This course takes a detailed look at the remarkable changes unfolding in the Arctic environment, including the shrinking Arctic sea ice cover, shrinking land ice, thawing permafrost and cascading impacts on Arctic ecosystems. After a review of Arctic climates of the past, attention turns to the possible future of the Arctic’s climate and environment.
이 강좌에 대하여
배울 내용
Identify the rapid environmental changes unfolding in the Arctic, the processes underlying these changes, and how they are related to each other
Evaluate and critique the evidence for past climate changes in the Arctic and projections of change through the 21 st century
귀하가 습득할 기술
- Environmental Studies
- atmospheric science
- oceanography
- Climate Change
- arctic sustainability
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강의 계획표 - 이 강좌에서 배울 내용
Visible Indicators of Change
The Arctic is home to some of our planet's most visible indicators of climate change and we'll learn all about them in this module. Notable among these are the shrinking Arctic sea ice cover and the stronger warming of the Arctic compared to the rest of the globe, a phenomenon known as "Arctic Amplification". We'll then look at how the Arctic permafrost - perennially frozen ground - is warming and thawing. Finally, attention will turn to a direct threat to Arctic residents - coastal erosion and how it is tied to sea ice loss, ocean warming and warming permafrost.
Shrinking Land Ice
The Arctic is home to the Greenland ice sheet, one of the planet's two ice sheets (the other is the Antarctic ice sheet) as well as many ice caps and glaciers. With few exception, these ice bodies are losing mass and contributing to sea level rise. Here we'll learn all about the Arctic's shrinking land ice, including the complexity of processes affecting the mass balance of the Greenland ice sheet, and the sad story of the disappearance of the two small ice caps that your instructor studied back in the early 1980s.
Cascading Impacts of a Warming Arctic
Here, we'll discover how changes in the Arctic are having cascading effects not just within the Arctic, but beyond the region. There is is evidence, albeit still controversial, that the strong warming of the Arctic, known as Arctic amplification, can influence weather patterns in middle latitudes. We'll see that the Arctic itself is experiencing extreme weather events. We'll also explore how treeless, windswept tundra is being taken over by shrubs, and how the loss of sea ice is is having impacts cascading through the marine food chain from phytoplankton to top predators like the polar bear.
Learning from the Past
A key part of understanding recent climate change in the Arctic, as well as where the Arctic may be headed, is to understand climates of the past - the realm of paleoclimatology. Here, we'll learn about the science of paleoclimatology, different types of paleoclimate data and some of the causes of past climate changes. The Arctic turns out to be a rich course of paleoclimate data. Then we'll focus on climates from the past million years up to the modern period, noting the tremendous changes that have occurred in the Arctic and elsewhere, setting the stage for a peek into the future.
Arctic Climate, Environ. & Geographies of a Changing North 특화 과정 정보
This specialization starts with an in-depth look at the physical geography of the Arctic and its key climate features, including the ocean's floating sea ice cover, the Greenland Ice Sheet, and patterns of temperature, precipitation, snow cover and permafrost. We will then learn about the remarkable unfolding changes that are transforming the Arctic environment, how they are related to each other, and cascading impacts on terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Attention then turns to the growing economic, strategic, and geopolitical importance of the Arctic in the context of observed environmental changes in the region.

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