Interdisciplinary Oceanography
Goals for Spring 2009

"Learning is not a spectator sport."

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

• Understand that you influence the ocean, and that the ocean influences you.
• Think critically about oceanic processes that influence our daily lives.
• Become aware of ways that we can reduce our influence on the ocean and oceanic ecosystems.
• Analyze sources of information to learn more about the ocean and our influence on the ocean.

By the end of the course, I expect you will be able to describe some of the important natural and human 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 social and scientific problems and processes being studied by oceanographers today.
• Analyze the solutions to the key problems.
• Analyze and describe the important oceanic processes and our influence on those 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 our influence 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. Why are there so few fish? How many fish can be caught?
• Coastal pollution and its consequences. What causes the dead zones off Mississippi in the summer?

Revised on: 18 December, 2008