Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
Minor in Climate Change Science
Students on Summer 2024, Fall 2024, or Spring 2025 requirements CLCHSCIMIN
Requirements
The minor requires at least 15 credit hours, including the requirements listed below.
- Introductory Course. One (1) course:
- EAS-E 105 Earth: Our Habitable Planet
- EAS-E 116 Our Planet and Its Future
- EAS-E 122 Earth's Dynamic Atmosphere
- EAS-E 131 Oceans and Our Global Environment
- EAS-E 227 Earth Climate and History
- EAS-X 150 ASURE Earth & Atmospheric Sciences Research Lab
- COLL-C 105 Critical Approaches to the Natural and Mathematical Sciences (Approved topics: "RECORDS GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE" (TPC 16))
- GEOG-G 109 Weather and Climate
- GEOG-G 185 Environmental Change: The End of the World as We Know It?
EAS-E 105 Earth: Our Habitable Planet
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- Introduction to planet Earth as a dynamic and complex global system. Course materials will demonstrate physical and chemical linkages between biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere that directly impact lifestyles of human populations at time scales of years to centuries. Lecture and lab.
- Repeatability
- Credit given for only one of EAS-E 105 or GEOL-G 105.
- Fall 2024CASE NMcourse
- Fall 2024CASE SLcourse
EAS-E 116 Our Planet and Its Future
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- The interaction between geologic and environmental processes in the earth. Special emphasis on how these processes affect public policies and laws. Multimedia exercises and videotape presentations (made specifically for this course) are included. Two lectures and one discussion section/laboratory per week.
- Repeatability
- Credit given for only one of EAS-E 116 or GEOL-G 116.
- Fall 2024CASE NMcourse
EAS-E 122 Earth's Dynamic Atmosphere
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- Explore Earth's dynamic weather and climate and the driving forces behind them. Students will gain an understanding of various atmospheric phenomena. Why is it hot one day and cold the next? What causes Earth's climate to change? Two lectures and one laboratory per week.
- Repeatability
- Credit given for only one of EAS-E 122, GEOG-G 109, or GEOL-G 122.
- Fall 2024CASE NMcourse
EAS-E 131 Oceans and Our Global Environment
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- Introduction to oceanography, with emphasis on ocean-atmospheric interaction and global climate, plate tectonics and morphology of the ocean basins, marine geology, energy resources, environmental problems due to sea-level rise, coastal erosion, oil spills, and life in the sea. Two lectures and one laboratory each week.
- Repeatability
- Credit given for only one of EAS-E 131 or GEOL-G 131.
EAS-E 227 Earth Climate and History
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- Earth's climate is linked to geological processes and life on our planet. Covers climate systems in the context of changes in continents, atmospheric composition, and life on land and in the oceans. Focuses on interactions between humans and climate and how climate and its variability are tied to Earth systems.
- Repeatability
- Credit given for only one of EAS-E 227 or GEOL-G 227.
- Fall 2024CASE NMcourse
EAS-X 150 ASURE Earth & Atmospheric Sciences Research Lab
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- First in a two-lab sequence for students in the Arts and Sciences Undergraduate Research Experience (ASURE) program, exploring how natural disasters and climate change impact Earth systems, using tools and techniques to research changes in the landscape, atmosphere, biosphere, or solid Earth in response to natural disasters and climate change.
COLL-C 105 Critical Approaches to the Natural and Mathematical Sciences
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- Specific topics will vary by section and over time, but all versions of COLL-C 105 will meet the objectives of the College of Arts and Sciences Critical Approaches curriculum. The curriculum is intended for freshmen and sophomores, who will learn how scholars from the natural and mathematical sciences Breadth of Inquiry area frame questions, propose answers, and assess the validity of competing approaches. Writing and related skills are stressed.
- Repeatability
- Credit given for only one of COLL-C 105 or COLL-S 105.
- Fall 2024CASE CAPPcourse
- Fall 2024CASE NMcourse
GEOG-G 109 Weather and Climate
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- What causes tornadoes, hurricanes, and other extreme weather? What is climate change and why is it occurring? Learn about weather, climate, and how they interact.
- Repeatability
- Credit given for only one of EAS-E 122, GEOG-G 109, or GEOL-G 122.
- Fall 2024CASE NMcourse
GEOG-G 185 Environmental Change: The End of the World as We Know It?
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- How has the global environment changed? How are we influencing Earth's natural processes, now and in the future? Learn about climate change, resource consumption, and land use change.
- Fall 2024CASE NMcourse
- Advanced courses.
- 300-level course. One (1) course:
- EAS-A 315 Climate Engineering
- EAS-A 332 Atmospheric Thermodynamics & Cloud Processes
- EAS-A 340 Physical Meteorology and Climatology
- EAS-A 347 Instrumentation for Atmospheric Science
- EAS-A 364 Atmospheric Dynamics I
- EAS-E 341
- GEOG-G 304 Physical Meteorology and Climatology
- GEOG-G 329
- GEOG-G 349 Holocene Paleoclimate
- GEOG-G 356 Global Carbon Cycle and Climate
- PHYS-P 310 Environmental Physics
EAS-A 315 Climate Engineering
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- Introduces climate engineering from a physical science perspective, delving into how and why it works. Covers the major climate engineering proposals that have been put forward, such as stratospheric sulfate aerosols and marine cloud brightening. Explores issues of distributional justice, ethics, governance, and geopolitics related to climate engineering.
