The objective of this course is to provide you with an introduction to the Earth’s climate system and patterns of world vegetation. We will emphasize the many linkages and feedbacks between the non-living (abiotic) and living (biotic) components of the earth system.
Topics we will cover include radiation, temperature, winds and pressure, the water cycle, climate change, and biomes. This course will prepare you for subsequent, more specialized courses in climatology, hydrology, ecology, and biogeography (ecosystems and cycles). This is a natural science course, and graphs and basic algebra-level math calculations will be used to help understand the concepts covered.
We will move beyond the classroom setting with multiple ecological field trips to nearby locations in Boulder!
See the University Catalog for specifics, recommendations, and prerequisites.