GEO 310: CLIMATOLOGY
The purpose of the course is to enable the learner acquire knowledge of the past, present, and future climate conditions, acquire fundamental skills needed in assessing climate-related risks, informing policy decisions, and promoting sustainability and resilience in the face of climate change.

Earth's climate system: atmosphere; hydrosphere; biosphere; lithosphere and their interactions. Atmospheric thermodynamics: Laws of thermodynamics; stability and instability of the atmosphere. Hydrodynamics: Hydrostatic equations; laws of motion; divergence and convergence. Air masses and fronts: Precipitation and condensation processes. The sun and the atmosphere: the nature of radiation; laws of radiation and heat balances; general circulation of the tropical disturbances; monsoon climates.

Applied climatology: Agricultural climatology; drought; desertification; crop-water relationships. Urban climatology: Micro-climatology; urban heat islands and pollution; topo-climatology; Landscape and climate.

Regional climatology. Techniques in climatology: Statistical analysis of data; synoptic chart analysis; mean sea-level synoptic chart; anticyclones and ridges; Wind speed and direction; height of cloud base, precipitation and evaporation. water balance structures.