Announcements:

•Please fill out the Entry Survey on the Web (10 Points).

•If you can’t access the CourseTools site, contact globalchange@umich.edu

Global Change: Physical Processes

A “Road Map”

Course Objectives• Understand Earth as an integrated system:

– Change and evolution (stars, solar systems, soils, and life evolve from pre-cursors)

– Underlying physical and natural processes and how they are integrated

– Variability and uncertainty (climate has always varied, prediction is difficult in complex systems)

– Human alteration of Earth's physical and biological systems

Responder Question:(Anonymous)

Do you believe the Big Bang hypothesis for the origin of the

Universe?

Evolution of the Universe and Atmosphere

• Evidence for the Big Bang• The formation of stars and elements• How the structure of earth and the

atmosphere is characterized

• Lab: the energy balance of earth; Why aren’t we as hot as Venus?

Geology of the Evolving Planet

• The layered earth• Natural hazards• Plate tectonics

• Lab: topography and hazards

Evolution

• How is soil formed?• The emergence of complex life• The fossil record

Speciation and Competition

• Darwin’s theory of evolution• Communities and food webs

• Lab: – How humans affect the evolution of other

species (the peppered moth example) – Modeling of predator-prey relationships

Responder Question:(Anonymous)

Do you believe the theory that increased carbon dioxide and other greenhouse

gases released into the atmosphere lead to global warming and an increase in

average global temperatures?

A. YES

B. NO

The Study of Climate• Evolution of atmospheric oxygen• Warming potential of greenhouse

gases• Ocean circulation and El Niño• Climate models: Predictions

• Lab: Study original data from ice cores

Responder Question:(Anonymous)

Do you think that global warming is, or is not, probably a cause of the large number of

forest wildfires in the West?

A. Is not a causeB. Is probably a cause C. Not sure

Results from Americans Polled in 2000:

Do you think that global warming is, or is not, probably a cause of the large number of forest wildfires in

the West?

A. Is not a cause (54.1 %)B. Is probably a cause (35.5%)C. Not sure (10.10%)

Source: the Odum Institute

Human Interaction With the Atmosphere

• Air quality• Ozone• Feedback mechanisms• The human response

• Lab: – Regional trends in temperature change– Modeling how policies have changed the rate of

ozone depletion

Responder Question:(Anonymous)

Do you think that it is important to our survival to preserve Earth’s biodiversity?

A. YESB. NO C. Not sureD. No opinion

The Ecosystem

• Microbes and energy transformations• Global element cycles• Effects of elevated atmospheric CO2

• The flow of energy and production• Tropical rain forests

• Lab: Modeling the global carbon and hydrological cycles

You Are the Researcher• You will have a chance to examine original research

on a global change topic and present it to your classmates and instructors

• Projects are done in groups of 2-4 and will be turned in as a web page at the end of the term

Some examples of past projects are on the web.You will get moreInformation fromYour GSI later.

Conclusion

• Global Change encompasses all of the ways that our planet has been changing since its formation ~4.5 billion years ago

• Humans are affecting Earth and its life support systems at an unprecedented rate, which poses a new challenge to our planet