- Repeatability
- Credit given for only one of EAS-A 315 or GEOG-G 329.
EAS-A 332 Atmospheric Thermodynamics & Cloud Processes
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- MATH-M 211 or MATH-S 211; and one of EAS-E 122, GEOG-G 109, or GEOL-G 122
- Description
- Earth's weather and climate are controlled by how heat and moisture move in the atmosphere. In this course, students learn and apply the basic physical laws that govern those processes. Topics include thermodynamic laws, principles of atmospheric stability, phase changes of water, nucleation of cloud droplets and the growth of clouds, and the use of common meteorological tools and data to interpret cloud and precipitation behavior.
- Repeatability
- Credit given for only one of EAS-A 332 or GEOL-G 332.
- Fall 2024CASE NMcourse
EAS-A 340 Physical Meteorology and Climatology
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- Any introductory science course or consent of instructor
- Description
- Provides an introduction to the physical basis of Earth\'s atmosphere and climate system from global to local scales, emphasizing physical processes and properties. Analyzes surface energy and water balances in varied landscapes. Covers issues related to climate change.
- Repeatability
- Credit given for only one of EAS-A 340, GEOG-G 304, or GEOL-G 340.
- Fall 2024CASE NMcourse
EAS-A 347 Instrumentation for Atmospheric Science
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- Introduces the principles of atmospheric measurement including sampling strategies, instrumentation and data analysis to quantify atmospheric variables and processes. Covers standard meteorological techniques: ground-based, satellite and airborne remote sensing; atmospheric chemistry and aerosol measurements. Research projects in experimental design will employ field and laboratory equipment to investigate climatological and meteorological principles.
- Repeatability
- Credit given for only one of EAS-A 347 or GEOL-G 347.
- Fall 2024CASE NMcourse
EAS-A 364 Atmospheric Dynamics I
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- MATH-M 211, MATH-S 211, or MATH-M 120
- Description
- A calculus-based coverage of the theory of atmospheric flows. Topics include: derivation of fundamental forces and the equations of motion in inertial and rotating reference frames; isobaric, natural, and spherical coordinates; geostrophic, cyclostropic, and gradient wind balances; and the kinematics and dynamics of circulation and vorticity.
- Fall 2024CASE NMcourse
GEOG-G 304 Physical Meteorology and Climatology
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- Provides an introduction to the physical basis of Earth\'s atmosphere and climate system from global to local scales, emphasizing physical processes and properties. Analyzes surface energy and water balances in varied landscapes. Covers issues related to climate change.
- Repeatability
- Credit given for only one of GEOG-G 304, EAS-A 340, or GEOL-G 340.
- Fall 2024CASE NMcourse
GEOG-G 349 Holocene Paleoclimate
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- Explores how and why the climate has fluctuated throughout Earth\'s history, the impacts of past climate change, and the implications for our future. Covers the tools and methods used in paleoclimatology including proxies (e.g., sediment core, tree rings, ice cores, etc.).
GEOG-G 356 Global Carbon Cycle and Climate
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- Introduces the major components of the global carbon cycle and its relevance in climate change projections. Explores the factors that contribute to rises in atmospheric CO2, including fossil fuel emissions and agriculture, land use change and management.
PHYS-P 310 Environmental Physics
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- PHYS-H 221, PHYS-P 201, or PHYS-P 221; and MATH-M 211; or consent of instructor
- Description
- For biological and physical science majors. Relationship of physics to current environmental problems. Energy production, comparison of sources and byproducts; nature of and possible solutions to problems of noise, particulate matter in atmosphere.
- Fall 2024CASE NMcourse
- Fall 2024CASE SLcourse
- 400-level course. One (1) course:
- EAS-A 434 Dynamic Meteorology 2
- EAS-A 437 Advanced Synoptic Meteorology and Climatology
- EAS-A 474 Topics in Atmospheric Science
- EAS-A 476 Climate Change Science
- EAS-E 488 Paleoclimatology: A Geological Record of Earth's Climate History
- GEOG-G 405 Ecological Climatology
- GEOG-G 407
- GEOG-G 433 Advanced Synoptic Meteorology and Climatology
- GEOG-G 444 Climate Change Impacts
- GEOG-G 452 Tree-Ring Science
- GEOG-G 475 Climate Change
EAS-A 434 Dynamic Meteorology 2
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- One of EAS-A 339, EAS-A 364, GEOG-G 339, or GEOG-G 364; and one of MATH-M 212 or MATH-S 212; and one of PHYS-H 221 or PHYS-P 221
- Description
- Introduction to dynamical processes at the synoptic to global scales. Principles of fluid dynamics and thermodynamics and their application to the atmosphere. Basic conservation laws and equations of motion. Topics covered also include planetary waves and blocking mechanisms, teleconnections, and the global general circulation.
