Introduction of scientific, technological, environmental, economic, and social aspects underlying the threat and understanding of global climate change. Human and natural drivers of climate. Impacts of climate on natural, managed, and human systems, including their vulnerability and ability to adapt. (II, VIII)

A series of weekly presentations by Earth System Science faculty describing ongoing research in their laboratories. The goals are to introduce students to the range of research topics and methods in Earth System Science and to the research opportunities available within the Department.

Prerequisites: upper-division standing or consent of instructor; limited to majors in Earth and Environmental Sciences or minors in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences.

An examination of the interactions between plants and their environment. Emphasis on the underlying physiological mechanisms of plant function, adaptations and responses to stress, and the basis of the distribution of plants and plant assemblages across the landscape.

Prerequisites: Earth System Science 51 or 60A and 60C or Biological Sciences E106.
Same as Biological Sciences E127.
Concurrent with Earth System Science 268.

Earth and Environmental Sciences and Earth and Environmental Studies majors have first consideration for enrollment.

Processes controlling the major and minor element composition of seawater and element distributions in the ocean. Gas exchange, carbon dioxide system, stable isotopes, radionuclides as tracers and chronometers, particle fluxes, organic geochemistry, sediment geochemistry, global cycles of biogeochemically important elements.

Prerequisites: Earth System Science 53 or 60A and 60C.

Earth and Environmental Sciences and Earth and Environmental Studies majors have first consideration for enrollment.

Chemistry of the troposphere and stratosphere. Topics include: processes controlling the lifetime and reaction pathways of chemicals in the atmosphere, the role of the atmosphere in biogeochemical cycles, and interactions between atmospheric chemistry and the physical climate system.

Prerequisites: Chemistry 1C or H2C, Mathematics 2B.

Earth and Environmental Sciences and Earth and Environmental Studies majors have first consideration for enrollment.

Analysis and interpretation of geophysical data, including functional fitting, probability density functions, and multidimensional time-series methods, with applications in atmospheric, oceanic, and biogeochemical sciences.

Earth and Environmental Sciences and Earth and Environmental Studies majors have first consideration for enrollment.

Introduction to methods used to measure exchange of gases and energy between the atmosphere and terrestrial ecosystems. Laboratories include data acquisition and isotopic and chromatographic analysis. Field measurements at UCI’s Marsh Reserve include microclimate, hydrology, trace-gas exchange, and plant growth.

Prerequisite: Earth System Science 51 or 60A.

Earth and Environmental Sciences and Earth and Environmental Studies majors have first consideration for enrollment.

Observations over the twentieth century show extensive changes in atmospheric composition, climate and weather, and biological systems that have paralleled industrial growth. Evidence of globally driven changes in these biogeochemical systems is studied, including projected impacts over the twenty-first century.

Prerequisites: Earth System Science 60A-B-C, or 51, 53, 55.

Earth and Environmental Sciences and Earth and Environmental Studies majors have first consideration for enrollment.

Explores past changes in Earth’s climate. Topics include tools and techniques used to reconstruct past climate from natural archives; records and mechanisms of past climate changes throughout Earth history; and lessons learned from the paleo-record for predication of future climate.

Prerequisites: Earth System Science 60A-B-C, or 51, 53, 55.

Earth and Environmental Sciences and Earth and Environmental Studies majors have first consideration for enrollment.

A series of fundamental and applied scientific problems are addressed, illustrating the pervasive role of mathematical analysis. Topics may include energy utilization, the climate system, the “greenhouse effect,” ozone depletion and air pollution, ecological consequences of water pollution, nutrient cycles.

Open only to members of the Campuswide Honors Program or consent of instructor. (II)