the atmosphere and the Earth’s energy budget. We will
examine evidence that man’s activities have already caused global warming and
investigate scientist’s ability to predict future climate. We will then discuss the political
and social dimensions of global-scale climate change as well as strategies for mitigating
negative impacts.
Students will be assigned weekly problem sets to foster a quantitative
understanding of climate change science (these will contribute 20% to your overall
grade). Examples of problems include: numerical models to predict future populations
and age distributions in developing and developed countries; radiative transfer laws to
predict the equilibrium temperature of the Earth with and without greenhouse gases;
critical analysis of thermometer and proxy data; sea level rise due to thermal expansion of
seawater; calculations of personal carbon footprints; and quantitative analysis of the
impact of ‘green’-energy alternatives to fossil fuel combustion.
COURSE TOPICS
Introduction
What is “Global Change”?
The Driving Force for Global Change
World population growth and demographics
The Greenhouse Effect and Global Climate Change
The Earth’s energy budget
The “Greenhouse Effect”
Controls on past climate: Ice ages and the Earth’s orbit about the sun
The oceans and climate
Abrupt climate change
Detecting global climate change
Cause(s) of global climate change
Predicting future climate
Potential impacts of global climate change
The politics and economics of global change
The “Greenhouse Conspiracy”
What can we do about global climate change?
The “Ozone Hole”: a case study in international cooperation
Possible Group Projects
Global Change Political Viewpoints
Climate Change Education
Points of Agreement
Critical analysis of Global Warming Skeptics
Develop a national energy plan
“Multinational” negotiations to curb CO2 emissions
COURSE EVALUATION
Relative Weight Toward
Final Grade (%)
Requirement
Mid-term Exam
20
Homework Assignments (~10)
20
Group Projects
20
Research Paper (10 pages)
20
Final Exam
20
Extra Credit Lectures
up to 10 points added to
midterm exam score
GRADING SYSTEM
A = 95 ̶ 100
A- = 90 ̶ 94
B+ = 87 ̶ 89
B = 83 ̶ 86
B- = 80 ̶ 82
C+ = 77 ̶ 79
C = 73 ̶ 76
C- = 70 ̶ 72
D+ = 67 ̶ 69
D = 60 ̶ 66
F = < 60
IMPORTANT DATES
Mar 1
Apr 10
Apr 26
May 4 (4:00 pm)
Mid-term Exam
Movie & pizza night (7 ̶ 9 pm)
Research Paper due
Final “Exam”
EXTRA CREDIT
You can earn up to 10 points added to your midterm exam by attending out-of-class
seminars or events related to Global Change (up to 2 bonus point per seminar up to a
maximum total of 10 bonus points). To receive credit, you must submit a 1 page
summary of the seminar within one week. The summary must contain the Honor Pledge
certifying that you attended the seminar.
ATTENDANCE POLICY
Regular class attendance is required, and you are responsible for the material covered in
all class meetings. Please let me know if you will be missing class for religious
observances or official University activities, or if you will need to miss class due to
illness.
COURTESY RULES
All written work (normal and extra credit) must be turned in as hardcopy. We will not
accept assignments submitted as emails and electronic attachments.
Please staple all multipage assignments before turning them in; we will not accept papers
attached by other means (e.g., torn edges, paper clips, chewing gum).
You are welcome to use your laptop computer during class for accessing the class
website and/or taking notes. Other uses (e.g., emailing, “surfing” unrelated to class,
updating your Facebook page) are not allowed during class time. Students using their
laptop in class for activities unrelated to the class will be asked to leave the room.
Please turn off your cell phone and refrain from texting during class.
HONOR CODE
“It shall be the responsibility of every student at The University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill to obey and support the enforcement of the Honor Code, which prohibits
lying, cheating, or stealing when these actions involve academic processes or University,
student or academic personnel acting in an official capacity.”
SPECIFICS*
Pledge: You must make the following pledge on all written work that you submit: “On
my honor, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this assignment.”
Writing “Pledge” and signing your name on the first page implies that you have
conformed to the spirit of the pledge.
Exams: The midterm exam is to be taken without the assistance of books, notes, or other
people. You may, however, study with your classmates. In fact, forming study
groups is an excellent way to prepare for exams.
Homework: I encourage you to work with others on your homework assignments. If you
do work with others, your submitted assignment must represent your own work and
you must include a list of your collaborators.
Paper: I encourage you to discuss your paper with classmates and anyone else, for that
matter. The crucial thing to remember is that you must give proper attribution for
ideas that are not your own, whether or not these ideas have been written down. For
example, if your classmate comes up with a brilliant example and you 2use it in your
paper, he or she must be cited in a footnote.
If you have any questions regarding the Honor Code, please contact me.
*Adapted
from a “How to Have Honor Prevail in Your Classroom”, a handout prepared
by Margaret Barrett, Judicial Programs Officer, UNC Chapel Hill.