Students will understand the basic physical, chemical, and
biological interactions that affect climate.  Systems of
differential equations will be introduced to model these
interactions. Students will learn the mathematical and
computational tools needed to analyze these models.

1.) Climate basics:  climate versus weather; radiation and heat
balance; box models;  macro atmospheric structures; thermo-
haline circulation; air-sea interactions; El Nino Southern 
Oscillation; vegetation and land interactions
2.) Low Dimensional Mathematical models:  (Energy balance 
models; radiative-convective models;  Budyko model; 
Daisyworld)  
3.) Qualitative analysis of systems: Bifurcations (tipping
points, snowball earth); fast-slow systems; critical slowing;
critical noise
4.) Carbon Cycle:  vegetation; ocean cycle; weathering
5.) Fluid models: stable manifolds; Lagrangian structures
6.) Global Climate models