schedule.md

Schedule for MIT 6.S898/12.S992 Climate Change Seminar, Fall 2019

Classes are Tuesdays and Fridays, 1:00--2:30pm.

• Tuesday classes are in 4-231 and are restricted to the MIT community.
• Friday classes are in 6-120 and are open to the MIT community.
  Some of the Friday lectures will be videotaped and posted by the MIT ODL (Office of Digital Learning); here is a link to the collection of videos taken:
  https://video.odl.mit.edu/collections/7ff01175569b4c47951117db28900233/

For dates that have happened already, this schedule sketches what was done, and gives related links/material.
For dates in the future, this schedule lists the intended plan (which is subject to change).

Week 1 (Sep 4–6, 2019)

• Fri 06 Sep L01, first class: introductions, syllabus, schedule

Week 2 (Sep 9–13, 2019)

• Tue 10 Sep L02

  • Reading assignment:
    • What we know about Climate Change by Emanuel (copy handed out at L01)
    • Alternatively, Climate Science and Climate Risk: A Primer by Kerry A. Emanuel

• Fri 13 Sep L03

  • Guest speaker: Kerry Emanuel (MIT) on an overview of Climate Change
    • Video of lecture: [click here]
    • Lecture slides: [click here]
    • 1D Radiative-Convective Model: rcmodel.mit.edu/advanced.html

Week 3 (Sep 16–20, 2019)

• Tue 17 Sep L04

  • Reading/viewing assignment:
    • Modules 3 and 4 of Michael Mann's edX course: [click here]
  • Resources from discussion:
    • Zero-dimensional "rock-star" model of Earth's climate: simplearth
    • Accurate computer model of the greenhouse effect (w/ movie): IntuitiveGreenhouse
    • Paper on the linearity of outgoing longwave (thermal) radiation: Koll and Cronin (2018)

• Fri 20 Sep

  • NO CLASS (Student Holiday)
  • Optional fieldtrip:
    • Henri (TA) will be leading (in conjunction with the broader MIT contingent) an optional trip to the Boston Climate Strike. We are meeting at 10:45am in front of the Stratton Student Center!

Week 4 (Sep 23–27, 2019)

• Tue 24 Sep L05
  • Reading assignment:
    • Abrupt Climate Change, Alley et al. (2003)
    • An Early Cenozoic Perspective of Greenhouse Warming and Carbon-Cycle Dynamics, Zachos et al. (2009)
    • Evaluation of Climate Models using Paleoclimatic Data, Braconnot et al. (2012)
  • Optional additional reading:
    • Pliocene and Eocene provide best analogs for near-future climates, Burke et al. (2018)
    • University of Chicago's interactive geologic carbon cycle model
    • Guest opinion column in The Tech: Two Donors, two deaths, two responses
• Fri 27 Sep L06

  • Guest speaker: David McGee (MIT) on Paleoclimatology and Extreme Climates

    • Video of lecture: [click here]
    • Lecture slides: [click here]
    • Some resources mentioned by David McGee during (or after) the lecture:
      • cGENIE Earth System Model
      • NOAA's data repository for paleoclimate

  • Additional reading suggested by the guest speaker:

    • Paper on proxy system modeling
    • Paper on data assimilation in paleoclimate
    • Paper on algorithms for improved analysis of paleoclimate time series
    • Paper on relative stability of climate models vs. larger, more abrupt changes seen in paleodata

  • Project deadline:

    • Submit public post to piazza with:
      • project team (names of 1-2 people)
      • 2-3 possible topics for project (a short paragraph desribing each)

Week 5 (Sep 30–Oct 4, 2019)

• Tue 01 Oct L07
  • Reading assignment:
    • Chapter 6: "Processes" of Introduction to Climate Science by Schmittner
    • Carbonbrief Q&A: How do climate models work?
      Read the following sections:
      • What is a climate model?
      • What are the different types of climate models?
      • What are the inputs and outputs of a climate model?
      • What types of experiments to scientists run on climate models?
      • How do scientists validate climate models?
      • How are climate models “parameterised” and tuned?
  • Additional reading:
    • Chapter 7: "Global warming and the ocean" of Climate and the Oceans by Vallis
• Fri 04 Oct L08
  • Guest speaker: Raffaele Ferrari (MIT) on Ocean Dynamics and Modelling
    • Video of lecture: [click here]
    • Lecture slides (student access only): [click here]
  • Additional readings and resources:
    • Website for The Climate Modelling Alliance (CliMA): https://clima.caltech.edu/

Week 6 (Oct 7–11, 2019)

• Tue 08 Oct L09
  • Reading assignment:
    • Short-lived climate pollutant mitigation and the Sustainable Development Goals by Haines et al. (2017)
• Fri 11 Oct L10
  • Guest speaker: Noelle Selin (MIT) on Environmental Science and Governance
    Title: Climate Change, Air Pollution and Sustainability: Decision-Making for Human Well-Being
    • Video of lecture: [click here]
    • Lecture slides (student access only): [click here]
    • Additional references: Thompson et al. (2014) on air pollution co-benefits of U.S. emissions reducitons and Li et al. (2019) on air pollution co-benefits of Chinese emissions reductions.

