Soil, Water and Ecosystem Sciences
On Campus Courses
Course Listings:
SWS 4180: EARTH SYSTEM ANALYSIS
Instructor:
Stefan Gerber
Assistant Professor, Landscape
Biogeochemistry
(352) 294-3174
sgerber@ufl.edu
About the Course
Earth System Science is the study of interactions between the physical climate – i.e. the circulation of the atmosphere and ocean, the marine and terrestrial life, and the solid Earth. We will explore these linkages, using system analysis tools. In particular, we will address how climate, the carbon cycle, and nutrient dynamics interact in shaping global scale temperature, hydrology, and the viability of vegetation. An integral part will be to investigate how the Earth System responses to perturbation, such as the current global change from large injections of fossil CO2. Throughout the course, we will make use of simple mathematical - modeling concepts. The course is a co-taught graduate/undergraduate course and is offered both online and on campus.
Credits: 3
Semesters Offered: Fall
General Education Requirement Course: No
Prerequisites: A minimal understanding of calculus is useful, though not a requirement (MAC 2233: Survey of Calculus 1; PHY 2048 Physics with Calculus 1, or similar)
Textbook: Kump, Kasting and Crane, The Earth System, 2010, Prentice Hall; and selected scientific publications