Postgraduate Course: Atmospheric Quality and Global Change (PGGE11007)
Course Outline
| School | School of Geosciences |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Available to all students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Credits | 20 |
| Home subject area | Postgraduate Courses (School of GeoSciences) |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
None |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | This course begins by outlining the current concerns regarding atmosphere quality and global climate change. Sources of potentially harmful gaseous emissions and acidifying pollutants from industry, transport and 'natural' emissions from the soil are discussed along with their effects on ecosystems. Mitigation options for reducing emissions and their effects by changing land use, transport and urban infrastructure and by using renewable energy are considered. |
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? | Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Delivery period: 2012/13 Semester 1, Available to all students (SV1)
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WebCT enabled: Yes |
Quota: None |
| Location |
Activity |
Description |
Weeks |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
| King's Buildings | Lecture | | 1-11 | | | | 09:00 - 13:00 | |
| First Class |
First class information not currently available |
| Additional information |
Contributors: Most of the lecturing staff also function as research scientists and advisors, and have extensive experience of environmental pollution problems at local, national and international levels:
Dr Bob Rees Environmental Scientist, SAC
Dr David Stephenson Meteorologist, University of Edinburgh
Dr Fiona Borthwick Lecturer in Environmental Science, SAC
Dr Joanna Cloy Lecturer in Environmental Chemistry, SAC
Dr Geeta Puri Environmental Scientist
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| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours:Minutes |
|
|
| Main Exam Diet S1 (December) | Atmospheric Quality and Global Change | 2:00 | | |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
- Understanding the effects of human activity on atmospheric pollution and the options for mitigation.
- Learning the sources and sinks of greenhouse gases, the global carbon cycle, renewable energy, biological responses to global change, acid rain and urban transport and air pollution. |
Assessment Information
| Half of the module mark is provided by the final exam, the other half comes from an essay (3000 words) to be submitted on the day of the presentations in week 10 (37.5% of the total module mark). A short description of the scope of the essay and its title should be discussed with one of the course tutors. A range of topics will be provided in week 2. Oral presentations are given in week 10 (15 minutes; 12.5% of the total module mark). |
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
Week Date Content
1 22 Sept Introduction. Land Atmosphere interactions, the greenhouse effect, impacts of climate change; sources and sinks of greenhouse gases, (BR)
2 29 Sept The global carbon cycle, land atmosphere exchange, land use change, carbon foot-printing. Inventory reports on GHG emissions (JC)
3 6 Oct Trace gas emissions. The contribution of nitrous oxide and methane to GHG emissions. Field visit to look at research at the Bush estate. (BR/VP)
4 13 Oct Observed climate change, the greenhouse effect and human influence on climate, natural climate variability, modelling the climate system, predicting future climate. (DS)
5 20 Oct Renewable energy. Biomass and hydro power, solar and wind power. Afternoon field excursion to Blacklaw dep 13.15 PWB (FB)
6 27 Oct The use of different modelling approaches at different scales. Land-use and climate change. Modelling GHG emissions. Parameterisation and validation. The challenge of upscaling (BR)
7 3 Nov Acid rain and acidification, NH3 emissions and deposition. Impacts of nitrogen deposition on habitats. Urban air pollution (JC)
8 10 Nov Traffic management for urban pollution reduction. An examination of case studies (FB)
9 17 Nov Mitigation of GHG emissions. Technical end economic feasibility. National and international policy agreements on air pollution; Kyoto and beyond (GP)
10 24 Nov Student Presentations (BR, JC, FB)
11 1 Dec Revision
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| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
(more will be provided following individual lectures)
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth assessment report.
http://www.ipcc.ch/
Greenhouse gases online. News on research on greenhouse gases (hosted by Edinburgh University). http://ghgonline.org/
The Kyoto protocol. http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/kpeng.pdf
Information on EU policy and approaches to the environment
http://ec.europa.eu/
Information on climate change from the authoritative science journal Nature.
http://www.nature.com/climate/index.html
Smith and Smith 2007. Environmental modelling. Oxford.
United Nations Climate change reports http://www.unep.org/climatechange/
UK government publications on climate change http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/climate/index.htm
The University of East Anglia, Climate Change Research Unit reports http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/
Reay D. 2010. Methane and climate change. Earthscan
Smith KA. 2010. Nitrous oxide and climate change. Earthscan
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| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Atmospheric Quality and Global Change - Atmospheric quality, global change, greenhouse gases, atmosp |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Bob Rees
Tel: (0131) 535 4365
Email: |
Course secretary | Dr Bob Rees
Tel: (0131) 535 4365
Email: |
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