- Repeatability
- Credit given for only one of EAS-A 434, GEOG-G 431, or GEOL-G 434.
- Fall 2024CASE NMcourse
EAS-A 437 Advanced Synoptic Meteorology and Climatology
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- EAS-A 339, EAS-A 340, GEOG-G 304, GEOG-G 339, GEOL-G 339, or GEOL-G 340; or consent of instructor
- Description
- Analysis and prediction of synoptic scale weather systems, emphasizing the mid-latitudes. Other topics include severe weather and atmospheric/oceanic teleconnections.
- Repeatability
- Credit given for only one of EAS-A 437, GEOG-G 433, or GEOL-G 437.
- Fall 2024CASE NMcourse
EAS-A 474 Topics in Atmospheric Science
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- Topics may include surface-vegetation-atmosphere interactions, climatology and statistics of extreme events, dimensional analysis and similarity theory, dynamics of turbulent transport, boundary layer dynamics, urban meteorology, general circulation, or applications of numerical modeling at a variety of scales.
- Repeatability
- May be repeated with different topics for a maximum of 9 credit hours in EAS-A 474 and GEOL-G 474.
- Fall 2024CASE NMcourse
EAS-A 476 Climate Change Science
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Notes
- R: At least two college-level physical science courses or other experience reading and interpreting scientific data
- Description
- Evidence for and theories of climate change over a range of time scales. Sources of natural climate forcing are presented, historical evolution of climate change is quantified, and model tools and climate projections are presented along with analyses of climate change impacts.
- Repeatability
- Credit given for only one of EAS-A 476, GEOG-G 475, or GEOL-G 476.
- Fall 2024CASE NMcourse
EAS-E 488 Paleoclimatology: A Geological Record of Earth's Climate History
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- EAS-E 227; or at least 3 EAS-prefixed courses at the 200-level or higher
- Description
- Examines how Earth's climate has varied over geological time based on evidence from rock records. Explores varied approaches to reconstruction of past climates based on evidence contained in the records from sedimentary sequences and fossil occurrences, complemented by insights provided by geochemical data.
GEOG-G 405 Ecological Climatology
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- Surveys the relationship between climate and vegetation and explores the consequences of human impacts. Examines the role of climate on vegetation patterns, agricultural crops, and select ecosystems and in turn, the influence of vegetation on climate.
- Fall 2024CASE NMcourse
GEOG-G 433 Advanced Synoptic Meteorology and Climatology
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- Analysis and prediction of synoptic scale weather systems, emphasizing the mid-latitudes. Other topics include severe weather and atmospheric/oceanic teleconnections.
- Repeatability
- Credit given for only one of GEOG-G 433 or GEOL-G 437.
- Fall 2024CASE NMcourse
GEOG-G 444 Climate Change Impacts
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- Increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases are causing climate to change at an unprecedented rate. This course will explain how and why anthropogenic activity is causing climate to change, how this impacts society and options for adaptation and mitigation, plus the potential to reduce climate change through geoengineering.
- Fall 2024CASE NMcourse
GEOG-G 452 Tree-Ring Science
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- Examines the science of dendrochronology. Developing a scientific understanding of the information recorded by trees is essential to our quest to better understand natural and human processes.
GEOG-G 475 Climate Change
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- Evidence for and theories of climate change over a range of time scales. Sources of natural climate forcing are presented, historical evolution of climate change is quantified, and model tools and climate projections are presented along with analyses of climate change impacts.
- Repeatability
- Credit given for only one of GEOG-G 475 or GEOL-G 476.
- Fall 2024CASE NMcourse
- 300-level course. One (1) course:
- Electives. Two (2) additional courses:
- Additional courses from the 300-level course list above
- Additional courses from the 400-level course list above
- Minor GPA, Hours, and Minimum Grade Requirements.
- Minor GPA. A GPA of at least 2.000 for all courses taken in the minor—including those where a grade lower than C- is earned—is required.
- Minor Minimum Grade. Except for the GPA requirement, a grade of C- or higher is required for a course to count toward a requirement in the minor.
- Minor Upper Division Credit Hours. At least 9 credit hours in the minor must be completed at the 300–499 level.
- Minor Residency. At least 9 credit hours in the minor must be completed in courses taken through the Indiana University Bloomington campus or an IU-administered or IU co-sponsored Overseas Study program.
Minor Area Courses
-
Unless otherwise noted below, the following courses are considered in the academic program and will count toward academic program requirements as appropriate:
- Any course at the 100–499 level with the
EASsubject area prefix—as well as any other subject areas that are deemed functionally equivalent - Any course contained on the course lists for the academic program requirements at the time the course is taken—as well as any other courses that are deemed functionally equivalent—except for those listed only under Addenda Requirements
- Any course directed to a non-Addenda requirement through an approved exception
- Any course at the 100–499 level with the
This program of study cannot be combined with the following:
- Minor in Environmental Science (ENVSCIMIN)
Exceptions to and substitutions for minor requirements may be made with the approval of the unit's Director of Undergraduate Studies, subject to final approval by the College of Arts and Sciences.