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MIT Environment & Sustainability: Earth Systems and Climate Science

Like so many of the big challenges taken on at MIT, environmental and sustainability issues demand an interdisciplinary perspective.

From declining fisheries to acute urban pollution to record-breaking global temperatures, the evidence of human impact on the environment continues to mount. And at the same time, the environment shapes us, as human society and institutions are built upon our connection to the weather, land, water, and other species. What can we learn from ecological systems and cycles? What solutions will allow people and the planet to thrive?

MIT scholars, students and alumni are working to understand and help us make progress toward a more sustainable and just world. This core mission draws upon all of the fields represented at MIT: not just science, engineering, and technology, but also the humanities, arts, economics, history, architecture, urban planning, management, policy, and more.

This OCW course collection is inspired by two interdisciplinary MIT programs. Many of the undergraduate courses fall within the undergraduate Environment and Sustainability Minor managed by MIT’s Environmental Solutions Initiative (ESI); the OCW course list employs the undergraduate minor’s four topic pillars. Many of the graduate-level courses are part of the MIT Sloan School of Management Sustainability Certificate curriculum.

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The Physics of Energy
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This course is designed to give you the scientific understanding you need to answer questions like:

How much energy can we really get from wind?
How does a solar photovoltaic work?
What is an OTEC (Ocean Thermal Energy Converter) and how does it work?
What is the physics behind global warming?
What makes engines efficient?
How does a nuclear reactor work, and what are the realistic hazards?

The course is designed for MIT sophomores, juniors, and seniors who want to understand the fundamental laws and physical processes that govern the sources, extraction, transmission, storage, degradation, and end uses of energy.

Subject:
Physical Science
Physics
Material Type:
Full Course
Provider:
MIT
Provider Set:
MIT OpenCourseWare
Author:
Jaffe, Robert
Taylor, Washington
Date Added:
09/01/2009
Science and Policy of Natural Hazards
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This course examines the science of natural catastrophes such as earthquakes and hurricanes and explores the relationships between the science of and policy toward such hazards. It presents the causes and effects of these phenomena, discusses their predictability, and examines how this knowledge influences policy making. This course includes intensive practice in the writing and presentation of scientific research and summaries for policy makers.

Subject:
Atmospheric Science
Physical Science
Material Type:
Full Course
Provider Set:
MIT OpenCourseWare
Author:
Connor, Jane
Emanuel, Kerry
Rondenay, Stephane
Date Added:
02/01/2010
Solving Complex Problems
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12.000 Solving Complex Problems is designed to provide students the opportunity to work as part of a team to propose solutions to a complex problem that requires an interdisciplinary approach. For the students of the class of 2013, 12.000 will revolve around the issues associated with what we can and must do about the steadily increasing amounts CO2 in Earth’s atmosphere.
12.000 is a core course for the MIT Terrascope freshman learning community. Each year’s class explores a different problem in detail through the study of complementary case histories and the development of creative solution strategies. It includes training in Web site development, effective written and oral communication, and team building. Initially developed with major financial support from the d’Arbeloff Fund for Excellence in Education, 12.000 is designed to enhance the freshman experience by helping students develop contexts for other subjects in the sciences and humanities, and by helping them to establish learning communities that include upperclassmen, faculty, MIT alumni, and professionals in science and engineering fields.

Subject:
Applied Science
Engineering
Material Type:
Full Course
Provider:
MIT
Provider Set:
MIT OpenCourseWare
Author:
Bowring, Samuel
Date Added:
09/01/2009
Theoretical Environmental Analysis
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This course analyzes cooperative processes that shape the natural environment, now and in the geologic past. It emphasizes the development of theoretical models that relate the physical and biological worlds, the comparison of theory to observational data, and associated mathematical methods.

Subject:
Applied Science
Environmental Science
Material Type:
Full Course
Provider:
MIT
Provider Set:
MIT OpenCourseWare
Author:
Rothman, Daniel
Date Added:
02/01/2015
Thermodynamics & Kinetics
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This subject deals primarily with equilibrium properties of macroscopic systems, basic thermodynamics, chemical equilibrium of reactions in gas and solution phase, and rates of chemical reactions.
Acknowledgements
The material for 5.60 has evolved over a period of many years, and therefore several faculty members have contributed to the development of the course contents. The following are known to have assisted in preparing the lecture notes available on OpenCourseWare: Emeritus Professors of Chemistry: Robert A. Alberty, Carl W. Garland, Irwin Oppenheim, John S. Waugh. Professors of Chemistry: Moungi Bawendi, John M. Deutch, Robert W. Field, Robert G. Griffin, Keith A. Nelson, Robert J. Silbey, Jeffrey I. Steinfeld. Professor of Bioengineering and Computer Science: Bruce Tidor. Professor of Chemistry, Rice University: James L. Kinsey. Professor of Physics, University of Illinois: Philip W. Phillips.

Subject:
Chemistry
Physical Science
Physics
Material Type:
Full Course
Provider Set:
MIT OpenCourseWare
Author:
Bawendi, Moungi
Nelson, Keith
Date Added:
02/01/2008
Thermodynamics and Kinetics of Materials
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This course explores materials and materials processes from the perspective of thermodynamics and kinetics. The thermodynamics aspect includes laws of thermodynamics, solution theory and equilibrium diagrams. The kinetics aspect includes diffusion, phase transformations, and the development of microstructure.

Subject:
Chemistry
Physical Science
Physics
Material Type:
Full Course
Provider:
MIT
Provider Set:
MIT OpenCourseWare
Author:
Allen, Samuel
Eagar, Thomas
Date Added:
09/01/2006
Transport Processes in the Environment
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This class serves as an introduction to mass transport in environmental flows, with emphasis given to river and lake systems. The class will cover the derivation and solutions to the differential form of mass conservation equations. Class topics to be covered will include: molecular and turbulent diffusion, boundary layers, dissolution, bed-water exchange, air-water exchange and particle transport.

Subject:
Hydrology
Physical Science
Material Type:
Full Course
Provider:
MIT
Provider Set:
MIT OpenCourseWare
Author:
Nepf, Heidi
Date Added:
09/01/2008
Weather and Climate Laboratory
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Course 12.307 is an undergraduate course intended to illustrate, by means of ‘hands on’ projects, the basic dynamical and physical principles that govern the general circulation of the atmosphere and ocean and the day to day sequence of weather events.  The course parallels the content of the new undergraduate textbook Atmosphere, Ocean and Climate Dynamics by John Marshall and R. Alan Plumb.

Subject:
Atmospheric Science
Physical Science
Material Type:
Full Course
Provider Set:
MIT OpenCourseWare
Author:
Illari, Lodovica
Marshall, John
Date Added:
02/01/2009