Climate Science
College or University: Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Type of degree: Ph.D.
Brief overview of program: Climate Sciences concerns the study of the climate system of the earth with emphasis on the physical, dynamical, and chemical interactions of the atmosphere, ocean, land, ice, and the terrestrial and marine biospheres. The program encompasses changes on seasonal to interannual time scales and those induced by human activities, as well as paleoclimatic changes on time scales from centuries to millions of years. Examples of current research activities include: interannual climate variability; physics and dynamics of El Niņo; studies of present and future changes in the chemical composition of the atmosphere in relation to global warming and ozone depletion; effects of cloud and cloud feedbacks in the climate system; paleoclimate reconstructions from ice cores, banded corals, tree-rings, and deep-sea sediments; the origin of ice ages; air-sea interactions; climate theory; terrestrial and marine ecosystem response to global change.
To observe these processes physical oceanographers use a combination of acoustical, optical, satellite, and in situ measurements. Recent technological advances, such as autonomous sampling and acoustic tomography, are producing an increasingly detailed picture of the three-dimensional ocean circulation. Because of these new technologies, oceanic processes that are now seen dimly, or not at all, will be uncovered. Understanding this exciting new data with powerful computer models, fluid mechanics, and modern descriptive tools is the future of physical oceanography.
Website: Click here for program website
Email: siodept@sio.ucsd.edu Phone: 858-534-3206
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