Course InformationInstructors:
Fiamma
Straneo, Carin Ashjian, Tim Eglinton, Konrad Hughen, Sarah Das
6
Unit Seminar Course - Pass/Fail - Fall 2007
Meeting Tuesday: 10:30-12:00 - Clark 509
Course
Number 12.757
The
International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-2009 represents an ambitious
effort by the international scientific community to advance our
understanding of the polar regions and their link to the rest of the
globe. Its scope is strongly interdisciplinary and its timing is
particularly crucial given the large changes recently observed in the
polar regions including the melting of the multi-year ice, the
acceleration of the freshwater cycle and decrease in the ice-sheet
over Greenland. This intense program will generate a large volume of
data (both from observations and models) and raise questions which
will occupy present and future polar scientists well beyond IPY
itself. Furthermore, in recent years US funded Arctic Science has
focused increasingly on the Arctic System, with projects involving
its multiple and diverse components (e.g. ocean, atmosphere,
cryosphere, human). The goal of this course is to prepare students
for the unique opportunities of the IPY and to be educated and active
participants in US Arctic science. Its interdisciplinary focus, in
particular, seeks to emphasize the interconnected nature of this
system and provide students the opportunity to comprehend its
complexity.
The
course will introduce students to the Arctic System and to the Arctic
Ocean in particular. Its goal is to provide future polar scientists
with a broad, interdisciplinary background of this region before they
delve into the specifics of their research. The course is divided
into three main parts. During the first part, students will be
introduced to the physical, chemical and biological aspects of the
different components of the Arctic System (land, ocean, cryosphere,
atmosphere). In the second part we will present a series of case
studies focusing on aspects of the Arctic System (shelf region, ocean
basins, river delta, polynya etc.). These will highlight how the
different components can interact in complex ways to create strongly
diverse environments. The last part will address Arctic change,
Arctic variability and, in general, the present and projected role of
the Arctic in climate. We note that while the course is focused on
the Arctic, a well-defined, self-contained interconnected polar
system, the material covered is in large part applicable and relevant
to all polar regions.
The
course is open to all students from all disciplines of the WHOI-MIT
JP (and associated programs). It will consist of an orchestrated
series of lectures by the organizers: a physical, a chemical and a
biological oceanographer plus a paleoclimatologist and a
glaciologist. Throughout the course, we will highlight the pressing,
fundamental and outstanding questions pertaining to the Arctic
System. As part of the coursework, groups of students from different
disciplines will be required to work together and develop a National
Science Foundation type proposal that addresses a relevant,
interdisciplinary question regarding the Arctic System.
Suggested Reading:
(Books on reserve in Clark 304 - Fofonoff Library)
The
Arctic Climate System: M. Serreze and R. G. Barry, Cambridge
University Press, p. 365, 2005.
Polar
Oceanography Parts A and B: W.O Smith (Ed.), Academic Press, San
Diego, 760p, 1990.
The
Organic Carbon Cycle in the Arctic Ocean. R. Stein and R. MacDonald
(Eds.), Springer, p. 330, 2004. Intergovernamental
Panel on Climate Change 4th Assessment Report, 2007: The Physical Science Basis (IPCC)
- Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA; see Scientific Report 2004)
- Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH)
- International Polar Year (IPY)
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