Learning objectives
The course is aimed to provide basic scientific knowledges concerning the global climate changes and its social and economic implications. The course also provides the fundamental knowledge of the history, causes, modalities and temporal scales of natural climate changes on Earth and their impact on ecosystems as inferred from natural archives record
Prerequisites
Basic geology
Course unit content
The Earth's climate system (atmosphere chemistry and dynamics, ocean-atmosphere interaction), greenhouse gases - atmosphere pollutants - high-frequency (decadal, secular) climate changes from historical and natural archives - anthropic and natural climate forcings - climate change and human history - the future scenarios of climate changes - definition of climatic risk - action and policy for climate risk mitigation - the Kyoto protocol - time-environmental changes relationships - palaeoclimatic studies: methodologies, natural archives - (O and C isotopic curves, dendrocronology, foraminifera, calcareous nannoplancton, pollen) - the factor controlling the climate change at different temporal scales - global tectonics and climate - orbital changes cycles (Milankovitch cycles) - sub-Milankovian climate changes - climatic history of the Quaternary
Full programme
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Bibliography
Williams M., Dunkerley D., De Deckker P., Kershaw P. & Chappell J. – Quaternary Environments (second edition) – Arnold, London
A. Navarra e A. Pinchera – Il Clima – Laterza, Bari
Ryan W. & Pitman W. - Noah’s Flood – Simon & Schuster, London
Roberts N. – The Holocene – Blackwell Publishers
Lovelock J. - La rivolta di Gaia - Rizzoli
Ruddiman W. - L'aratro, la peste, il petrolio - Università Bocconi Editore
Teaching methods
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Assessment methods and criteria
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Other information
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