Week 7 (Oct 14–18, 2019) [Oct 14–15 Columbus Holiday]

• Tue 15 Oct
  • NO CLASS (Columbus Day)
• Fri 18 Oct L11
  • John Deutch (MIT) on The Optimum Allocation of Available Budget to Joint Climate Control Mechanisms
    • Lecture slides: [click here]
    • Video unavailable at request of lecturer.
  • Project deadline:
    • Submit 1-2 page project proposal by sending a pdf to [email protected] with subject line "6.S898 Project Proposal - [Your Name]"

Week 8 (Oct 21–25, 2019)

• Tue 22 Oct L12
  • No Reading Assignment
  • In-class climate model demo
    • An extremely simple model of "worst-case" global warming (in julia): [click here] [on github]
    • Analysis of "worst-case" global warming in state-of-the-art CMIP6 models (in python): [click here] [on github]
• Fri 25 Oct L13
  • Guest Speaker: Francis O'Sullivan (MIT) on Energy and Climate
    • Video of lecture: [click here]
    • Lecture slides: [click here]

Week 9 (Oct 28–Nov 1, 2019)

• Tue 29 Oct L14
  • Reading assignment:
    • What Are Climate Models Missing? by Stevens and Bony (2013)
    • Tackling Climate Change with Machine Learning by Rolnick et al. (2019)
  • MIT Climate Symposium from 4-7pm: Challenges of Climate Policy
• Fri 01 Nov L15
  • Guest speaker: Paul O'Gorman (MIT) on Atmospheric Science and Machine Learning
    • Video of lecture: [click here]
  • Reading assignment:
    • Using Machine Learning to Parameterize Moist Convection: Potential for Modelling of Climate, Climate Change, and Extreme Events by O'Gorman and Dwyer (2018)

Week 10 (Nov 4–8, 2019)

• Tue 05 Nov L16
  • Guest speaker: John Sterman (MIT) on Climate Policy Simulations
• Fri 08 Nov L17
  • Guest speakers: Dava Newman and Gui Trotti (MIT) on Earth’s Vital Signs Revealed: A View from Space for Action on Earth
    • Video of lecture: [click here]
  • Additional resources:
    • https://temporaryearthdna.com/

Week 11 (Nov 11–15, 2019) [Nov 11 Holiday]

• Tue 12 Nov L18
  • Lecture slides: [click here]
  • En-ROADS climate simulator (currently in beta, v1.0 release expected soon)
  • Additional readings:
    • Evaluation of Climate Models, Chapter 9 of Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) Working Group 1 (WG1)
    • Assessing Climate Model Projections of Global Warming Patterns by Drake et al. (non peer-reveiwed preprint)
    • Climate models can correctly simulate the continuum of global-average temperature variability by Zhu et al. (2019)
• Fri 15 Nov L19
  • Guest speaker: John Reilly (MIT) on Economic Modelling
    • Video of lecture: [click here]
    • 2018 Food, Water, Energy, Climate Outlook by the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change
  • Project Deadline:
    • Meet with staff member about project at least once

Week 12 (Nov 18–22, 2019)

• Tue 19 Nov L20
  • Guest speaker: Bill Weihl (MIT / Akamai / Google / Facebook / ...) on how companies can contribute
    • Video unavailabe (no recording tech on Tuesdays)
    • Lecture slides: [click here]
• Fri 22 Nov L21
  • Assigned readings:
    • A Plan to Keep Carbon in Check by Socolow and Pacala (2006)
    • Renewable Energy Policy Design and Framing Influence Public Support in the United States by Stokes and Warshaw (2017)
    • Where 2020 Democrats stand on Climate change from the Washington Post

Week 13 (Nov 25–27, 2019) [Nov 28–29 Holiday]

• Tue 26 Nov L22
  • Debriefing: Lessons learned, confusions, and open questions
    • Each student is expected to share one of their main takeaways from the course, something they are still confused about, or an open question they are interested in pursuing further.
• Fri 29 Nov
  • NO CLASS (Thanksgiving)

Week 14 (Dec 2–6, 2019)

• Tue 03 Dec L23

  • Project presentations (email pdf / ppt / mp4 file to hdrake at mit.edu)
    • Yo Shavit
    • Izzy Brand and Rami Manna
    • Sabrina Drammis
    • Jennifer Switzer
    • Daniel Goodwin

• Fri 06 Dec L24

  • Project presentations (email pdf / ppt / mp4 file to hdrake at mit.edu)
    • Meia Alsup
    • Alex Cabral
    • Govind Ramnarayan
    • Kavya Ravichandran
    • Lena Abdalla
    • Karan Bhuwalka

Week 15 (Dec 9–11, 2019) [Wed 11 Last class]

• Tue 10 Dec L25
  • Project presentations (email pdf / ppt / mp4 file to hdrake at mit.edu)
    • Shannon Duffy
    • Justin Xiang
    • Vanshika Jain and Nitya Parthasarathy
    • Manvitha Ponnapati, Janak Agrawal, and Ali Ramadhan
  • Project Deadline: Final Written Report Due (email pdf to hdrake at mit.edu)