Climate Change and Environmental Risk
Code: 104246 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2503710 Geography, Environmental Management and Spatial Planning | OB | 2 | 1 |
Contact
- Name:
- Graham Mortyn
- Email:
- Graham.Mortyn@uab.cat
Use of Languages
- Principal working language:
- english (eng)
- Some groups entirely in English:
- No
- Some groups entirely in Catalan:
- Yes
- Some groups entirely in Spanish:
- No
Prerequisites
Successful completion of the Physical Geography course.
Objectives and Contextualisation
To describe the functioning and operation of the climatic system from the knowledge and the understanding of the fundamental concepts of climatology. This subject considers atmospheric general circulation, introduced in the first course of Physical Geography. It includes the analysis of the terrestrial climatic system and the study of the factors and the elements of the climates of the Earth, and of the mechanisms that describe its climatic diversity. As detailed more during the first days of class, the subject also includes an obligatory field trip to a weather observatory.
Competences
- Analyse and understand geographical dynamics (sociodemographics, geo-economics and environmental) on different territorial scales.
- Critically analyse the relationship between society and the region applying the conceptual and theoretical framework of geography.
- Introduce theoretical and applied aspects of the main regional, environmental and urban policies in professional practice.
- Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
- Students must develop the necessary learning skills to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
- Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
- Systematically analyse and interpret environmental, demographic, urban and landscape elements.
Learning Outcomes
- Define environmental problems to understand global change.
- Describe and interpret changes in landscape.
- Describe the main characteristics of global change.
- Differentiate the different scales in the relation between anthropic action, climate change and social actions.
- Differentiate the main scientific positions in terms of climate change.
- Identify the social and regional consequences of different climate change scenarios.
- Interpret changes in the landscape through the relationship between nature and society.
- Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
- Students must develop the necessary learning skills to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
- Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
- Understand and interpret the main political direction in landscape management.
- Understand and interpret the main political directions on different scales to combat climate change.
Content
Bloc 1. Introduction. The Atmosphere.
Bloc 2. Components of the climatic system.
Bloc 3. Solar radiation and temperature.
Bloc 4. Humidity, clouds, and precipitation.
Bloc 5. Atmospheric pressure and winds. General atmospheric circulation.
Bloc 6. Regional study of climate. Climatic classifications.
Bloc 7. Climatic changes.
Bloc 8. The role of the global ocean.
Bloc 9. Past climatic changes from geologic archives.
Bloc 10. Field trip.
Methodology
- Lecture and discussion
- Individual student activity
- Small group activities and exercises
- Discussion and analysis
- Practical exercises
- Problem solving
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Activities
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Directed activity (theoretical class) | 29 | 1.16 | 12, 11, 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 9 |
| Practical sessions | 12 | 0.48 | 12, 11, 4, 6, 7, 10, 9 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Field Trip | 4 | 0.16 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 |
| Tutorials | 4 | 0.16 | 10, 9 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Practicals | 56 | 2.24 | 12, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 10, 9 |
| Reading and study | 35 | 1.4 | 12, 11, 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 9, 8 |
Assessment
There is a written quiz at the conclusion of each block, whereby students have a range of questions (short essay answer) and a certain amount of flexibility and choice. There is also a practical exercise connected to each block topic. The overall course grade is determined by performance in both theoretical and practical portions (50% each). A minimum satisfactory performance is required from each portion of the course, in order to successfully complete the class. 70% of the course material is required to be completed in order to be evaluated.
