Courses

Teaching younger generations has long been an essential part of my academic career. I have taught many courses, independently or jointly, including the four listed below — two for graduate students and two for undergraduates. To my mind, teaching is not simply about helping students know something; more importantly, it is often about sparking their interest in seeking solutions to scientific and technological problems for the greater good.

Undergraduate courses

Introduction to Atmospheric Science

(2 credits; required; spring)

This course introduces the fundamentals of atmospheric science and discusses, qualitatively, the latest advances, hot topics and challenges in the field. Topics include the energy budget of the Earth’s climate system, radiation, atmospheric thermodynamics, atmospheric chemistry, atmospheric dynamics, extreme weather, the ocean, the boundary layer, land–atmosphere interactions, climate change, paleoclimate, numerical models and AI.

Course resources

• Course introduction, requirements, scoring, etc. (slide)

• Chapter 1: Anthropogenic climate change (slide)

• Chapter 2: Evolution of Earth (slide)

• Chapter 3: Radiation (slide)

• Chapter 4: Thermodynamics (slide)

• Chapter 5: Atmospheric chemistry (slide)

• Chapter 6: Atmospheric dynamics (slide)

• Chapter 7: Weather (slide)

• Chapter 8: Ocean (slide)

• Chapter 9: Boundary layer and land-atmosphere interactions (slide)

• Chapter 10: Computational meteorology (slide)

Note: The course is offered in both spring and autumn semesters, and is taught by a team of four instructors (currently Yongyun Hu, Jing Li, Jintai Lin and Yan Yu). The slides used here are based on the set compiled by Dr. Yan Yu, with substantial revisions.

Global Environmental & Climate Change

(2 credits; elective; autumn)

This course introduces basic scientific knowledge about the global atmospheric environment and climate change, discusses the latest advances, hot topics and challenges in the field, and encourages students to take part in solving environmental problems. Topics include measurements, chemistry, biogeochemical cycles, the ozone hole, surface ozone and aerosol pollution, acid deposition, source apportionment, pollution control, climate change, climate projections, and measures to address climate change. All students are welcome to take the course!

Course resources

• Course introduction, requirements, scoring, etc. (slide)

• Term paper topics (slide) An example review paper (pdf)

• Chapter 1: Introduction: The changing environment (slide)

• Chapter 2: Earth system & global biogeochemical cycling (slide)

• Chapter 3: Earth measurements and modeling (slide)

• Chapter 4: Stratospheric ozone depletion (slide)

• Chapter 5: Tropospheric chemistry and air pollution (slide)

• Chapter 6: Regional and global transport of air pollutants, and air pollution control (slide)

• Chapter 7: Climate system (slide)

• Chapter 8: Climate change, forcings and feedbacks (slide)

• Chapter 9: Paleoclimate (slide)

• Chapter 10: Looking beyond: Sustainable development, Renewable energy, and geoengineering (slide)

Note: The course was first taught by Jintai Lin and Prof. Tzung-May Fu in spring 2011. The content and format have been adjusted since then.

Graduate courses

Climate Physics and Chemistry

(4 credits; required; autumn)

This is a required course for the major. It covers the fundamental physical and chemical mechanisms of the climate system, including radiation and energy balance, thermodynamics, the drivers and mechanisms of climate change, and climate–chemistry interactions. Through lectures, assignments, exams and a final project, students deepen their understanding of climate physics and chemistry and their research thinking, and strengthen their interest, motivation and ability to help address climate change.

Course resources

• Course introduction, requirements, scoring, etc. (slide)

Part 1 (Jintai Lin)

• Chapter 1: Climate physics and chemistry (slide)

• Chapter 2.1: Radiation: basis (slide)

• Chapter 2.2: Radiation: absorption (slide)

• Chapter 2.3: Radiation: scattering (slide)

• Chapter 2.4: Radiation: radiative transfer (slide)

• Chapter 2.5: Radiation: radiative equilibrium (slide)

• Chapter 3: Thermodynamics (slide)

• Chapter 4: Equilibrium climate (slide)

• Homework

Part 2 (Lin Zhang)

• Link

Note: The course was established by Tzung-May Fu, Lin Zhang and Jintai Lin in autumn 2014; it is currently taught by Jintai Lin and Lin Zhang.

Globalizing Air Pollution

(2 credits; elective; spring)

This graduate elective introduces the science and frontier questions of globalizing air pollution, and further discusses response strategies.

Transboundary pollution transport affects air quality, climate and ecosystems at local, regional and global scales. Regional pollution transport is a major cause of air pollution in China and a focus of pollution control, while global pollution transfer is a scientific and environmental issue of great international concern. Under economic globalization, trade between regions shifts economic production and the associated emissions between consuming and producing regions, creating “invisible” pollution transfer that couples with the “visible” atmospheric transport to affect the environment and climate — a frontier topic in pollution-transfer research.

From an interdisciplinary perspective, the course explains the economic, physical, chemical and transport mechanisms of trade- and transport-driven pollution transfer, introduces frontier research and open questions in data statistics, field observations and model calculations, and discusses domestic and international strategies and prospects for addressing globalizing air pollution, with the aim of motivating students to engage in environmental governance.

Course resources

• Course introduction, requirements, scoring, etc. (slide)

• Term paper topics (slide) An example review paper (pdf)

• Chapter 1: Introduction to globalizing air pollution (slide)

• Chapter 2: Sources, sinks and global cycling of air pollutants (slide)

• Chapter 3: Measurements and modeling of air pollution (slide)

• Chapter 4: Tropospheric chemistry and air pollution (slide)

• Chapter 5: Regional and global pollution transport (slide)

• Chapter 6: Air pollution transport and climate change (slide)

• Chapter 7: Global transport of heavy metals, POPs, bioaerosols and other emerging pollutants (slide)

• Chapter 8: Economic globalization, trade and pollution transfer (slide)

• Chapter 9: Sustainable development: Pollution control, renewable energy, and geoengineering (slide)