1.1. Course Overview#
The course will begin with an overview of how the surface of the planet functions, with introductory lectures on the global carbon cycle, and the source of energy on the planet. Then the course will comprise modules on groundwater pollution, ice melting, rivers and flooding, air pollution, and the physics and chemistry of the oceans and land and specifically the movement of carbon through Earth’s surface environment.
In each module, students will learn about environmental challenges particular to that fluid and that environment, for example groundwater contamination, air pollution, floods and droughts. Within each model, students will learn how to apply fundamental mathematics, which will be taught incidentally within each topic, towards the various environmental systems, in order to understand the changing planet and the future challenges we face under population growth and anthropogenic climate change. Each module will contain case studies related to environmental challenges and solutions. In the Easter term, the impact of the Energy Transition on the Environment will be explored, including how energy can be used efficiently and effectively (wind, solar, engineered buildings) and some of the environmental challenges associated with the energy transition (capture of carbon, storage of carbon underground, geoengineering). The course will consist of 57 lectures, three lectures per week. There will be problem/example sheets provided for support during weekly supervisions (20 weeks of supervision).
How to use this Website#
This website contains summary notes to accompany each lecture of the course. These are divided into thematic blocks, corresponding to the eight lecture blocks of the course.
These notes are intended to complement the lectures; they will not contain all the material you are given in lectures and are not intended as a replacement for the lectures. It is essential to attend the course lectures and complete the practical components of the course if you want to do well.
Course Assessment#
The course is assessed by a combination of a written exam (30%), computational exam (20%), policy paper (25%) and lab report (25%). These assessments are spread throughout the academic year. Please see Moodle for the exact dates of the assessments.
Exam (30%)#
The course has eight examinable modules, which are:
Groundwater Hydrology
Cryosphere
Flooding
Air Pollution
Physics of the Atmosphere and Oceans (also termed ‘global environment’)
Ocean Carbon Cycle
Terrestrial Carbon Cycle and Polar Case Studies
Energy Transition and the Environment
The exam in May/June will have eight questions. Four of the questions will be 15 minute questions, four will be 30 minute questions. They will be a mixture of mathematics and short answers. All questions must be attempted.
Computational Exam (20%)#
Our expectation is that for everyone who has been doing the practicals, the computational exam will be relatively straightforward. It will involve doing a series of basic tasks in python (or another coding language of your choice if you have chosen to do the practicals in another coding language) including, but not limited to:
Incorporating a Dataset
Generating specific plots
Doing simple statistical analysis of this data
Writing simple code to analyse the dataset.
The computational exam was added at the request of the management committee to the course as a way to check that students have been doing the practicals.
Policy Paper (25%)#
The policy paper is designed to allow students to explore an environmental dataset and produce both a post note style fact sheet about this dataset, as well as a post note + recommendation policy paper. The policy paper follows from the practicals that will be done in Michaelmas term. Each week in Michaelmas term, the practicals will focus on how to incorporate datasets of varying complexity into python, and how to generate different types of plots with these data. These plots will include statistical and timeseries analysis as well as spatial plots. The objective is to understand how to best approach the visual display of quantitative information for maximum clarity and impact.
Students will be given a choice of three environmental datasets and related policy-style questions at the end of Michaelmas term. They can choose which dataset and policy question interests them most. The final two practical sessions will be dedicated to going through the environmental datasets. Over the winter vacation, students will work on their dataset, as well as do background reading about the science behind the policy question they have chosen. They should return for Lent term with a full draft of the policy paper.
The first supervision of Lent term will be to go through the policy paper and give feedback.
Lab Report (25%)#
The lab report will be linked to the practical sessions to be held during Lent term. The students can (and should!) write the lab report as they work throughout the term.
Over the Lent term Practicals, students will build a simple climate model. The lab report will be based on this climate model and the specific format of the report will be included here in the coming weeks.
Students will include a copy of their Google Colab notebooks for all their practicals alongside their lab report. These will not be formally assessed, but will be screened to assess that the students are writing their own code for the assessed components.