VERY IMPORTANT: Partial or total plagiarising will immediately result in a FAIL (0) for the plagiarised exercise (first-year subjects) or the WHOLE SUBJECT (second-, third- and fourth-year subjects). PLAGIARISING consists of copying text from unacknowledged sources -whether this is part of a sentence or a whole text- with the intention of passing it off as the student's own production. It includes cutting and pasting from Internet sources, presented unmodified in the student's own text. Plagiarising is a SERIOUS OFFENCE. Students must respect authors' intellectual property, always identifying the sources they may use; they must also be responsible for the originality and authenticity of their own texts. http://wuster.uab.es/web_argumenta_obert/unit_20/sot_2_01.html
Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Field trip deliverable | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 |
| Theoretical quizzes | 50 | 4 | 0.16 | 12, 11, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 9, 8 |
| Writing Practicals | 45 | 6 | 0.24 | 12, 1, 3, 4, 6, 10, 9 |
Bibliography
Bibliografia recomanada
El llibres en què es basa majoritàriament l’assignatura (i que es recomanen si se’n vol
adquirir algun, donada la seva qualitat i el seu preu raonable) és:
CUADRAT, J.M. & PITA, M.F. (2000), Climatología. Madrid, Cátedra
MARTIN VIDE, J. (2005). Los Mapas del Tiempo. Mataró, Davinci
Bibliografia complementària
BARRY, R. G. I PERRY, A. H. (1973), Synoptic Climatology. Methods and
Applications, London and New York, Methuen.
BATTAN, L. (1976), El tiempo atmosférico, Barcelona, Omega.
CATALA DE ALEMANY, J. (1986), Diccionario de Meteorología. Madrid, Alhambra.
CLAUSSE, R. Y FACY, L. (1968), Las nubes, Barcelona, Martínez-Roca.
DURAND-DASTES, F. (1972), Climatología, Barcelona, Ariel.
DURAND-DASTES, F. (1982), Geografía de los aires, Barcelona, Ariel.
ELSOM, P. (1990), La contaminación atmosférica., Madrid, Cátedra Geo menor.
FLOHN, H. (1968), Clima y tiempo, Madrid, Guadarrama.
GRIMALT , M. et al (1995). Els núvols. Guia de camp de l’atmosfera i previsió del
temps. Ed. El Mèdol. Tarragona.
HARDY, R., et al (1985), El libro del clima, Madrid, Blume.
HIDY, G. M. (1972), Los vientos. Los origenes y el comportamiento del movimiento
atmósferico, México, Reverté Mexicana.
HUFTY, A. (1984), Introducción a la Climatología, Barcelona, Ariel.
JORGE, J, Y RIVERA , J. (1992), Diccionari de Meteorologia. Barcelona , Universitat
Politècnica de Catalunya.
LONGLEY, R. W. (1973), Tratado ilustrado de Meteorología, Buenos Aires, Ed. Bell.
MARTIN VIDE, J. (1984), Interpretación de los mapas del tiempo, Barcelona, Ketres.
MARTIN VIDE, J. (1991), Fundamentos de Climatología analítica, Madrid, Ed.
Síntesis.
MARTIN VIDE, J. i OLCINA CANTOS, J. (1996), Tiempos y climas mundiales.
Oikos-Tau, Vilassar de Mar.
MEDINA, M. (1973), Introducción a la Meteorología, Madrid, Paraninfo.
MEDINA, M. (1976), Meteorología básica sinóptica, Madrid, Paraninfo.
MILLER, A.A. (1951), Climatologia, Omega, Barcelona.
PAGNEY, P. (1982), Introducción a la Climatología, Barcelona, Oikos-Tau.
PAPADAKIS, J. (1980), El clima, Buenos Aires, Albatros.
PEDELABORDE, P. (1970), Introduction a l'étude scientifique du climat, Paris,
SEDES.
PETTERSEN, P. (1976), Introducción a la Meteorología, Madrid, Espasa-Calpe.
SUREDA, V. (1986), La Climatologia . Col. Coneguem Catalunya 10. La Llar del
LLibre, Sant Cugat del Vallès.
TANK, H. J. (1971), Meteorología, Madrid, Alianza.
TOHARIA, M. (1983), Tiempo y clima, Barcelona, Salvat.
VIAUT, A. (1975), La meteorología, Vilassar de Mar, Oikos-Tau.
VIERS, G. (1975), Climatología, Vilassar de Mar, Oikos-Tau.
There will also be selected readings that come from journal articles during the course.
Software
Office