Postgraduate Course: Atmospheric Quality and Global Change (PGGE11007)
Course Outline
| School | School of Geosciences |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | The course aims to introduce and explain current concerns regarding atmospheric quality and global climate change. Topics ranging from land-atmosphere interactions and the global carbon cycle to renewable energy and the Kyoto protocol will be covered. Anthropogenic and natural sources of greenhouse gases and potentially harmful pollutants, their effects on the environment, current monitoring methods and options for mitigation will be explored. |
| Course description |
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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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2014/15, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 44,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
152 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
50 %,
Coursework
50 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
2 pieces of coursework: essay (3000) words (37.5%)to be submitted week 10. Presentation also in week 10 (12.5%). Exam (50%)
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. |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours & Minutes |
|
| Main Exam Diet S1 (December) | Atmospheric Quality and Global Change | 2:00 | |
Learning Outcomes
1) You will learn about current concerns regarding atmospheric quality and global change.
2) You will learn about renewable energy and mitigation options for reducing anthropogenic impacts of anthropogenic release of pollutants into the atmosphere.
3) You will develop an understanding of relevant measurement, monitoring and modelling techniques for atmospheric quality
4) You will gain knowledge of past and present climate change and atmospheric quality in order to fully understand the impacts of human activity.
5) You will learn about wind farms and relevant GHG/atmospheric quality monitoring and experimentation through both lectures and field visits.
6) You will gain an understanding of 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.
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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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Additional Information
| Course URL |
http://www.drps.ed.ac.uk/05-06/course.php?code=P00688 |
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Additional Class Delivery 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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| Keywords | Atmospheric Quality and Global Change - Atmospheric quality, global change, greenhouse gases, atmosp |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Joanna Cloy
Tel: 0131 535 4213
Email: Joanna.Cloy@sruc.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mrs Elspeth Martin
Tel: 0131 535 4198
Email: Elspeth.Martin@sruc.ac.uk |
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