Ateneo - UPO

Climate change and its consequences. How climate is studied. How weather forecasts are made and who makes them. Mitigation of climate change, examples. Adaptation and resilience, examples. Air pollution, measurements and models

Notes provided by the lecturer

To provide the student with the basics of methods for studying climate and climate change from a physical point of view. To provide knowledge about air pollution and methodologies to study it.

Basic concepts of mathematics and physics

Lectures, practical exercises, group work and interdisciplinary activity

This course is part of the integrated course on climate change with ECONOMIC POLICIES AND STRATEGIES FOR SUSTAINABILITY and CLIMATE AND HEALTH.
Students with physical disabilities, Learning Disabilities or Special Education Needs can request
specific services and tools via the Staff Sviluppo e Coordinamento Carriere e Servizi alle Studentesse
e agli Studenti, consulting the University webpage: https://www.uniupo.it/en/services/services-
students-physical-or-learning-disabilities
Students with disabilities, learning disabilities or special education needs, once they have contacted the University Staff, can refer to the tutor in charge of the course to define the examination
modalities, concerning academic aspects.

The written exam is composed of 2 questions for the Physics of Climate and Environment module. Further information on the programme will be provided on the webpage of the course on the DIR platform.
Attending students of the Physics of Climate and Environment module will receive an evaluation on their active participation during lectures, team work and project (this evaluation weights 50% of the final grade of these two modules), on the basis of the teaching conditions that the pandemic situation will allow. For them the written test includes only 1 question for each of the aforementioned modules.

Climate change, The anthropogenic effect, Climate action, The planetary boundary layer (PBL), Characteristics of the PBL, The wind in the PBL, The logarithmic profile of the mean wind, Statistical treatment of turbulence, The Turbulence Scales, Atmospheric stability, Definition of atmospheric stability, Other parameters for stability categories, Structure and day-night evolution of the PBL, The Convective Boundary Layer (CBL) Definition and characteristics, The Residual Layer (RL), The Stable Boundary Layer (SBL) Definition and characteristics, The formation of the SBL, The thermal inversion, The height of the SBL, The turbulence in the SBL, The behaviour of pollutants in the SBL, The Urban Boundary Layer (UBL), The Ekman layer, The dispersion of pollutants in the atmosphere, Air quality models.

The expected learning outcomes concern competences on environment and climate with a focus on the effects of climate change on the environment and its causes.