1. Climate Dynamics Seminar Class I: An Overview By De-Zheng Sun http://www.cdc.noaa.gov/people/dezheng.sun/

2. Outline of Today’s Lecture The climate system A fundamental question about the climate system The approach of this course Some examples of variability in the state of the climate system Recommended reading for the next lecture

3. The Climate System Atmosphere Cryosphere Lithosphere Hydrosphere Biosphere

4. The Atmosphere

5. The Hydrosphere

6. The Cryosphere Land Ice Sea Ice

7. The Lithosphere

8. The Biosphere

9. The Interactions

10. The question A fundamental question about the climate system is why its state is always changing, and yet has so far avoided a runaway instability that could destroy all life. It is also against this background that the importance of understanding human impact on the state of the climate system better emerges. With our industrial activity changing the chemical composition of the atmosphere, are we prodding a "lamb" who poses no harm, or a "beast" who may react to devour all of us?

11. Topical Maximum SST--An Example of Stability

12. The Approach This course attempts to shed some light on the above questions through lectures by leading climate experts in the Boulder climate community.

13. NOAA/Earth System Research Laboratory http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/

14. NSF/NCAR/Earth Sun System Research Laboratory http://www.essl.ucar.edu/

15. Syllabus 08/30Overview (De-Zheng Sun) 09/06Madden-Julian Oscillation (Mitch Moncrieff, NCAR) 09/13Madden-Julian Oscillation (George Kiladis, NOAA) 09/20El Nino Southern Oscillation (Cecile Penland, NOAA) 09/27El Nino Southern Oscillation (De-Zheng Sun) 10/04El Nino Southern Oscillation (Antonietta Capitoni, NOAA) 10/11Pacific Decadal Oscillation (Mike Alexander, NOAA) 10/18North Atlantic Oscillations/Annular Modes (Judith Perlwitz, NOAA) 10/25Sea Ice and Climate Variability ( Marika Holland, NCAR ) 11/1Thermohaline Circulation and Abrupt Climate Change (Frank Bryan, NCAR) 11/08Climate Forcing (William Collins, NCAR) 11/15Climate Feedbacks (De-Zheng Sun) 11/22No Class (Thanksgiving Holiday) 11/29Climate Change/Paleoclimate (Jeff Kiehl, NCAR) 12/6Climate-Weather Connections (Kevin Trenberth, NCAR) 12/13Summary (De-Zheng Sun)

16. Madden-Julian Oscillation

17. El Nino--Southern Oscillation

18. PDO

19. North Atlantic Oscillation

20. Glacial cycles

21. Recommended readings for the next lecture Moncrieff, 2004: Analytic representation of the large- scale organization of tropical convection. J. Atmos. Sci., 61, 1521-1538. Zhang, C. 2005: Madden-Julian Oscillation, Rev. Geophys, 43 # RG2003

22. A Poem By Robert Frost Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice. From what I've tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire. But if it had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate To say that for destruction ice Is also great And would suffice.