Climate Change: The Physics Connection
Climate Change: The Physics Connection Video A series of three lecture videos by Nadir Jeevanjee, Princeton University on the Physics of Climate Change. In these videos presented as blackboard lectures, Jeevanjee presents simple climate models and the underlying physics. These lectures include discussions on the following topics: Introduction The atmosphere in radiative-convective equilibrium Heuristics of […]
Blackbody Radiation and Planetary Temperatures
Blackbody Radiation and Planetary Temperatures Model/Simulation A Model/Simulation to understand blackbody radiation, the effects of albedo and solar brightness on the temperature of a planet, and the greenhouse effect of the Earth’s atmosphere. effect of the Earth’s atmosphere. Students will experiment with a blackbody simulation to understand how the blackbody radiation model can be used […]
Quantum Mechanics and Climate Change
Quantum Mechanics and Climate Change Video A lecture that describes how quantum mechanics plays a role in understanding Earth’s climate systems and climate change. This lecture by Brad Marston, Brown University, uses Richard Feynman’s double slit experiment to explain how changing concentrations of greenhouse gases could potentially affect Earth’s climate. Students will be provided an […]
Simple Atmospheric Model
Simple Atmospheric Model Reading A reading that introduces a single-layer atmosphere model, which is based on the emissivity of thermal radiation, to explain atmospheric warming. Students will learn about the absorptivity and emissivity of grey bodies, the equation for planetary energy balance, and emission profiles of different sources while understanding a simple model to determine […]
Quantum Physics
Quantum Physics Video A microlecture that describes the photoelectric effect and how it works with respect to greenhouse gases. This video by Shohini Ghose for TEDxVictoria describes how light and matter possess energy and how the transfer of this energy occurs between different bodies. Students will learn briefly about the discovery of the photoelectric effect […]
An Introduction to Atmospheric Thermodynamics
An Introduction to Atmospheric Thermodynamics Video A video lecture titled, ‘Atmospheric Thermodynamics – Introduction’ from the e-learning course, ‘Introduction to Atmospheric Science’ developed by C Balaji, IIT Madras, for National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL), India. This video lecture discusses the laws of thermodynamics, the gas laws, Boyle’s Law, Hooke’s law, and Dalton’s Law. […]
Urban Heat Island
Urban Heat Island Classroom/Laboratory Activity A laboratory activity to learn about the urban heat island effect and heat waves. Students will collect temperature-related data from various parts of their schoolyard, observe and analyze differences in the data, and discuss the environmental factors that affect the temperature. With the help of temperature data for Los Angeles […]
Atmospheric Dynamics and Hadley Cells
Atmospheric Dynamics and Hadley Cells Reading A reading that discusses the use of the law of conservation of angular momentum to explain the extent of Hadley cells. Students will learn to derive atmospheric dynamics equations for a model of Hadley circulation (based on Farrell’s theory). Use this tool to help your students find answers to: […]
The Physics of Climate Change
The Physics of Climate Change Reading A reading by the American Physical Society that provides an overview on the physics of climate change. This reading introduces the concepts of energy balance, radiative forcings, advection, hydrological processes, General Circulation Models, and anthropogenic greenhouse gas. It also summarises the responses to climate change through mitigation and adaptation. […]
Climate Change in the Physics Classroom
Climate Change in the Physics Classroom Video A video lecture by Rahul Chopra, TROP ICSU and IISER Pune on climate change educational resources that Physics teachers can use in their classrooms. These educational resources integrate climate change understanding with the core curriculum in Physics. This video lecture is part of an online e-learning course (MOOC) […]