MIT Independent Activities Period - "Climate Science" is a two session series on fundamentals of climate science: the past to the present; and modeling the future. Session I will cover paleoclimates: variations in the climate over longer time periods from millions of years to the recent past, and the history and development of climate science. Each session is designed to stand alone. Session I is led by Kat Patter and Tim Cronin.

Session II is on January 14 (2-4pm) and will cover an introduction to climate modeling, followed by a discussion of recent observations, climate projections (IPCC), attribution of climate change to the various forcings in the atmosphere, and impacts of climate change, both currently observed and predicted in the future.

These activities are organized and presented by graduate students affiliated with the Global Change Program. Other activities sponsored by the Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change include a Climate 101: Introduction to Climate Change Economics and Policy (Jan 19, 2-4pm), Climate Change 102: Recent Developments in U.S. Climate Policy Legislation (Jan 20, 2-4pm), and a two-part Climate Change 103: Issues in Climate Policy - Technological Change and Biofuels (Jan 21, 2-4pm).