Interdisciplinary Oceanography
Goals for Spring 2008

"Learning is not a spectator sport."

Learning requires you to be an active participant in class discussions. Through this course you will:

• Understand you influence the ocean, and the ocean influences you.
• Think critically about oceanic processes that influence our daily lives.
• Analyze sources of information to learn more about the ocean.

By the end of the course, I expect you will be able to describe some of the important processes influencing the ocean and coastal regions. Classes will emphasize the discussion, analysis, and description of ideas.

I expect you will be able to:

• Describe some of the key problems and processes being studied by oceanographers today.
• Analyze the solutions to the key problems.
• Analyze and describe the important oceanic processes.
  • What processes influence weather and climate?
  • What processes influence the abundance and distribution of marine life, especially those important for food?
  • How do pollutants get into the ocean, and what do they do?
  • What processes influence beaches and coasts?
  • Which processes are poorly understood? Which are well understood?
• Compare and select sources of information useful for further study of oceanic processes and the influence of people on the ocean.
  • What sources exist on the web?
  • How do you determine if the source is reliable?
  • What real-time and historic data exist?
  • What measurements were used to produce the data?
  • What is the accuracy and limitations of data sets and measurements?
  • What platforms are used? Satellites, ships, drifters, moorings.

Some important problems we will study include:

• The CO₂ problem, global warming, and the role of the ocean in climate. Will global warming plunge the world into the next ice age?
• Tsunamis, storm surges, and dangers of living along a coast.
• El Niño and the role of the ocean in changing weather patterns. Does El Niño really influence all our weather? Does it cause flooding in Texas?
• Fisheries and the sustainable resources. How many fish can be caught?
• Coastal pollution and its consequences. What causes the dead zones off Mississippi in the summer?

Revised on: 14 January, 2008