The course provides the theoretical and applied principles of palaeoclimatology, natural climate variability, and its impacts, taking as examples some relevant case studies concerning the current changes induced by human action. The primary training objective of the course is to transmit knowledge of climatic dynamics in the past, of paleoclimatic reconstruction techniques, and 3) of climatic evolution in the geological past with particular reference to the main events of rapid climatic variation and what they represent in the definition of future climate scenarios.

- Introduction to the components and dynamics of the climate system; response times and feedbacks.

- Climate change: long, medium and short-term forcing.

- Paleoclimatic archives

- Tracers and methods for paleoclimatic reconstruction

- Long-term climate variability

        Tectonic forcing and paleogeography

        Climatic evolution of the Cenozoic

- Medium-term variability

        Orbital forcing

        Climatic variability in the Quaternary and Holocene

        Mid-Pleistocene Revolution

        Glacial/Interglacial cycles

- Introduction to short-term climate variability (ENSO, NAO, etc.)

- Past-to-future: the role of palaeoclimatology, case studies of the geological past and future scenarios

Knowledge of the theories and case studies exposed in class. Knowledge of investigation methodologies and their limitations. On this basis, at the end of the course, the student must be able to critically evaluate the relevance of paleoclimatic data in understanding the dynamics of the functioning of the Earth System with particular reference to the climatic component and external and internal forcing.

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

Supporting teaching activities and ongoing assessment are not foreseen.

Teaching

The course will take place through a continuous interaction between lectures, exercises in class and field work.

The course includes:

- frontal lectures

- practicals on spectral analysis and discussion of obtained results

- field work 

Attendance

The course does not require attendance.

Course books

W.F. Ruddiman, Earth's Climate: Past and Future, 2nd ed., W.H. Freeman and Co, New York, 2002 (465 pp.). changes, J. Atmos. Sol. -Terr. Phys. 66 (2004) 1791–1796. 

Jansen, E., J. Overpeck, K.R. Briffa, J.-C. Duplessy, F. Joos, V. Masson-Delmotte, D. Olago, B. Otto-Bliesner, W.R. Peltier, S. Rahmstorf, R. Ramesh, D. Raynaud, D. Rind, O. Solomina, R. Villalba and D. Zhang, 2007: Palaeoclimate. In: Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Solomon, S., D. Qin, M. Manning, Z. Chen, M. Marquis, K.B. Averyt, M. Tignor and H.L. Miller (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA. scaricabile @http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg1/en/ch6.htm

Assessment

The knowledge acquired will be assessed through an oral test during which the student will be asked to answer at least three questions on topics relating to the course program.

The evaluation will be based on the level of mastery of the knowledge acquired, the degree of articulation of the answer, the level of proficiency in the understanding of the different research methodologies.

The exam involves an evaluation that is expressed as a grade out of 30 as follows:
   • <18: insufficient level of competence
   • 18-20: sufficient level of competence
   • 21-23: moderate level of competence
   • 24-26: good level of competence
   • 27-29: outstanding level of competence
   • 30-30 cum laude: excellent level of competence

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Course books

W.F. Ruddiman, Earth's Climate: Past and Future, 2nd ed., W.H. Freeman and Co, New York, 2002 (465 pp.). changes, J. Atmos. Sol. -Terr. Phys. 66 (2004) 1791–1796. 

Jansen, E., J. Overpeck, K.R. Briffa, J.-C. Duplessy, F. Joos, V. Masson-Delmotte, D. Olago, B. Otto-Bliesner, W.R. Peltier, S. Rahmstorf, R. Ramesh, D. Raynaud, D. Rind, O. Solomina, R. Villalba and D. Zhang, 2007: Palaeoclimate. In: Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Solomon, S., D. Qin, M. Manning, Z. Chen, M. Marquis, K.B. Averyt, M. Tignor and H.L. Miller (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA. scaricabile @http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg1/en/ch6.htm

Assessment

he knowledge acquired will be assessed through an oral test during which the student will be asked to answer at least three questions on topics relating to the course program.

The evaluation will be based on the level of mastery of the knowledge acquired, the degree of articulation of the answer, the level of proficiency in the understanding of the different research methodologies.

The exam involves an evaluation that is expressed as a grade out of 30 as follows:
   • <18: insufficient level of competence
   • 18-20: sufficient level of competence
   • 21-23: moderate level of competence
   • 24-26: good level of competence
   • 27-29: outstanding level of competence
   • 30-30 cum laude: excellent level of competence

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.