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Climate Dynamics Seminar
Class I: An OverviewBy
De-Zheng Sunhttp://www.cdc.noaa.gov/people/dezheng.sun/
Outline of Today’s Lecture
• The climate system• A fundamental question about the climate system
• The approach of this course• Some examples of variability in the state of the climate system
• Recommended reading for the next lecture
The Climate System
Atmosphere
Cryosphere Lithosphere
Hydrosphere Biosphere
The Atmosphere
The Hydrosphere
The Cryosphere Land Ice Sea Ice
The Lithosphere
The Biosphere
The Interactions
The question
A fundamental question about the climate system is why its state is always changing, and yet has so far avoided a runaway instability that could destroy all life. It is also against this background that the importance of understanding human impact on the state of the climate system better emerges. With our industrial activity changing the chemical composition of the atmosphere, are we prodding a "lamb" who poses no harm, or a "beast" who may react to devour all of us?
Topical Maximum SST--An Example of Stability
The Approach
This course attempts to shed some light on the above questions through lectures by leading climate experts in the Boulder climate community.
NOAA/Earth System Research Laboratory
http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/
NSF/NCAR/Earth Sun System Research Laboratory
http://www.essl.ucar.edu/
Syllabus
08/30 Overview (De-Zheng Sun)
09/06 Madden-Julian Oscillation (Mitch Moncrieff, NCAR)
09/13 Madden-Julian Oscillation (George Kiladis, NOAA)
09/20 El Nino Southern Oscillation (Cecile Penland, NOAA)
09/27 El Nino Southern Oscillation (De-Zheng Sun)
10/04 El Nino Southern Oscillation (Antonietta Capitoni, NOAA)
10/11 Pacific Decadal Oscillation (Mike Alexander, NOAA)
10/18 North Atlantic Oscillations/Annular Modes (Judith Perlwitz, NOAA)
10/25 Sea Ice and Climate Variability (Marika Holland, NCAR)
11/1 Thermohaline Circulation and Abrupt Climate Change (Frank Bryan, NCAR)
11/08 Climate Forcing (William Collins, NCAR)
11/15 Climate Feedbacks (De-Zheng Sun)
11/22 No Class (Thanksgiving Holiday)
11/29 Climate Change/Paleoclimate (Jeff Kiehl, NCAR)
12/6 Climate-Weather Connections (Kevin Trenberth, NCAR)
12/13 Summary (De-Zheng Sun)
Madden-Julian Oscillation
El Nino--Southern Oscillation
PDO
North Atlantic Oscillation
Glacial cycles
Recommended readings for the next lecture
Moncrieff, 2004: Analytic representation of the large-scale organization of tropical convection. J. Atmos. Sci., 61, 1521-1538.
Zhang, C. 2005: Madden-Julian Oscillation, Rev. Geophys, 43 # RG2003
A Poem By Robert FrostSome say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.